‘Rocket Man’ terrorizes drivers on Florida highway, bomb squad called in

Florida Highway Patrol launched into high alert this week after a barrage of 911 calls from motorists who swore they’d just spotted a truck hauling a full payload of missiles down the highway.

“They were definitely concerned,” FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins told The Post of the March 22 incident.

The situation escalated quickly when a trooper, already locked and loaded with a description of a blue pickup traveling along Interstate 4, spotted the vehicle.

The officer quickly moved in to intercept it.

The driver, Michael Nipper from nearby Tampa, said he wasn’t shocked about getting stopped. The rockets look dangerous — but aren’t military weapons.

“I figured right away why they were pulling me over,” Nipper, 69, told The Post. “But I knew the rockets weren’t dangerous or illegal so I showed them to the officer and explained that they were hobby rockets.”

Model rockets are miniature versions of the real thing that people build and launch for fun, according to NASA. They’re made from lightweight materials like plastic or balsa wood, and the engines are pre-packaged and come with the kit. They typically fly between 300 and 2,500 feet and land with a small parachute.

Nipper, a longtime rocket enthusiast, explained to cops he’s part of local groups that regularly gather to have fun, put on exhibitions or teach kids about basic aeronautics.

“I’ve been doing it since the ’90s,” he said, adding he’s a member of the National Association of Rocketry.

Still, the traffic stop changed trajectory when the cop spotted a label reading “15 lbs. of explosives” with a “load weight of 45 lbs.” engraved on the side of one of the rockets, the officer later wrote in the report.

That set off alarm bells, prompting a call to superiors — and ultimately, the bomb squad.

Authorities — including the Plant City Police Department, fire department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office — established a safety perimeter around the scene as experts moved in to defuse the situation, reported WESH.

After a closer inspection, officials confirmed the “missiles” were indeed harmless plastic models — and the threat fizzled out as quickly as it had ignited, said cops.

With the all-clear given, troopers sent Nipper on his way without a ticket, but did offer him a better plan for transporting his high-flying hobby without sparking mass panic on the highway.

“Yes, they gave me some advice,” admitted Nipper.

Officer Gaskins later praised the response, saying the troopers — who later dubbed Nipper #RocketMan on social media — handled the situation with the “utmost poise under the circumstances to ensure the safety of all citizens.”

In the end, what looked like a full-blown missile crisis turned out to be a dud.