Mystery container found on beach

Mystery container found on beach

news.bbc.co.uk

Experts are trying to identify a huge metal container that has been washed up on a beach in the Western Isles.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I love a good mystery. Someone must have an idea what this is. ????

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I'd been looking for that...

Glad you found it. Cheers.

Beer eh?

reply to post by mr-lizard
Thank you so much. Have one yourself.funny looking container, isn't it? Looks like some sort of giant battery. I mean, why have that wierd pointy "plug" on the end? It'll probably turn out to be something simple and mundane though.



[edit on 29-12-2007 by wigit]

Well whatever it is, someone out there has another 5579 of these. surely he won't miss this one????

At first glance it reminded me of something from space, but in all honesty it's probably just something trivial.... like a big chunk of a ship or part of an oil rig?

I thought it looked like a rocket stage, like the ones used in the days prior to the space shuttle, but obviously that's not the case.

Everything has to be manufactured and for the most part shipping containers are pretty much standardized.

It could be a pre-fabricated grain silo on its way to some farmer somewhere, but there again, someone must be producing these in sufficient numbers to make them profitable, unless of course it's a special order.

It's pretty mysterious now, but unless it's some top secret project or or part of some alien craft, someone is bound to come forward to claim it as their own, or to claim that they manufactured it.

to me this looks like one of many pontoons from an oil platform, Most likely it broke free while it was in transit.
I doubt it will be claimed

Those flanges are odd. I can't tell if the lines on the "hatch" are painted on because of that dog-ear, or if they're mechanical... if the latter that's an interesting hatch.

Maybe a nuclear materials transport container...



Probably wouldn't float though.

[edit on 29-12-2007 by apc]

reply to post by wigit


It does seem to be some storage container, perhaps, a silo. "Mounting" or mating surfaces are apparent, and the pipe on the left side of the picture could be a liquid, or, compressed air conduit. My vote is for a silo...All in favor....

either way... finders keepers

I agree with the assessment of it being a rocket fuel stage or something. Possibly from a rocket launch, perhaps a SeaLaunch vehicle.

The SRMU on a Titan 4b is about 32 meters long and about 3 meters around. That is roughly the same dimensions seen on this vessel. And the stainless steel pressure lock on the end smacks of pressurized liquid, to me.

reminds me of the silo in the simpsons movie homer was messing with

seriously it looks very spacey but it'll turn out to be something from a boat of some kind

Oh, that's mine. I store all my exotic alien artifacts. In all reality I believe it is a booster stage Titan.

Some sort of rocket stage was probably first on most people's minds. But those flanges would seem to rule that out. It definitely appears to bolt to something larger that receives that end. Too bad we don't have a picture of the other end. I've found one other photo that's a good side view but it's just a thumbnail and no larger image is provided.

reply to post by wigit

This looks to be an industrial settling tank for liquids or chemicals and has very little oxidation therefore it has not been lost very long ago. This tank looks to have tubing and brackets built in to attach it to something else. The numbers are the part locators during assembly of a larger project. Rik Riley

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
I thought it looked like a rocket stage,

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that picture.

Thought it might have been something from China's space program.

But, this is off the coast of Scotland, so that would kind of make it "unlikely" to be from China.

reply to post by wigit


obviously after reading what the bbc says about it--the container--it is not what i would guess by looking at the picture it to be.if only had picture and no info--i would guess it to be a container for a sub-launched icbm--just goes to show how ignorent i am with out help from others.

They said there were no markings on this but it's clearly numbered 5580. I assume they meant no other markings. Hmmmmm

10 bucks says we see it on ebay in a week.

My wife and I once found a container like a huge canvas duffelbag packed completely full of something half buried in the sand on a beach in N Carolina. I tried like hell to get it out of the sand, but was unable to remove it. The tide was incoming, and the waves were washing over it as I tried, so I got out my very sharp knife and attempted to slice into it to se what was inside. To my surprise, I could not push the point of the knife through the material even a little bit, and I found t to be made from the same sort of material as a bank bag. Very tough and not easily penetrated.

I was eventually forced to quit my efforts as it was mid January, and was very cold playing in the water as I was. I would love to know what was in it to this day.