Mystery container washed up

A mysterious metal container, more than 80 feet long with a cone-shaped top, has washed up on a Scottish beach. Where it came from, nobody knows, but it is thought to have fallen off a ship, the BBC reported Saturday. Officials were using two numbers found on the container to try to determine its origin, the British network said.

The container was first sighted by a dog walker on Poll Na Crann beach -- known locally as Stinky Bay because of the stench of fermenting seaweed -- near Griminish.

Alasdair MacEachen, assistant director of environmental services at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, told the BBC it's attracting a good bit of attention from the locals.

"It's a big object so you can't miss it, and it's not often you see something like that on the beach," MacEachen said. "It would be standing almost 30 meters tall and really looks pretty much like a silo. I think it's a bulk storage tank of some sort, possibly for storing some liquids."

MacEachen said it appeared to have been ruptured and looks as if it's empty.