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Aliens, streetlights ruled out as cause of key fob mystery at Alberta grocery store

The Westview Co-op grocery store in Carstairs. CREDIT: Google maps

Nearby streetlights? A security system? Aliens?

Theories were swirling on Wednesday as to what could possibly be causing key fobs to malfunction near an Alberta grocery store. Two days later, the Westview Co-operative in Carstairs, Alta., updated everyone on the “moment you all have been waiting for.”

According to a Facebook post from the grocery store on Wednesday, employees were investigating what was behind drivers’ key fobs not working when they parked in the central Alberta parking lot.

The grocer said it shut off all the power sources in the store to rule out the possibility that frequency interference was to blame. It also noted the store doesn’t have Wi-Fi, so that couldn’t be causing the issue.

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“The testing equipment revealed that the interference was still being emitted,” the post said. “This means we are confident that the signal is not coming from the Carstairs [grocery store].”
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On Friday, the store updated its customers that the problem was an electrical one.

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“After investigation, it was determined that there was faulty consumer electronic equipment stuck in transmit mode in the area, which was causing the interference,” the post said. “We will continue to monitor, however, we do not anticipate any further issues moving forward.”

The grocery store thanked people that helped solve the mystery, including guests, neighbours and community members, along with employees that helped customers during what it called “a very frustrating but interesting situation.”

“There were a lot of different theories and potential reasons for the interference, so we are extremely glad to have figured out the source,” the post went on to say.

“We want to communicate that this was NOT the result of any intentional criminal activity or any other activity that was speculated.”

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