Netizens got startled on Sunday when the US Strategic Command suddenly stormed into the ordinary Internet agenda with a tweet saying nothing but ";l;;gmlxzssaw".
By the time the account tweeted its apologies for the confusion some 30 minutes had passed, providing the users with just the right amount of time to wonder whether the post was a nuclear code, a secret message or just someone's cat having fun with the keyboard.
However, even the attempt to apologize for the stir has not turned out to be very lucky, as the Strategic Command then misspelled the word "apologies" when asking netizens to "disregard this post".
It is worth noting that many things have happened in the wake of the tweet, but ignoring it is definitely not among them.
Before the tweets were deleted, netizens laughed over the Strategic Command's reluctance to remove them. The misspelling was not unnoticed.
Y'all know you can delete things here, right?
— fka section331 (@KneesToLetters) March 29, 2021
— Donkey Katz, Esquiggle (@KatzD) March 29, 2021
yall couldnt even spell "apologies" right in the apology lmao
— zach silberberg (@zachsilberberg) March 29, 2021
Among those who were surprised by the tweet, was retired US Colonel Rob Maness.
What the hell? Our nuclear command @POTUS @SecDef ?? https://t.co/JN6egO7w6M
— 🇺🇸Col. Rob Maness ret. (@RobManess) March 29, 2021
You know it’s bad when someone like this says it’s bad pic.twitter.com/1qiTh1yamk
— LS🌐 (@selfish_times) March 29, 2021
Others noted that the weird tweet left them more scared than confused.
nah we're not confused we're scared
— Nate Spell (@cantfindshirt) March 29, 2021
Some netizens went on to play with the gibberish, recalling some other funny incidents with Twitter accounts run by prominent figures, like the notorious "covfefe" tweet posted by the former US president, Donald Trump.
It is human to covfefe.
— Sam (@Samir_Madani) March 29, 2021
Others expressed outrage, spicing it up with a good deal of sarcasm.
Misspelled “Apologies” in a tweet clarifying random letters which still isn’t deleted
— Parker J. Nathans (@ParkNathans) March 29, 2021
Congrats on controlling our nuclear Arsenal lol
Too late I’ve already sealed myself into the bunker
— Lee Noll (@FireMarshalLee) March 29, 2021
Alright, who did we just Bomb?
— Landon (@Crenshaw78) March 29, 2021
I already sent my family to our underground bunker... what am I supposed to tell them now...
— Zac (@zac0brien) March 29, 2021
no launch codes here
— David🇬🇧🇮🇪🇺🇸 (@David_Byrnes_96) March 29, 2021
The US Strategic Command is responsible for employing the nation's nuclear, cyber, global strike and missile defense.