# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/81 "2018-01-14T05:06:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I don’t know the names you mentioned, but is it the guy on the Hame website I linked to in post 51? [Here it is again](http://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/). If so, his name is Miyagi, and he is a Hema official. He’s been on the news a lot today. No, not him. [This](https://youtu.be/ZnvpU0d7vyM?t=41) is what the guy I saw sounds like. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/82 "2018-01-14T06:26:10Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > By the way, isn’t the Emergency Alert System supposed to give instructions on what to do, as well as provide a telephone number to contact for further information? Anyone who saw _Spies Like Us_ would know what to do in the case of imminent nuclear disaster. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/83 "2018-01-14T08:40:26Z")
Hawaii doper here. …Uh, so this happened. Huh. Don’t watch mainstream news much anymore, so I missed it. Yeah, kinda stupid. Basically, I just can’t wrap my head around who’d _want_ to attack us. A foreign leader who hates what Trump stands for? Listen, once we’re out of high school, our choices are 1. add something of value to society or 2. move to Alaska, and if you espouse Nazi views, getting punched in the face is the _best-case_ scenario. WE hate what Trump stands for. Terrorism? What the hell do we have worth destroying? Heck, if you took out Aloha Stadium, you’d be doing us a _favor!_ Way too into it World War 2 reenactor? Just not seeing it. Well, say what you will about our ridiculous blunders, they don’t get lots of people killed and we fix them. That’s worth quite a bit in my book. ---
**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, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/84 "2018-01-14T09:32:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, not him. [This](https://youtu.be/ZnvpU0d7vyM?t=41) is what the guy I saw sounds like. [Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Caldwell)? I doubt North Korea could hit us even if they tried. And they’d get only one chance before they were toast themselves. ---
**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, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/85 "2018-01-14T09:37:58Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, not him. [This](https://youtu.be/ZnvpU0d7vyM?t=41) is what the guy I saw sounds like. [Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Caldwell)? I doubt North Korea could hit us even if they tried. And they’d get only one chance before they were toast themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/86 "2018-01-14T10:32:06Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > By the way, isn’t the Emergency Alert System supposed to give instructions on what to do, as well as provide a telephone number to contact for further information? The cell phone alerts are really basic. IIRC they’re limited to something like 90 or 100 characters, so there’s not much room for more than a really basic summary of what’s happening. The TV alert I saw a video of did tell people to remain indoors. I think a phone number would be incredibly unhelpful, though, and would just encourage people to clog the lines. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/87 "2018-01-14T10:34:21Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > What the hell do we have worth destroying? The headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/88 "2018-01-14T10:49:13Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The cell phone alerts are really basic. IIRC they’re limited to something like 90 or 100 characters, so there’s not much room for more than a really basic summary of what’s happening. The TV alert I saw a video of did tell people to remain indoors. I think a phone number would be incredibly unhelpful, though, and would just encourage people to clog the lines. “There’s terrible phone reception in this secure bunker. Hang on, I’ll be right back.” "_Welcome to the Oh Shit Hotline. We’re sorry, all our operators are hiding in the basement at the moment, please hold and we’ll be with you as soon as_…_ **BOOM** _ ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/89 "2018-01-14T13:11:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I hear Dan Rather has said the State of Hawaii ought to buy each and every resident a drink of his or her choice, which I think is a fine suggestion. _pffffft_. Rather is just in the pocket of Big Little Paper Umbrella. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/90 "2018-01-14T15:29:50Z")
Trump’s response to the Hawaiian alert is amusing. His very first tweet after the mistake was > [@short-fingered vulgarian](#): > > So much Fake News is being reported. They don’t even try to get it right, or correct it when they are wrong. They promote the Fake Book of a mentally deranged author, who knowingly writes false information. The Mainstream Media is crazed that WE won the election! The “Fake News” was the missile attack? Several hours later the White House issued a retraction: > [@White House](#): > > The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii’s emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise. So what _was_ the alert? “Fake News” or “state exercise”? Spoiler alert: It was neither. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/91 "2018-01-14T15:46:25Z")
_…pushed a [single] button and sent the emergency messages…_ Fools need the two click rule. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/92 "2018-01-14T16:09:20Z")
What concerns me is trump being woken and told that an incoming missile is headed for Hawaii. I don’t think he has any golf courses there, but he may order a counter attack anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/93 "2018-01-14T16:24:18Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > What concerns me is trump being woken and told that an incoming missile is headed for Hawaii. I don’t think he has any golf courses there, but he may order a counter attack anyway. There’s a Trump Hotel in downtown Waikiki. He was worried. ---
**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, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/94 "2018-01-14T17:14:19Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > To me, the most encouraging sign is that Hawaii didn’t go to pieces. People were unnecessarily frightened, but it sounds like most people did the best they could. Hotels got everyone into basements, people sought shelter. So as a drill that wasn’t supposed to be a drill, not bad. This time they did. But the cost is the system’s credibility. Future safety warnings are more likely to be ignored, even when genuine, with whatever harmful consequences that entails. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/95 "2018-01-14T17:39:20Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > The procedures for doing so should be no less involved and no less secure than the procedures for actually launching the missiles. It should involve confirmation from multiple parties and authorization from the military. From launch to impact is estimated to be 37 minutes assuming North Korea is the aggressor (See [here](http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korean-nuclear-strike-united-states-arrival-times-2017-8)). The steps you outline would probably take 10-15 minutes even under ideal circumstances - cutting the effective warning time almost in half. Getting it absolutely right, but too late to do any good is, IMHO, worse than the occasional false alarm. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/96 "2018-01-14T18:40:40Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > 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…? You mean to tell me that there is a “button” that has “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” some how attached to it and that no one had to type this particular specific message into the system? Is there another “button” for “Tsunami threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter.”? And another one for a meteor threat, an Alien invasion and Godzilla? The idea that the alert could be sent out accidentally by “one person during a shift change” is complete BS. Hawaii state is without a doubt incompetent, but there is no way the alert system didn’t already have a two person (at least) multi layered fail safe program in place to prevent accidental alerts. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/97 "2018-01-14T19:07:06Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > You mean to tell me that there is a “button” that has “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” some how attached to it and that no one had to type this particular specific message into the system? There probably is. Have you ever seen email replies and such that have pre-written templates to respond? It is not that unlikely that there is in fact a file in the system that has many warnings for different eventualities. Rather than having people come up with the warning while a missile is incoming, they have pre-scripted warnings. Most likely, the drill does involve using the EBS to warn the residents, and the drill is probably supposed to do everything up to actually sending the message. Meaning that it is to the point where it just requires one more button push to send it. That button got pushed. Oops. > [@](#): > > Is there another “button” for “Tsunami threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter.”? Very likely > [@](#): > > And another one for a meteor threat, an Alien invasion and Godzilla? Unlikely, but they probably have pre-scripted warnings for weather events, volcanic activity and other emergencies that actually can happen. And it is not impossible that someone in the system went ahead and loaded it up with warnings for less likely events, like your examples there, but I 'd say not too likely. > [@](#): > > The idea that the alert could be sent out accidentally by “one person during a shift change” is complete BS. > > Hawaii state is without a doubt incompetent, but there is no way the alert system didn’t already have a two person (at least) multi layered fail safe program in place to prevent accidental alerts. How much do you know about how the EBS works to make such a definitive statement? ---
**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, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/98 "2018-01-14T19:08:20Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > _…pushed a [single] button and sent the emergency messages…_ > > Fools need the two click rule. The staffer who caused the kerfuffle did have to press a second time after the screen asked, “Are you sure you want to do this”/ (Reports are it literally asks this.) So he needed a three-click rule. They’ve just changed it to where two guys have to go through the procedure now. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > There’s a Trump Hotel in downtown Waikiki. He was worried. Downtown Waikiki? :dubious: There’s a downtown Honolulu, but Waikiki is just Waikiki. It’s a small little section of Honolulu. There is a Chump Tower (and Hotel) very close to where we live, just a few blocks away. Not nice enough for him though, as the piece-of-trash president stayed at a different place even closer to us when he and his Eastern European were here not long ago. ---
**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, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/99 "2018-01-14T19:47:27Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > What the hell do we have worth destroying? > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > The headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. Indeed, as the Japanese knew. There’s a reason Hawaii, so far from the rest of the country, is a state, and that is its strategic military value. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557/100 "2018-01-14T19:51:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The staffer who caused the kerfuffle did have to press a second time after the screen asked, “Are you sure you want to do this”/ (Reports are it literally asks this.) So he needed a three-click rule. They’ve just changed it to where two guys have to go through the procedure now. The problem wasn’t really the alert that was sent out. Obviously, it isn’t exactly optimal to send such things, but the bigger problem was the response. It should have been less than a minute to inform the public of the false alert. A few minutes would have been longer than it should have been. 38 minutes is unacceptable. While preventing the false alert from happening again is important, the priority should be on why the response was so delayed, and how to make it faster in the future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-incoming-missile-alert-sent-to-hawaii-residents/806557.md?page=6)