I would have to go with, someone has stolen your identity. You have cancer, would be a close second.
Your child was abducted. Parts of the body were found.
Bush has been re-elected.
“… but nothing fatal if removed.”
We win! 
I think it would have to be something like the kids and wife were abducted or the plane they were on crashed. The 2nd would be that a nuclear bomb exploded close enough to get the fallout radiation.
That alcohol, drugs and cigarettes no longer exist. :eek:
Personal: What Omnipresent wrote.
Non-personal: “George W. Bush has lost the 2004 Presidential election, and has started a nuclear war out of spite.” Hey, some folks believed Nixon might’ve done the same thing…
Death of my mother.
My city being nuked, and all my firends dead.
I’ve already received it: “They cancelled Josta!”
I agree entirely with folks who posted above me. Any horrid act to my daughter is the absolute worst/scariest news I can imagine. Frankly, I don’t have any idea how the mothers and fathers hold together during interviews where they’ve been through a tradgedy of a child being abducted or murdered. To me, it’d be a nightmare I’d never be able to wake up from.
Anything to myself, friends…sorry to say, even other persons of my family seems to pale easily in comparison.
As a disclaimer, I’ve only been through the deaths of very few close friends and family members. I’ve lived through such things, when I mention family members, one was a daughter that died in the hospital(in my arms) of an aneurysm. The only saving grace of this episode was that she wasn’t in any pain…and everything medical science could do at the time…was done.
The loss and wondering of any childs last moments of what may be torture and fear, would be unbearable to me.
-K
Since my husband is a firefighter, I guess the scariest news I could get would be from the police/fire chief…if I saw them in uniform at my front door, I don’t know that I could open that door.
Losing my daughter in any way. That would be the end of me.
“Representatives of the Food and Drug Administration testified before Congress today that incidences of prion-contaminated beef were common during the years 1983-1997 in New Jersey and New Hampshire. The Surgeon-General advises Americans to advise their doctors if they consumed beef products in those states during this period…”
Ooh! Ooh! Better one!
“We’re hearing reports - not confirmed as yet - but it appears that there has been a release of some form of chemical agent in the West Bank settlement of Ariel…”
This is fun, in a sick and twisted way.
“Elements of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy have been deployed near the coast of Taiwan, in what Chinese government sources have described as ‘a police action to ensure the security of the Chinese people in Taiwan.’ Senior PLAN officers have stated that it would be ‘inadvisable’ for ships to attempt to enter or leave Taiwanese waters, but have declined to confirm that this is in fact a blockade.”
“Internal memos leaked by an anonymous American government source seem to indicate that somewhere between 2 and 6 tactical nuclear devices, designed to be fired by artillery, have apparently gone missing. President Bush is schedule to address the nation at two this afternoon…”
“Geogian President Mikkail Saakashvilli has been assassinated. Russian President Putin has urged calm in the fractured former Soviet Republic, but has declined to comment on a statement from his defense minister that Russia would feel obligated to intervene in Georgia if its own ethnic Russian minority were endangered in the current chaos, or if it seemed that the instability would spread to neighboring states…”
That’s it for now - if any of these happen in the next year, I’m gonna look pretty damn spooky, won’t I? 
I suppose a “War of the Worlds” scenario would be bad too. Like waking up in the morning to find UFO’s have landed in major cities around the world and the aliens are attacking with unstoppable weapons. Or maybe even worse, taking everyone hostage, and then you hear your front door rattling.
As was mentioned, to have any family member abducted, by anyone, would be a horrible experience.
People have mentioned nuclear bombs having exploded, but I think that scarier by far would be:
News anchor: “Our sources have confirmed that several ICBMs armed with nuclear warheads have been launched by <country>. Preliminary telemetry indicates that likely targets are <list of cities including the city you are in>. Impact is estimated to occur in approximately 15 minutes.”
I’ll top you.
"AP: SAUDI GOVERNMENT PRAISES ISRAEL NERVE GAS ATTACKS.
‘We must begin the final cleansing of the subhumans from the face of the Earth,’ says newly coronated King Hasim."
Or even…
“For those of you just tuning in, CNN has confirmed that the two seperate, yet coordinated terrorist attacks in Moscow and Washington have claimed the lives of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and President—signal cuts off”
Anyway, my personal fears would be, in order…
-
Something (bad) happening to a family member or loved one.
-
Nuclear war. (Or things of that ilk. Not so much “U.S. vs. Russia” anymore, but more like “Israel gets nuked/starts nuking someone.”)
-
Something (bad) happening to me. (“Mr. Gaston, we have the results from your CT scan…I’m afraid it’s not very good news…”)
Well, mine’s pretty lame in comparison of everybody else’s. Maybe I’m just petty and small minded.
- My husband is was in a horrible accident and is dead/maimed/etc.
- Angel is cancelled. Oh wait. sigh
- Bush wins 2004
To have a man with a beard wearing a white robe appear before you and say, sorry your time is up and you lost.
The death of my parents; or the release of a smallpox-base biowarfare weapon on US soil, with no vaccine available.
Announcement; The Straight Dope is going to paid subscriptions.
Uh - never mind.
Regards,
Shodan