a 'real' bomb went off in my quiet neighborhood today!

ok,
so check this out!
i get home today to my ultra sleepy neighborhood in pacifica, ca - a nice little community that sits on a hill of red woods over looking the ocean. nice, quiet people live here. it's structure is aging yuppies that make good money, and a higher-middle class.

my street is totally corded off by unmarked SUV's with very modulated boxed equipment in the back. officials standing around - not just cops. the police have taped off the top of the drive and bottom. no one can enter the area.

i take an alternate route to the top (where i live) and talk to my neighbor about what happened. (and a police officer) someone put a pretty powerful explosive in a neighbor's mailbox. -- at first i thought, oh some teen-agers goofing around with m-80s. -- the usual suspect. we all used to do that when we were kids...

after talking to my neighbor, and the police officer, it was a rather large and powerful device. my neighbor whom checked out the scene said he saw no paper bit and pieces from what would be a cardboard casing - similar to m-80 or m-1000s - or dynamite.
he said it rocked the entire neighborhood valley HARD. and said it made illegal fireworks sound like children's toys. (the kind of sonics that take the smile right off your face.)

he and my wife whom drove up the hill seconds after the blast said there was a HUGE amount of white smoke in the air that lingered for a while.

my question is: does anyone have any expertise about pyrotechnics and or explosives that could explain what would cause this intense white smoke?

gunpowder doesn't have this effect that i've witnessed and was wondering about plastics or other textiles used.

the blast was so powerful, that a local dog was completely disoriented wandering around in shock, and a bird was just sitting on a fence motionless and totally stunned up by our house - 3 houses away. you could walk right up to the bird and it would not flinch. (felt really bad for it)

does anyone have any comments to this please?

thanks in advance.

-b

p.s. just last night i was commenting on how quiet and laid back this community is. a home theft, or car stereo theft would NEVER happen up here. it's just too tucked away.


edit: mods please refer this thread to the appropriate place if i made an error posting here. i know there has been concern recently about the posts.

edit #2: i am seeing that this is not the place now for this topic. can someone move it please. very sorry for my dumb.


[edit on 12-05-2006 by zooplancton]

[edit on 12-05-2006 by zooplancton]

Wow!

I don't know enough about explosive to comment on that part.

I've been to Pacifica, we usually stay at the Lighthouse on the beach, a Best Western I think?
You sure are right about it being laid back.

I hope you update us on the story.

thanks.
after re-reading the thread i'm sorry that i didn't make it sound more 'adult'.
this was a serious incident.

just wanted to bump this thread up this morning.
anyone have any idea on what kind of bomb this was?
thanks,
-b