As North Korea threatens to unleash fury on the US, conspiracy theorists claim to have found 'evidence' that suggests Americans' fears should instead be focused closer to home.

An alert has surfaced on the web describing an exercise called 'Operation Gotham Shield', which will conduct a simulation crisis by detonating a 10,000-ton nuclear bomb over the New York City/New Jersey area next week.

Agencies involved in the exercise, which is said to be a routine drill, have noted that it will simulate 'a large scale terrorist attack' – but some believe it may turn into an actual disaster.

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An alert has surfaced on the web describing an exercise called 'Operation Gotham Shield', which will conduct a simulation crisis by detonating a 10,000-ton nuclear bomb over the New York City/New Jersey area next week

OPERATION GOTHAM SHIELD DETAILS A post entitled 'Operation Gotham Shield' appeared as a thread in a forum on Thursday by an anonymous users. The user posted above an excerpt taken from a Facebook post revealing the details of the exercise. The post was said to have been shared to the Health Care Association of New Jersey's page earlier this month. It explained details of the exercise and that it would occur April 24-25. Another mention of Operation Gotham Shield had been posted to the Eastern Region Helicopter Council on March 27, which revealed more details about the time and place the drill will be conducted. 'This exercise will simulate a large scale terrorist attack on the NY/NJ metropolitan area with MetLife Stadium serving as a triage/collection point for victims and emergency response personnel.' 'This will be a large scale event with numerous federal, state, county and local agencies participating.' 'It should be very similar in size and scope to the Operation Red Zone drill of 2011.' Advertisement

A post entitled 'Operation Gotham Shield' appeared as a thread in a forum on Thursday by an anonymous users.

'The happening to end all happenings will take place in six days,' the user posted above an excerpt taken from a Facebook post revealing the details of the exercise.

The post was said to have been shared to the Health Care Association of New Jersey's page earlier this month.

However, either the post did not exist in the first place or has since been removed – users are shown 'This page isn't available' when they click on the link.

But the anonymous user did share some of the text they took from the post.

'EXERCISE - Operation Gotham Shield/Improvised Nuclear Detonation Incident - April 26, 2017 :: This is a reminder that on April 26, 2017 - HCANJ/LANJ will be participating in 'Operation Gotham Shield' in conjunction with our NJESF #8 Partners including NJDOH-PHILEP, New Jersey Medical Services Task Force, Office of the Medical Examiner, NJDHS-Disaster Terrorism Branch, Urban Area Strategic Initiative, as well as, State Office of Emergency Management, local, county and Federal Law Enforcement agencies,' reads the post.

Those following the story have noted that a blast this size could cause devices within a 12 mile radius of the detonation site to be disabled,' Superstation95 explained.

Another mention of Operation Gotham Shield had been posted to the Eastern Region Helicopter Council on March 27, which revealed more details about the time and place the drill would be conducted.

'On Tuesday April 25th 2017, at 0800 the Gotham Shield Exercise will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ,' Tyson Mowry, ERHC Helicopter Emergency Response Program (HERP) Coordinator, shared in the announcement.

'This exercise will simulate a large scale terrorist attack on the NY/NJ metropolitan area with MetLife Stadium serving as a triage/collection point for victims and emergency response personnel.'

'This will be a large scale event with numerous federal, state, county and local agencies participating.'

'It should be very similar in size and scope to the Operation Red Zone drill of 2011.'

A Facebook post was said to have been shared to the Health Care Association of New Jersey's page earlier this month describing Operation Gotham Shield'. However, either the post did not exist in the first place or has since been removed

Another mention of Operation Gotham Shield had been posted to the Eastern Region Helicopter Council on March 27, which revealed more details about the time and place the drill would be conducted

However, because the agencies involved in the 'exercise' are sharing different dates and locations, many are seeing 'Red Flags' and worry that it could turn into a genuine disaster.

YouTuber, ODD Reality, who said he is 'aware of the massive depiction going on in the world', released a short video that accused the exercise of being a government conspiracy.

'It looks like they are coming out and saying 'you know this is going to be simulated and all', but regardless, they've done this thing [before],' he said in a video.

'They were running drills the same days as 9-11, September 11 2001.'

OPERATION RED ZONE In 2012, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led an exercise dubbed ‘Operation Red Zone which set out to confiscate fake NFL merchandise. The operation, which began Sept. 1, 2012, netted 196,333 items including fake jerseys, ball caps, T-shirts, jackets and other souvenirs. The items had a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of more than $17.3 million. Special agents from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and state and local police departments around the country worked in partnership with the NFL and other major sports leagues during the operation. Altogether $17.3 million of fake merchandise was retrieved. Furthering HSI's efforts to combat the international counterfeiting supply chain and piracy online, special agents seized a total of 313 websites identified to be selling counterfeit merchandise. Advertisement

'This exercise will simulate a large scale terrorist attack on the NY/NJ metropolitan area with MetLife Stadium (pictured) serving as a triage/collection point for victims and emergency response personnel,' reads the post

'When planes were supposedly hitting the buildings they were running drills at the same time in the same area.'

'This is just what they do.'

'They could very well run this drill, while they also put on another show down the street that they try to pass off as real.'

'We may see something like a Boston bombing, Sandy Hook style, even Melbourne or Stockholm.'

'You know all these truck attacks and all these fake news events that are scripted and made one hundred percent for the news.'

NASA'S SIMULATION FOR AN ASTEROID HITTING LOS ANGELES NASA has conducted its own simulation to prepare for a catastrophic asteroid hitting the Earth – specifically in Los Angeles, California. The simulation was carried out on Oct 25 in El Segundo, California, and allowed the planetary science community to demonstrate the ways in which it would collect, analyze, and share data about an asteroid predicted to collide with Earth. And, emergency managers explored the ways in which this data could be used to prepare and warn the public, and respond to a potential threat. In the hypothetical scenario, researchers detected the fictitious asteroid this fall with a 2 percent probability impact with Earth on Sept 20, 2020. The initial estimates stated that the impact could happen anywhere on a long stretch of Earth, including a band that crossed the entire US. By November of that year, the researchers say the fictitious asteroid would strike somewhere along a path between Southern California and the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This scenario describes a timeframe that’s too short to feasibly conduct a deflection mission, meaning the emergency managers must evacuate the region. To do this for the hypothetical emergency, the researchers presented models of the predicted impact footprint, population displacement estimates, and data on the infrastructure damage that would result. The simulations allowed the researchers to devise ways to accurately inform the public in a timely manner, while fighting the rumors and false information that would emerge. Advertisement

'They're going to have their crisis actors.'

'They're going to pass them off like they're really injured, they really got hurt stuff like that.'

The drill has been in the works for a few months before conspiracy theorists caught wind of it.

A document that has also made its way around the web highlights the exercise’s objectives such as strategies in decision-making related to public protection and how well officials can operate centers and other response locations.

Snopes reported that Operation Gotham Shield ‘is a legitimate and routine multi-agency and organization disaster drill'.

These types of scheduled drills are common tests to help agencies and disaster responders prepare for realistic events.