On December 8, 1941, rumors of an enemy carrier off the coast led to the closing of schools in Oakland, California, a blackout enforced by local wardens and radio silence followed that evening. The reports reaching Washington of an attack on San Francisco were regarded as credible. The affair was described as a test but Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt of the Western Defense Command said "Last night there were planes over this community. They were enemy planes! I mean Japanese planes! And they were tracked out to sea. You think it was a hoax? It is damned nonsense for sensible people to assume that the Army and Navy would practice such a hoax on San Francisco." Rumors continued on the West Coast in the following days. An alert of a similar nature occurred in the Northeast on December 9. At noon advices were received that hostile planes were only two hours’ distance away. Although there was no general hysteria, fighter aircraft from Mitchel Field on Long Island took the air to intercept the "raiders". Wall Street had its worst sell off since the Fall of France, school children in New York City were sent home and several radio stations left the air. In Boston police shifted heavy stores of guns and ammunition from storage vaults to stations throughout the city, and industrial establishments were advised to prepare for a raid.