Protect and Survive - The Warnings

[Marte1618]

is this for real?

[sputnik4134]

@Marte1618 yes coz the cold war was sereous wen it was shown in 1975

[benjaminmullin96]

1:07 Haha it sounds like someone's farting.

[sciencegey]

after the immediate danger of air attack and fallout is gone, what? in 50 years?

[tomharding]

Those first and last sirens are way too similar. "Ooooh, is it all clear?" *runs outside*

[BuddyFantastic]

Used to live near an RAF base as a kid. They'd have these Tactical Evaluations on camp, so the air attack siren would be sounding off during those (i think, week long) TacEvals. Was totaly oblivious to the possible frightening logic behind it all.

[whereSR]

When Two Tribes Go to War. A point is all that you can score!!!

[Francis1930]

I remember seeing this on TV in the 80's, and hearing the sirens being tested every week from the top of the fire station tower. You just got used to it in the end. We all expected nuclear war to start at any time when I was at school in the early 80's an exciting time to be alive!!!!!!!

[Kevooi]

@Francis1930

Interesting...

In Estonia (and else) under the USSR they would very frequently sound alarms and corral children into fall-out bunkers built right into school basements. And then they would all sit in line with those horrible-looking Russian gas masks and wait for any signal.

Children were also shooting AK47s at firing ranges. The USSR was definitely getting ready... >.>

Fun fact: children discovered you can imitate the noise KITT makes in Night Rider with the gas mask filters.

[RoyFan33]

@Kevooi I fucking love fun facts like this.

[Lucyballet1994]

Well I'll be having nightmares off that ending music tonight.

[Django5198]

@Lucyballet1994 horrible isn't it

[RedJoe10]

This was some creepy stuff.

[timmyk1983]

I don't know which is scarier, the attack itself or this damn ending music!!!!!

[MrDevilzman666]

@timmyk1983 Ending music,coz the ending chills me spine,in my room,at the back,alone....

[RoyFan33]

Hm, do we still have a standardized set of tones in the U.S.? 

[MadxGam3r]

"Tactical nuke inbound."

[AsDeadAsDillinger]

There is STILL an raid siren on the substation down the road from me!.

I remember in the 80's when all these films were being shown, I was walking home from school when I heard it, my blood ran cold, and I ran home, by the time I got there I was a panicking gibbering wreck, expecting SS20's to begin raining down any second (the walk home took 5 minutes) There was no-one in so I assumed they'd gone to the shelter without me.!

The nexy day I found out it they were just testing the equipment.

[sputnik4134]

this was added in the hit song Two Tribes

[MRWALKER500000]

UK Warning

U.S DSB SATELITES- 15mins

BMEWS POSITIVE TRACK- 4-5mins

[anonUK]

@Andersoniana

Who would have nuked Poland? Would the Americans really have wanted to drop a nuclear bomb so close to West Germany and Scandinavia? Any nuclear bomb, unless a minute one designed specifically to stem a Russian invasion of Europe, would have been aimed at Moscow or Smolensk rather than Warsaw.

[m1049]

@anonUK Look up "tactical nuclear weapons."

[Jicholson]

The attack and all clear sound so similar, I'd be confused

[benjaminmullin96]

@Jicholson The attack is up and down fast, and the all clear sound is steady.

[0stanley0steamer0]

Watch the movie Threads. In that movie we see these silly little ads and how nobody follows them because they're all dead or just wish they were.

[Hucklebubba]

For the sake of the all clear, I'm assuming the sirens are indestructible, and possess an EMP-shielded independent power source?

All joking aside, these have to be literally the most hope-destroying PSAs ever created. That ending jingle is strangely great, though.

[AliceRolley]

@Hucklebubba Most air-raid signals (well, in world war 2) were wind-up, I think. I'm not too sure on that one though.

[JamesiProductions]

@AliceRolley You can wind them up, to charge them. But that is only when power was not being delivered. It's its Back up. Only used when electricity failed :)

[RightWingHunter666]

damn the all clear warning sounds just the attack warning. Pretty fucked up joke to play on a bloke after he just survived a nuclear attack.

[waveali]

They need to play a warring sound before they play that horrible sound at the end

[Lyra74]

"Attack" and "All Clear" should NOT be the same sound, great way to traumatize whoever's left... if..

[Travellinghobo2]

I'm not gonna lie, I would shit if I heard that siren

[ZemplinTemplar]

@Travellinghobo2 I'd run straight towards the expected impact site. Better dead immediately than dying slowly.

[Standuble]

@ZemplinTemplar Better off investing in a cyanide pill to be consumed when the sirens sound. It's a heck of a lot more certain than going to the expected bomb site in the hope of vapourisation at the risk of just having your flesh painfully blown off.

[EntropicMisanthropic]

This might have had some use in the US where there would be a lot more warning before impact.

4 minutes of warning on British people would just about get them to put down the newspaper and start putting on their overcoats.

[anonUK]

@EntropicMisanthropic

"Some people in this great country of ours can run a mile in 4 minutes".

Peter Cook.

watch?v=Z8ZpvPEvr1o

[jrdnjstn]

my favorite warning is the fallout

[iandhd]

It's the voice of the late Patrick Allen... he did tons of TV voice overs and film narration so you'll certainly have heard him before.

[giantsean]

As if anyone will be left to sound the All Clear.

But yeah, the end "tune" is the scariest unintentionally scary sound ever.

[NukeAttackWarnings]

@giantsean We have tests every month in the same sound as the end siren :P

[anorangebeast]

@giantsean It was entirely intended to be frightening.

[fiddleandcatz]

i love these films, it was having access to these sorts of materials that made me want to become a cold war historian

[nathninetyone]

Why do they have to make the tone at the end so upsetting.

[flauterfli]

"The attack" is still used in war-prone countries for bomb sirens. I was watching a bombardment in the middle east on the news the other day, and the "attack" whaled. The cameras were far away, but you could see the bombs ripping into the city and then fires erupting everywhere. Then screams from civilians, gun shots. More screams and children crying and mothers sobbing. Gun shots, more bombs. Then silence. All shot live, just before I had to pack up my things and go to school. Nightmares...

[RectalSpoonNinja]

The irony is, these probably wouldn't protect you in the case of a nuclear war.

[seethetrain]

That is a way creepy voice.

[jjovereats]

666: 66 likes, 6 dislikes.

[weslake898]

people better get a copy of this - latest news - Iran are placing missiles batteries in venezuela - cold war 2....but worse

[kieanh4]

The warning sound was chosen because a during ww2 a device was made that could make that really load without electricity

[moniquedurian]

the three whistle noises kill me - I can just see someone from Money Python in a cops uniform running around the streets blowing on his whistle.

[waveali]

Why play that horrible sound at the end? Just a dreadful depressing sound.

[manhattan85]

@waveali Apparently it was produced by the guy who did music for Dr. Who. The British are f@#ked, and I mean that in a complimentary, comical way.

[KittyFooFo0]

is this in public domain?

[bawoman]

Most people find the jingle at the end really disturbing,and it is,but i think the intro,with the sound of the bomb and the logo is even worse.

[Angusismyhero]

If there's a nuclear bomb would they really need to be told there'd be fallout?

[mupty]

The warning and all clear alarms sound pretty identical. How would've people known the difference?

[Jerraph]

Ah, the legendary voice of Patrick Allen, who also did Vic Reeves Big Night Out...

[hplexmark1]

that "gong" sounds more like someone hitting a pot with a spoon than any gong I've ever heard

[wileyk209zback]

Nowadays, the air raid siren is usually used to warn about tornadoes. The warning styles are the same, but they do not have a fallout warning (obviously)

[DavyTom71]

I remember the early 1980s very well when the threat of nuclear war was very high. President Reagan was listening to generals who believed a nuclear war was 'winnable', and the Soviets were led by Stalinist hardliners. But despite the tension Protect and Survive was never broadcast. The government must have only wanted it shown when nuclear attack looked imminent. So if something like this is ever shown on TV...panic!

[campione270]

did anyone else get chills with the alarm ?

[DavyTom71]

"Before the attack you will hear sirens. After the attack we'll have to bang a gong three times because because a gong is all we'll have left."

[ianlorenc]

Round our area, they had one of those sirens and they used to test it once a month on a Monday morning. Absolutely horrible sound.

[modelearth]

@ianlorenc is that by woking? they still test those weekly for broadmoor. very creepy

[ianlorenc]

@modelearth This is Leicester. I remember it being loud though. It was a good 3/4 of a mile away but you could hear it very clearly indoors. I'm glad I was only about six or so when the threat of nuclear war was at it's highest in the '80's and so I remained pretty oblivious. It's frightening enough now.

[ianlorenc]

@modelearth Some info here: ringbell dot co dot uk slash ukwmo slash Index dot htm

[WhiteLionness]

@ianlorenc They still do it where I live, every wednesday at noon. Even though it's expected, it still makes me decently nervous.

[flauterfli]

@WhiteLionness

Really? what do they expect you to do after? hide under a desk?

[WhiteLionness]

@flauterfli Probly.

[PoisonInc]

*Goes to listen to Frankie Goes To Hollywood*

[plusplusplusplusp]

Imagine hearing the attack warning during sex . . .

[JamesAOK]

He should say "If you hear this sound, kiss your ass goodbye."

[ats1988]

it's one of Richard Taylor's animations for the COI in 1975

[TheRocker1900]

how old is dis

[markalexander87]

nice graphics lol

[toekneef1]

so how are we suppose to listen to the radio with the EMP coming after the bomb? Transistor radios? I'm not too clear on how those work.. would those be ok?

[camblunt100]

Shouldn't they have just used the three whistles? They are loud and distinctive than those gongs and those clangs.

[rubber4532]

the gongs are really quiet: clink clink clink

[StavGTR]

does anyone know anything about them?

or any other similar warning tapes etc from the uk? the more recent nick ross ones sound interesting...

[StavGTR]

i heard the same narrator did some other emergency tapes too, actually about more specific things about being attacked, the "red box tapes" ive heard them called.

does anyone know anything about them?

or any other similar warning tapes etc from the uk? the more recent nick ross ones sound interesting...

[Dean3000plus]

They were designed to give the local community of a city (Lets use Sheffield as an example), if an attack was imminent a large beeping noise would emit from the Red box tape. Search Threads its good to watch

[boobtuber06]

I arranged the music passage on my guitar and play it extemporaneously for my students... creeps the f**k out of them!

I want to know the aural psychology behind that passage... any musicologists happen to be here on this board?

[edybeast]

I use the end notes as a ringtone for a call from an unknown number; really gets peoples' attention ("God, that sounds creepy! Can you send that to me?").

[neilam6]

i could watch these for hours lol just lay on my bed playing my xbox listening 2 this lol

[Dean3000plus]

your xbox's pwer would be cut as it would be an unnecessary waste of power

[Dean3000plus]

Your power would be cut, it would be classed as unnecessary waste of electricity

[jonolinc08]

there is a chemical plant near where i live in the north andevery now and again it tests uts chemical release sirens. aa 10+ of them. its about 3 miles away but it is still loud as hell

[discothief]

I was waiting to board a ferry at Dover just a few weeks ago and a siren exactly like the one on this film sounded. It only lasted for about ten seconds but I had the feeling of total fear and panic just from hearing the siren sound. Even for a few minutes after I was still imagining how frightening it would be if it was a real nuclear attack warning. All you could do is sit and wait I guess..... A member of staff at the port said it is often tested.

[freakunique]

Air raid sirens were designed to emotively affect people and make them seek shelter without making them panic. Scientific studies were put into making that classic sound that we all know and dread.

[Buffyndwarffan]

those air raid sirens still frighten me! this is what happens when your drama project includes a nuclear war i suppose

[neilam6]

cud make it an hour that would be better lol more convenient

[dave1033a]

I know, four minutes?? No time for a brew or anything. Takes longer to boil a friggin kettle.

Just plain rude. Could have made it at least ten mins

[fergus080]

so right, there should be some kind of convention on nuclear ettiquite

[radioactiveshoes]

u know what really pisses me off? we can detect missile launches so warnings can only get shorter depending on how fast they get missiles.

[Wolfboy183]

"If you hear the warnings, take note that you are truly, royally screwed,"

[flippydedip]

"Listen to your radio"

Hmm...........if by any chance the radio transmission isn't totally broken, which poor sap's gonna stay in the radio station broadcasting?!

[audiocreator]

Jonny Vaughn and Denise Van Outen have been employed on Londons Capital FM for this very reason.

[HighlandCall]

All radio stations would switch to the BBC; and, even if the FM and MW transmittors were broken, the BBC Radio 4 Longwave transmittors use valves so would not be effected by EMP

[Wolfboy183]

Howard Stern?

[cicero9123]

i wonder what poor muppet was earmarked to walk about with a whistle and gong for the fallout warning...

the protect and survive is bloody chilling, especially if you've seen "Threads" which, by the way good people, is available on goolge videos and should be required viewing for everyone born after 1985.....then when us oldies talk about bricking it in the early eighties they'll know what we're on about...

[radioactiveshoes]

teh1337zabz i believe posted threads on youtube

[THESPECKLEDHEN]

I have had that sound stuck in my head, ver since i was 10 - freaky - especially living 1 mile from greenham common

[neilam6]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW DUBUDBU DU waaaah (the music at the end that gets stuck in your head forever)

[Atom9979]

wow your right...... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[boobtuber06]

Very Good, The end is the interval of the major second in a trio: A-B-C#; psychologically, this is very unsettling in a alerting sense w/out being annoying(tritone-minor second). We has this interval in our EBS alert across the pond.

[ratsouffle]

It's brilliant, those frankly scary appregiating glissando's (I think based on those upsetting 6th C to F# intervals), and then the 3 note major second "resolve"; one note missing from A (9). I wonder how much thought went into those five seconds of audio?

[GammyGoose]

This is probably the best comment that has ever been left for a video in the entire history of Youtube.

[viperxeon]

LOL. god, yeah i know. this place is full of fricking idiots and 10 year olds with nothing better to do than paste shitty messages.

[boobtuber06]

That set-up of the sustained phasing double-stop is exceptionaly scary.

Did you pick up the lower-note contrary motion counter-point in the fast passage?

I don't know what it is, but the multiple major seconds interval played together in multiples is creepy, not scary...off-putting,

hairs-raised-on-the-back-of-yo­ur-neck creepy

[Atom9979]

I'm scared.....

[ukrobbo]

Well it means that it will be sounded, right, you following? By three maroons (theyre like bangers by the way) that sound like this. Thought that was fairly well explained. You fool.

[RashidDostum]

These films are great fun, most thanks to Pandemian. The responses are hugely funny, tis obvious this is a british thing. Great fun to watch and read after a drink.

[miniroll32]

It because it scares some people you fool

[RashidDostum]

Those fallout warnings could be a problem. If I survived the initial blast I might be tempted to let off my stock of fireworks to relieve the boredom of sitting in my inner core or refuge.

[plusplusplusplusp]

That attack warning sound is so scary!

[radioactiveshoes]

ps it only will be used in a false or a drill and thanks for posting this apparently my town still uses those on the first tuesday of every month with tornado sirens

[radioactiveshoes]

all-clear will never be used

[Bobbyeagle]

is this the original one shown in britan? i have to say the US government did a better job with duck and cover haha

[DavidTL]

I actually thought these were shown on TV to be honest!

[pix042]

In answer to ShaufelPKT:

Probably, they will tell the few people left after a nuclear exchange, 'Sorry, we were not expecting it. We did not get any warnings ready for broadcast in the event of an attack.' !

[DJgaZman]

By the time the EMP (theoretically) kicks in, we wouldn't hear no warning - every electrical device will have shorted out.

[mothity]

yeah, and no doubt every power line you might use to get the siren system turned on

[mrpfct]

I've heard that the BBC's Nick Ross has made films for the new threats such as dirty bombs etc

[SchaufelPKT]

Are these warning sounds still to be used today in the event of a nuclear exchange? Furthermore, does anybody know if these are the same warning sounds used in the States?

[SchaufelPKT]

Are these videos still to be shown in the event of a nuclear exchange?

[troublemaker1973]

You'd be too busy crapping yourself in the four minutes to do anything else.

[Pandemian]

They were designed to be shown on television in the event of an 'inevitable' nuclear exchange, but were never actually broadcast.

[fulanitouk1]

did they show these programs on T.V or in school? how did the people watch them during the cold war?

[cbp76]

gongs and whistles???? WTF?

[SleazyMartinez]

It doesn't sound the same without "Two Tribes" after it. Good old Patrick Allen, his was the last voice you will ever hear.

[fredlaws]

Guys! it wasn't just British. We were told to duck under our desks in New York City ss they would protect us from the A bombs being dropped on the Empire State Building.

[weelin83]

Those must have been some mighty desks!

[gfgdafgdf]

During the estimated 4 minutes before a nuclear attack, all UK television channels would be suspended and this would have been broadcast in their place.

This would have really been a great help with a 100 megatons of nuclear weaponry bursting out above your head!

[ThunderMage]

Yeah, because 4 minutes is enough time to do everything they say to do in the video.

[gottagothatsme]

How in God's name would an entire village or housing estate or whatever be able to here the fall-out warnings? I can bearly hear them on my computer!

[MrPSGifford]

scary that it was deemed neccesary to be made.

[ThunderMage]

Scary that that's what you'd actually have to do if you were gonna get nuked.

I wonder if they'd play this on TV nowadays if ever there was a nuclear threat again.

[coadyiamf]

i dont think we would know anything about it anyway we would be vapourised

[heartandhumour]

Creepy....no....SCARY!...espec­ially at that time. Thanks for posting.

[JJR1976]

This series might just be the scariest thing ever to have been put on British Television!

[noelmasson]

It was never put on British television... thankfully.

[roran55]

The Casualties One Scared The Living Shit Out Of Me! Check out Apaches for a good laugh too.