A local television station warned the residents of Great Falls, Mont. about the zombie apocalypse with the Emergency Alert System. The only problem was that there was no zombie virus outbreak and according to io9.com on Feb. 12, the whole thing was a cruel hoax by a hacker.
The emergency broadcast stated,
"Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living. Follow the message on-screen that will be updated as information becomes available. Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous. This warning applies to all areas receiving this broadcast."
After the zombie alert aired, at least four people called the local police to see if it was true.
KRTV issued a statement on the incident,
"Someone apparently hacked into the Emergency Alert System and announced on KRTV and the CW that "dead bodies are rising from their graves" in several Montana counties. This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency. Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets.
Interestingly, the incident happened just one day after "The Walking Dead" resumed airing. Perhaps a fan took things a little bit too far and maybe this is all because viewers have to wait so long in between mid-season breaks.
What do you think of the Emergency Alert System being hacked and people being told that dead bodies were rising out of their graves? What would you do if your local station aired this warning?
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