FORT STEWART, Ga. — A pair of YouTubers known for their incredible magnet fishing catches found a bag full of military equipment and active rockets in a Georgia river but are also facing fines.
According to WSB-TV, Matt Jackson and Bryce Nachtwey travel around the country, throwing magnets into bodies of water and seeing what sticks.
“When they scanned them to see if they were all active, they were all 100% active." https://t.co/lDLEqsesBL
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) August 10, 2022
In June, the pair found a Delta Air Lines duffle bag at the bottom of a river at Fort Stewart in Georgia.
The bag contained 86 military training rockets, dozens of 50-caliber rounds, an anti-tank tracer round, a flare and a Humvee communications system. The fishers called authorities, and the bomb squad responded.
“When they scanned them to see if they were all active, they were all 100% active. They were ready to explode. As a matter of fact, everything we found that day was active,” Jackson told WJCL.
The magnet fishers posted a video on Outdoor Weekly that has been viewed over 3.5 million times on their YouTube page.
The pair thought officials would be thankful for what they discovered. Instead, Fort Stewart issued tickets for not having a Fort Stewart permit, entering a closed area and for unauthorized use of a metal detector.
Fort Stewart issued a statement saying, in part, that what Jackson and Nachtwey did wasn’t allowed.
“All recreational metal detecting is prohibited on Fort Stewart and HAAF (electronic metal detector, magnet fishing, etc.),” according to a memo obtained by Savannah Morning News.
“Because Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield is an active training installation, ammunition of various sizes is fired here on a regular basis. There is always a potential unexploded ordnance can end up in the environment, to include rivers. The risk of unexploded ordnance being present throughout the training area, regardless of how it got there, is one reason why activities like magnet detecting is not allowed. The other reason is culture resources protection.” Kevin Marc Larson, chief of public communications for Fort Stewart, told Savannah Morning News.
The warden issued three tickets totaling $340 for magnet fishing at Fort Stewart, entering a closed area and not having Fort Stewart permits, according to The Military Times.
The federal court date is in September.
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