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SoCal TVs Interrupted By Apocalyptic Emergency Alert Warning Of 'Last Days'

LAKE FOREST (CBS/AP) -- Some television viewers in southern California were startled when an apocalyptic emergency alert flashed on their screens.

The Orange County Register reports a Lake Forest woman says she was watching HGTV on her Cox Communications cable service on Thursday when the alert flashed across the screen. Video shows the message included the voice of a man warning that "in the last days extremely violent time will come." The newspaper says Spectrum cable customers also got the message.

There was also a reference to the beginning of Armageddon and contact with space invaders.

A Cox spokesman tells the newspaper that viewers should have seen a typical emergency-broadcast test but a technical malfunction caused it to go on longer than it should have. He says the broadcast picked up an audio feed that bled into the alert.

The cable companies say they're investigating.

According to Gizmodo, the audio was identified as old calls to a conspiracy theory radio show and a Christian radio program.

The alert eerily coincided with a pastor's claim the world was ending on September 23.

TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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