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The events in Hawaii two weeks ago gave me an idea for a story, and I'd like to know the plausibility of it all.

The setup for the story is that in the spring of 1986, not long after the US strikes on Libya on April 15,a series of accidents leads to a nationwide activation of the Emergency Broadcast System in a way that convinces a sizable portion of the US population that a Soviet nuclear attack has been launched against the United States.

A somewhat tamer and possibly more plausible version that would work for the purposes of the story might be a cockup by state authorities leading to a nuclear attack warning being issued for the state of Indiana, similar to the Hawaii missile alert or the 2005 Connecticut evacuation incident.

In either case, this is solely a civilian error. There is no increase in American military readiness as a result of the false alarm, much like in Hawaii. Also in either case, it takes anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour for a retraction to be issued, leading to panic in affected areas.

So, is this in any way plausible, or should I shelve this one? If it is plausible, any pointers as to how it could play out? I've already decided that overzealous local authorities might activate air raid sirens, increasing panic in affected areas.
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