What most peoples on the Hawaiian scene are reporting, is that they heard no siren warning regarding a ballistic missile threat inbound, but those who had cell phones received a warning around 8:07 am. By 8:20 am, Hawaiian Emergency officials tweeted that the earlier notice was a false alarm. This change in status was not known by the public until 8:45 am, a difference of 38 minutes.
The reaction by peoples on the ground were mixed from those hiding in shelters while feeling real fear, to those who never got the message and/ or those who paid little attention to the warning. Over time, the residents have learned that once they receive this alert, that they have 10 minutes to seek shelter, and to remain in place until they receive further instructions.
Response from the president’s administration appears to counter the Pentagon’s false alarm version. The White Houses’s public statement referred to an exercise drill which no one was aware of, as of this morning.
There isn’t a definitive explanation yet as to how this occurred.
Here’s the rest of the story….
On January 13, 2018, Amy B.Wang of the Washington Post penned the following report, “Hawaii officials say ‘NO missile threat’ amid emergency alerts”
“Emergency alerts sent to Hawaii residents Saturday warning of a “ballistic missile threat” were a false alarm reportedly sent by mistake, officials said.”
“Shortly after 8 a.m. local time Saturday, several alarmed Hawaii residents began posting screenshots of alerts they had received reading: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
“The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted at 8:20 a.m. local time that there was no missile threat to the state.”
NO missile threat to Hawaii.
“USPACOM has detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii,” U.S. Navy Commander Dave Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command, said in an email. “Earlier message was sent in error. State of Hawaii will send out a correction message as soon as possible.”
“At 8:45 a.m. local time, an additional alert was sent to Hawaii residents advising them that the first warning had been a false alarm.”
“There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii,” the follow-up alert read, according to screenshots of the message. “Repeat. False Alarm.”
“It is unclear how or why the initial alert was sent out, and how many people received it. What was clear was that the first message caused a brief panic, at least on social media, among those who read it and expected the worst.”
“On CNN, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) said she received the alert, called Hawaii officials and confirmed it was “an inadvertent message that was sent out.”
“You can only imagine what kicked in,” Gabbard told CNN. “This is a real threat facing Hawaii, so people got this message on their phones and they thought, 15 minutes, we have 15 minutes before me and my family could be dead.”
Less than two months ago, Hawaii reinstated its Cold War-era nuclear warning sirens amid growing fears of an attack by North Korea. The tests were scheduled to be conducted on the first business day of every month for the foreseeable future.
The tests were an audible example of the growing strife with North Korea, which has spooked other communities in the still-hypothetical line of fire. Guam distributed a pamphlet on nuclear attack preparedness that encouraged people to avoid using conditioner, “as it will bind the toxins to your hair.” A 16-page bulletin released by emergency management authorities in California warned people to beware of radioactive pets.
Today’s alert was a false alarm. At a time of heightened tensions, we need to make sure all information released to the community is accurate. We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again.
“At a time of heightened tensions, we need to make sure all information released to community is accurate,” Hirono tweeted Saturday (1/13/18). “We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again.”
“Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said /(tweeted) the false alarm was based on “a human error. There is nothing more important to Hawai’ than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process.”
“He added in a subsequent tweet: “What happened today is totally inexcusable. The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process.”
Gronda Morin 
When I saw this come up on my phone (that it was inaccurate) my eyes bugged out of my head. This is not only embarrassing and sloppy, but completely not acceptable. In a time where these sorts of threats are very real, people need to be given ACCURATE information, and in a timely manner. I honestly have no idea what I would have done had this message come up on MY phone today…it was reported that some people completely disregarded it right off the bat, while others were in fear for their lives. This is insane, and the Trump administration better have an answer to this…this is not the time to be silent.
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Dear Samantha Duffy,
I can only imagine the chaos that an event like this can cause.
Someone or some entity has some explaining to do. From what I am learning, a command was never received to trigger this event. From several experts, this was definitely not a drill.
There are those who will not relent until there is a verifiable, credible explanation.
We don’t have that yet.
Hugs, Gronda
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How on earth could something like this happen in error? Someone hits send on a typo? A malicious prank? If I were living in Hawaii right now I’d be hopping mad. Geez….
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Dear Acflory,
I am certain that there are lots of furious Hawaiians right now. There was one parent who was so frightened that he was putting his children down one of those holes with a man hole cover.
The N Koreans must be laughing away at this foolishness.
Hugs, Gronda
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-shiver- All evening I’ve been imagining what I would feel like if I suddenly thought everything I loved was about to be snuffed out of existence. I’m not a violent person but…I hope whoever did this, for whatever reason, gets something heavier than a book thrown at them!
And yes, the North Koreans have every right to laugh. ‘Job done’. 😦
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This is certainly not a laughing matter… chalk it up to more fake news (during Trump’s admin).
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Dear !EarthUnited,
I have been thinking that there’s not really a whole lot one can do if a ballistic missile was really en-route, and I suspect most peoples know this. This had to be a terrifying event for those who took the warning seriously.
Hugs, Gronda
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God forbid…. possible setup for a massive false flag event and blame it on Rocket man?
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This is unacceptable, and so far the explanations aren’t ringing true.
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Dear Kim,
This is CYA time.
Hugs, Gronda
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I’m glad to read the whole account of the story. When I first saw the story I didn’t see the quotes from the Senator and assumed it was a Russian Active measure. First I heard a strike was headed for Hawaii, then I heard it was a false alarm and I used emotional reasoning instead of logic. I forgot to get the whole story. For some reason I remained ignorant of the Senator’s quote until I saw your blog, which illustrates the importance of getting your news from multiple credible sources. It is certainly within the realm of possibility and it is a known strategy of Russia’s information warfare. Thank you, Gronda!
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Dear Rob,
We don’t know the whole story yet. It bothered me that the initial response out of the WH indicated that this was a drill? This ended up being wrong information, but then why was there a disconnect?
Don’t beat yourself up. Hopefully we will get the complete story of what happened.
Thanks a million times over for your support and for this reblog.
Hugs, Gronda
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I was so relieved to see the whole report but I learned how easy it is to use a truth to jump to the wrong conclusion. This must be why Putin’s campaign of lies is so effective.
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Reblogged this on Art by Rob Goldstein and commented:
I spent most of the day thinking the false alarm in Hawaii was a potential Active Measure. For some reason I didn’t see the full story until I read Gronda’s blog.
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Firstly false alarms are nothing new in the field of weaponry or warfare and are no fun to be on the end of.
Secondly someone appears to have pressed a wrong button (whereas I did not set off a nuclear alert, years ago I did actually send out a general visual S.O.S signal which could have been picked up by air traffic in my locality- long and silly story).
Thirdly. Once North Korea went into this latest round of nuclear bluster an intelligent, mature and clear-minded president would have:
(a) Issued a stern warning to North Korea to stop wasting money that could be spent elsewhere.
(b) Assured the American people North Korea’s progress is always monitored.
(c) Rallied experts to make statements that making a nuclear explosion and having a delivery system is one thing, but putting the two together is quite a different business.
(d) Have a quiet discussion with the military, a very quiet discussion.
(e) Ask leaders in the locality for their views on the subject.
(f) Don’t tweet!
(g) Keep speaking with the Chinese.
That’s what an intelligent, mature and clear-minded president would have been doing over the past months.
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Dear Roger,
You always make too much good sense.
The fact that most Americans can count on this president to NOT ACT in a competent, mature, professional manner with a well thought out plan, is why republicans will no longer be the majority party post the 2018 November midterm elections (between presidential election cycles).
Most Americans are yearning for competency, policies that are fact based, our values of this being a country where you can rise from nothing to be somebody. In most countries, a President Barack Obama would have been very unlikely. Some folks bemoan this reality, most of us, celebrate it.
Hugs, Gronda
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Thank you Gronda.
Despite the possibility that my political views are far removed from most Americans, I still hold to the faith you as the nation you are can turn this around.
All the best.
Roger
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Absolutely terrifying — for those living in Hawaii, for those who love them, and for the world to again live in fear of nuclear attack.
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Dear Kitt O’Malley,
Welcome,
I can only imagine what peoples would feel like, if they truly thought they were facing the real possibility that they would be facing their maker soon. And then, when they found out that this was a mistake over 1/2 hour later, I can see how they would be ready to shed some blood for sure.
Hugs, Gronda
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