Most fishing stories involve some exaggeration — but a Vietnamese fisherman who said he caught a 19-foot torpedo earlier this week wasn’t telling tall tales, China’s defense ministry says.

A ”cigar-shaped metal object” was found off the coast of Phu Yen Province in south-central Vietnam on Tuesday, local news site Tuoi Tre News reported. Vietnamese authorities identified the object, which had Chinese characters on its body, as a "training torpedo.""It is still unclear whether the torpedo is just a dummy weapon or if it is actually capable of detonation," Tuoi Tre News said.

In response to the report, China's Ministry of National Defense wrote on Friday that the Chinese navy had “lost a torpedo” near Hainan Island while conducting drills in early December. The missing torpedo could have drifted closer to Vietnam, but it “was not aimed at any target,” the ministry said.