# False "incoming missile alert" sent to Hawaii residents **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 13, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557 "2018-01-13T18:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/41 "2018-01-13T21:46:29Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I wish that error had occurred in Washington DC instead of Oahu. I would love to see film of our fat ass president running for cover from the 5th tee, golf clubs flying, with the secret service dragging him along. That would be priceless. Maybe they could trick him into getting into a shelter with no phone reception and lock it from the outside. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/42 "2018-01-13T21:49:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The main thing I’m pissed off about is this has now pushed President Chump’s “shithole countries” controversy completely out of the news. It’s concerning that this could have been done for a purpose–changing the headlines or giving an excuse to escalate hostilities against North Korea or selling air-raid shelters or any other purpose. I am hoping that a full investigation will put to rest any possibility that it was done on purpose. As of an hour ago the story was this: > [@](#): > > Hawaii Gov. David Ige told CNN that human error caused the alert to go out. > “It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button,” he said. [http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/13/politics/hawaii-missile-threat-false-alarm/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/13/politics/hawaii-missile-threat-false-alarm/index.html) I hope that’s reliable information. This is serious stuff; a state-wide alarm could be used in some pretty unscrupulous ways. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/43 "2018-01-13T22:00:52Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This joke is par for the course. Tee hee. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/44 "2018-01-13T22:12:58Z")
If I’d been in Hawaii, I’d have used the alert as an excuse for some serious drinking. And if there were a Captain Obvious Award for newspaper headlines, [the NYT](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/us/hawaii-missile.html) would have the early lead for 2018: **Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say** ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/45 "2018-01-13T22:47:05Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > If you have an iPhone it’s something you have to turn on/off in settings\>notifications (all the way at the bottom) > > I turned mine off, so I guess I’ll be clueless until the emergency is on top of me. I have Android, not iPhone. On my phone you can adjust the emergency notification settings for things like weather alerts and Amber alerts (maybe some others, too). It also has a “Presidential Alert”\* (or something) that can _not_ be turned off. I would think an incoming missile would rate an emergency alert of the sort that can not be turned off on any phone. \*My assumption has always been that such an alert need not actually come from the president but would be used for national emergencies of the very highest order; which a missile attack is, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/46 "2018-01-13T22:47:50Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Tee hee. Being a target of the enemy is one of the hazards of the job. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/47 "2018-01-13T22:51:39Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > At least on Androids (service provider AT&T), there are four levels of alerts, from AMBER alerts (missing kids), through Severe alerts, Extreme alerts, up to Presidential alerts. And you can turn off AMBER, Severe, and Extreme alerts (elect not to get them). On Presidential alerts, the option to disable them is grayed out\*. Since this was from the State of Hawaii, it presumably was NOT a “Presidential alert” (maybe an “Extreme” alert?). So, **Siam Sam** may just have (most) alerts disabled. I use AT&T and never get alerts of any type, period. But I don’t think I have an Android. Some sort of low-level Samsung model bought in Bangkok. The wife’s the one with the fancy-shmancy up-to-date iPhone with all the features. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > It’s concerning that this could have been done for a purpose–changing the headlines or giving an excuse to escalate hostilities against North Korea or selling air-raid shelters or any other purpose. > > I am hoping that a full investigation will put to rest any possibility that it was done on purpose. As of an hour ago the story was this: > > [http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/13/politics/hawaii-missile-threat-false-alarm/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/13/politics/hawaii-missile-threat-false-alarm/index.html) > > I hope that’s reliable information. This is serious stuff; a state-wide alarm could be used in some pretty unscrupulous ways. I’m convinced it was basic human error. The official at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (Hema) taking responsibility for this – although he was not the one who pushed the button – seemed very humble. This is a solidly blue state with massive, off-the-charts hatred for our piece-of-trash president, and I doubt anyone would do this for him. Certainly not the rather elderly Japanese-American gentleman being humble before the camera. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > If I’d been in Hawaii, I’d have used the alert as an excuse for some serious drinking. Hmm. Good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/48 "2018-01-13T23:02:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m convinced it was basic human error. The official at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (Hema) taking responsibility for this – although he was not the one who pushed the button – seemed very humble. This is a solidly blue state with massive, off-the-charts hatred for our piece-of-trash president, and I doubt anyone would do this for him. Certainly not the rather elderly Japanese-American gentleman being humble before the camera. Thanks for that information; makes sense. I do wonder if ‘pushed the wrong button’ was a shorthand explanation for a whole sequence of actions–surely this doesn’t occur as the result of pressing one button…? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/49 "2018-01-13T23:05:50Z")
They’re phrasing it as the wrong button being pushed, but apparently this happened during a shift change, and whatever they’re supposed to do for shift changes, they said thre’s some sort of checklist of stuff to do, and the list may not have been followed religiously. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/50 "2018-01-13T23:19:20Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Tee hee. ISWYDT **Local weather:** Overcast, high of 35°, w/ wind chill of 20° **Waikiki weather:** Mostly sunny, high of 82º, 70% chance of incoming ballistic missle(s). I’ll take cold & cloudy, TYVM. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/51 "2018-01-13T23:22:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m convinced it was basic human error. The official at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (Hema) taking responsibility for this – although he was not the one who pushed the button – seemed very humble. This is a solidly blue state with massive, off-the-charts hatred for our piece-of-trash president, and I doubt anyone would do this for him. Certainly not the rather elderly Japanese-American gentleman being humble before the camera. The official I saw is on the Hema website [here](http://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/). Or at least he is right now. Who knows if he’ll have to leave. But that’s the guy appearing on the news along with the state governor. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/52 "2018-01-13T23:51:01Z")
Obviously, the Soviet Union kept this under wraps for a long time, and I never heard about it until the past couple of years. > **[1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident)** > > On 26 September 1983, during the Cold War, the nuclear early-warning radar of the Soviet Union reported the launch of one intercontinental ballistic missile with four more missiles behind it, from bases in the United States. These missile attack warnings were suspected to be false alarms by Stanislav Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces on duty at the command center of the early-warning system. He decided to wait for corroborating evidence—of which none arrived—rather than immedia... I wonder how many times the Americans did something comparable and we still don’t know about it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/53 "2018-01-14T00:28:22Z")
This could have been covered on cable news in maybe half an hour tops. Instead, we get non-stop talking heads for hours and hours and hours. Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/54 "2018-01-14T00:36:39Z")
At least one local station is holding all-day coverage. Local officials are really being raked over the coals. They say new measures have already been put into place. One is there will be two people present before that button gets pushed. They’re saying it really was a button, and there’s something about the words on the screen saying, “Do you really want to do this?” before the button is pushed. Looks like someone went ahead anyway. May have thought that was part of the drill. Seems the Big Island got the all-clear long before Oahu. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/55 "2018-01-14T01:12:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > This could have been covered on cable news in maybe half an hour tops. Instead, we get non-stop talking heads for hours and hours and hours. Jesus. Slow news day. Now that every news anchor has been able to say “shit-hole” at least 3 times on the air, they’re bored and need to move on. Are there any celebrities on their deathbeds of late? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/56 "2018-01-14T01:13:13Z")
There’s going to be so many babies born in Hawaii nine months from today. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/57 "2018-01-14T01:22:34Z")
I have yet to hear an explanation from state authorities for the forty-minute delay in correcting the error. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/58 "2018-01-14T01:27:45Z")
I am astonished that anyone could just brush off this incident as if it were a minor story. This is a huge, gigantic fucking deal. Under _no_ circumstances should it be possible for something like this to happen _by accident._ The very fact that it did, that the process of issuing an emergency alert for something of such grave importance is sufficiently lax that it can be done without multiple people confirming and verifying it…and then taking more than half an hour to be retracted, on top of that?! This is a big, big deal. It’s _way_ more important of an issue than anything Donald Trump said or did. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/59 "2018-01-14T01:56:23Z")
Why were people “crying, screaming, and running around in the streets?” > **[Hawaii Says No Missile Threat After Emergency Alert Mistakenly Sent](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/hawaii-no-missile-threat-false-alarm-emergency-alert/2031183/)** > > After an emergency alert of a ballistic missile threat left people “crying and screaming” in Hawaii on Saturday, emergency officials confirmed that the message was sent in error and that no missile was headed for the island state. However, the... Isn’t running around in the streets the exact opposite of taking shelter? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/60 "2018-01-14T02:10:11Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Why were people “crying, screaming, and running around in the streets?” > > [Hawaii Says No Missile Threat After Emergency Alert Mistakenly Sent – NBC Bay Area](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/Hawaii-No-Missile-Threat-False-Alarm-Emergency-Alert-469144713.html) > > Isn’t running around in the streets the exact opposite of taking shelter? Something about the possible threat of being vaporized in a nuclear fireball brings out emotions in people. Something you don’t understand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557.md?page=4)