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GREENCASTLE, Ind.—For the fifth time in two months, what many presumed to be a terror attack aimed at a small town in rural Indiana turned out to be a medical transport helicopter en route to Putnam County Hospital.

The Putnam County 911 emergency system was overwhelmed by more than seven calls as the noisy sound of terror entered the city of Greencastle. Several residents called 911, and others were seen fleeing the city that is 48,092 on the Homeland Security terror target list.

“My logical first thought was a terror strike against Greencastle,” said resident Wayne Reedy, a landscaping and snow removal specialist who called the emergency line after observing a loud object flying over the town. “Even when I saw it was just a helicopter I was concerned about that biology warfare virus.”

The helicopter, which arrived in Greencastle to air lift a heart attack patient from Putnam County to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, sent many residents of the small Indiana town into panic before they realized the noise was again just an Air Evac medical helicopter.

Rebecca Moeller, Putnam County 911 operator, said she is used to false alarms involving medical air-transport vehicles. “We can tell where the calls are from as they come in, so I’m always skeptical when I see Greencastle show up on the screen,” said Moeller, who answers most incoming 911 calls when her nails are dry.

Reedy said he had already begun duct taping sheets of plastic over the windows in their homes when neighbors phoned him saying there was no danger.

“Well, it’s a good thing this wasn’t a real attack,” added Reedy, who displays 18 American flags in his front yard, not including the one painted on his home’s vinyl siding. “I was running out of plastic because I got into my terror supply kit last week when my car window wouldn’t go back up.”

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