Bomb Scare In Electra Turns Out To Be A Game - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

A suspicious box with wires coming out of it, turned out to be part of an online worldwide scavenger hunt called "geocaching."

Electra Police were called to a resident's private property around 3p.m. Thursday for a military ammo box strapped to a fence post. Police called in DPS, the Sheriff's Office and a Texas Ranger with bomb experience.

"Nobody had actually seen a device or a box that was wired like this or attached like this, so we really didn't know what we had," said Police Chief Johnny Morris.

The Ranger sent pictures of the box to The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Fort Worth, who coordinated with the bomb squad at Fort Sill.

The bomb squad had seen something similar before and advised police to look at geocaching.com to see if the item was listed at that location. Police found the item on the web site at the correct coordinates and determined the box safe to remove.

Upon opening the box, Chief Morris found little trinkets and toys, along with geocaching instructions and a notepad to sign if you found the box.

Chief Morris sent officers to find each of the other geocaches in the city to make sure they were safe. "What if somebody's booby-trapped it, what if somebody moved the real one and put an explosive there?" said Morris. "We've got to figure out... are you just going to walk up to it and jerk the lid open or are we going to take some precautions and see what the box actually is?"

Police removed one other geocache that was on private property as well, but left any that were hidden on city property.