Inert military-grade rocket found in man’s garage in Washington, police say

BELLEVUE, Wash. — A military-grade rocket that was found to be inert was discovered in the garage of a man who had recently died in Bellevue, Washington, police said.

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The Bellevue Police Department said that on Thursday the department’s bomb squad was called about a military-grade rocket that was found in a garage.

Officers were able to determine that the rocket was inert since it did not contain any rocket fuel. It was just an artifact.

The bomb squad was contacted by an Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio after officials said they received a call from a man looking to donate the item from a neighbor who died, KIRO reported.

The man claimed that the rocket was purchased by the neighbor at an estate sale, the news outlet reported.

The rocket was identified as a Douglas AIR-2 Genie, police said. It’s an unguided air-to-air rocket that is designed to carry a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead. No warhead was found attached to the rocket.

The rocket was believed to be used by the United States and Canada during the Cold War, the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation said, according to The Associated Press.

Police left the rocket with the neighbor to be restored and eventually be displayed in a museum, police said. This was because the rocket was inert and the military did not request to have the rocket back in their custody.

“And we think it’s gonna be a long, long time before we get another call like this again,” police said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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