A quick warning.
There are curse words that are unbeeped in today's episode of the show.
If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org okay, so here's a story you probably heard and a story you have not.
Remember in 2018 when Hawaiians got that alert on their phones saying that a ballistic missile was inbound headed for Hawaii?
This is not a drill.
Seek immediate shelter.
People scrambled to find places to hide.
They put their kids in storm drains.
It seemed completely plausible that a missile was on the way, because this was after months of President Trump and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, threatening each other with nuclear destruction, fire and fury.
Okay, so that is the story.
You know, here's the one you don't.
When the alert came, I was at my house, up on my lawn.
My first thought was, wow, I'm going to view history and then get wiped off the map.
This is Mike McFarland, and he figured he'd be viewing history because his lawn is in a part of Oahu that overlooks Pearl harbor, which is where he figured the missile was going to land.
There's still an active military base there.
So he grabs his cat to bring her inside.
Flips on TV and radio, the same alert.
Incoming missile is everywhere.
Which makes it more real and more terrifying.
He props up an iPad at a window and points it at Pearl harbor to livestream whatever's about to happen.