I'm guessing they meant some other sort of infernal machine? Although perhaps conceiving of the text as a hoax device might get you somewhere.

(I have been mostly not keeping up with these, sorry to be so very flippant. But one from a couple of weeks ago dislodged some thoughts about gender as an act requiring mutual consent, which perhaps I will write up this weekend on the bus. If not, I will leave this here and maybe it will illuminate someone else's brain.)