FBI: Devices Similar to Pipe Bombs Found on Power Lines

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. — Mar 31, 2016, 2:16 PM ET

Devices that authorities say looked like pipe bombs but were intended to start a fire rather than an explosion were found hanging from power lines in Massachusetts.

The devices were found Wednesday when the Tyngsboro Fire Department responded to a brush fire and noticed the items hanging from National Grid lines.

Harold Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston division, said multiple incendiary devices "similar in structure to pipe bombs" were found, but were determined to be "non-explosive" early Thursday morning and have been rendered safe.

Shaw said at this point there is no evidence tying the devices to terrorism. He said law enforcement agencies and utility companies across the country have been notified.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suspicious-devices-found-power-lines-massachusetts-38061142

[LiberalArkie]

1. How in the heck did the people get them on the power lines without being electrocuted?

[phazed0]

4. You can lick a 1000v power line and not get electrocuted..

but you must not be touching ground or another wire when you do it, providing a path to ground or another phase. Utility workers use fiberglass poles to flip transformers on/off.

[olddad56]

5. oh, I'll have to run out and try that.

[Purveyor]

6. lol

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Don't try it when it's below freezing.

[MADem]

7. Like this?

[notadmblnd]

9. Trained squirrels?

I hear Bullwinkle's sidekick Rocky was looking for extra work.

[csziggy]

13. Swallows? But I'm not sure if theymight have to be African swallows. n/t

[Ford_Prefect]

2. Drone delivery system?

[FLPanhandle]

3. How is this not terrorism?

Trying to take out the electrical grid is what then? Youthful hi-jinks?

[MADem]

8. +1,000! nt

[mr clean]

11. Must not have been any brown suspects around when found them.

[tinymontgomery]

10. In the old days they just threw sneakers

In the olds they just threw sneakers over the wires.

[Pakhet]

12. I've always wondered why that is n/t

[csziggy]

14. Here you go!

[Pakhet]

15. you're pulling my leg...

What movie was that, btw. Looks interesting

[csziggy]

16. That was from Wag the Dog

While they used the shoes as a political device in the movie, throwing shoes into trees and over power lines has been around a long time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_tossing
http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/sneakers.asp

And as Snopes mentions, the practice will forever be linked to the movie, Wag the Dog.

[Pakhet]

17. Thank you for looking that up when I was too lazy. LOL

Off to see if netflix has the movie.

[Eugene]

19. Massachusetts man arrested after suspicious devices found near power lines

Source: Reuters

World | Sat Apr 2, 2016 1:27pm EDT

Massachusetts man arrested after suspicious devices found near power lines

A Massachusetts man with a history of feuding with telecommunications companies was arrested on Saturday as part of an FBI probe into a series of suspicious devices found near power lines in a small town near the New Hampshire border.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, along with state and local police arrested Danny Kelly, 61, at his home in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on Saturday morning, the FBI said.

Kelly, who was arrested on probable cause related to the investigation, will be charged on Monday, said Christina Dilorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Massachusetts.

Local police and fire departments responded on Thursday to a brush fire near a power line in Tyngsboro, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Boston and found an unspecific number of devices that resembled pipe bombs near transmission lines operated by National Grid. The devices were determined to be flammable but not explosive and posed no threat to the public, the FBI said.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-crime-idUSKCN0WZ0OD