Investigators determine that suspicious banana in pine tree was neither a bomb nor a banana

Investigators have determined that an item that appeared to be a suspicious banana found hanging from a pine tree in northeast Lincoln, Nebraska, is harmless.

The banana-appearing device, wrapped in yellow tape and attached to a wire, caught the eye of a Lincoln Electric System worker, Lincoln Fire and Rescue Capt. Lloyd Mueller said.



So the man called 911 to report the suspicious banana and police and fire crews, along with a bomb technician, responded. When Mueller's company arrived, they waited at least 100 feet away and watched the device through binoculars as they waited for the bomb technician to arrive, Lincoln Fire Investigator Chuck Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer and the crews, with an assist from listeners to the police scanner, determined the banana wasn't a bomb. Instead, it was part of a modern scavenger hunt, called geocaching, where enthusiasts try to find hidden objects using GPS. Schweitzer now has custody of the banana-appearing device.