‘Had to call the police’: New York man goes outside to clean up his yard, ends up waiting 3 hours for the bomb squad to show up

A routine backyard landscaping project in Peekskill, New York, turned into a three-hour ordeal after a resident unearthed what appeared to be an RPG while removing roots from his yard. The homeowner, a Reddit user known as xCaliburghost, had to stop his yard work and contact local authorities immediately after making the discovery.

In a Reddit post, the user shared the full story. He explained that he initially mistook the object for a piece of cast iron pipe. He even admitted to picking it up before realizing what it was, stating, “I picked it up from the tailfin and walked it over and gently placed it away from everything. It was a stupid impulse but I wasn’t thinking very clearly.”

After clearing the dirt off the object and realizing what he was holding, he quickly backed away and called the police’s non-emergency line, reports Brobible. The response was fast and grew quickly in scale.

The military history of the area likely explains how the weapon ended up buried in a residential backyard

The user described how the situation escalated, noting, “Police came in minutes, then a few more cruisers, then a K9 unit (not sure why the k9 but they came as well) then the fire squad, then they had to call county to request the bomb squad, bomb squad sgt arrived himself, inspected it initially, asked me questions, etc.” 

He waited about three hours for the full bomb disposal team to arrive with their specialized equipment, which included an ambulance-style truck with robots and protective gear. New York has seen no shortage of unusual and troubling stories lately, including children in a New York shelter being confined, restrained, and beaten.

The bomb squad used an x-ray device to inspect the object. The Redditor explained, “So the bomb squad put it under this x-ray briefcase looking thing. They scanned it for a few minutes (they were looking at the insides with that iPad you can see in the one picture) and said it didn’t look like it was completely full but they couldn’t fully verify so they had someone in a bigger suit come and take it away.” 

He was initially told he might be able to get the item back if it turned out to be inert. An update later confirmed it was inert, but authorities decided to keep it anyway to prevent similar issues in the future. Commenters on the post pointed out that the property sits near Camp Smith, which has served as a major training site for the New York National Guard for over a century. 

During the mid-20th century, heavy weapons training and live-fire exercises were common in the area. The National Guard conducted a sweep in 2009 to remove unexploded munitions from World War I, disposing of nearly 200 rounds. Some users speculated the discovery might have been an M6A1 Anti-Tank Rocket, a piece of equipment used in bazookas during World War II.

This type of discovery is more common than many people realize. In April 2026, a young boy in Carmichael, California, found a live 81 millimeter mortar explosive shell in his backyard. According to The Sacramento Bee, The shell was determined to be a live military-grade explosive from 1953 with a potential blast radius of up to 1,000 feet.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and a team from Beale Air Force Base coordinated an evacuation of six surrounding homes before safely removing the device for detonation at a disposal range. Sgt. Ed Igoe, who has had a 27-year career in law enforcement, noted that finding such military-grade ordnance buried in a backyard is a rare occurrence. 

New York continues to make headlines in unexpected ways, from buried wartime weapons to the city hosting the first AI-powered dating cafe on Valentine’s Day. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, do not touch or move the object. Step away, call the police on their non-emergency line, and let the professionals handle the rest.