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The January 31, 2007 Boston Mooninite scare (Boston advertising security scare, Aqua-Gate, or Boston bomb scare) occurred when Boston police officers mistakenly identified small electronic devices found throughout Boston and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville as improvised explosive devices.^[1] The devices turned out to be battery-powered LED placards with an image of a cartoon character called a "mooninite". The placards were part of a guerrilla marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, a film based on the animated TV series Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF) on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late-night programming block.^[1]

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Devices 2 The incident 3 Fallout 3.1 Arrests 4 Public reaction 5 Response in other cities 5.1 New York City 5.2 Chicago 5.3 Seattle 5.4 Philadelphia 5.5 Los Angeles 5.6 Portland, Oregon 5.7 San Francisco 6 Sale of devices and unauthorized merchandise 7 References 8 External links

In November 2006, Peter Berdovsky, a Boston area artist, met a man named "John" at a party in Brooklyn, NY. John worked for marketing company Interference, Inc. and asked Peter if he would be interested in working on a "promotional stunt". Berdovsky agreed and then enlisted Sean Stevens to help in the project. Interference shipped Berdovsky 40 electronic signs. Adrienne Yee of Interference e-mailed him a list of suggested locations and a list of things not to do. According to the police, the suggested locations for the devices included "Train stations, overpasses, hip/trendy areas and high traffic/high visibility areas". They were to be paid $300 each for their work.

Berdovsky, Stevens and Dana Seaber put up 20 magnetic lights in the middle of January. They dubbed the activity "Boston Mission 1". While Stevens and Berdovsky put up the lights, Seaber video recorded the activity and sent a copy afterward to Interference.

On the night of January 29, 2007, 18 more magnetic lights were put in place in what was called "Boston Mission 2". This included the one under Interstate 93 at Sullivan Square in Charlestown. ^{[2] [3]}

Peter Berdovsky, 27, is from Belarus and had been granted refugee status in the United States in 2000.^[4] He lived until recently in Arlington, Massachusetts. Sean Stevens, 28, lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Both are video artists.

The devices closely resemble the Night Writer promoted by the Graffiti Research Lab in early 2006 ^[5] The devices were promotional electronic placards for the forthcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. Each device, measuring about 1 by 1.5 feet,^[1] consisted of a printed circuit board (PCB) which had been painted black with light-emitting diodes and other electronic components soldered to it, including numerous resistors, a few capacitors, and at least one integrated circuit package. At the bottom was a pack of four D-cell batteries, and magnets were attached to the back so the devices could be easily mounted on any metal surface. The batteries were originally covered in black tape to blend with the black PCB.

The LEDs were arranged to show a cartoon character displaying the middle finger.^[6][7] Two variants were manufactured with the LEDs arranged in pixelated likenesses of Ignignokt and Err, Mooninite characters from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said the device "had a very sinister appearance. It had a battery behind it, and wires."^[8] Others compared the displays to the Lite-Brite electronic toy,^[8] although the method of construction is different.

On 2007-01-31, at 8:05 a.m. a passenger spotted the device on a stanchion that supports an elevated section of Interstate 93 (I-93), above Sullivan Station and told a policeman with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. ^[9] At 9 a.m., the Boston Police Bomb squad received a phone call from the MBTA requesting assistance in identifying the device.^[10] Authorities responded with what the Boston Globe described "An army of emergency vehicles" at the scene, including police cruisers, fire trucks, ambulances, and the Boston Police Department bomb squad. Also present were live TV crews with helicopters circling overhead and a large crowd of onlookers. ^[9] Peter Berdovsky, who had placed the device, went to the scene and video recorded the situation. Berdovsky recognized the device the police were dealing with but made no attempt to inform the police at the scene of what he knew about it. Berdovsky returned to his apartment and contacted the company Interference who had hired him to place the lights. He was told by Interference that they would handle informing the police and that he should personally say nothing about the situation.[1] During the preliminary investigation at the site, the police found that the device shared some characteristics with improvised explosive devices. These characteristics included an identifiable power source, circuit board with exposed wiring, and electrical tape. After the initial assessment, the Boston police shut down the northbound side of I-93 and parts of the public transportation system. Just after 10 a.m. the bomb squad used a small explosive filled with water to destroy it as a precaution. MBTA Transit police Lieutenant Salvatore Venturelli told the media at the scene, "This is a perfect example of our passengers taking part in Homeland Security." He refused to describe the object in detail because of the ongoing investigation responding that "It's not consistent with equipment that would be there normally," Investigators were trying to determine "if it was a hoax or something else entirely" according to Venturelli. ^[9][11] Northbound I-93 reopened to traffic at about 10:05 a.m. By 10:21 a.m. it was determined to be "some sort of hoax device" according to a police timeline of the events.^[10]

At 12:54 p.m., Boston police received a call identifying a similar device located at the intersection of Stuart and Charles Street.^[10] At 1:11 p.m. the Massachusetts State Police requested assistance from the bomb squad with devices found under the Longfellow and Boston University bridges.^[10] Both bridges were closed as a precaution and the Coast Guard closed the river itself to boat traffic.^[12][13]

The first media reports that the event was a hoax occurred around 1 p.m.^{[citation needed]} Friends of Peter Berdovsky received an e-mail from him at 1:26 p.m. which alleged that five hours into the scare, an Interference Inc. (the marketing firm that created the campaign) executive requested Berdovsky "keep everything on the dl".^[2] Travis Vautour, friend of Berdovsky, stated: "We received an e-mail in the early afternoon from Peter that asked the community that he's a part of to keep any information we had on the down low and that was instructed to him by whoever his boss was."^[14]

Two hours later, Interference notified their client, Cartoon Network.^[2] Between 2 and 3 p.m., a police analyst identified the image on the devices as an ATHF cartoon character, and the police concluded the incident was a publicity stunt.^[1] Turner Broadcasting System issued a statement concerning the event at around 4:30 p.m.^[1] Portions of the Turner statement read: "We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger. The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim's animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force."^[15]

"They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger." Some devices had been up in the cities listed for two weeks before the Boston incident occurred, although no permits were ever secured for the devices' installation.^[15]

The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference, Inc., has made no comment on the situation and their website has also been down (restored as of 2007-02-03).^[16] Berdovsky and Stevens, the individuals hired by Interference to install the signs, were arrested by Boston police during the evening of January 31, and charged with violating Chapter 266: Section 102A½ of The General Laws of Massachusetts, which makes it a crime to place a "hoax device" with the intent to panic the public.^[6][17] Both were released on $2,500 bail.

City and State officials have come to an agreement with Turner Broadcasting to pay for costs incurred during the incident. As part of a settlement that resolves all criminal and civil claims, Turner Broadcasting Systems and Interference Inc. have agreed to pay $2 million. $1 million of this will go towards the Boston police department, and $1 million will go towards homeland security. In addition, Turner released a statement to take responsibility and apologize for the incident.^[18]

Jim Samples stepped down from his 13 year position as head of Cartoon Network on 2007-02-09.^[19]

Berdovsky and Stevens were arrested on the day of the incident and charged with placing a hoax device to incite panic, a felony charge that carries a five-year maximum sentence, and one count of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.^[17] Both pleaded not guilty to the two charges and were later released on a $2,500 cash bond.^[2] At their arraignment Assistant Attorney General John Grossman claimed that the two were trying to "get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location."^[20] Michael Rich, the lawyer representing both men, disputed Grossman's claim, asserting that even a VCR could be found to fit the description of a bomb-like device.^[20] Judge Leary said that it will be necessary for the prosecution to demonstrate an intent on the part of the suspects to cause a panic. The judge continues "It appears the suspects had no such intent, …but the question should be discussed in a later hearing."^[20] A small crowd of supporters gathered outside of the courthouse to protest the perceived overreaction by authorities.

At a press conference held outside of the courthouse following their release from jail, Berdovsky, Rich and Stevens refused to comment on the case. Berdovsky and Stevens instead insisted on discussing hairstyles of the 1970s, prompting annoyed comments and accusations of apathy from the press.^[8]

Charges remain pending against Berdovsky and Stevens, with their next court date set on 2007-05-11. Meanwhile, it was revealed that surveillance cameras filmed Berdovsky videotaping officers removing the suspicious device from the Sullivan Square T station, with Stevens standing in the crowd.^[21]

The Boston Globe stated that the "marketing gambit exposes a wide generation gap", quoting one 29-year old blogger as writing "Repeat after me, authorities. L-E-D. Not I-E-D. Get it?"^[22] The G4 television channel dubbed the scare Aqua-Gate, thus suggesting the scare was a scandal.^[23] The LA Times editorials derided the reaction of Boston's officials, remarking "Emergency personnel and anti-terrorism squads shut down more than a dozen highways, transit stations and other locations across the city Wednesday after receiving reports about multiple suspicious devices. The slender, placemat-sized items had dozens of colored lights, exposed wires and circuitry, and were powered by a row of D batteries wrapped in black tape. In other words, they looked like an upscale version of Hasbro's Lite-Brite, a toy for artistic grade-schoolers." ^[24] Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert and writer on contemporary security issues summed up the incident as a "Non-Terrorist Embarrassment in Boston"^[25].

The Boston Herald stated that part of the overreaction in the response could be blamed on two packages that didn't blink. According to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, phony pipe bombs were also discovered that day, one inside Tufts-New England Medical Center at 1 p.m. Its security guard described "an agitated white male" fleeing saying, "God is warning you that today is going to be a sad day." The Herald goes on to characterize the placement of the devices as a "coordinated hoax".^[26] Davis also mentioned other incidents of the day that may have influenced the reaction, including a Washington DC metro stop being shut down due to a suspected package and fumes emanating from a package at a post office in New York City, resulting in four people being treated there. "It was almost like we had a kind of perfect storm of circumstances falling into place," Davis said.^[26]

The New York Daily News reported that employees at Intereference, Inc., slammed the door in their face and that CEO Sam Ewen refused requests for interviews. [2]

The advertising magazine Brandweek said that the incident, which it labeled a fiasco, would cause marketers to "steer clear of guerilla tactics until the controversy around the Aqua Teen Hunger Force stunt-turned-bomb-scare in Boston dies down." It further said the incident "will no doubt be followed by a reassessment of the potential price of what used to be known as a low-cost method to generate buzz." [3].

According to Fox News, fans of ATHF mocked Boston officials during the press conference of Berdovsky and Stevens, calling the arrests an overreaction while holding signs supporting the actions of the two. These signs had slogans such as "Free Peter" and "1-31-07 Never Forget," satirizing Mayor Tom Menino's mentions of 9/11.^[27]

The Boston Police Department's failure to notice the devices for two weeks (a fact pointed out on several news broadcasts) was mocked by the Zebro Show. Their satirical video was released on Youtube.com the same day as the Scare. They also pointed out the fact the devices lacked explosives of any kind, among other facts, supported by newsclips.^[28]

Other local Boston residents have been quoted by local papers. "We all thought it was pretty funny," said one student. "The majority of us recognize the difference between a bomb and a Lite-Brite," said another.^[29] One resident said that the police response was "silly and insane", and that "We’re the laughingstock".^[30] Something Positive, which is written and drawn by Waltham resident R. K. Milholland, also weighed in on the issue.^[31] Bloggers on the Boston section of livejournal commented on channel 4 footage of the first device being exploded and clearly identified it as a "mooninite" reacting in disbelief.^[32] One blogger pointed out the similarity to what he called "Super Mario Question Block Hysteria all over again" in which five high school girls in Ravenna, OH placed brightly colored boxes with question marks resembling the Super Mario game around town, and drew the bomb squad and possible prosecution. Similar boxes had been placed around various universities in the country including U Mass. The effort was part of an artistic and political commentary on the use of public space which spread in 2006.^[33][34]

Not all press alleged an overreaction by Boston officials and media. David Hiltbrand, TV columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, states "Those wacky marketing guys at Turner Broadcasting [which is the parent company of both CNN and the Cartoon Network]. Because, let's face it, nothing says cartoon hijinks quite like a level-red terrorist threat."^[35]

Karl Carter of Atlanta, Georgia-based Guerilla Tactics Media said fans of the show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" would recognize the character and think it was funny, but other people who saw the signs wouldn't get the joke. "This is probably better set up for nightclubs and other sorts of scenarios where the people that are receiving the message, one, would know what it's about, but also two, wouldn't be frightened," he said. "You know, if you put these in certain environments, like public spaces in this post-9/11 sensitivity, then of course you're going to wind up in trouble." Make Magazine editor Phillip Torrone said the advertisers should have used better judgement, but called the Mooninite board a "neat electronic project."^[36]

As reported by BoingBoing, the media and the State of Massachusetts itself maintained the use of the word "hoax" when describing the event, despite Turner Broadcasting Systems' contentions that they had no intention of arousing suspicion or panic in approving the advertising campaign.^[37]

On February 27, 2007, just a month after the incident, Boston police authorities detonated another object that they believed to be bomb, but it ended up being a traffic counter. ^{[38] [39]}

Kevin Pereira, a co-host of G4TV's Attack of the Show, said the following on the 2/1/07 episode of A.O.T.S.: "Can we please stop perpetuating this culture of fear?... I mean the words 'terror hoax device' and 'prank terrorism threat' they are still being thrown around despite the fact that this incident was completely debunked while other news outlets were still claiming it was developing. I mean Attack of the Show we certainly don't have the resources that Fox News or Turner-owned CNN does, yet as the devices were still being removed live our staff performed a couple Google searches and we were able to see this story for what it was: a gigantic misunderstanding... everybody just calm down take a deep breath relax for one second... maybe watch some cartoons... Because you know when a few LEDs overshadow actual bombings in Iraq it's clearly time to change the channel."

In the months following the scare, stickers reading, "Don't Panic! This is NOT A BOMB. Do not be afraid. Do not call the police. Stop letting the terrorists win," have begun to appear on Boston parking meters, ATMs and other objects in public, as a sarcastic rebuke of the police overreaction.^{[citation needed]}

Despite all this, on March 18, 2007 at the annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast in South Boston, jokes were made about the incident by Massachusetts politicians. Tom Menino himself said it was a way to obtain a local aid package for the city. Congressman Stephen Lynch claimed that the Mooninites were part of a sleeper cell that also included SpongeBob Squarepants. State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill held up a picture of a Mooninite with Mitt Romney's face on it, saying "We had to blur out his real feelings about Massachusetts."^{[citation needed]}

Ten cities in all were involved in the marketing campaign that began two to three weeks before the incident in Boston.

The New York Police Department contacted Interference Inc., a New York-based marketing firm, to request a list of 41 locations where the devices were installed.^[40] Officers were able to locate and remove only two devices, both planted on an overpass at 33rd Street and West Side Highway.^[40] The NYPD did not receive any complaints about the devices according to police spokesman Paul Brown.^[40]

At 9:30 p.m. on the evening of January 31, the Chicago Police Department received a list of installation locations from Interference Inc.^[41] Police recovered and disposed of 20 of the 35 devices, leaving 15 unaccounted for. Police Superintendent Philip Cline admonished those responsible for the campaign, stating "One of the devices could have easily been mistaken for a bomb and set off enough panic to alarm the entire city."^[41] Cline went on to say that, on February 1, he asked Turner Broadcasting to reimburse the city for funds spent on locating and disposing the devices.^[41] Two men were briefly held in connection to the incident, but were not charged.^[42]

Fewer than 20 devices were found in Seattle and neither the Seattle Police Department nor the King County Sheriff's Office received 9-1-1 calls regarding them.^[43] King County Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart went on to state, "To us, they're so obviously not suspicious ... We don't consider them dangerous."^[43] "In this day and age, whenever anything remotely suspicious shows up, people get concerned - and that's good. However, people don't need to be concerned about this. These are cartoon characters giving the finger."^[44]

Interference Inc. hired two people to distribute 20 devices throughout Philadelphia on January 11.^[45] One of these was Ryan, a 24-year-old from Fishtown, who claimed that he was promised $300 USD for installing the devices, only 18 of which were actually functional.^[45] Following the scare in Boston, the Philadelphia Police Department recovered only 3 of the 18 devices. Joe Grace, spokesman for Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, was quoted as saying "We think it was a stupid, regrettable, irresponsible stunt by Turner. We do not take kindly to it."^[45] A cease-and-desist letter was sent to Turner, threatening fines for violating zoning codes.^[46]

No devices were retrieved in Los Angeles and Lieutenant Paul Vernon of the LAPD stated that "no one perceived them as a threat."^[47]

Pictured to the right is one of many Los Angeles signs that were up over 2 weeks before the Boston Scare with no incident. (Note the date on metadata of photo, 8 January)

Police Sergeant Brian Schmautz stated that officers in Portland had not been dispatched to remove the devices, and did not plan to unless they were found on municipal property. He added, "At this point we wouldn't even begin an investigation, because there's no reason to believe a crime has occurred." ^[8]

San Francisco police Sgt. Neville Gittens said that Interference Inc. was removing them, except for one found by art gallery owner Jamie Alexander who reportedly "thought it was cool" and had it taken down after it ceased to function. ^[48]

The incident prompted opportunists to acquire the promotional devices from other cities and auction them on eBay, with prices ranging from $500 to over $5,000 USD.^[49] Other eBay users created unauthorized merchandise commemorating the event, including such items as T-shirts, stickers, and custom LED signs.^[50]

Several hundred T-shirts and stickers were also created on websites such as CafePress, but designs featuring depictions of the LED mooninites were promptly banned for fear that Turner Broadcasting would claim copyright infringement.^[51]

• Peter Berdovsky's website
  • Movie from Berdovsky's website about the marketing campaign
• Sean Stevens' website
• Peter and Sean
• Free Zebbler
• superfiction.com (Another Peter Berdovsky website)
• Adult Swim's Response To Crisis