The program that led to these buildings being designated and marked as fallout shelters was launched during the Cold War. 'I started asking my parents about it, and my interest grew from there, and since then, it's been over 20 years.' 'The middle school I attended in Boston was the William Barton Rogers Middle School and the school had those signs on it,' said Sean Colby, the citizen-historian who runs the website Fallout Five Zero. And thankfully, for him and the rest of us, there's a local citizen-historian in the area who has spent years researching and documenting the history of these signs. His own interest in them was roused some 20 years ago, as a boy. Of course, LeMoult's building is just one of many in our area with one of these iconic black and yellow signs.

'There’s this sign on the outside of our apartment building that says 'fallout shelter.' And I’ve been wondering for the longest time, what is the deal with this sign? What does it mean, how did that get designated, and is it any safer for us?'

So did my colleague here at WGBH News, reporter Craig LeMoult, who was reminded of something that has long piqued his and his wife’s curiosity. When I heard the recent news about the false emergency alert in Hawaii that warned a ballistic missile was incoming, my first reaction was, 'That’s terrifying,' followed quickly by, 'What would I do if I got an alert message like that?' Perhaps you had a similar reaction.

Fallout shelter sign game