While one of two suspicious objects found at UVSC on Wednesday afternoon was detonated by a bomb squad, the other is somewhere in the city's sewer system.

A janitor in the LDS Church Institute of Religion Building on the Utah Valley State College campus was checking on a clogged toilet in a men's room on the second floor of the building just before 11 a.m. He discovered strange objects in two bowls, said UVSC spokesman Derek Hall.

One of the objects was plunged down the drain before it could be recovered. However when the janitor pulled out the second object from another toilet bowl there was cause for concern, Hall said.

"It looked like a battery with some wires, a small motor and some cork," he said.

The custodian pulled his rubber gloves over the odd-looking device, tossed it outside the building and contacted campus police. A Provo police explosive ordnance demolition team and Orem firefighters rushed to the scene while campus police and instructors evacuated the building. Hall said 300 to 400 students and instructors were inside the building at the time.

Just before 12:30 p.m. a bomb squad robot remotely detonated the object. Hall said an initial examination of the blast debris by the police ordnance team didn't raise any eyebrows.

"The items didn't seem to be anything lethal," he said.

Hall said because of the benign composition of the first exploded object, bomb officials weren't worried about the items that were plunged down the sewer pipes.

Bomb squad officials gave the all clear signal just after 1 p.m. and the public was able to reenter the building.

Security for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been notified of the incident, Hall said, and will coordinate a full investigation with the UVSC Police Department.

He said he didn't know if there were security cameras in the building's corridors that may have recorded evidence.

The college has had bomb threats in the past, Hall said, and in today's climate any type of perceived threat such as a potentially explosive device "is definitely a concern."

Scores of students emerging from classes in nearby campus buildings were curious about the yellow police tape, flashing lights and road blocks near the institute.

"I think this is a good excuse to skip class," said Eli Bowles, a UVSC junior majoring in fire science.

Michael Rigert can be contacted at 344-2548 or mrigert@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.