Bermuda's bomb squad was called into action this weekend after a dormant NATO explosive was found on an East end beach.

The explosive ? a flare ? was found by two people on Windsor Beach on Saturday afternoon.

After the men reported finding it to Police, the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (EODT) was called out to the Tucker's Town beach where the flare was detonated on the spot.

Arthur Lee Ray and his brother Robert had been walking on Windsor Beach when they found the flare.

"Not knowing what the cylindrical tube was, although it didn't look like a bomb and was not bullet shaped, my brother handed it to me so that I could translate the French, which was conspicuously written on one end of the tube," said Arthur Lee.

He said the warning on the bottom of the tube translated to 'if found communicate with the military forces or the Police'.

"I used my cell phone to dial 911 and within half an hour, two Police cars and four officers arrived at the scene," he said.

"They confirmed that it belonged to NATO, then called the bomb squad.

"When they arrived they treated the device as if it was live and instructed the Police officers, my brother and I to back away 100 yards and also to not use our radios or cell phones, as radio signals can sometimes trigger a device."

Mr. Ray said he was unnerved by these instructions as he had been holding the device in his hands while he called Police on his cell phone to report the find.

He likened the experience to having a close brush with a "modern day Pandora's box".

"In the end they opted to detonate the device right on the beach rather than risk moving it," he said.

Bermuda Police spokesman Robin Simmons confirmed yesterday that the EODT said the device was a flare.

He said they decided not to move it, but instead to detonate it on the beach because of the phosphorous contained within it, which can cause severe burns.