Millions of smartphones just blasted an official 'alien invasion' warning at 1:30 AM
Millions of smartphones blasted an official 'alien invasion' warning in the early hours of the morning earlier this week, leaving people in a panic.
The debate over whether governments are hiding the truth about extraterrestrial life has never really gone away. Former president Barack Obama previously claimed that alien life is real, causing some political backlash, while Donald Trump is continuously releasing classified documents on the subject. Meanwhile, people have finally been able to witness what's been kept under wraps, thanks to the staggered release of files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
However, we still don't have a clear answer about whether there are other beings out there in space, but for millions of Brazilians, the search for an answer feels a lot more urgent after they were abruptly awoken by a supposed 'alien invasion.'
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At around 1:30am on 19 and 20 June, emergency alert systems in major Brazilian cities sent mass notifications to residents' smartphones, claiming extraterrestrials had arrived.
Residents of Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro reported their phones emitting the same shrill tone associated with extreme weather or civil defence warnings.
"Protect yourselves: ALIEN ATTACK, PEOPLE, WE HAVE ARRIVED!," read one of the messages sent to users in Belo Horizonte.
In Rio de Janeiro, a second alert arrived that was more cryptic and riddled with spelling errors, reading: "misantropo ADRESS RJ burros dms pprt."
According to Guessing Headlights (via Yahoo) who translated the message with ChatGPT, the message read: "Misanthrope. Address: Rio de Janeiro. Very stupid, for real." However, the message bore no real public threat to humanity, despite the mass panic.
A screenshot of one of the messages shared via WhatsApp spread on X, with some people relieved it was a hoax and others worried for the future.
"The most worrying thing isn't even the word used. It's knowing that a system created to warn about risks is vulnerable. If this happens, how will the population trust it when there's a real emergency?" one user replied.
Another user commented: "This is extremely serious, I woke up scared, this government is a mess".
Brazil's National Civil Protection agency confirmed shortly afterwards that the alerts were not the result of an extraterrestrial event. Rather, the messages were sent by an unauthorised third party who had somehow gained access to the country's emergency alert infrastructure.
Parts of the system were disabled to prevent further misuse, and the case was handed to Brazil's Federal Police, who are now investigating how the breach occurred and who was behind it.
No arrests have been confirmed and no suspects have been publicly identified at the time of writing. Officials also noted that there is no ongoing risk to the public and that safeguards are being reviewed.