MOORE COUNTY, NC power substations attacked by gunfire.

[P]ower substations in Moore County, North Carolina were attacked Saturday night, resulting in 40,000 people losing power and effectively shutting down the county.

Once the infrastructure could be examined in the daylight, it was determined that the damage was much more extensive than first thought, and local news reports said sources within the county’s emergency management office believed power could be out through Thursday.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but given that several power substations were attacked, that the attackers seemed familiar with the substation connectivity, that the damage was extensive, that repair will require substantial replacement of heavy equipment, and that Moore County is home to the US Army Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, I have to lean toward the theory that this was a probing attack by terrorists preparing the battlefield for future larger scale attacks.

Again, I hope I'm wrong.

Van Laar's initial post is here.