Could our Government Pull off a Conspiracy?
Last Wednesday’s test of the national Emergency Alert System (EAS) has been declared a FAIL. Over 30,000 television, satellite, and radio providers participated in the test. But, it didn’t reach all TV or radio viewers~ some DirectTV subscribers heard a Lady Gaga’s song as the audio message(is this a joke), TV’s displayed blank screens, and radio stations played dead-air. I was driving to a meeting and didn’t hear it on the radio at all! I did see two fighter jets fly by, which seemed a little odd as I was in the middle of California’s farming valley. Or, was it?
The planning and response to the glitches were all over the place. At least one major satellite provider wasn’t notified of the test until less than a week before it took place. Some reports indicated it would last 30 seconds, others up to 3 minutes. Here’s the joint statement about the test from FEMA and the FCC. (Yep, our good friend the FCC. Read my past blogs if you want to know how helpful they’ve been.)
“The Nationwide EAS Test served the purpose for which it was intended – to identify gaps and generate a comprehensive set of data to help strengthen our ability to communicate during real emergencies. Based on preliminary data, media outlets in large portions of the country successfully received the test message, but wasn’t received by some viewers or listeners. We are currently in the process of collecting and analyzing data, and will reach a conclusion when that process is complete.”
The weird thing about all of this was the EAS test coincided with Asteroid 2005 YU55 coming within 200,000 miles of the Earth the day before. An asteroid passing that close hasn’t happened since 1976 and won’t again until 2028. So, putting on my conspiracy theory hat, I started to wonder if the government hadn’t planned the test in response to knowing the asteroid was coming. (My drive was 4 hours each way~ I had a lot of time on my hands)
Two weeks ago, the asteroid was hardly reported in major media outlets. Nor, was the EAS test for that matter. This asteroid was the size of an aircraft carrier. If it did hit the Earth, it had the power to cause a 7.0 earthquake, create an enormous tsunami, and some say take out a mid-size continent. On that point, another test occurred on Wed. the 9th no one really heard about~ Exercise Pacific Wave 11: A Pacific-wide Tsunami Warning and Communication Exercise put on by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. Interesting. This test was no joke, here’s the exercise manual: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002114/211498e.pdf
My post is titled Could our Government Pull Off a Conspiracy. If last week’s testing of our national emergency alert system is any indication, I really wonder if they’ve got it together enough to do little more than confuse us about their plans and intentions. The EAS has been in place for over 15 years, why is this the FIRST time it’s ever been tested publicly~ in the middle of the day? There’s ongoing weekly and monthly testing that takes place behind-the-scenes at night and the communications network is set-up so they never have to actually broadcast an alert to confirm the system is functioning. President Harry Truman set up the first national emergency alert system in 1951 to communicate with the public in an emergency. There’s been a bit of time to work out the bugs.
And, with tools like Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, and other social media available; the government is lagging in terms of how to reach the public with speed and accuracy to inform us. Most folks are at work on a Wednesday at 2pm, but, everyone carries their smartphones. Although, in a real disaster those tools will be useless as the wide-spread power failures and wireless carrier network overloads would inundate the systems. That’s why I still have a landline and wired phone. If you do use your cell phone in a disaster, text instead of making calls. They’re smaller packets and travel on a lower frequency in the spectrum. It’s more likely to go through. I must say @EPAgov did tweet about the test~ 1 hour before it happened. Thanks for the heads-up!
Lastly, if there was a connection between Asteroid 2005 YU55’s approach and the need for testing during a potential national disaster, someone needs to rework their calculators as the test occurred a day AFTER the asteroid passed Earth. If there was NO coincidence, who in the government thought it made sense to schedule it’s FIRST major national test for the same timeframe the very agencies that would protect us should be focusing all their resources on the potential real one that’s passing in the sky. On a way cool note, the asteroid was traveling at 30,000 miles per hour. Awesome!!
For an in-depth look at our EAS, check out this 2004 assessment: http://www.comlabs.com/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/EAS%20Assesment%20(PPW).pdf
The test does bring up a very good point that now is the time to review your emergency preparedness planning with your family, friends, and communities. Regardless of what the government is or isn’t up to, we can never be too prepared to take care of each other in the event of a disaster. Here are a few resources:
