Panic ensues after false alarm warns of incoming ballistic missile threat to Hawaii

People in Hawaii were sent into a panic Saturday morning when they got an emergency alert on their phones that said, "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

Officials said quickly after that the alert went out by mistake and was a false alarm.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted, "NO missile threat to Hawaii."

A Hawaii EMA spokesman also told BuzzFeed News that they were in the process of sending another message to cancel the initial alert.

"It was part of a drill that was going on," they said.

Lt. Commander Joe Nawrocki of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the agency in charge of providing aerospace warnings in North America, told BuzzFeed News, "There is no missile threat. We're trying to figure out where this came from or how this started. There is absolutely no incoming ballistic missile threat to Hawaii right now."

"My phone's blowing up right now," Nawrocki added.

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard also said on Twitter that she had confirmed with officials that the alert was a false alarm.

This story is developing...

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