Zombie Apocalypse: Dead Bodies Rising from Graves - Facts Analysis

Story:

Emergency Alert: ‘Bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living’ in several Montana counties. Zombie apocalypse is happening, flesh eaters are on the way. People are warned not to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are extremely dangerous.

Other Versions

TV station alert warns of ‘zombie apocalypse’.

Analysis:

The messages, in several variants warn people in Montana and other parts of America about Zombie Apocalypse – that dead bodies are rising from their graves and attacking people. The messages also claim that the emergency alert was broadcast on an American Television channel. Although such a broadcast did happen, the zombies warning is a hoax.

These messages actually started circulating after American television station’s regular programming was hacked and interrupted by the scary news of a Zombie Apocalypse. Couple of programs of American KRTV were intruded by hackers and the audio warning about dead bodies rising from their graves was broadcast, along with a fake scrolling civil emergency alert inserted into the programs. The audio message said:

“Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living. Follow the messages on screen that will be updated as information becomes available. Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous. This warning applies to all areas receiving this broadcast…”

And the message continued, as you can hear it in the video shown above.

KRTV later confirmed that their Emergency Alert System was hacked, and has lead to the broadcast of these zombie warnings in several Montana counties.

“This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency. Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets.”

Therefore, the messages that followed these broadcasts were simply hoaxes. There are no zombies or dead bodies coming out of their graves to kill people. The viewers of the TV message were shocked and worried about the zombies warning, because there are beliefs around the world that they do exist. There are speculations that these broadcasts could be a viral marketing tactic for AMC zombie drama – The Walking Dead.

Zombies and their Existence

A Zombie is an animated corpse believed to be resurrected by mystical means like Witchcraft. They are thought to be mindless, reanimated corpses having hunger for human flesh, especially the human brains. Zombies became popular since late 19th century, especially in North American and European folklore. The term Zombie is now applied to an undead being in horror, fiction and fascinating stories, sometimes even believed to be real by many people around the world, especially in Haiti and Africa, where the stories have originated.

Stories of dead people becoming alive and leading life like a ‘Zombie’ are popular in Haiti and Africa, they are often associated with mysterious forces or powers that govern the world. However, a scientist named Wade Davis proved to a certain extent that Zombie like behavior is possible when the victims of superstitions are poisoned by a powerful neurotoxin called Tetrodotoxin. Davis called it as the Zombie Powder, which he says is applied by Sorcerers over the skin of victims, and this damages their brain to be called “Zombies”.

Lately, after several disturbing incidents of cannibalism were related to ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ that started spreading over internet, the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC released a statement that there is no cause to fear the walking dead.

“CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms),” said David Daigle, the agency spokesman.

The CDC said that no virus can cause zombie-like symptoms, and mentions that the acts of cannibalism can happen when people have psychological problems, or are high on a type of drugs called ‘bath salts’.

However, it is interesting to note that zombie-like characteristics were observed in animals. A newfound fungus called Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani in a Brazilian rain forest is known to infect an ant, take over its brain and move its body to a good location for growth, and then kill it.