A package attached to a parachute caused a bomb scare Tuesday when it floated to the ground in New Jersey, but the mysterious Styrofoam box with a handwritten note referencing President Donald Trump turned out to be a NASA experiment.
A parachuted package referencing the U.S. president, which was found in New Jersey on Tuesday and triggered an evacuation, turned out not to be a bomb but just a NASA experiment, WNBC noted.
It would have saved emergency services a great deal of time if they had known that from the start but bomb threats are not something to take lightly.
Unfortunately, one enthusiastic student involved in the study did not think things through before attaching a handwritten note joking about a bomb to the device, which turned out to be a weather balloon instrument that measures ozone.
The device was packaged in a white Styrofoam box attached to a red balloon, which was discovered by a group of solar panel employees at a solar panel field affiliated with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in South Brunswick, WNBC noted.
Attached to the package was a note that read, "NASA Atmospheric Research Instrument NOT A BOMB! If found, please call [redacted]. If this lands near the President, we at NASA wish him a great round of golf."
Nervous about the discovery, staff contacted the police, who dispatched a bomb squad to the area, which was subsequently evacuated.
The Secret Service was roped into the ordeal but after examining the package, they established that it was indeed a NASA experiment.
In a statement to WNBC, the space agency confirmed that it was a weather balloon instrument launched from the Rutgers University-owned site.
It formed part of the ongoing Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study, which aims to understand the atmospheric chemistry of the region.
Addressing the note, NASA explained that a summer student employee, not affiliated with Rutgers, added extra text, "in a misguided attempt to be lighthearted," WNBC reported. "The student who appended the note was removed from the project, and we are taking steps to standardize the labeling on these scientific instruments," NASA said.
The country is still on high alert following the spate of bombings that plagued the Austin area earlier this year, which culminated with an intense three-week manhunt and led to the death of the suspect believed to have planted parcel bombs across the city, who blew himself up.
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