Watch the government's fake 1986 news broadcast of a nuclear attack on Indianapolis

"The FBI and police have cordoned off the area and they've restricted the airspace above it," the reporter says from her news chopper on that fateful day in 1986. "We're headed in that direction now. But we can only ..." A white flash engulfs the screen and the feed cuts to static as a nuclear explosion rips through downtown Indianapolis.

This never happened, of course. The fake news broadcast documenting this fake nuclear terrorist attack was created as part of a federal interagency training exercise known as Mighty Derringer.

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Grayson Quay

Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteModern AgeThe American ConservativeThe Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.