July 20, 2007, - 1:51 pm
Rocket Launcher on Front Lawn of House Under Flight Path of Newark Airport
By
Reader Steve writes:
Check out this story. It has religion of peace written all over it. I am sure that our wonderful homeland security folks will bury this one. Another flight 800?
I have to agree. It has “Religion of Rocket Launchers” written all over it:
A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass.
Niranjana Besai was leaving her house, located at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work just after 8 this morning when she spotted the launcher on her front lawn. “I read it and it [said] ‘missile,'” Besai told CBS 2 HD. “There was little ‘missile’ [writing] on it.”
She immediately called police.
Sources tell CBS 2 HD that the device is an AT-4 missile launcher that is used to fire against tanks and buildings. The device was first approved by the U.S. Army in 1985 and questions are being raised as to whether the device was stolen from a branch of the military.
What’s more troubling, sources add, is that Besai’s house is located along flight path for Newark Liberty International Airport.
Besai’s neighbor, Joe Quinn, saw her pointing at the device from her front porch. When he walked over to see what the fuss was about, he was just as shocked to see the six-foot-long weapon.
“She’s pointing that there’s something in the front,” he told CBS 2 HD. “I said, ‘Let me come down and take a look,’ and I saw a little soldier on it and I said, ‘Whoa, that’s a missile launcher or something!'”
Quinn says he originally thought the launcher was just a pipe, but after noticing the picture of the soldier — which he described as a soldier kneeling, holding the launcher — he realized it looked similar to a missile launcher he’d seen on television. “I got scared myself,” he says. “It looked like a bazooka, and right away you think what does somebody want with something like that?”
Jersey City Police removed the launcher, and the incident is now being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI.
Sources say Besai is not involved in the investigation as a suspect. “I don’t think it was hers, they’re nice people,” Quinn said.
Jersey City Police could not confirm whether the device was actually operable.
So, let’s see. The house is under the flight path of Newark Liberty airport, and the rocket launcher is on her front lawn. Kudos to Ms. Besai for turning this over to authorities.
Now, will the authorities watch to see who is frequenting nearby front lawns and backyards overnight and trying to shot planes down?
Don’t count on them.
Tags: CBS, Debbie Schlussel Reader Steve, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Front Lawn of House Under Flight Path, Jersey City Police, Joe Quinn, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Newark Liberty airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Niranjana Besai, United States Army
Just watch her get sued by the owner of the launcher…Courtesy of the US Senate…
Witch-king of Angmar on July 20, 2007 at 2:02 pm