Fisherman's Unusual Beach Discovery May Solve A Centuries-Old Mystery

John Lorimer was a small-town shrimp catcher who knew the coast of England like the back of his hand. Yet, when he randomly discovered a tiny, curious artifact on the beach, he suddenly found himself way out of his league and on the trail to something massive. After news broke about the historic find, things got prickly between the locals and experts, and suddenly the site's entire future was in jeopardy.

Coast of Norfolk

Our story begins in Norfolk, a county in the East Anglia region of England. Since it's located on the shoreline, the environment gave way to new possible rock formations, among other things. And the locals were well aware of some interesting sights around the coast.

Sleepy Town

But outsiders didn't pay much attention to their tall tales. For most of its history, the rural area of Norfolk didn't get nearly the same amount of attention as London, or even analogous small towns elsewhere in Britain. But all of that changed on a fateful afternoon in 1998.

Meet John Lorimer

One day, a man named John Lorimer was catching wild shrimp at the beach near his house in Holme, Norfolk. Joined by his brother-in-law, the local found that the North Sea was at an unusually low tide that day. He'd never seen it quite that way in his entire life.

Another Catch

Hours passed, and the men had some trouble snagging a worthy catch. Maybe it was because the tide was too low, or some other animal had hogged the day's catch. But soon enough, something besides seafood was on their minds. It was something they did not want to bite into.