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The Real Story of the Hawaiian Missile Crisis | GQ

gq.com · 6,831 words · saved by 1 readers

On January 13, 2018, the residents of Hawaii picked up their phones to find a warning: A missile would be hitting the islands imminently. Sean Flynn found out what people do when they think they only have moments left to live.

Save this story Save this story January 13, 8:07 a.m. Vern Miyagi has two cell phones , personal and work, and both are chirping and skittering on the table at once. This cannot be good, if only because the racket is interrupting Vern's quiet Saturday morning. He's at his house in Hawaii Kai, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper and, now, reaching for his phones. There is a white box on both screens filled with black text. EMERGENCY ALERT is in bold letters at the top. Below that, in regular text but all in capital letters, it reads: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDI

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