Bombing

I've heard that there's a new internet fad called 'Bombing' which involves internet users getting together to phone in fake emergencies to the police. I have no idea whether or not this is really happening (though it did immediately make me think of the Not-So-Great Internet UFO Hoax, which involved an internet community trying to coordinate calling up authorities with a phony UFO sighting). Has anyone ever heard of this new fad? Is it real?
Update: This question arises because a Texas woman who phoned in a fake emergency call is using 'bombing' as her excuse. She claims it's an internet game, in which the winner is the person who can get the most police to respond to a phony emergency. The winner also gets to go to jail!

Law/Police/Crime

Posted on Thu Mar 24, 2005


Comments

I have seen a movie where that occured. I can't think of the name though.
Posted by X  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  10:31 AM
...Isn't this like the guy who got all those delivery people to one house on that street...
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  10:42 AM
The only thing similar to this that I've run across was called a Flash Mob and I only heard about that on one of those CSI shows. But it used cell phones and pages to give a time and place for a bunch of people to show up...
Posted by Tru  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  11:06 AM
yep it's real, a couple of my friends did it, but aswell as calling the police and fire crews, they called the media. Pity the newspapers didn't listen to chloe 'cos she sounds like a five year old :p
Posted by thunder  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  11:48 AM
As Alex says, this can get you in jail.
But worse, it could result in someone dying because all the rescuers are away at a fake emergency when a real emergency is reported.
Are people really doing this? I don't know.
But it's not very funny if you ask me.
Posted by Big Gary C  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  12:30 PM
Various hoodlum friends of mine have done something similar...nothing to do with the Internet, though.
Posted by Katherine  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  12:30 PM
just to be clear i wasnt involved when my friends did it and i totally agree that its not funny and tried to talk them out of it, but then im just a spoilsport...😉
Posted by thunder  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  03:04 PM
I'm somewhat ashamed to admit in participating in what was shamefully referred to as "Chinese Stoplights" on several occasions. It involved running around your car at stoplights faking loud Chinese outcries. Bad form
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  03:27 PM
A Flash Chinese Stoplight Mob would be achingly Retro, but somewhat inconsiderate, to traffic and Nice Chinese People. Unless it was Chinese New Year, but even then, Rude, if you're not Chinese
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  03:30 PM
A Flash Streaking Mob would be cool, but you'd pretty well lose web contact after everybody was naked. I hope.
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  03:32 PM
I mean, everybody's naked underneath, y'know, so how could anybody really get mad? Unless you do a Chinese Fire Drill while streaking... Too easy to get things caught in the car door... ooh- that's gonna hurt
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  03:35 PM
Yeah, false alarms will get you thrown in the hoosegow. Hell, you jump out of a car at a stoplight, naked and screaming faux Chinese, and you'd get shot. Worse than jail, unless your cellmate is Micheal Jackson
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  03:39 PM
I like a good Flash Fart Mob, too. Mainly in Libraries and Church (see: Not One Damn Dime Day). SBDs have their values, but nothing shakes up the PTA like a chorus of good, loud, wet ones
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  04:11 PM
I guess the allure of "Bombing", which is stupid AND illegal, is that you can participate without leaving your chair. Fart in Church and sit in your pew. Have to kneel in it, though
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  04:13 PM
Meh.. Flash mobs are different.. you get, say, five thousand people in Times Square with kazoos.. or people walking through a mall with an orange in their hand.. They tend to be more 'art' and social experiment, really. Also usually good for a laugh.

This, this is just cruel. Tying up emergency services, when they might be needed elsewhere could easily lead to lost lives. Causing panic is never good, and those who think it's 'fun' rank slightly above child molesters in my opinion.
Posted by Bobcat  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  05:32 PM
Oh, and Tru.. don't base your reality on what you see in CSI episodes.. They tend to get their facts wrong or deliberately exaggerate them for improved entertainment value..

Feh.. neoprene bodysuit under a fursuit.. the guy would be dead in five minutes from heat exhaustion..
Posted by Bobcat  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  05:40 PM
If anyone is interested, you can see her entry in the Texas sex offenders list: http://records.txdps.state.tx.us/soSearch/soDetail.cfm?ShowNav=False&dps_number=06598763

She got pregnant at the age of 19, with a 12 year old boy. This is the kind of person who thinks reporting a fake hostage situation is funny. Some of the teens who came out of the surrounded house could have been shot by police, for fark's sake.
Posted by Nanny Nonymoose  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  07:24 PM
Hairy said: Fart in Church and sit in your pew. Have to kneel in it, though

I actually own a pew and have it in my living room. Hubby farts in it all the time. And the only one kneeling is... 😉
Posted by Winona  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  09:27 PM
Sorry for the implied crudeness!
Posted by Winona  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  09:29 PM
I'm confused- is it your pew or your husband's pew? Is it an old pew? All cracked, dried and dessicated? Or is it a newer pew, still fresh and green? That's important
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  09:49 PM
If it's a new pew, you don't wanna kneel down too far- it might still be giving off fumes as it cures. If it's an old pew, you have to be careful around open flames. Just a tip from an old pewhand
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  09:51 PM
LOL

Holy Pew! It's from the chapel we got married in. It's pretty old & needs a paint job badly. Or do we laquer it like the lady on eBay who sold the cat pew?
Posted by Winona  on  Thu Mar 24, 2005  at  11:08 PM
so for those chinese stoplights, do you run around spouting fake mandarin or cantonese? i might want to try it but don't want to mess it up and look like a fool.
Posted by gerd derkinson  on  Fri Mar 25, 2005  at  01:01 AM
I saw this incident referenced on the evening new last night. I don't remember the location, but I thought it was local. (It was in the "local news" portion of the show. The "headlines" are incidents from outside of the state.)
Posted by Maegan  on  Sun Mar 27, 2005  at  06:03 AM
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