Aqua Teen Hunger Force sparked a bizarre Boston bomb scare 15 years ago today

On January 31, 2007, at 8 AM, the surreal worlds of late-night comedy (and post-9/11 War on Terror) collided in Boston. That morning, the Boston Police Department bomb squad’s answered a call from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which was now on alert. The MBTA was responding to a passenger’s call about a sign they had noticed in Sullivan Square, near Mystic River.

The caller reported a set of flashing glowing lights in a strange shape — what appeared to be a middle finger. The police closed down parts of I-93 and the MBTA within hours. Soon, reports began to surface about the placards appearing all around the city. Several of the city’s main traffic arteries, like the Longfellow Bridge and the Boston University Bridge, were cordoned off. So were the Red and Orange lines of the MBTA’s subway. Local agencies soon began to coordinate with federal authorities. The U.S Coast Guard stopped passage of the Charles River and prevented access from Boston Harbor to the Charles River.

It wasn’t until 2 p.m. that a member of the Boston Police who had some connection to pop culture recognized the odd shapes on the placards. The weird glowing squares weren’t bombs, they were Mooninites. More specifically, they were advertisements for Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Eventually referred to by city and state officials as a hoax, Massachusetts College of Art student Peter “Zebbler” Berdovsky and his friend Sean Stevens were arrested by the end of the day.

“It’s a hoax — and it’s not funny,” then-Gov. Deval Patrick stated.

Zebbler and Stevens disagreed, and attempted to highlight the absurdity of the situation when released on bail the next day by only answering questions about “haircuts in the ’70s and how they affect our lives today and how we live in the future.” Incredulous journalists asked they were willing to lose the sympathy of those who felt the city had over-reacted, to which they responded “That’s not a hair question.” Their lawyer tried to remind the assembled media that his clients were journalists.

Officials claimed that Stevens and Zebbler were responsible for the whole incident. Then-Rep. Ed Markey, now a Massachusetts senator, told CNN that “whoever thought this up needs to find another job. This is marketing gone mad. It involves scaring whole regions, locking up major highways and roads, and requiring first responders spend 12 hours searching for terrorists. It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt.”

The duo became more resentful when the state offered them a plea bargain. Martha Coakley, then-Attorney General of Massachusetts, noted that it was difficult to prove Zebbler or Stevens meant to panic when the devices were placed around the city. This is especially true considering that the Mooninite placards have been in other cities across the nation without any incidents. Adult Swim parent company Turner paid 1 million to Boston and another one million to Homeland Security for the compensation.

However, Massachusetts politicians were intent to make sure that they wouldn’t get off so easily in the future. A few months later in May 2007, Sen. Edward Kennedy introduced the Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007, which would have allowed the government to take civil action against parties involved in perceived hoaxes if they failed to “promptly and reasonably inform one or more parties … of the actual nature of the activity.” The bill never ended up going anywhere.

In a new feature on Input chronicling the incident, Zebbler, Stevens, and others involved with the case say they’re doing fine today. While the incident complicated Zebbler’s attempt to become an American citizen and created a “scary year,” it has been resolved. The Great Mooninite Panic 2007 is now a legend among generations and serves as a reminder about how rapidly the state security apparatus escalates.

Adult Swim, 15 years on, seems more determined in its remembrance. As you can see from the Twitter account.