# So, Hawaii, that couldn't have been fun... (Emergency Alert message about "Ballistic Missile Threat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558 "2018-01-13T19:23:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/1 "2018-01-13T19:23:10Z")
First, it’s a drill. TPTB just came out and said it was a drill. Basically, and I don’t think it’s a hoax, TPTB in Hawaii triggered their Emergency Alert System and texted/broadcasted that, > [@](#): > > [“Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound to Hawaii. Seek Shelter Immediately. This Is Not A Drill.”](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTcKPtQVwAE_f-N.jpg) [Broadcasted it over TV](https://twitter.com/michellebvd/status/952244303710990337) too. Any Dopers in Hawaii who can confirm? Hell of a “mistake” if it happened. ---
**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 13, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/2 "2018-01-13T19:26:50Z")
[Pit thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=846893) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/3 "2018-01-13T19:26:55Z")
Human error, I presume. Wow, folks are pissed! I don’t really blame them. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/4 "2018-01-13T19:36:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Pit thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=846893) Thanks. I read your post and thought, “Pit? That’s an odd place for breaking news…,” Then it hit me. Yeah, I’d be really pissed too. Hell, I _am_ pissed off right now, and I’m 4,000 miles or so away from there. “This Is Not A Drill,” has special meaning around Pearl Harbor. ---
**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, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/5 "2018-01-13T19:42:52Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > First, it’s a drill. TPTB just came out and said it was a drill. > > Basically, and I don’t think it’s a hoax, TPTB in Hawaii triggered their Emergency Alert System and texted/broadcasted that, > > [Broadcasted it over TV](https://twitter.com/michellebvd/status/952244303710990337) too. > > Any Dopers in Hawaii who can confirm? Hell of a “mistake” if it happened. My comments are already in [the other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=846893). Perhaps the two threads can be merged? ---
**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 13, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/6 "2018-01-13T21:01:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Human error, I presume. > Wow, folks are pissed! > I don’t really blame them. Boy, that’s a terrible haiku. ---
**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, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/7 "2018-01-13T22:08:52Z")
Shoulda happened a few weeks earlier. “MLK Weekend at Ground Zero” doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**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 13, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/8 "2018-01-13T22:11:06Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Shoulda happened a few weeks earlier. “MLK Weekend at Ground Zero” doesn’t have the same ring to it. But if anybody could pull it off, it would be Weird Al. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/9 "2018-01-14T02:05:13Z")
This happened 8am local time; if I lived in Hawai’i I’d have slept though the whole thing; even if it was real. ---
**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, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/10 "2018-01-14T02:43:57Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > This happened 8am local time; if I lived in Hawai’i I’d have slept though the whole thing; even if it was real. As I mentioned in the other thread, we were up but missed it completely! Knew nothing about it until it was all over. ---
**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, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-hawaii-that-couldnt-have-been-fun-emergency-alert-message-about-ballistic-missile-threat/806558/11 "2018-01-14T03:05:01Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > This happened 8am local time; if I lived in Hawai’i I’d have slept though the whole thing; even if it was real. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > As I mentioned in the other thread, we were up but missed it completely! Knew nothing about it until it was all over. I was just up in the laundry area on the roof – what do you do after surviving a nuclear attack? Why, some laundry, odf course – and a lady up there also missed it. She too did not receive a text message, and like me, she and her husband just had Samsung phones. They didn’t know anything until the CNN report after it was over.