Police: Suspicious device was weather balloon

DUNKIRK, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a suspicious package blown up by a western New York police bomb squad turned out to be a weather balloon that had apparently landed in Lake Erie and washed ashore.

Police say a city employee found the package Thursday morning near the entrance to a lakeside park in Dunkirk, 33 miles southwest of Buffalo.

Officers say the Styrofoam cooler with no markings on it appeared to contain electronic devices with wiring and a battery. The park was evacuated and police closed off a nearby beach.

The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office bomb squad used a remote-controlled robot to examine the device and then destroy it.

Afterward, authorities determined the device was a weather balloon.