DEER ISLE, Maine — Deer Isle resident Norbert “Bert” Yankielun was teaching some family friends the art and science of hunting for hidden historical artifacts with a metal detector when he found something far more exciting than antique coins and rusted wagon wheels: a decades-old unexploded ordinance.
For over 30 years Yankielun made his career in sub-surface detection research, using ground-penetrating radar and other methods to locate underground objects, from Antarctica to Alaska to Greenland. Now retired, Yankielun’s hobby is searching for Deer Isle’s historic treasures with handheld metal detectors.
“I’m interested in history, as opposed to being a treasure hunter,” Yankielun said.
On Saturday, Nov. 9, Yankielun dug up an unusual object from the mud on the shore of Deer Isle’s Long Cove. It was heavy, conical and about half the size of a grapefruit. Unsure of what he had found, Yankielun took the object home and placed it in his barn.
A few days later, as he washed away the crusted dirt on its metal surface, the object’s origin became clear.
“It had a timer around the circumference and a cotter pin on the nose,” Yankielun said. “I said, ‘Gee that’s sorta what you see on a hand grenade.’” The object wasn’t a grenade, but a detonator — a small explosive charge used to set off a larger explosion — from an early 20th century artillery shell.
Through his work with underground detection, Yankielun was no stranger to old bombs and unexploded ordinance. But those were on old battlefields, military bases and firing ranges. In his 10 years as a hobby “metal detectorist” on Deer Isle, he had never seen anything like this.
“I was in shock. Not out of fear for the device, but that it was in such an unusual location,” Yankielun said. “Where’s the nearest military base? The nearest firing range?”
Yankielun called the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, explained his hobby, his expertise, and his potentially dangerous find — which by this point he had moved to “an isolated rock” along his driveway. The sheriff’s department put Yankielun in contact with the Maine State Police bomb squad.
Several hours later, a bomb squad officer arrived, confirmed the object was an explosive, and collected it in a bomb-proof container called “the frag box.” The officer told Yankielun the state police would dispose of the device.
“That thing has been in the ground for decades,” Yankielun said. “It had that World War I, World War II vibe to it.”
Yankielun has no evidence to show how the detonator ended up in the mud along Long Cove, but suspects it was a “bring back,” or a souvenir of a military veteran.
“In the 80s and 90s, it was common that upon the passing of a vet, someone would find a grenade or whatever,” Yankielun said.
When it was new, Yankielun said the detonator was “beautiful shiny brass.” He thinks someone found the object, realized it was explosive, and threw it into the cove.
Before the detonator is disposed of, Yankielun said the state bomb squad will send him any additional details they are able to discern about the object. State Police advise the public not to touch suspicious objects and to report their location to authorities.
This story appears through a media partnership with the Penobscot Bay Press.
