Where Were YOU? 1 Year Ago NOW?
The alert was sent at 8:07 a.m. Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time
On January 13, 2018, a false ballistic missile alert was issued via the Emergency Alert System and Commercial Mobile Alert System over television, radio, and cellphones in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The alert stated that there was an incoming ballistic missile threat to Hawaii, advised residents to seek shelter, and concluded “This is not a drill”. The message was sent at 8:07 a.m. local time. However, no civil defense outdoor warning sirens were authorized or sounded by the state.
A second message, sent 38 minutes later, described the first as a “false alarm”. State officials blamed a miscommunication during a drill at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency for the first message. Governor David Ige publicly apologized for the erroneous alert, which caused panic and disruption throughout the state. The Federal Communications Commission and the Hawaii House of Representatives launched investigations into the incident, leading to the resignation of the state’s emergency management administrator.
On a very personal note; I was on local radio hosting my weekly Saturday morning show when I got this message. I could not treat it as a false alarm or not take it seriously. I read it on air and suggested people to follow it as real. I did say that I could not find any other place suggesting there was a missile launch or anything like that. Also, there were no sirens sounding. Thankfully, about 12 minutes into it, I got an audio message from Mayor Kim saying it was a false alarm and announced that. Many more details, but that sums it up.
