The first thought after realizing the phones weren’t working: Isn’t this exactly how Independence Day began? Just when we thought Friday was as strange as it could get, was E.T. coming to kick some ass?

Alas, no. It seems that Ma Bell has screwed something up. AL.com is reporting that the repairs have been made.

“Overnight, we had a technical equipment problem in Birmingham, and it’s disrupting the ability for customers to call from landline to mobile phone,” an AT&T spokeswoman told the Birmingham News.

If that’s true, then the solution seems to be worse than the problem. At the Weekly, we haven’t been able to reach anyone on AT&T’s system, neither landlines nor mobile phones.

On the other hand, there was a moment of 1990s nostalgia when we heard actual busy signals again.

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