On October 4th, 2023 at 11:20 am PST, millions of cell phones, radios, and televisions were nationally alerted. Thankfully, this alert was just a test and many people knew about it in advance. Despite being aware of the alert beforehand, it still caused many feelings of apprehension. These feelings are justifiable, as any situation where the government needs to send out a national alert is bound to be anxiety-ridden. Nonetheless, there was no need to stress about this test. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is required under federal law to test the public alert system once every three years. In the past, FEMA’s tests have been less widespread, only testing devices if they had opted in, but this time, FEMA’s goal was to see how capable the national alert system is at reaching and informing as many people as possible. In case of things like extreme weather, or other emergencies.  This was the seventh-ever nationwide emergency alert test and the second to be sent to cellular devices. On cell phones, the alert consisted of a notification that said, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” along with a beeping sound. The test was only slightly disruptive and helped FEMA acquire very useful information about the practicality of its alert system. 

Many people were underwhelmed after the test took place. This was due to over-exaggeration and misinformation on social media. The extensiveness of the test resulted in many conspiracy theories, one being that the alert could activate viruses in people who have been vaccinated and turn them into zombies. While most people can recognize this is not accurate, it added to the thrill and curiosity of what a nationwide alert would look like. Little did they know, the alert would be no different than a  regular text message you receive on your device. On TikTok, there were videos suggesting that the test could have something to do with an upcoming purge, or that the government was anticipating a disaster to happen in the near future. Obviously, these are false claims, FEMA has been doing widespread tests like these since 2011.  After asking some BHS students about their thoughts on the alert one said, “ I was expecting all of the phones to go off at the same time and for class to be very disrupted, but none of the alerts were synchronized and no one seemed to care.” (Anonymous Student 26’) This was in fact the case, the alert for cellular devices was scheduled to happen at 11:18 am PST and all other devices at 11:20 am PST, the alerts did go off sporadically but all happened between 11:18 and 11:20 am. It is important to remember that you can’t believe everything you hear on the internet, especially if information from a valid source directly conflicts with it. But who knows, maybe FEMA’s next test in 2026 will turn us all into zombies.