The man called police and informed them of his discovery, and Officer Patrick Curran arrived at the scene. Curran inspected the Uzi and determined that yes, the firearm was real, and it appeared to be loaded. The man then threw the magnet into the water again, to see what else they could find.

A man used a magnet and rope to pull out five firearms from the water at Pillings Pond in Lynnfield on Saturday.

Within minutes, the magnet latched onto something. He hauled in the rope, eager to see what he caught. As he pulled it in, he looked at the end of the rope, and there, stuck to the magnet, was an Uzi submachine gun.

On Saturday morning, a Lynnfield resident took a powerful magnet attached to a rope and tossed it into Pillings Pond to see what would come up.


Soon enough, he pulled out another gun from the pond. In total, five firearms were recovered, including a .40 caliber Glock handgun; a Colt Cobra revolver; a revolver that had significant corrosion; and an semi-automatic handgun with significant corrosion.

All of the firearms appeared to be loaded, according to police.

The incident, which was first reported by The Daily Item of Lynn, is not unique.

People who use magnets to search for underwater treasure — a hobby known as “magnet fishing” — have found all kinds of things lurking beneath the surface of lakes, ponds, rivers, and canals.

In July 2018, a British man fished a Mac 10 submachine gun out of a canal in London.

In January of this year, a couple in Florida found a World War II hand grenade while magnet fishing in the Ocklawaha River.

The Lynnfield resident told police that he’d been watching videos about World War II artifact hunters who use magnets to search waterways in France and decided to give it a try himself.


After discovering the Uzi, State Police divers searched Pillings Pond by hand because the visibility is “extremely poor,” according to police. But they didn’t make any other discoveries.

A trooper from the State Police ballistics unit took the weapons for further analysis.

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.