The first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which took place last Nov. 9 was described as a complete failure.

The New York Times reported that in some parts of the country, the EAS alert was replaced with Lady Gaga singing Paparazzi for some DirecTV subscribers. In addition, some Time Warner subscribers saw a home-shopping network in place of the alert.

emergency alert fail
FEMA fails emergency alert test

Over the past several weeks the US Government launched a huge public awareness campaign alerting Americans about the upcoming test. In a strange coincidence, the test was to take place on the day that an asteroid passed dangerously close to the earth and just a few weeks after the mysterious Comet Elenin made its sprint through our inner solar system. As Comet Elenin passed near the sun, it was broken apart as most comets are when passing near the sun.

“Only through comprehensively testing, analyzing, and improving these technologies can we ensure an effective and reliable national emergency alert and warning system,” a FEMA statement said.

All of these events leave conspiracy theorists scratching their heads wondering if the test was meant to be an actual warning and subsequently was cancelled once the earth was no longer in danger. There were numerous theories and fears surrounding the approach of Comet Elenin and Asteroid 2005 (YU55). One of which was that terrestrial objects would cause earthquakes and tsunamis. On November 7th there was an earthquake in Oklahoma registering 4.7 magnitude and another one today registering 3.2 magnitude leaving the question, were the Oklahoma earthquakes caused by Comet Elenin or Asteroid 2005 (YU55)?

It appears for now that the sky is not falling and we are all safe.

With 2012 rapidly approaching, let us all hope that the Mayan emergency warning system will be a disastrous dud as well.

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