KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 ― There were red faces at a US enforcement agency after it mistakenly sent out a message through its social media that it was looking for a purple and green 1978 Dodge 3700GT.

The agency ― Missouri State Highway Patrol ― sent the message to all mobile phone users in the state that they were searching for the car that was used by the Joker in the 1989 Batman movie, New York Post reported.

Shortly after the Tuesday evening alert, the patrol sent another to tell the people to disregard it.

In a brief news release, the patrol said the message was a routine test of Missouri’s Blue Alert system but was inadvertently transmitted statewide.

The system is meant to let the public know when a police officer is killed or seriously injured in the line of duty, it added.

"During the test, an option was incorrectly selected, allowing the message to be disseminated to the public,” the news release stated.

According to CNN, authorities in Chile mistakenly sent a tsunami evacuation warning last year following an earthquake.

In 2018, residents and tourists in Hawaii were terrified by a text warning of an incoming ballistic missile that turned out to be a false alarm.