OK, I guess we are a little on edge concerning security in the U.S. these days.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you <g>...
__________________________________
Mosquito Trap Sets Off 4 - Hour Bomb Scare
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 15, 2003
Filed at 11:43 a.m. ET
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A battery-powered mosquito trap placed in a public park was mistaken for a potential bomb and caused a four-hour uproar Tuesday that included halting railroad traffic and rushing in bomb experts.
The scare came a day after industrial-grade explosives were reported stolen from a North Middleton Township explosives dealer.
``Better safe than sorry,'' said Roger Kohr, Cumberland County's public information officer.
A dog walker in Mechanicsburg's Memorial Park reported the contraption, a thermal container that traps mosquitos to test them for West Nile virus. It was placed along a walking trail between tennis courts and railroad tracks.
The device includes a thermos containing dry ice, which evaporates into carbon dioxide. The gas attracts mosquitoes, which are then sucked into a netted container by a small fan.
But there was no label on it and no one at the scene could tell what it was.
The mystery was dispelled when the county employee who placed the device there Monday night arrived to collect it.
About 200 employees from a nearby business were evacuated and Norfolk-Southern railroad traffic was halted. A bomb expert from the FBI's Philadelphia office arrived under police escort and another bomb expert was flown in from State College.