Why fear an automated text message? The reasons are mind-bendingly ludicrous, but surf long-running waves of disinformation around 5G networks, the COVID vaccines, and a nefarious federal government intent on harming its citizens.
“These tests and exercises or drills, if you prefer, are always preceding of, or simultaneous with, an actual created crisis,” the Hawaii-based pastor J.D. Farag said in a recent sermon, clips of which spread on X and TikTok.
“The crisis is first simulated and then created,” said Farag, who has nearly 300,000 subscribers on his “End Times news and global events” YouTube page, before comparing the impending event to the Sept. 11 attacks and COVID-19.
Jason Shurka, a spirituality influencer with around 170,000 followers each on YouTube and Instagram, warned followers in videos last month that an emergency broadcast, “disguised as a test,” would send a high-frequency signal to devices across the country “with the intention of activating graphene oxide and other nanoparticles that have been inserted into billions of human beings around the world through the obvious mediums,” presumably a reference to the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Truth Social, the Trump-backed social media network, one QAnon influencer noted the emergency test coincided with rumored nuclear evacuation drills in Russia and warned, “You and your body have been continuously assaulted by every poison, bioagent, medication, and criminal warfare device (millimeter, x-rays, and microwaves) conceivable, for your entire lives.”
And on TikTok, one since-removed video included the caption, “Y’all get ready. October 4th their [sic] activating Marburg virus through 5 g signal which they are activating on October 4. This will affect anyone who took the shots.” The accompanying video featured anti-vaccine activist Todd Callender warning that a 5G broadcast would cause “liquid nanoparticles to swell” and release heretofore contained pathogens into the bodies of COVID-19 vaccine recipients, causing “a Marburg epidemic” as well as, really, a race of human zombies. (The Marburg virus is a dangerous hemorrhagic fever virus.)
On Reddit, one user shared what they claimed was a text message from their landlord, notifying tenants that “we intend to enter your apartment and shut off your power” for two hours because of the supposed fire risk to “all our multiple appliances that we furnish for all of the apartments.” The same text message warned tenants of a distinct risk for “the Covid vax’d.”
The news isn’t all bad: At least a few conspiracy-theory-minded webizens see the Wireless Emergency Alerts test as a positive development: One Truth Social user, for example, pointed out that the digits in the military times for the announced start and end to the test, 14:20 and 14:50, added up to 17 ― a supposed reference to Q, the 17th letter in the alphabet and a calling card for the QAnon conspiracy theory.
“PROOF The White Hats Control the 10/4 EAS Test!” the post announced, using a slang term for upstanding patriots.
“According to some, White Hats have full control of communications,” another Truth Social user posted separately. “If anything these vibrations will be healing frequencies so I’m told…… I for one am not taking any measures to hide my phone……”
while this asinine conspiracy crap is over the top, there is at least one reason to be aware of the EBS test… specifically for people that may be hiding a phone - for many legit reasons, including a domestic violence situation. making sure the phone is completely powered off (and will not alert) for the test may prevent a nasty domestic encounter. that is all.
A bunch of people who snuck phones into live performances, rehabs, and prisons are about to have an interesting day.
What’s that ringing nose? It’s coming from your ass?
Snape: What is that mysterious ringing noise?
Again, just power the phone off and there is no issue
I bet you a good 50% of people don’t know how to power off an iPhone anymore
It’s the same way you turn off anything, by dropping it in the toilet!
what, you guys don’t store yours in the toilet tank?
Just the burner.
I’m not going to ask why you thought of this but I want to say you’re a good egg for raising it here.
One love.
The alarm went off on my iPhone work phone, but not my personal Android. I got the pop-up on both and keep them both on silent.
yeah, the likely only surefire way is to not be connected to the cellular network (phone off).
android (and ios, I imagine) have options buried rather deep in settings to ignore alerts, but who knows how consistently well they work or are retained after an update.
You can opt out of some of this stuff.
I know Amber Alerts can be silenced or disabled from Android, maybe you disabled these as well?
I know there’s a good intention, but when they go off every driver on the road gets a crazy alert blaring at them, I’ve often wondered how often those actually help and how many accidents they cause.
They are very helpful. They are only issued when there is a danger to the child and they have a description and license plate of the suspect vehicle. An amber alert indicates a hot pursuit, and what to try on these in that moment is for regular people to have their eyes open.
No, I understand their intended purpose…
I’m doubting their efficacy and curious about how much harm they cause.
Like, if everytime you heard a knock at your door, you’d shoot thru it with a shotgun. You’d 100% hit every burglar that was polite enough to wait by the door. It is effective.
The downside you’d also shoot everyone else that knocks on your door.
In this analogy it’s the consequences of every driver on a crowded interstate having the alert go off and quickly fumbling their phones to shut it off. All the people driving by schools and playgrounds, or just have their own children in the car going down a winding road.
Then them taking the time to read the text. While still driving, because if they wait till they stop driving… We lose the main reason for sending them.
I wouldnt be surprised if the number of people who have died from car crashes is greater than the number of children who have been found due to an Amber Alert.
But maybe I’m wrong, I just said I’d be curious to see what the numbers backed up.
Ohhh I get you. Damn, that might be true.
That’s our cat and mouse crime strategy.
If you want to disable it on your iPhone, it’s at the very bottom of Settings -> Notifications (under all the apps). You can disable:
- AMBER Alerts
- Emergency Alerts
- Emergency Alerts - Always Play Sound
- Public Safety Alerts
- Test Alerts
Did you have Emergency Alerts enabled but have “Emergency Alerts - Always Play Sound” disabled? If not, I’m curious if anyone who did can report about whether or not it was effective.
This went off at my MAGAfied workplace. I screamed “The vaccine!” and clutched my chest right as it did. I got a few qultists to jump in their seats.
This was hilarious. Almost makes me wish I was surrounded by these guys just so I could do this … OK maybe not.
Yeah, not worth it
Can confirm, it is not worth it.
Doing god’s work
Guys, this is a golden opportunity!
Get on Right wing forums and tell them this test has been aborted, because all the clever paranoid nutjobs were onto them.
But, in fact, the test has just been rescheduled to a random time, or rather at random times for the next year or so. Until Biden’s time is up and Trump is declared Supreme Emperor I guess. Because really, if you were really conspiring to send a mind control message, you wouldn’t broadcast the date & time ffs.
So the only safe thing to do is to turn off their devices, all their devices, and leave them off until after the next election. That includes TVs, of course, and especially Fox News, cuz the Democrats know that Fox News viewers are more cautious and took fewer vaccines, so they’ll have scheduled extra Emergency Broadcasts for them.
Fast forward a year, in which all the crazies have to go out and live on the real world and talk to real people, and we might just have a sane country back. At the very least, we’d have a year off…
This is a genius plan.
These people are so fucking stupid.
They think a cellphone has the ability to “activate vaccines and give people Marbug virus”, but for some reason think if they turn their phone off to not get the message, that’s the only time the signal could be sent out?
Cherry on top:
I saw a different article about this where the nut jobs were telling people to mask up because chemtrails are going to happen at the same time. Also something about drones that send out the signal?
There’s just never any logic with them
Unfortunately, I think they’re fucking unwell.
Opportunist media on the right hypes them up and “yes-and”s their paranoia.
Opportunist media on the center-left makes fun of them and then moves along.
Real message should be that we need universal health care, including psychiatry.
There’s a lot of undiagnosed (and self-medicated) anxiety disorders out there, and right-wing conspiracism gleefully feeds on it.
Oh so NOW they think masks work
These are people that claim the vaccine injects tracking devices into us, while tweeting (truthing?) from their location-activated cell phones. So logic isn’t exactly their strong suit.
We missed our chance to all get together and collectively start acting like zombies as soon as the alert fired.
Then again… all of these lunatics have guns and are just dying for an excuse to start blasting. I’d rather not get shot trolling the crazies.
Starts a Thriller dance
Thriller video flash mob
As if any of them had the balls to start blasting. They love themselves way too much to risk losing their lives.
Hmmm let’s see. Backing out of someone’s driveway:got shot, knocking on someone’s door:got shot, playing hide & seek:got shot. Do you need more examples?
nah, you’re right. I was just curious if i could trigger rightards with my comment. These people are dangerous and we need to do something about it.
That’s a weird way of saying that despite having guns they don’t want to shoot someone.
You know that the crazies are getting off to the thoughts of killing political enemies if you visit /pol, gab, rumble or MeWe just one (1) single time. Weird way of trivialising the inhumane violence the right are hoping, begging, praying for.
a nefarious federal government intent on harming its citizens
That part isn’t crazy for them. It’s what they vote for every time they’re given the chance.
It’s literally the point of the southern strategy: hurting your fellow Americans (and yourself) for the lulz/racism/economic anxiety/owning the libs/etc. It’s been 50+ years of the working class shooting itself in the foot for Schadenfreude .
Do these people have the memory of an earthworm?
We’ve had regular testing of alerts over the radio and TV, as well as regular testing of sirens for decades.
They always have selective memories. Very selective.
Even entertaining this theory for a second longer than I really want to, why in these people’s minds would the US government want to destroy itself by turning its citizens into zombies?
Because in this mythology, the Democrats are demonic entities who desire evil for the sake of evil.
💀
I heard that this is Biden’s Order 66, and it’s going to activate the antifa super-soldiers and turn all frogs gay.
I heard that this is Biden’s Order 66,
And it worked too. You don’t see any Jedi walking around, do you?
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Why are they quoting people with smaller social media followings than my grandma? Who gives a shit.
Why are they quoting people with smaller social media followings than my grandma?
Maybe if your grandma is the moderately famous octogenarian who plays skyrim on camera.
Like, I heard multiple different versions of what this test was going to do yesterday from multiple different people at work.
All of them absurd.
Hell, the LEAST absurd one was “the government will take over our phones and be able to see our cameras, hear everything we do around our phones, and go through all of our apps and files.” to which I said: “If they could do that by sending you a text message, the FBI would never bitch about not being able to get into the iPhone of a suspected criminal ever again.”
That worked for about as long as it took someone to say “Coventry”.
*sigh*
It drives me bonkers that the idiocy has THIS much reach.
Idiocy having SOME reach has been the case for as long as I’ve been alive (I mean, c’mon, what group of friends didn’t have one member whose crazy uncle had a room full of blacklight posters, bongs, and hookahs who went on constantly about how the mayans invented cordless phones?) but social media sure takes the reach to a new and ridiculous level.
Exponential spread of narrative through degrees of connection.
A source with a small number of followers can still reach a wide audience by their followers sharing with their followers sharing with their followers and so on
Well, good thing I just downplayed their importance and everyone will just ignore them.
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It baffles me on stupid some of the human race is. How do they function? I know they’re fueled by fear and hate but to actually function and hold a job is just astonishing to me.
Monke supposed to hit deer with stick and pick berries. Monke not supposed to face existential crisis all around world, work, pay bills, think about microplastic,or stare at black rectangle for hours. Monke confused, afraid, overwhelmed. Monke trying, and failing, to make sense of it all.
My god they’re fucking stupid.
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Worst zombie apocalypse ever.
“Sorry, too busy bleeding from my eyeballs to bite your face. By the way, can you hand me my lung please? I’d bend over to get it myself but then my colon would fall out.”
Hmmm, if I weren’t so lazy I would try and start a counter theory that the nanobots/Marburg Virus/graphine oxide particles are on a 3-year timer by default and if your phone doesn’t go off today and reset their timer, then they will automatically deliver their payload which will turn you into a liberal zombie hunting for MAGA supporters to consume with expensive fancy mustards.
Any one feel like eating a vegan all of the sudden?
I mean, if she’s willing…
Just went off. Nothing happened. Another dumb right wing thing put to bed.
Nice try zombie!
Brainsssss…
I’m bummed. I was hoping I’d get some Antifa super soldier powers but my phone just made an annoying noise.
stop with your left wing liberal lying, you left wing liberal shill!
I’ll have you know that 3 different viruses tried to be activated in my body the second it went off, and only by pouring hydrochloric acid in my ear and soaking my anus in drain cleaner for 18 hours was I able to destroy your liberal government antennas in my body was I able to prevent it!
Help me move the goal posts please.
I know this is a worldwide phenomenon, but I’ve never met a live one over here (non US). How common are those lunatics over there?
There are several people in my office of ~50 people who called in sick or are trying to avoid phones today.
You should get everyone to start acting sick and weird lolol
“Bob it’s so strange I’m not feeling so well all of a sudden”
“All of a sudden Bob you started…smelling delicious”
Lmao
