The Great EBS Scare of 1971
Have you ever heard one of those Emergency Alert System messages while listening to the radio or watching TV? In my local area, they do these kinds of messages whenever there is an Amber Alert or a flash flood warning or any other sudden or severe weather warnings. These tests are set up to make sure the stations can get proper information to viewers in case of an emergency. They are controlled by the Emergency Alert System which sends a message to all TV stations letting them know what to broadcast. Think of all of the viewers for one TV station. Pretty powerful tool, huh? What if one day that tool malfunctioned? Well it did, in 1971. A worker at CONELRAD (now known as the Emergency Alert System) sent the wrong message to all of the stations. Read more about the debacle here . The incorrect message was sent out, causing stations to stop TV and radio shows in order to wait for a message from the President. There was no emergency, but the stations didn't figure out the messa