THE MAX HEADROOM BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION INCIDENT
On November 22nd, 1987, Chicago television stations WGN-TV & WTTW experienced a signal interruption by an unknown hijacker wearing a Max Headroom mask, both within 3 hours of each other. The participants of the intrusion have never been found or identified.
The WGN-TV interruption occurred during the sports report of the nine o’clock news, cutting in during the middle of a Chicago Bears highlight reel. You can see the video here. It’s pretty bizarre stuff, and the sportscaster was as visibly flustered and confused as much as the viewers must have been. There was no audio during this intrusion, just the low-frequency buzzing noise.
The second intrusion, found here, occurred later that night, around 11:15 during an episode of Doctor Who, entitled The Horror of Fang Island. This time, audio was heard, as the man in the Max Headroom mask first says:
“That does it. He’s a freakin’ nerd, Yeah, I think I’m better than Chuck Swirsky. Freakin’ liberal.”
He then continues to mutter randomness, including New Coke’s slogan “Catch the Wave” while holding a can of Pepsi, and even the theme song to Clutch Cargo. He also badmouths WGN, as well as their employees (including Chuck Swirsky). Another unidentified person is seen, as we see a bare behind smacked with a flyswatter. It’s all very bizarre and surreal.
WTTW engineers tried to stop the signal intrusion, but were unable. The incident was reported on CBS news the next day, and the incident has become sort of beloved, but the man in the Max Headroom mask was never found, nor his accomplices. The incident remains a mystery.
