Is that a bomb? No, it's a geocache!

[rainbow_goddess]

I just heard on the radio that someone found a "suspicious object" in a tree near a local recreation centre. They called the police. The police took pictures of it and sent the pictures to the bomb squad. The bomb squad said, "Well, it doesn't LOOK like a bomb, but better safe than sorry," and advised the police to call the military. (We don't have

Comments

[hrrunka]

There's a photo of it in the article. Looks like it was a bit of plastic pipe covered in camo-cloth...

[rainbow_goddess]

Yeah, after I read the article I went to the geocaching.com site and looked to see which one it was. I've found some of this user's caches before. They make their own cache container that is pipe-shaped and capped at both ends, so I suppose if you look at it sideways it might possibly resemble a pipe bomb, though having never seen a pipe bomb I can't say for sure.

[hrrunka]

An improvised explosive device could look like anything. In potential target areas it would seem sensible to mark a box as a geocache (official stickers are good!), and to use a container that's transparent (or at least translucent) so that the bomb squad can see into it without opening it...

[rainbow_goddess]

"In potential target areas," sure. I don't think a community recreation centre that houses a library, a swimming pool and a hockey rink would be any kind of "potential target area."

[hrrunka]

...and not just to geocaches. I remember an interestingly embarassing M23 closure caused by a bat detector some years back.

[semebay]

There have been a lot of geocaches mistaken as bombs. That's why people need to place them smartly (away from schools, business centers, etc.), and try to get in touch with local authorities/owners depending on the type of cache placed.

And pipe caches are really never okay.

[epi_lj]

One thing to note is that bombs don't have to look like anything in particular, and the people who worry about bombs (professionally) often know that. Pretty much any unattended container in an unexpected place gets the full scrutiny these days. We've had schools evacuated and city blocks closed off here because someone left a backpack at a bus stop.