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Fake 'Inbound Missile' Alert Sent To Every Cellphone in Hawaii (chicagotribune.com)
"Somebody sent out a false emergency alert to all cell phones in Hawaii saying, 'BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL'," writes Slashdot reader flopwich, adding "Somebody's had better days at work." The Associated Press reports:
In a conciliatory news conference later in the day, Hawaii officials apologized for the mistake and vowed to ensure it will never happen again. Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi said the error happened when someone hit the wrong button. "We made a mistake," said Miyagi. For nearly 40 minutes, it seemed like the world was about to end in Hawaii, an island paradise already jittery over the threat of nuclear-tipped missiles from North Korea...
On the H-3, a major highway north of Honolulu, vehicles sat empty after drivers left them to run to a nearby tunnel after the alert showed up, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. Workers at a golf club huddled in a kitchen fearing the worst... The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted there was no threat about 10 minutes after the initial alert, but that didn't reach people who aren't on the social media platform. A revised alert informing of the "false alarm" didn't reach cellphones until 38 minutes later, according to the time stamp on images people shared on social media.
On the H-3, a major highway north of Honolulu, vehicles sat empty after drivers left them to run to a nearby tunnel after the alert showed up, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. Workers at a golf club huddled in a kitchen fearing the worst... The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted there was no threat about 10 minutes after the initial alert, but that didn't reach people who aren't on the social media platform. A revised alert informing of the "false alarm" didn't reach cellphones until 38 minutes later, according to the time stamp on images people shared on social media.
I'm thinking it may not have been so accidental. This is possibly the only way to get good data on how effective the warnings are. My guess: not very effective at this point. But someone higher up needed that data to complete his that assessment regarding war with the Koreans.
"Purely a state exercise" is disavowing all knowledge and responsibility at the Federal level. Translation: "We're staying out of this one."
On the 24th floor of a Waikiki Beach condo balcony having coffee when the alert came on my cell. First reaction...WTF?? Second reaction... went straight to the roof. If it's gonna go down, I want to see it (if only for a few milliseconds).
What, me worry?
Agreed, it was a false alert, not a fake one.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s. I remember some of the cold war films they showed us in school. According to them:
Stay indoors. If you’re close enough to the blast, you’re probably dead anyway (that was mostly just implied). For many more people, though, fallout is going to be the main worry - so stay inside. And even if you still have running water... you probably shouldn’t drink it. Use what’s already in the back of the toilet and in your hot water heater.
Of course nowadays, post 9/11, most reservoirs are supposedly covered - so I have no idea if that’s as important.
In any case, water is probably going to be the main short term issue. If you have some pre-blast warning, filling up as many containers as possible with water is a good idea.
#DeleteChrome
Or, this was real but neutralized and then disavowed with a cover story.
I'm pretty sure the feds wouldn't send a nationwide alert for a localized threat. Initiating mass panic is dangerous enough over a small area.
Bring them to shelter. People have survived nuclear attacks before, no doubt they will in the future as well. If you avoid being killed by the initial blast and radiation you want to shelter from the fallout, most of which fades in two weeks.
Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Fallout Protection - What to Know and Do about Nuclear Attack
Nuclear Strike Drills Faded Away In The 1980s. It May Be Time To Dust Them Off
Nuclear weapons and their effects operate according to the laws of physics, not magic. The physics, effects, and countermeasures are known.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Why do you imagine that the only way the message could be sent to every phone is to have a list of all phone numbers? I suspect the system relies on beacon signals broadcast from cell towers that every cellphone within range picks up, displays the message, then stores a record of the alert for a pre determined period of time (24 hours), after which the alert is ignored.
Do you really imagine the system sends out several million simultaneous text messages? Why just send a message to every device within range?
Ken