- CORVALLIS, Ore.(AP) -- Chris
van Rossman's television came with a VCR, DVD player and CD player -- plus
a hidden feature that had a rescue team beating a path to his door.
-
- On the night of Oct. 2, the TV began emitting the
international
distress signal -- the 121.5 megahertz beep emitted by crashed airplanes
and sinking boats.
-
- The signal was picked up by a satellite, relayed to an
Air Force base in Virginia, then to the Civil Air Patrol, then to officials
in Oregon. Most signals are false alarms, but they're all checked out,
and soon, men in Air Force uniforms, a police officer and Mike Bamberger,
a Benton County Search and Rescue deputy, were at van Rossman's apartment
door.
-
- "I have a pretty spotless record, so I wasn't overly
concerned -- just a little confused," van Rossman said. "The
police officer asked if I was a pilot or had a boat or
anything."
-
- They left when he said "no," but came back
when they narrowed the location of the signal to a wall in van Rossman's
hallway, Bamberger said.
-
- The solution to the mystery was nailed when van Rossman
turned off the TV before answering the door the second time. The signal
stopped, too. An inspection of the television confirmed it was the
source.
-
- "Their equipment was just bouncing everywhere as
they turned it on and off," van Rossman said.
-
- Neither investigators nor officials at Toshiba Corp.
know exactly what caused the problem, Bamberger said Tuesday. Toshiba plans
to replace the television and examine the offending one.
-
- "We have never experienced anything like this before
at Toshiba," said spokeswoman Maria Repole.
-
- In the meantime, van Rossman is keeping the set unplugged
-- to avoid a fine of up to $10,000 per day if his TV cries wolf
again.
-
- http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld
- /nation/sns-ap-distress-signal,0,6371332
- .story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines
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