Maybe I’m missing something here.
I have never understood how people could mistake cartoon figures for terrorist bombs. Especially now that I know identical devices showed up in several other cities and no one even looked twice at 'em.
No offense intended, but are Bostonians really so skittish that a marketing push ignites a terrorism panic? Is somebody trying to “prove a point”? And what the hell did the damn things look like that made someone think they were bombs?
Actually, even though I think the people who thought it was a bomb must have been high to see this and think “OMG! Bomb!” (instead of “Hey! Lightbrite!”) I think I understand why the Boston PD overreacted. Back on September 11th Boston really dropped the ball when it came to security, which led to most of the terrorists going through Logan. After something like that, they’re bound to take any sort of “terrorist” plot a hell of a lot more seriously than the other cities that had these marketing devices. Or they should, anyway.
And it wasn’t really Bostonians in general, you know. Many people had to have seen them in the 2-3 weeks they were up and properly thought that they were lightbrites. It just took a couple of people squinting at them the wrong way and going to the police about them to cause the whole mess.
One of the news stories I read said that the “concerned calls” were NOT coming from panicked members of the public. Sounds more like a maintenance worker or cop spotted it and called it in because they weren’t supposed to be there, the the authorities decided to make a huge, big deal without investigating first. I don’t fault them for taking precautions at first, but the enormity of the entire response seemed a little unnecessary.
You only had to shut down the street for the first one, read the sticker to see who it belonged to and then call them.
The first thing to understand is that a bomb can look like anything. It can look like a trashcan, or a doll, or a truck, or a guy in an overcoat. It can even look like a Lite Bright. So, I can’t fault someone for calling the police to check out an odd-looking gadget in a place where they wouldn’t normally expect to see such a thing. (I have no idea how rational the actual caller was. I speak here of a reasonable individual who reports something “strange”, not someone who raves hysterically about bombs.)
That said, it should have been fairly obvious to anyone who knows anything about explosives that these things didn’t fit the profile of devices designed to do structural damage. They were 15 inches by 13 inches, most of which was a thin, flat plastic section with LEDs on it. The rest of it was circuitry and some D-cells, part of which was enclosed or concealed. An IED that size and shape could conceal something that would be a threat to people, but wouldn’t do more than superficial damage to a major support structure (like a bridge pillar). I suspect that the experts who responded to the call made that assessment, in fact. Blowing it up was not inappropriate because such a device could potentially be dangerous to anyone examining it (or attempting to disarm it, had it been an IED).
I suspect the panic arose out of a breakdown in communication, combined with an impulse by the higher-ups to appear proactive. (“Protecting the citizens” is always good for a vote or two, after all.) I would guess that there was enough delay between reports that police were investigating a possible bomb and the reports that the devices weren’t really a threat for the powers-that-be to start talking it up publicly and instituting “precautionary measures”.
Any “hoax” or “inciting panic” charges leveled at the people who placed the displays are part of a face-saving effort, in my opinion. Not that they shouldn’t be charged with anything–I’m sure they did break a law or two, and stupidity should carry some penalty, anyway.
Disclosure: I haven’t been following this closely since last week, so I may have missed new information that renders the above opinion pure bunk.
I don’t think anyone overreacted. These things were placed on bridges and tunnels and the like: infrastructure points. People started to see them systematically placed and called the respective authorities who took the appropriate actions. What if they took no action and these things were in fact bombs? Then what would you think of the Bostonians.
And to blame Logan security for 9/11 is ridiculous. Who could have guessed that the so-called box cutters in carry-on luggage were intended to hi-jack planes ans kill thousands. Come on.
I have to agree with you on this point. Boston shouldn’t suffer a permanent black eye because two of the attacks were launched from there. The CIA and FBI should wear scarlet letters forever, but not Bostonians.
So, essentially, it was a snowball effect – first one, then another, then another, and pretty soon somebody says, “wait just a damn minute!” That’s reasonable. My father was a police officer for 30 years, and the first goal of every policeman’s job is to control the situation. It’s a natural need, given the job they have.
Jeez I read the thread title to say “Boston Terrier” 
Yeah, well, sometimes a really pissed-off little dog can be pretty scary! They can only jump so high, y’know!
If a bomb had gone off under a bridge, people would have been screaming about the lack of terror alert response.
If you want to blow up a bridge, you don’t place the “explosive” on the outside where everybody can see it and the blast is just going to go out into the air. The swat team must have realized this.
Those lite-brites are hell on shrapnel I hear…
ouch A blue one…
ouch A green one…
ouch A yellow one…
Dear Og In Heaven! ( the red ones Really smart)
Do Boston Terriers ever get pissed-off?
I can’t believe anyone in this day and age would be so stupid as to put dozens of wierd glowing electrical devices all over the place.
It’s kind of like yelling “fire” as a joke and then blaming people for panicking.
I think they overreacted. And since they know that it was an admittedly bad idea for a promotion and not a terrorist act, I think the $2M is out of line. Not that Turner can’t afford it, mind you. It’s just the principle.
Almost inhaled my breakfast, there. Good one! 
Point is, something like ten other cities had 'em and nobody freaked out. It sounds like everybody involved in Boston was too young to remeber Lite Brites to me.