Hamden Police said they were investigating the park on a report of a suspicious item found on a ledge. The item was not near any walking trails, police said.

Connecticut State Police were on scene to attempt to identify and remove the object; police specified that it was not a person. According to hikers already on the property, a staff worker told them the object was possibly a pipe bomb.

Hikers told News 8 they saw a bomb squad move in.

“They kind of went to the side of a cliff. They were pointing down at something and said, ‘yeah I see it there’s the pipe bomb,’” hiker Connor Lawless told News 8.

Hiker and student from Quinnipiac University, Chris Haddad said, “Once you see the bomb squad setting up, you’re like, ‘ok, this is serious now.’”

Hiker Miles Fye-Moore said, “What’d he say? A white PVC with like the end caps on them? I’m like honestly I’m just trying to get out of here.”

The hikers want to know who caused the scare.

“Whether it was incidental or on purpose, it’s kind of crazy, and it’s kind of scary,” hiker Anthony Nichols said.

Just after 9 p.m., police released a statement saying there is no public safety concern. Then they issued a statement to News 8 first telling us the object was a geocache. Then they went into further detail saying: “The device is described as plastic tubing, containing a notepad (writing materials). It resembled a pipe bomb.”