Conspiracy theories about FEMA's Oct. 4 emergency alert test spread online

CLAIM: An emergency broadcast system test on Oct. 4 will send a signal to cell phones nationwide in order to activate nanoparticles such as graphene oxide that have been introduced into people’s bodies.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Next month’s test of the nationwide Emergency Alert System uses the same familiar audio tone that’s been in use since the 1960s to broadcast warnings across the country. A spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing the test, also said there are no known adverse health effects from the signal. The claims revive long-debunked conspiracy theories about the contents of the COVID-19 vaccine.

THE FACTS: Social media users are raising dire warnings about upcoming tests of the national emergency warning system.

Many are imploring their followers to shut off their cellphones on the day of the test because they believe it’s part of a broader conspiracy to exert control over the population.

One popular video shows a woman claiming the test will somehow switch on technology that has been introduced into people’s bodies.

“The emergency broadcasting system under FEMA is going to be activated,” the woman explains, speaking directly into the camera. “It’s not a test. It’s going to be sending these high frequency signals into cell phones, radios, TVs. The intention of activating nanoparticles, including graphene oxide.”

In another widely shared video, a man issues a similar warning, adding that graphene oxide and other nanoparticles have been inserted into billions of human beings around the world “through obvious mediums.”

“Everyone will be affected, regardless of status,” he adds in the video, which was widely shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, along with the hashtag “CovidVaccine.”

But while FEMA is conducting a routine test of its emergency warning system next month, there is no truth to the claim that it will emit a wireless signal that will somehow activate graphene oxide or nanoparticles in the body.

Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, said the claims appear to be referring to old myths about the contents of COVID vaccines.