Now, What In Tar Nation's Goin' On Here?

EMERGENCY ALERT (FROM THE WHITE HOUSE) "FORCE-TUNES" PEOPLE'S TV'S TO NBC AFFILIATE

This happened in multiple cities around the country, apparently.

Here's one report:

Ya’ll aint going to believe this. It really happened this morning, and the folks at AT&T admit it. Here’s what happened. I am a customer of AT&T Uverse TV, Internet, and home telephone. All my entertainment is delivered by AT&T... 

This morning, I had arisen about 8:45, turned on the bedroom TV, and was in the process of choosing the day’s wardrobe. ... 

That’s when the TV started making those Emergency Alert sounds. You know, the tones that sound like you have tuned into a fax machine. 

Along with the noise there was a red-bordered text box at the top of the screen that said something like: 

“This is an emergency alert. Your television will be force-tuned to another channel for you to receive an emergency message. This action is being taken as requested by the White House. ASTGA02 (message number)…” 

AT&T Uverse force-tuned my television from the Fox News Channel to the local NBC network affiliate channel and their morning news program. 

To make matters worse, I could not change channels or look at the channel guide. AT&T had complete control over my television set, and they were supposedly being ordered to do so by the White House. 

This had to be a really big emergency for such action, and I kept waiting for the emergency message. The message never appeared. 

Info Wars reports:




Now, I never believe a word InfoWars reports, so I started checking around.

Here's what I found at The Hill:

Fake White House emergency alert prompts Ebola, ISIS fears

So this is a real story? WTF?

AT&T explains:

Augusta, GA - AT&T U-Verse customers in the CSRA are reporting an emergency message showing up on their screen that indicates a an emergency message from the White House is forthcoming. 

This is also happening to U-Verse subscribers in other parts of the country, as well. We have checked with national officials, who say no such advisory has been made by the White House for Friday. 

AT&T officials tell us they are looking into the matter. Lance Skelly a director of media relations with AT&T, released the following statement Friday morning: 

"Earlier today U-verse TV customers may have received an Emergency Alert notification. We have confirmed that there is no emergency at this time and we are investigating why this occurred. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

As soon as more information becomes available, I will share with our local media immediately" We will continue to follow this story and provide more details as they becomes available.

I'm sure it will make everyone feel real comfy to know FEMA is looking into the situation:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a statement Friday afternoon confirming that a radio station program set off a false emergency alert that froze stations earlier today for AT&T U-verse customers and impacted others in several states including Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Detroit.
“This morning, there was an inappropriate playing of the national emergency alert notification tones on a syndicated radio broadcast,” FEMA spokesperson Rafael Lemaitre said in a statement. “There is not a national emergency. Today’s broadcast triggered alert notification in states where the alert has been played.”
The statement went on to stay that such alerts are designed automatically set off more emergency alerts by other television stations and radio networks. The incident is now being investigated by FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission.
“Certain alerts, like the one broadcast today, are designed to be automatically picked up and rebroadcasted by other radio and TV stations,” the FEMA official said. “FEMA and the FCC are currently working with broadcasters to determine the full scope of the situation.”
1:15 p.m. update: AT&T officials said this morning’s glitch with their services was triggered by a false message sent out by a nationally syndicated radio show, which is not affiliated with the Dallas-based telecom giant.
The incident was investigated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which discovered the incident, AT&T said. FEMA is slated to address the incident as well.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s investigation indicates that a nationally syndicated radio show not affiliated with AT&T accidentally sent a message over the National Emergency Alert System,” said spokeswoman Briana Gowing. “This false message was carried across our network, as well as some others, as part of the emergency alert system. We apologize to our customers.”
No immediate word on the name of the radio program that triggered the incident.
11 a.m. update: AT&T officials say they are looking into what caused their service to lock onto an emergency alert for customers in Texas and across the country.
Officials issued an apology, and confirmed there is no emergency at this time.
“Earlier today U-verse TV customers may have received an Emergency Alert notification,” said spokeswoman Briana Gowing. “We confirmed that there is no emergency at this time and we are investigating why this occurred. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Anyone got any ideas?

ANONYMOUS COMMENTS:

"Fake?" "Glitch?" My foot! This is nothing but a dry run to check on the possibility of forcing all TV programming to converge into a predetermined station.

I come from a country where this was common. All radio stations suddenly interrupted their respective programs, and were connected to the "state" radio station.

For those like me coming from totalitarian regimes there is nothing new under the sun in this administration. I'm just sorry for the American people who are used to living under the law.

America voted for change, change they have.

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What would happen if all of a sudden nobody could reach anything other than the state stations, radio and TV? Could they manipulate the Internet?

All this, except for the Internet, has been done, and is probably been done somewhere else. All totalitarian regimes have done in the past. And I'm sure the president, having been raised in the Third World is familiar with kind of media manipulation.

Americans would only realize what's happening after the fact.