What Caused The US Cell Phone Outage?

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Tens of thousands of AT&T customers experienced a total outage on Thursday morning, with many people stating it was caused by a solar flare or cyberattack. But is that true?

“Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack.  We are continuing our assessment of today’s outage to ensure we keep delivering the service that our customers deserve,” AT&T said in a statement shared by Fox Weather. But many people online noted the outages occurred at approximately the same time as the Sun, our closest star, emitted a series of huge solar flares.

Solar flares are explosions of energy that occur on the Sun’s surface, which can project huge amounts of solar material towards Earth. Sometimes this material hits Earth and can have dire impacts on our electrical systems, the power grid, and our magnetic field. (LEARN MORE: China’s Stealth Invasion Of America Is Happening Now, Experts Warn)

Did A Solar Flare Cause This Outage?

In all likelihood, no. “While solar flares can affect communication systems, radar, and the Global Positioning System, based on the intensity of the eruption and associated phenomena, it is highly unlikely that these flares contributed to the widely reported cellular network outages,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated. (LEARN MORE: ‘Jesus Revolution,’ ‘The Chosen’ Team’s Huge Announcement)

If the outage was caused by a flare, we’d have probably seen other issues here on the ground. In the mid-1800s, a major solar flare caused almost all above-ground telegraph wires to burn due around different parts of the world. This was called the Carrington Event and it could definitely happen again. Thankfully, there’s something we can do to stop a solar flare from damaging our electrical grid.

Tell Your Politicians Where To Focus

One sudden, massive solar event has the potential to completely destroy our electrical grid. But we have the technology and capability to mitigate this disaster. Unfortunately, it is not an important issue for your elected officials — but it should be. You can contact your local, state, and federally-elected lawmakers today to tell them how important protecting our infrastructure is to your vote.

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