What was the 'Boston Mooney Night Panic' when a guerrilla movie advert was mistaken for a bomb attack and led to arrests?
On January 31, 2007, multiple 'potential bomb devices' were discovered in Boston, causing train service to be halted and roads to be closed. This incident is known as the ' Boston Mooney Night Panic ' and is still talked about today.
Looking back at the Boston Mooninite panic, 10 years later
2007 Boston Mooninite panic - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic
The 2007 Boston Mooninite Panic - YouTube
At 8:05 a.m. on January 31, 2007, an 'unidentified, suspicious device' was discovered hanging from a steel beam supporting Interstate 93. A citizen who discovered the object notified the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which began work to remove the suspicious device.
Because the suspicious object was equipped with LED lights and electronic boards, the MBTA determined that the device was a possible explosive and requested cooperation from the Boston Police Department. The police, who received the request, dispatched a fire engine and an ambulance in addition to the bomb disposal team, considering the possibility of a bomb. The bomb disposal team determined that the device was a possible improvised explosive device based on the fact that it was equipped with circuit boards, insulating tape, and a power source, and closed Interstate 93 and part of the nearby railway to begin bomb disposal.
The bomb squad submerged the device and destroyed it with a different explosive. The highway was then reopened at about 10:05 and the suspicious device was reported as a 'tamper device of some kind.' However, this was not the only case of suspicious devices discovered, and similar devices were discovered in other parts of Boston, leading to the closure of major bridges and a ban on boat traffic.
The mysterious device that sent fear into Boston was actually part of a guerilla advertising campaign to promote the upcoming film adaptation of the TV cartoon ' Aqua Teen Hunger Force .' The LED lights depicted Ignignokt, one of the Mooney Knights from the cartoon.
The first device was installed on January 15, 2007, two weeks before the discovery date. The advertising campaign was carried out in a guerilla manner and did not obtain permission from the city authorities to install the device, which led to a major uproar.
The creators of the ad campaign, Peter Zebrar Berdowski (artist name: Zebrar) and Shawn Stevens, attended a press conference after the incident. However, they only spoke about '60s and 70s hairstyles,' an unrelated topic, and ignored questions about the incident. You can see the press conference in the video below. Stevens is on the left and Zebrar is on the right.
Boston bomb scare suspects press conference about Hair. - YouTube
A person believed to be Stevens himself appeared on the news-sharing site Hacker News and described the situation at the time, saying, 'I called my employer immediately after the problem occurred, but they told me not to call the police because we would resolve it ourselves.' He also said, 'Zebrar and I cooperated fully with the investigation, but we ended up in jail. We weren't provided with blankets or dinner in Boston in January.' He also said, 'The police reaction was clearly an overreaction in the wake of the September 11 attacks.'
The 2007 Boston Mooninite Panic | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37105056
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