Beachgoer Discovers Unusual Device Washed Up On New York Shore

You never know what you're going to find washed up on shore. Shells, trash, driftwood. But one beach walker found a torpedo-looking device on Seneca Lake.

Tyler Davis found the device while taking a walk at Sampson State Park Beach. He posted the picture on the I Love Seneca Lake Facebook group.

Training Target

The device is an expendable mobile training target (EMATT). It simulates the acoustic and dynamic characteristics of a submarine and allows the Navy to train their detection, tracking, and weapon employment skills against a threat-representative target.

Davis said he called the proper authorities after finding the device to have them come and collect it.

They just thanked me and asked if I'd pin it on a map so they could locate it. He also said that they reuse them in the lake for testing, but normally like if it was in the ocean they wouldn't look for it.

Old Testing Site

Angelo Dombrowski said in WWII, the Navy, and Air Force used Seneca Lake to train soldiers at the Sampson Training Station, which has since been converted into Sampson State Park.

"Some areas of the lake have been used as testing sites."

Read More: CNY Historian Discovers Possible Civil War Cannonball

Training Target in Lake Ontario

It's not just Seneca Lake. Maynard Brown said she called the Coast Guard last year after finding the same thing floating in Lake Ontario near a power plant.

To think, my goal was only to find a conch shell on the shore. Maybe I set the bar too low.