The Coast Guard and Chicago Police Department Bomb Squad are warning the public about three missing military devices that failed to detonate during a training exercise in Lake Michigan.
The warning follows the discovery of one such device, which can burn at temperatures reaching 2,900°, at Montrose Beach.
Officially known as U.S. Navy marine location markers, the devices are used to mark locations in bodies of water. According to military resources and the Coast Guard, they are designed to activate upon contact with water, producing red smoke and flames. They are primarily used in search and rescue operations.
During a training exercise off Milwaukee earlier this month, four devices failed to detonate, and at least one washed ashore in Chicago, where a lifeguard found it on Monday, officials reported. The remaining three devices are still unaccounted for.
“These pyrotechnics are considered armed when they fail to activate,” the Coast Guard stated in a media release.
According to an Australian Department of Defence document, the devices measure approximately 18.5 inches in length, nearly three inches in diameter, and weigh a little under four pounds.
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