Image by WikipediaImage by 20080613cannon.jpg The shell was likely fired from a cannon like this, a Columbiad.

Update: The Post and Courier updates us that the shell was likely fired by Confederate forces during the Siege of Charleston from a 10-inch Columbiad cannon.

Original story: "Hey, what's that weird noise coming from the pipe? ... Oh, it's a cannonball."

That's how we imagine things happened when around 3 a.m. today workers dredging sand heard a 14-inch cannonball loudly bang its way out of a 3-foot-wide pipe.

The cannonball was slightly larger than a bowling ball and weighed around 300 pounds.

Law enforcement officials and historic experts were still examining the cannonball around 11 this morning.

The sand was being dredged for the beach nourishment project on Isle of Palms.

We'll post updates if they figure out the cannonball's origin.

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