Everyone in Hawaii woke up to a frightening sound.
The emergency alert service was blasting out a warning that there was an inbound ballistic missile and it was not a drill.
People feared the worst and prepared for their last moments on Earth.
It was around 8 AM local time when a warning about an inbound ballistic missile was heard all throughout the state.
Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill. pic.twitter.com/tlJYNwCr1A
— Ryan Ozawa (@hawaii) January 13, 2018
Hawaiians were terrified.
Thinking they had just minutes to live, residents fled for their homes, gathered their families, and tried to contact their loved ones for what they believed was the final time.
But it was all a mistake.
An employee had pushed the wrong button during a shift change and sent the world into a panic over the prospect of thermonuclear war.
CNN: Missile Alert went out after the "wrong" button was pushed during shift change
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) January 13, 2018
"It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button," Governor of Hawaii David Ige tells CNN.
“The warning went out to cell phones, Television and radio got the emergency alert,” he says.— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) January 13, 2018
The alert claimed Pacific Command had tracked an incoming missile.
But this was not true.
How such a mistake could have happened left Americans bewildered.
No one could understand how a shift change resulted in residents of Hawaii believing they had just minutes to live.
We will keep you up to date on any new developments in this story.
