Big Scare In The U.K.

     This unfortunate event happened a year ago but I just saw the story and want to share it for those of you who have not seen it.

     It seems important for a few reasons.

Firstly, this is a situation that any cacher could experience.  I don't know what you all feel about it, but when I go out caching I avoid muggles.  That isn't always completely possible; every has been in that situation too.  I never look suspicious, guilty or sneaky.  If a muggle type person comes up (especially of the law enforcement type) I don't attempt to come up with some sort of evasive answer as to what I am doing.  I always figure that a muggle is just a geocacher who doesn't yet know that he is a cacher.  I am here to help with that.
Secondly, this situation is a sad reminder that our world lives with so much suspicion.  Sad but true.
And lastly - can you believe the piece of equipment that was used to check out a plastic cache container.  WOW!  NEAT!
Sorry - got a bit carried away.

     Here's what happened July of 2011 in the quiet town of Wetherby, North Yorkshire.

     A coffee shop owner named Karen Brittain called the police after she saw a man fumbling with a sealed plastic box, hiding it under a waste bin on the street, then walking away quickly with a cell phone held to his ear. She knew nothing of geocaching before that day.  Well, what would you do if you were in her shoes?

     The police took the call seriously and brought the English town to a halt after mistaking the cacher for a terrorist with a bomb.  Again - what would you have done?  They sealed off the area, evacuated the street, closed surrounding roads, and brought in robots to destroy the suspected home-made bomb.

     As far as the cacher?  The U.K. police gave him a caution and told him not to cache things in such places in the future.