Live WWII-era bomb spent years in Kodiak

KODIAK, Alaska, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- A World War II-era bomb sat in Kodiak, Alaska, for six decades before anyone realized it contained 600 pounds of explosive, authorities said.

It was only when the bomb was given to Curt Law and Joe Stevens -- founders of the Kodiak Military History Museum -- that anyone thought to check, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported. They summoned a disposal crew from Fort Richardson, Alaska.

The crew moved the bomb to Salonie Creek and detonated it. The explosion was kept from the public.

"The military and state were concerned about a crowd gathering," Law said. "This isn't anything you want to screw with. It's all about not killing anybody."

Kodiak Island became military enclave during World War II and old hardware was left scattered around town. The 4 1.2-foot-long bomb, designed to destroy Japanese naval vessels during World War II, did not attract much attention, especially because everyone assumed it was full of concrete.

The bomb was on display outside Jim's Diamond Bar in Kodiak for years, where someone wrote "U da bomb" on its casing. After the bar shut down, the bomb was stored behind a supermarket.