Since yesterday around noon, I have been tagged by curious listeners on countless Facebook posts and videos. Everyone wants to know what was with that creepy voice on the radio, and I have your answer, although it's kind of boring.

So yesterday, on several radio stations across town, you heard a very creepy EAS Test. It was creepy because the voice was pitched way down and listing off states. This caused many listeners in our area to worry, and post online looking for answers. I'll try to break this down for you in a way that doesn't bore you to tears, but still answers your questions.

First and foremost, it appears this particular EAS Test only aired on select stations. This test was not meant to actually go over the airwaves but due to a glitch in the system of each individual station, it did. This is a weekly test sent to radio stations locally, by CAP, or Common Alerting Protocol. This test, as opposed to the standard EAS Tests you hear weekly, is sent to every radio station in town, but meant to only be decoded by each station, and not forwarded onto the airwaves.

As for the extremely low-pitched voice that has freaked everyone out, this actually happens more times than you think. Basically, each radio station has it's own EAS System. These EAS Systems relay to each station and overrides that station in the case of an emergency. Sometimes, however, the two sides aren't on the same page, so to speak. When that happens, their sampling rates do not match, which then causes the test itself to either speed up with a very high pitch, or slowed down with a very low pitch, like the test you heard yesterday.

The CAP Test you heard yesterday did not air on any of our Townsquare Media radio stations, as the test was decoded and noted as it is every single week.

Basically, you heard a little glitch in the system for some radio clusters in Shreveport-Bossier.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends who are looking for answers as to what they heard on the radio yesterday.

 

More From Highway 98.9