Obtained by ABC News(HONOLULU) — Hawaiians woke up to emergency alerts on their phones Saturday about an imminent ballistic missile attack, which they later learned was a false alarm.
The emergency alert was sent to people’s mobile phones in Hawaii at about 8:08 a.m. local time with the startling words: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command, Dave Benham, told ABC News in a statement that no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii was detected.
“Earlier message was sent in error. State of Hawaii will send out a correction message as soon as possible,” Benham said.
When asked for comment on the emergency alert, a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement to ABC News, “We see absolutely nothing from NORAD in terms of a missile warning and refer you to the state of Hawaii.”
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