California TV Viewers Get Creepy Warning

Some television viewers in southern California were startled when an apocalyptic emergency alert flashed on their screens, per the AP. The Orange County Register reports that a Lake Forest woman was watching HGTV on her Cox Communications cable service on Thursday when the words "emergency alert" came on the screen. "Realize this, extremely violent times will come," warned a man's voice. Customers of Spectrum cable got the same warning.

It's not clear what happened, but the cable companies are investigating. It seems the cable systems picked up a standard emergency test from a radio station, and a technical malfunction caused it to go on longer than it should have. Then, somehow, the broadcast picked up an audio feed with the dire warning. (Maybe a mischievous hacker piggy-backing on this doomsday warning for Saturday?)