Six people were injured by explosions in Illinois and Iowa on Friday. Six pipe bombs were also found Saturday in rural areas of Nebraska, but none went off. They were later detonated harmlessly by authorities.
He said he saw a clear plastic bag containing a 6-inch long metal pipe with screw-on caps on both ends, along with a 9-volt battery, some wires and some papers, he said. At first Nun thought that someone had left something for his wife, and he picked the package up, but put it back down.
''This doesn't quite look right,'' he said he told himself, calling the county sheriff. FBI explosives experts arrived an hour or so later, confirmed that the device was a pipe bomb, and detonated it, Nun said.
Midwest, 1994-95: Members of the white supremacist Aryan Republican Army go on a 7-state crime spree, leaving behind pipe bombs as they rob 22 banks from Nebraska to Ohio.
Vernon, Oklahoma, November 1995: A self-proclaimed prophet and leader of an Oklahoma militia is arrested while preparing a bombing spree against civil-rights offices, abortion clinics, welfare offices, and gay bars.
Spokane, Washington, April-July 1996: Citing biblical law, three self-described "Phineas Priests" commit bank robberies and bomb offices of the daily Spokesman-Review, Planned Parenthood, and a local bank.
Atlanta, Georgia, July 1996-February 1997: Pipe bombs explode at Centennial Olympic Park, an abortion clinic, and a gay bar, killing 1 and injuring more than 100 people. The so-called Army of God takes credit for the clinic and bar bombings.
Phoenix, Arizona, July 1996: Federal agents arrest 12 members of the Viper Militia and seize over 300 pounds of ammonium nitrate - a key ingredient of the Oklahoma City bomb - plus 70 automatic rifles, thousands of bullets, and 200 blasting caps.
Clarksburg, West Virginia, October 1996: Federal agents arrest Mountaineer Militia members for possession of explosives and for allegedly plotting to blow up the FBI's fingerprint facility, where 2,000 people work. Authorities seize TNT, grenades, and C-4 plastic explosives.
Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 1997: Federal agents arrest a local militia activist for allegedly giving 11 pipe bombs to a government informant and plotting to bomb government offices, armories, and a TV station.
Yuba City, California, April 1997: A blast that shatters area windows leads police to 550 pounds of petrogel, a gelatin dynamite, allegedly stored by local militia activists. The explosives are enough to level three city blocks.
Wise County, Texas, April 1997: Federal officials arrest four Ku Klux Klan members who had planned to blow up a natural-gas refinery and use the disaster as cover for an armored-car robbery.
Fort Hood, Texas, July 1997: Convinced that army bases are training United Nations troops to stage a coup, an antigovernment group plans to attack Fort Hood on July 4. Authorities arrest seven people and seize machine guns and pipe bombs.