A Wisconsin man strolling along the beach was stunned after discovering an animal brain wrapped in aluminum foil that had washed up on the shore.
James Senda was hunting for sea glass on Sept. 15 at Samuel Myers Park in Racine when he came across a brick-shaped package wrapped in aluminum foil with a pink rubber band.
Suspecting the package contained money or drugs and overcome with curiosity, Senda unwrapped the package only to discover a brain—along with pink flowers and foreign money.
“When I first opened it, I think I was so shocked it didn’t click what it was,” Senda told CNN. “I walked up to city workers nearby and I was like, ‘Did I just find a brain?'”
Police said on Thursday the brain did not belong to a human, but medical examiners are unsure what animal it came from, CNN affiliate WDJT reported.
Some member of the community suspect the brain may have been part of a send-off ritual for the dead, which includes items—such as money and flowers—they can use in the afterlife, but no one “can explain the brain,” Senda said.
The brain was larger than the size of his extended hand and was not decomposed, he said.
“I’m glad I’m the one who found it,” Senda added. “Imagine a grandma or mom, or a kid that was playing nearby, was the one who saw and unwrapped it. I’m 47 and I’m freaked out about it.”
