(NAC) keyless entry mystery

[Mullen, Shaun]

Is this weird, or what?

Shaun Mullen
Yorklyn, DE


    By ANGELA D. SMITH
    Scripps Howard News Service
    
    BREMERTON, Wash. - For a second time, residents and businesses here
reported a mysterious failure of vehicles' keyless entry devices for
several hours April 12.
    The problem is similar to a more widespread phenomenon that
occurred March 21-26. But this time only certain types of devices were
affected, and the outages lasted just a few hours.
    In March, the keyless entry failures began at the same time the
aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson returned to Bremerton. Thursday, the
outages began one day after the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived at
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
    Navy officials again denied any relationship between the outage and
any ships at PSNS, and had no further explanation for the occurrence.
    But in an interview two weeks ago, a government official familiar
with a Federal Communications Commission probe into the outage said it
was "very possible" that the problem could be related to military
presence in the area.
    Margaret Mull of East Bremerton said when she tried to open her
1992 Buick Le Sabre shortly after noon, her remote device was not
working.
    "Last time, I bought an extra remote for $80, and now neither of
them are working," Mull said. "I'm lucky to have a key for mine."
    While some auto dealers in Bremerton reported that they had no
problems with the cars on the lots, others reported that certain
vehicles were not responding or that there was a delay in response.
    An official from the Federal Communications Commission declined to
comment on the matter until investigation of the March incident was
complete.
    
    (Contact Angela D. Smith of The Sun in Bremerton, Wash., at
http://www.thesunlink.com.)
    AP-NY-04-13-01 1117EDT