Strange Object Unearthed By Beachgoer in New York Lake

You never know what you'll find along lake shores. One Central New Yorker found a big red object stuck in a sandbar in Oneida Lake.

Len Cross is the former owner of Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo in Rome. Since his retirement, he's been spending time on the shores of Oneida Lake in Sylvan Beach.

On one of those days at the lake, Cross came across a bright red object he assumes is some buoy or marker for the canal. It's made of welded steel and has a bicycle air valve. "So, it's designed to be inflated," Cross said.

Broken Cable Carries Buoy Away

The marker has a concrete weight on the bottom that Cross thinks kept the inflated buoy upright. But a cable that probably held it to a bigger stationary concrete weight was broken.

"About three feet of that cable remains attached, but it was clearly broken and allowed the buoy to be carried away until it bottomed out."

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Cross emailed the Canal Corp to let them know about the runaway/float away buoy.

Training Target on Seneca Lake

Along the shore of Seneca Lake one beach walker found a torpedo-looking device.

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

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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.