Local authorities have finished their testing on the suspected explosive device taken from a home in Boone last week. Members of the Wilkes bomb squad were called to assist Boone police in removing the device, which had been reported in an abandoned house early last week. As we told you at the time, the bomb squad removed what appeared to be blasting caps and blocks of a substance that closely resembled C-4 plastic explosive. Through their testing in the past 10 days, authorities have determined the items were not an explosive device. What initially appeared to be blasting caps are some sort of electric thermostat or bi-metal thermocouple device, and the blocks turned out to be modeling clay. Multiple tests have returned negative results for any traces of explosive material. Now that tests are complete on the local level, the materials are being forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation’s lab for confirmation of the result. Authorities say the investigation is still open.