A “top secret” Cold War-era military training device has mysteriously washed up on a Cape Cod beach, federal officials announced.
The long metallic item was found at Marconi Beach last week and has since been identified as the fuselage of an early drone, National Parks Service officials said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“It appeared to have been in the ocean for some time, and staff worked together to get it off the beach before it was swept away,” they said.
“Park historian Bill Burke examined the object and determined that it was in fact the fuselage of a RCAT (Remote Control Aerial Target).”
RCATs were used for target practice on a former military training camp off of Marconi Beach during the 1940s and 1950s called Camp Wellfleet, the National Parks Service explained.
Aircrafts were fitted with the RCATs, which were “rocket-launched off the aircraft at zero to 60 mph within the first 30 feet,” and were remotely controlled by a bluff.
The program was considered “top secret,” with each of the devices costing $2,500 — or about $32,000 in 2024, when adjusted for inflation, according to a website dedicated to preserving the legacy of Camp Wellfleet.
“The airplanes were all metal, with a 10-foot wingspan and a skid along the bottom for emergency landings when the parachute wouldn’t work,” it says.
They would travel at 225 miles per hour, and some would make as many as 20 flights before they were gunned down.
“In the hands of good gun crews they were deadly, and five or six targets would be lost in a day,” the website says.
“If they took a direct hit in the gas tank, this would cause the plane to explode, and the gallons of fuel would cause quite a spectacular, yet expensive, explosion.”
Camp Wellfleet was ultimately shuttered in 1961, but “munitions and explosives of concern” may remain in the area of Cape Cod, the military warns.
The 1,738-acre former camp is now primarily used for surfing, sunbathing, fishing and hiking, according to the military.
It remains unclear what park officials did to dispose of the RCAT, and whether there are any efforts underway to rid the ocean of the drones.
The Post has reached out to the National Parks Service for comment.
