Image: Tim1965 — Public domainOn February 11, 2013, several television stations across the U.S. experienced an unusual interruption. Their broadcasts were suddenly cut off by a message warning viewers about "bodies of the dead" attacking the living. This bizarre alert was activated through a hijacking of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
The first incident occurred during the afternoon on KRTV in Great Falls, Montana. The show airing at the time was The Steve Wilkos Show. Viewers were greeted with an alarming audio message detailing a zombie apocalypse. It urged them not to approach the risen bodies and to tune in to local radio for updates.
Later that day, similar hijackings took place at CBS affiliate WKBT-DT in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and stations WBUP and WNMU in Marquette, Michigan. Each station transmitted the same eerie warning during primetime programming. The final incident of the day was reported at KENW in Portales, New Mexico, interrupting its broadcasts as well.
Authorities quickly determined that the alerts were hoaxes, presumably executed by hackers who exploited vulnerabilities in the EAS equipment of the stations. The hijackers were never caught. Just two days later, a morning show on WIZM-FM in La Crosse inadvertently triggered WKBT-DT’s Emergency Alert System again, replaying the same warning.
The audio warning had been sourced from an older YouTube video, which featured a fictional zombie emergency alert. The absurdity of the scenario caught public attention, illustrating weaknesses in emergency broadcasting systems. Though alarming, the notion of an actual zombie attack was unreal, leading to widespread disbelief and amusement.
