This is especially confusing because "GPS Navigator Magazine" has the wrong date on the article.

It looks like this happened in December 2001 and the speculation of it being caused by the battery change was released in March 2002. Christian Science Monitor [1] reported on it in December when the cause was unknown. This PDF [2] has some more information on the Washington Post article.

1: http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1207/p2s1-usmi.html

2: http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/cgoeker/SysSafe/WiSe%2011-1...