False alarm of 1971
A properly authenticated Emergency Action Notification was incorrectly sent to United States broadcast stations at 9:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 20, 1971.[4] At the usual time a weekly EAN test was performed, teletype operator W.S. Eberhart had three tapes in front of him: a test tape, and two tapes indicating a real emergency, instructing the use of EAN Message #1, and #2, respectively. He inadvertently used the wrong tape, which used an incorrect codeword, "HATEFULNESS". The message ordered stations to cease regular programming immediately, and begin an Emergency Action Notification using Message #1.[5][6] Message 1 stated that regular programming had been interrupted at the request of the United States government, but was not specific about the cause.[7] A cancellation message was sent at 9:59 a.m. EST, but it used the same codeword as the original message.[8] A cancellation message with the correct codeword was not sent until 10:13 a.m. EST.[8] After 40 minutes and six incorrect or improperly formatted cancellation messages, the accidental activation was officially terminated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Broadcast_System
No comments:
Post a Comment