Now that’s a Christmas gift for the ages.
A 7-year-old boy in Scotland discovered the remains of World War II explosives on a beach in the Scottish Highlands, courtesy of the metal detector he got for Christmas, British news agency SWNS reports.
Patrick McAlindon found the grenade remains just 15 minutes after being on the beach at Loch Morlich, shortly after he opened the present and started playing with it.
On vacation along with his parents, Ana and Andrew, older brother Daniel and younger sister Lana, Patrick McAlindon said he was amazed by what he had found.
“The metal detector almost went off the scale,” the boy said in comments obtained by SWNS.
“I was really shocked. I thought it was gold or something.”
“We started digging, then two minutes later we found the sign,” he added.
“I was really surprised and shocked when I saw ‘bomb.’ I was a bit scared at first because I thought there were grenades under there.”
In addition to the grenade remains, he found discarded crates and a bomb warning sign, believed to be where Allied Norwegian soldiers trained.
Upon finding the historic items, the family called the police and were put in touch with bomb disposal experts.
After they were told there was no risk to them, the McAlindon family kept sweeping the beach, even as the dig attracted hoards of onlookers.
Ana said that Patrick is looking forward to making more discoveries and is eager to tell his classmates at school what he found while on vacation.
“Patrick loves history. He doesn’t watch cartoons anymore, just the Discovery Channel and history documentaries,” his mother added. “He wants to find gold next.”
In November, three children in Germany fished World War II ammunition from a pond using a “strong magnet,” according to local police.
Fox News’ Travis Fedschun contributed to this Fox News report, which is used by permission.
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