In case it isn’t obvious, I have an interest in strange things, strange events, and the 1980’s. Well, it doesn’t get much stranger than this. On November 22nd, 1987, the last broadcast signal intrusion of the analog TV era happened in Chicago. Unlike the Captain Midnight incident, to this day we still have no idea who did it or why.
It’s an event known as the Max Headroom Incident.
On the night of the 22nd, during TV Station WGN’s 9 p.m news, the sports segment, the first incident happened, with the broadcast being overrode by about 15 seconds of noise for audio, and video of someone wearing a Max Headroom mask moving back and forth in front of a metal background designed to mimic that of the the Max Headroom show. WGN quickly changed frequencies, restoring their broadcast feed, leaving the sports anchor at that time wondering just what had gone on.
Move ahead 2 hours to around 11:15 that night, and station WTTW. During a broadcast of Doctor Who, the same signal hijacking happened again, this time with audio and lasting a full minute and a half. Without engineers at Sears Tower, the location of the WTTW transmitters, there was nothing that could really be done to intervene. By the time people realized what was going on and began trying to stop it, it had already happened and was over!
We interrupt tonight’s episode of Doctor Who to bring you something weird… well, weirder, anyway!
The video itself was the same as the original WGN intrusions. It appears to have been recorded and re-broadcast for the WTTW intrusion. As mentioned above, it consisted of a man rocking back and forth while wearing a Max Headroom mas in front of a moving sheet metal background. The audio was passed through a ring modulator (the same thing Doctor Who uses to create the voice sounds for the Daleks) to give it a robotic sound, and was present in this hijacking.
The Max Headroom character would go on the most insane ramblings I’ve heard in, well, ever, making several references to WGN (the original target), the oft-forgotten Clutch Cargo cartoon, and, well, things I just won’t talk about here. By the time it’s over, the man has removed the mask, and his pants, and is, for some reason, being spanked by a flyswatter. No, I’m not making this up.
It’s crazy, to say the least, and when you watch it, you might understand just why there is such a.. fondness, maybe… for the event. It’s truly unique, to say the least, and in retrospect is one of the most 80’s things imaginable. There’s even a New Coke reference in there!
The broadcast itself has become somewhat of an internet legend. Thanks to fans of Doctor Who taping the show, the second intrusion, as well as the first, have safely been archived for those curious to watch and, I guess enjoy, if it’s your kind of thing.
More to come! For now, I leave you with the original WGN hijacking and an enhanced copy of the WTTW intrusion, for video and audio clarity. More to come!
The WTTW intrusion:
The “Restored” WTTW intrusion:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion
I’m just curious what one is supposed to do if they think they know who’s in the mask? Someone I’m very close to fits the build…worked at a major electric company during that year, background in radio broadcasting but didnt make the cut for TV anchor probably due to his height hence “Max Headroom”. He loves coke! Sick sense of humor and a soft spot for classic cartoons and TV in general. He also has a soft spot for hound dogs like “Paddlefoot” I also believe the man in the mask was behind the captain midnight incident even though someone else in FL took the fall for it. I also know the man he refers to as his “brother” is actually his brother in law, an airline mechanic. Maybe that has something to do with the “Clutch Cargo” reference? Since it’s about a pilot, a kid and his dog going on adventures. I also believe that the “Pirate Isle” episode being his focus was in reference to a place called Isle, MN. This mans home away from home. He had two sons as well and one lived in Beltram Illinois at the time and both were in the early 80s hacker scene. The fact that he seemed to have a personal vendetta against the news anchor Dan Roan and his choice of DrWho episode to interrupt is odd to me, maybe hes pissed hes not the sports anchor?…after the intrusion the episode resumes with dr who saying someone was “shocked to death” leads me to believe Max was telling us he knows something about power and electricity. The woman dressed as Annie Oakley is even off putting to me because this man refers to his wife as AO due to her keen shooting abilities. He lives for TV and context clues and I know because he raised me. I’ve seen the video a hundred times but only recently did I make the connections.
This is too much for me not to make connections…my dad had a mask when I was a kid, a zombie mask…I was terrified of it. I would scream and cry and hide so to make me less scared of it he put it on and made me a video of himself reading nursery rhymes in it. His mannerisms were very much like “Max Headroom” when he put on the mask and we all just saw it as dad being dad. Unfortunately the video was lost in a house fire in the early 2000s as was the mask. I never made the connection until I was doing research recently due to my sister basically being kidnapped and human trafficked. I came across the video again and because a lot of the people employed by the same company my dad was employed by names kept coming up I just thought this is too much of a coincidence. My sister is safe now but my search for answers continues. I think if it is in fact him in the max video he should answer for his crime and tell everyone why he did it. Especially if it means solving a bigger crime.
My dad always says “The greatest trick the devil ever did was convincing the world he didnt exist” creepy right? Kinda like never knowing the true identity of Max Headroom.
Wow. Quite the interesting read! Some of the things you mention, like the “shocked to death” moment when the Doctor Who episode came back were also things I noticed and wondered about. I’ll always let my mind wander with these kinds of strange events as they are quite perfect for some deep thought.
I’m not in a place to suggest what you should do regarding what you feel. While others may say something about your thoughts, call you crazy or say you’re just wrong I certainly won’t — if you feel strongly about all this then go with it. Do what you think you must, but I would say to keep in mind given the time it’s been since the event it may be hard to get the FCC and other parties interested.
I wish you all the best, of course, and certainly would be pleased to hear updates on whatever you do regarding this – feel free to use this comment space to share anything else you wish. As I said, you won’t have any hostility from me.
Was she left handed or right handed? In the video she’s using left hand to spank with the flyswatter which is odd.