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Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

nytimes.com

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Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#81

Post by JumpCrisscross »

runesoerensen wrote: post #65

So it took 38 minutes to send out a new message informing this was a false alert. How is that possible if this was simply a human error during a "shift change"? You'd think the people who "pressed the wrong button" would be able to press the same button again?

> You'd think the people who "pressed the wrong button" would be able to press the same button again?

Absolutely not. Once you say “fire” you need official confirmation to say “no fire”.

That means certification from the military. The official needed being in a meeting or tending to something of greater importance could easily introduce delays.

In any case, I presume the system’s designers didn’t build in an “oops, fat finger” notification. Getting that ready could have easily taken 30 minutes. This happened on a week-end. The coders could have very well been at home.

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#82

Post by davidp »

vtail wrote: post #49

I’m in Hawaii and received it this morning. First thought: there is probably no shelter close by anyway, and if they would send a missile they would probably target Honolulu (I’m in Kauai).

I know this isn't a comforting thought, but: Missiles from the most likely source (North Korea) are not thought to have very good accuracy. They may be as likely to hit Kauai or the big island (or the ocean nearby) as Honolulu.

I hope this event wasn't too stressful for you and your family.

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#83

Post by coldtea »

mxuribe wrote: post #14

Doesn't everyone know that the best defense against such an attack is: "duck and cover"? Further, the desks of school children could be used as shelter/cover since everyone knows that these desks are made of the most powerful adamantium/vibranium alloy.

If the building the kids are in suffers structural damage (which, if it's close enough it might) going under the desk is good, even if the desk is made from heavy cardboard paper. In general any kind of barrier is also going to help protect you against radiation, heat, etc.

Why does everyone assume the bomb is going to fall directly above their heads or in some very small radius? It's a whole bloody island, it could drop anywhere.

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#84

Post by FLUX-YOU »

Deimorz wrote: post #74
sehugg wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American infrastructure needs to invest and hire/pay for the same quality that bay area startups do. Looking through the Github and Slack system status pages for this month so far ... I don't know that's exactly the model to follow.

20 minutes after everyone has already figured out that they've been hit by a missile, you'd get an alert: "We are currently investigating reports of increased explosion rates."

>"We are currently investigating reports of increased explosion rates."

Status lights will still all be green

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#87

Post by entropie »

tensor wrote: post #79
uabstraction wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll go right ahead and call you a conspiracy theorist. If you think The US intelligence community would go out of their way to stir up a panic like this just because CoIntelPro was a thing 50 years ago, with no other evidence or reasonable motives, you must be a UFO chasing loon. If there is anything nefarious here (seems like it), this is the work of a foreign state actor probing our infrastructure for exploitable…

You say he's a conspiracy theorist and then jump to Russia gaining access to the emergency alert system? Seriously? Both these scenarios sound equally probably or improbable to me.

Glad iam not the only one noticed.

That escalated quickly.

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#88

Post by tuxxy »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #81
runesoerensen wrote: post #65

So it took 38 minutes to send out a new message informing this was a false alert. How is that possible if this was simply a human error during a "shift change"? You'd think the people who "pressed the wrong button" would be able to press the same button again?

> You'd think the people who "pressed the wrong button" would be able to press the same button again? Absolutely not. Once you say “fire” you need official confirmation to say “no fire”. That means certification from the military. The official needed being in a meeting or tending to something of greater importance could easily introduce delays. In any case, I presume the system’s designers didn’t build in an “oops, f…

This.

USPACOM had to check and give Hawaii an all clear.

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#89

Post by coldtea »

iends wrote: post #26
mxuribe wrote: post #14

Doesn't everyone know that the best defense against such an attack is: "duck and cover"? Further, the desks of school children could be used as shelter/cover since everyone knows that these desks are made of the most powerful adamantium/vibranium alloy.

I also keep an old refrigerator in my house to climb into.

https://www.quora.com/How-did-people-survived-the-impact-of-...

That refrigerator would have been very handy here too:

"DŌ-OH WAS ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS OF A MILE FROM THE HYPOCENTER, INSIDE A MITSUBISHI TORPEDO FACTORY. THE MASSIVE...FACTORY COLLAPSED ON TOP OF HER AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS".

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150809-atomic-bo...

Re: Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say

#90

Post by nostrademons »

subcosmos wrote: post #33
leothekim wrote: post #30

Serious question: where would one seek shelter if that notification were true?

The more underground you are, the better. Shield from those gamma photons! If that ain't an option, jumping into the ocean doesn't seem like such a terrible idea.

For most people fall-out is a bigger risk than blast damage or immediate radiation exposure. The immediate effects of a blast range only ~1km (depending on yield), but fall-out occurs over a much wider radius.

For that - take shelter inside, anywhere. Make sure you shut all windows and doors tight, and ideally tape shut vents. Cover openings with a wet towel. Stay put (don't go outside!) and shelter in an interior room for at least one and ideally 3-5 days. Radiation follows an exponential decay curve, so waiting longer significantly reduces the amount of radiation you are exposed to. You have about 45 minutes after the blast (~1 hour after launch) before fall-out starts arriving in significant quantities: enough to take shelter and do basic preparations, but not enough to travel any significant distance.

The biggest physiological danger comes from inhaled alpha-particle emitters, i.e. radioactive dust. Alpha particles have only a few cm range and are easily stopped by wood, paper, or skin, though, so don't breathe the dust. Beta particles are also easily stopped by clothing or a few meters of air. There's not much you can do about gamma rays or X-rays (this is what your hypothetical lead-lined vault is for), but they are physiologically less dangerous than alpha and beta particles.

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