[Archive 2009-03-19] Monty Python's "Holy Hand Grenade" sparks bomb scare

Historical archive — originally published 2009-03-19. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

A bomb scare was sparked after someone mistook a replica bomb from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail for a real bomb.

A member of the water board discovered what they described as a "suspicious object" under a fire hydrant cover at the junction between Tabernacle Street and Epworth Street in Finsbury, London. The police, the fire brigade, and bomb disposal officers were called to destroy the bomb, only to discover it was a replica of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

In the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table use the Holy Hand Grenade to kill the deadly Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.

Former member of Monty Python and star of the film Michael Palin humorously commented on the incident saying: "Our Holy Hand Grenade was fictional and there were no plans for creation. We don't want to add to the armaments of the world."

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