Concealed in a black case, the abandoned typewriter led to the rush-hour closure of Union Park Avenue and the evacuation of dozens of Wal-Mart shoppers when a passerby deemed the package suspicious and called police.

Authorities emptied the street from Fort Union Boulevard to South Union Avenue and deployed a robot to inspect the mysterious package, which looked much like a large briefcase.

The robot blasted the case open, launching the relic upside down onto the sidewalk.

"What is it?" remarked a bomb squad member, zooming in on the device. "Is it a projector?"

Midvale Fire Chief Stephen Higgs chuckled. He still remembered using the machines.

"No, it's an old typewriter," he said.

Union Park Avenue opened after an hour's closure about 6 p.m. Although investigators plan to examine Wal-Mart's video surveillance to see who left the device, they believe it was left unintentionally.

After its experience with the bomb squad, however, Higgs said the typewriter is "pretty much history."