98 Bonneville VATS question/security light

[HotRod53]

This morning my wifes Bonneville wouldn't start, no crank. I asked her if the security light was on and she said that it was on solid. I had her remove the key, open and close the door and see what happens, the security light was still on solid with no key in the ignition. I had her wipe off the key and try it again, same thing. She went upstairs for a few minutes and when she returned, the security light was off and the car started and ran fine.

I gave her my key to try if it does it again because I realize that it could be a worn or bad key. I also told her to insert the key and turn it on to let the fuel pump come up and the radio come on instead of the furious jam it in and turn it as I'm sure that she does. I am also aware of postings about bad wiring in the column.

My questions are... if the VATS fails and the security light comes on, does it time out and reset, if so what is the timeout? Also, what is the 12 minute test that I'm hearing about?

I assume that a blinking security light is a VATS failure, a solid light is a disable indicator, right?