BOSTON -- A Boston man faced charges of reckless endangerment for allegedly making up a story about a shark sighting off Martha's Vineyard on Thursday, police said.

Michael Lopenzo, 60, is charged with telling people that he saw two 22-foot long sharks that weighed about 3,000 pounds each near State Beach, Edgartown Police Chief Paul Condlin said.

Lopenzo gave his address as 17 Court St., in Boston, which is the address of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans.

The island's South Beach had been closed earlier in the day, after lifeguards reported possibly spotting a great white.

The state sent a plane over the waters off Edgartown Thursday, but the pilot could not confirm the presence of a great white.

In 1974, Steven Spielberg chose Martha's Vineyard for the movie version of "Jaws," depicting a series of deadly great white attacks in the fictional community of Amity.

Shark attacks are extremely rare in waters off New England, but great whites have been known to occasionally prowl in the region.

All the beaches were reopened Friday, according to Wendy Fox, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.