Ominous Emergency Broadcast Hints At An 'End Of The World' For Saturday

LAKE FOREST (CBSLA) — What flashed across some television screens in Southern California just after 11 a.m. Thursday was disturbing to many viewers.

Some say it was an emergency alert warning of the end of the world.

A Lake Forest woman who didn't want to talk on camera shot video of the alert that popped up on her screen while she was watching a show on Cox Cable. She described the warning and the voice behind it as shocking and surreal.

She's not the only one. On YouTube, another Orange County woman posted the same bizarre emergency alert. And another viewer saw the alert seconds before the station returned to CSPAN.

On social media, hundreds are commenting on the end-of-the-world prediction. A woman who lives in West Hills says she saw it while watching a show on Time Warner/Spectrum. She wrote, "It was a man talking about the second coming."

There's a lot of talk about Saturday, a date some are predicting a planet is supposed to collide with the Earth, something scientists say won't happen.

A spokesperson at Cox said the alert wasn't an "end of the world" message at all. It was someone's mistake. Possibly the work of an Orange County radio station and a hacker.

A Cox spokesperson said in a statement issued:

"The radio station that sent the alert didn't turn off their programming when the alert ended. For a short time, some heard programming that was on the radio."

Some suspect that it may have been a well-known evangelical pastor who broadcasts at 11 a.m. from and Orange County radio station. Officials are still unclear how his message could have wound up on an emergency alert broadcast.