A routine morning at a Malibu state beach turned tense Sunday when an unexploded military explosive, identified as a 1950s-era Super Bazooka round, washed ashore near Naval Base Ventura County and was detonated in place. Beachgoers at Mugu Beach were cleared from the area around 10:30 a.m. after the anti-tank round was spotted in the sand.
The discovery prompted California State Parks Police to contact the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The device was quickly identified as a Super Bazooka round, an anti-tank weapon developed after World War II and used during the Korean War. "A piece of military ordnance — pretty much what you’d expect a missile to look like — had washed up on the beach, which is pretty common in that area because it’s directly next to the Navy base," Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad Detective Dan Turock told the California Post.
Mugu Beach has a history of military use, having been utilized for training in the 1940s and 1950s. Because it was confirmed to be military ordnance, the U.S. Navy took over the response. Bomb technicians from Naval Base Ventura County determined the round was too risky to move and detonated it where it was found.
"They examined the Super Bazooka round, and they said, ‘Hey, this thing may still contain explosives. So instead of moving it, we’re just going to blow it up right here on the beach,’" Turock said. Technicians dug a hole in the sand, placed the device inside, and coordinated with local authorities to secure the area. The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) was shut down briefly for the detonation.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad shared a video of the detonation on its Instagram account, showing a loud boom followed by black smoke. "It just disintegrated into nothing. It completely evaporates," Turock described. "There was nothing left of it, it just totally turned to dust."
The beach was closed for approximately three hours, while the highway was shut down for only about five minutes during the detonation. Turock noted that such incidents are not rare for the coastline, stating, "In the last three years we’ve had about 10 of these — the same exact thing happen at that same exact beach — so it’s fairly common."
He explained that the area was used for military training, with bazookas being fired onto the beach, leaving unexploded ordnance beneath the sand that has become a public beach decades later. While the Super Bazooka round did not have a timer or self-detonating mechanism, it still posed a serious risk if disturbed. "It could be sensitive to moving it," Turock warned. "If you touch it or move it around, there is a possibility that it could detonate if you move it enough or drop it. If anyone sees something like that, just leave it where it is and call 911."