From The Scottish Daily Record
President George Bush fled to his bomb-proof bunker when a major security alert was triggered … by a freak cloud.
Vice president Dick Cheney was airlifted out of Washington and snipers took up position when the alarms were sounded.
An anti-aircraft missile battery was raised into firing position on a rooftop close to the White House and a Black Hawk helicopter was scrambled. But they saw nothing except clouds. The big scare happened on Wednesday (27th April 2005) when the cloud triggered radar monitors on the domestic events network, the system designed to protect Washington from attack.
White House spokesman Scott McCellan said the president was only in the bunker for a short time as the all-clear was sounded 20 minutes after the scare. The cloud was first detected about 30 miles south of Washington and moving quickly.
A spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection Agency said false alarms were commonly caused by clouds, flocks of birds and small private planes. He added: “It does happen. We have to deal with weather anomalies showing up on the radar screen”
