Japanese broadcaster sends false alarm saying North Korea launched missile

Just days after Hawaii issued a false alarm about an incoming ballistic missile from North Korea, a Japanese broadcaster made a similar mistake today.

NHK television, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, reported online and on Twitter that North Korea had fired a missile at Japan and that residents should take shelter. North Korea did not actually fire any missiles, and minutes later NHK deleted its tweets and "apologized several times on air," according the The Guardian. "A mistake in using the alert system caused the error."

Jeez, weird coincidence with these mistaken missile alerts, to say the least. Another one of these and we could face a potential Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf disaster once an actual missile threat were to become a reality.

Image: USN/Wikimedia