A tweet sent by the U.S. agency that controls the launch of nuclear weapons got deleted not long after it was fired off on New Year's Eve.
The U.S. Strategic Command's tweet showed a bomber dropping massive bombs and relating it to the ball drop at midnight in New York City for New Year's Eve.
The tweet that's since been deleted by the Strategic Command said:
"#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball...if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger," the tweet read, according to CNN.
The video in the tweet included scenes from a post earlier this year that included B-2 bombers dropping bunker-busting bombs. The message from the Pentagon earlier this year said the bombs in the video are "a pair of conventional Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) at a test range."
That means the bombs shown being dropped in the video aren't nuclear but can do some serious damage otherwise. The bombs shown are 30,000-pound weapons on a test range.
The deletion of the tweets was as fast and furious as the reactions to the social media posting.
Wow. Mattis walks out the door at 5PM and you threaten the world with annihilation on New Year's Eve an hour and a half later.
— OnOahu in FL (@onoahu) January 1, 2019
Navy Capt. Brook Dewalt, Strategic Command spokesperson, said the message was "part of our recap of command priorities."
Dewalt said the message was to remind Americans that their military was on alert at all times, whether on a holiday, stationed at home or lands here or abroad.
The deleted tweet didn't go without those capturing screenshots before its disappearance, though.
Looks like the US Strategic Command has deleted the "we are ready to drop something much bigger" tweet but here are some screenshots pic.twitter.com/bXKLMcZTDF
— (((Orchid))) (@OrchidNYC) December 31, 2018
Afterward, the U.S. Strategic Command apologized for the tweet, but still backed the mission of the U.S. military.
"Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies."
Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies.
— US Strategic Command (@US_Stratcom) December 31, 2018
Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN he didn't find any good-natured humor in the post and even called it "very tacky."
"I think it's very tacky," Gallego said. "We don't need to be acting this way."
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