New Jersey cable customers were unnerved after a false alert went out on their televisions warning of an unspecified emergency.
Optimum cable customers in Morris County saw a blue screen with background jazz music that warned of an emergency.
NJ.com reports Altice USA, Optimum's parent company, said Thursday the message was sent in error while they were conducting an emergency alert system test.
Scott DiGiralomo, director of the county's Law and Public Safety Department, says a true emergency alert would specify the nature of the emergency and how to react.
He says New Jersey State Police and the county Office of Emergency Management are investigating where the alert came from. Altice says its teams are working to ensure this doesn't happen again.
Last Saturday Hawaiians panicked after a TV and mobile alert -- sent accidentally -- warned them that a ballistic missile impact was imminent. On Tuesday a similar false alert was sent in Japan.
@OptimumHelp why does the TV in Morris County keep switching over to the emergency alert system? Every few minutes I have to turn the TV off and turn it back on in order to get a regular channel. Fix it, please.
— GoldStarMom (@WWMomof5) January 18, 2018
Should I be worried that a blue screen that says Emergency Alert System for Morris County NJ is on every channel for last 10 min saying nothing but playing really bad elevator music
— EmG (@EmG623) January 18, 2018
THERE IS NO EMERGENCY OCCURRING IN MORRIS COUNTY: Please disregard an emergency message being broadcast by Optimum. pic.twitter.com/1wDfefKdn3
— Morris County NJ (@MorrisCountyNJ) January 18, 2018
In May 2017, some New Jersey residents got a false alert about a nuclear power plant emergency.
