Police in an area around 100 miles north of Portland have reported a number of training grenades have washed ashore on beaches in and around Newport, Oregon, prompting officials to warn people to stay away from the devices if they find one, USA Today reports.
The grenades are white cylinders that do not explode like a traditional hand grenade, but instead make a loud noise and percussion. A sales flier for the M116A1 hand grenade simulator notes that it creates a 123-decibel noise and some flash. Although it is not a lethal weapon, activating the device could cause permanent injury to people standing nearby when it activates.
Police have no idea where the grenades came from, with the most likely explanation that they were part of a shipping container or other crate of cargo that got dropped into the sea accidentally by either a military vessel or a commercial cargo ship.