Note to self..

[puzzle_me]

Note to self:

Do not accidentally leave scientific instruments that resemble pipe bombs in the trunk of a rental car. It can lead to the 'detonation' of the instrument, not to mention a visit from the FBI.

Comments

[akakd.livejournal.com]

Oops!

[silentmonster.livejournal.com]

doh! does this mess up your studies?

[springbok1.livejournal.com]

It wasn't *me*. It's just the type of thing I'd do in a scatterbrained moment. :) From a different story, it does sound like the researcher didn't have a chance to download it before it was 'detonated'.

Poor thermosensor.

[naomikritzer]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh bummer.

I had read about the "suspicious device" but not the discovery of what, exactly, this device actually was.

You'd have to be the world's dumbest terrorist to leave your explosive device in the trunk of your rental car. (You don't have to be the world's dumbest scientist to forget your equipment. I imagine this happens pretty regularly. But if you're a terrorist, you'd really be expected to keep track of where you put your bomb, I would think. Unless, I suppose, your target was Avis, but c'mon. Surely in that case you'd at least go after Hertz.)

[springbok1.livejournal.com]

The thing that got me about this story is that I can totally, completely see myself accidentally leaving something like that behind in a scatterbrained moment. I'd realize it about 20 seconds after my flight took off, but it probably wouldn't occur to me that it looked like a bomb until a good way into the FBI questioning. :D

[akjdg.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't think a tidbit logger would really resemble a bomb, but then I don't clean rental cars for a living.

Several years ago (pre 9/11), we installed a pressure logger in a steel pipe with end caps (a very pipe-bomb looking fabrication) to protect it from freezing, and deployed it at a rather remote potential hydro site on Kodiak Island.

Shockingly, someone found it, reported it as a potential bomb to the authorities, the bomb squad was flown out from Anchorage, they blew it up, ascertained it was not dangerous, somehow figured out it belonged to us (I believe it had our contact info on it), and mailed us the debris with their apologies.

It was rather annoying, as I believe we lost a year's worth of stream flow data.