Ford F150 - 2001 supercrew theft light and not starting

HELP
Sometimes when I get in and try and crank the engine never hits(turns over fast) and the theft light is flashing quickly. Seems like after a period of time(minutes) it will get out of the theft mode and will allow it to crank. Any idea how long this reseting time is suppose to be? One time it seemed like 5 minutes and another like 15,
It has done it two times in the last week, once about a year ago.
Do the keys get bad?
Does this set any OBD codes?
Does unhooking the battery do anything? Is there any way to reset the theft mode quicker? Same exact thing happened to my wife Navigator a couple of years ago.

Any ideas on what is going on?
I have tried my spare key and it also seems to happen with it

I had the same problem with mine and i found that my other ford key on my ring was causing the problem because of the security chip in it and when it was to close to the iginion it would get a false read on the key. i hope this helps good luck.

Make certain you do not have another PATS key on the same key chain.

Try a spare key.

If neither condition corrects the problem, it's off to the dealer....

Last night it wouldn't crank again and I tried everything. THEFT light constantly flashing. So there goes the weekend and probably big bucks at my Ford dealer. I decided to at least pull off the cover below the ignition key. When I did, I noticed a little 2 wire connector that I was able to push inward about 1/8th of an inch. Bingo, my problem went away. I unplugged it and it came back. I have since siliconed the little sucker in place. darn thing doesn't even have a lock on the connector.

I couldn't sleep last night I was so pumped.

Good catch!

That little connector was for the antenna ring that is used by PATS for "reading" the key.

You'd likely been making an intermittent connection and it finally opened up and you caught it.

Congrats!