Late Monday night, Dallas residents were yanked out of bed by the city’s outdoor warning sirens, only to realize the usual eerie wail had been swapped for something straight out of Saturday morning TV. Videos and posts show the system loudly pumping out the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, leaving neighbors baffled, annoyed, and, in some cases, trying not to laugh.
According to Boing Boing, an Instagram post that appears to capture the incident says the sirens kicked on around 11 p.m. and cycled for about an hour. City emergency officials told residents there was no tornado warning in effect and said the identity of whoever triggered the system is still unknown.
Officials Responded, Investigation Under Way
City crews spent the night working to shut down and reset the siren network while emergency managers told residents to rely on official channels for real alerts. The bizarre soundtrack has a serious backdrop, echoing a widely covered 2017 episode when all 156 Dallas sirens were set off by an unauthorized radio signal, which led the city to add encryption and other defenses, according to CSO Online. In earlier cases, authorities have brought in the FBI and the FCC to help figure out how the system was tripped.
What To Do If You Hear Sirens
Outdoor warning sirens are meant to grab the attention of people who are outside, not replace indoor alert systems or official forecasts. If you hear one go off, head to a sturdy building right away and check trusted alerts such as NOAA Weather Radio or local emergency notifications, the National Weather Service advises.
Legal Ramifications
Tampering with emergency alert systems is not a prank that stays online, it can trigger criminal investigations and federal enforcement. Previous Dallas siren incidents have involved coordination with federal partners, CSO Online reported. If a responsible party is identified in this case, prosecutors could pursue state or federal charges, depending on how the system was accessed and what impact the activation had…