Missouri accidentally sends emergency alert with Batman references

(KTVI) – Missourians received a puzzling message on their phones Tuesday afternoon: an ‘emergency alert' out of Gotham City about a suspicious vehicle with the license plate UKIDME.

This was neither joke nor riddle, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP), but rather an unfortunate accident.

At 4:52 p.m., people's cellphones buzzed with an automatic alert reading, "GOTHAM CITY MO PURPLE/GREEN 1978 DODGE 3700 GT MO UKIDME."

That's the car driven by the Joker's goons in the 1989 "Batman" film.

Fortunately, we didn't need a Caped Crusader to solve this mystery.

Minutes after the alert was sent, state police sent word the alert was a test message accidentally sent across the state. At 5:21 p.m., the MSHP sent a new alert explaining it was a test.