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Geocaching Shuts Down British Town
DaveAtWorkAnnoyingly writes "Many geocachers will be thinking twice when planting their treasure in an urban space as one geocacher found out in England after the police cordoned off the center of a small West Yorkshire town and the Bomb Squad was called in. From the article: 'It was a normal busy Friday morning in the small West Yorkshire market town of Wetherby when someone working in a café spotted a man acting a bit suspiciously on the street. He appeared to have a small plastic box in his hand and after fiddling with the container he bent down and hid it under a flower box standing on the pavement. He then walked off, talking to somebody on his phone.'"
On my daily walks with the dog i one day spotted something in a silver box near the path and found it was a small aluminium box. I personally did not think that it could be related to geocaching at all and called the local polica station and asked them what to do, as in this case it was me who was afraid to touch or open it because i thought this is a bomb ... Well, one of the first things this police officer said was
"i bet this is one of those geocaching boxes, that is not uncommon these days" :-)
So i asked him: "shall i really open it"
officer: "yes, open it"
"and what if it is a bomb and i blow up?"
officer: "then i will keep my ears shut!"
of course there was nothing interesting in this box and no bomb at all. but i really had to laugh about this quite cool and funny officer
Lord "not Gargamel's Cat!" Azrael
It seems to me terrorists used to have some more ulterior goals (ransom, release of prisoners, independence, publicity) not just invoke fear. That is why up to 9/11 they expected hijackers to land and make their demands, not just ram them into buildings. This whole "it'll cost us a million to do and a billion for you do defend against" seems more like a style of guerrilla or economic warfare, trying to make the US crumble under its own weight like the Soviet Union did.
I mean, it doesn't seem to me that al-Qaeda has much they'd really like to talk about, we're infidels and for the most part they'd just like us to die or throw ourselves to the ground and beg for Allah's mercy or something like that. It's not exactly like videos of them slitting captured people's throats are meant to bring us to the negotiation table. And the more they seem like homicidal maniacs, the less I feel like leaving that cancer to spread.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Again, the UK has HAD real bombing campaigns by the IRA, etc.
I still remember how the IRA in the old days woudl "dispose" of a bomb in a litter bin in a station, which woudl then blow up. This is why most railway statiosn in the UK dont haev bins, and when they do, its just a clear bag on a frame, so that the contents can be observed.
If a member of the public sees a person hiding a metal box in the ground in a shady way, then walking away talking on the phone, it is not inconcivable to assume that the person is doing somethgin wrong. I certainly would.
Closing off an area is only prudent, what if it WAS a bomb... and people got hurt....
Controlled blowing up the package is often the right thing, remember these things may have booby traps and tamper protection. and if all there is is a closed metal box, woudl you risk opening it?
As the parent says, the UK, is no stranger to these things, and its the way it works. There are plenty of signs urging the public to be vigilent, and report suspect packages, etc. And this was true even before 9/11
Have a nice day!