'Suspicious' Object Prompting Brief Closure of CIA Headquarters Turned Out to be...Dog Collar Device

The CIA had to shut down its headquarters and the surrounding area on Friday after an unidentified device was detected near its front gates. Luckily, the "suspicious" item was absolutely harmless - perhaps the intelligence agency should have let sleeping dogs lie this time.

The CIA identified a "suspicious" device found on Friday near the front gate of its headquarters in northern Virginia.

According to an investigation, the detected item was a remote control for a dog training collar.

"Our front gate is all clear, and the matter is resolved", CIA spokeswoman Nicole de Haay said in a statement, adding that the incident had no security implications.

De Haay added that no one was injured and the agency's operations had returned to normal.

On Friday, the CIA had to briefly close down its headquarters after an object was found on a sidewalk column near the front gates. The agency deployed a special robot designed to deal with "dangerous devices", according to WJLA.