WWII Bomb Found Near Air Base, Detonated
A rusted but live World War II-vintage bomb was discovered and later detonated on the outskirts of Edwards Air Force Base this weekend, authorities said Sunday.
A motorcyclist riding through the desert near Palmdale on Friday found the 12-inch bomb. It formed a 60-square-foot crater and a 300-foot plume of smoke when detonated Saturday by a U.S. Army team from San Diego, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Handley said.
The explosion was miles away from any development, Handley said.
He said the photoflash bomb weighed about 150 pounds. Designed to light up the sky during night attacks, it was sticking about eight inches out of the sand, said Air Force Lt. Col. Jan Dalby.
Handley said the bomb was found near an area once used as a bombing range about a quarter-mile south of the base boundary near Avenue A and 200th Street.
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