Posted on 01/30/2024 1:44:21 PM PST by nickcarraway
Television is a staple in most American homes, allowing people to receive the news and catch up with the latest entertainment. Yet, in 1987, citizens of Chicago were subjected to something completely different — a bizarre pirate broadcast interrupting scheduled programming.
Known as the Max Headroom signal hijackings, the incident is objectively quite humorous and harmless. However, the surprise broadcast would’ve terrified many viewers at the time, who had no idea that, in the comfort of their own living room, they’d be subjected to a strange video of a man wearing a Max Headroom mask. What made the video so creepy was the uncanny effect achieved through the mask, concealing the identity of the hacker.
While the two broadcasts only featured short clips of the hacker moving around while wearing the mask in front of a rotating metal panel, the mystery surrounding it left many viewers shocked. To this day, the people behind the hijacking remain a mystery, although many theories about the true identity of the culprit have floated around the internet for decades.
The two hijackings took place on November 22nd, with the first occurring during a news report on WGN-TV. It was 9:14pm, and images of the Chicago Bears were interrupted by the first appearance of Max Headroom. At the time, Max Headroom was a fictional television presenter popular in the United Kingdom who was also the face of New Coke.
The hijacking lasted a mere 20 seconds, with the WGN-TV crew desperately trying to get rid of the broadcast. Luckily, the clip was unsettling but not offensive, with the hijacker simply nodding his head frantically. However, that wasn’t enough for the hijackers, who took over a broadcast of Horror of Fang Rock on WTTW just two hours later.
Now, this is where the incident gets considerably more interesting. Max Headroom begins rambling on, although the audio is rather difficult to hear as it is so distorted. Still, many people have deciphered what the hijacker said, and full videos with subtitles can be found on YouTube. He starts by saying, “That does it. He’s a frickin’ nerd” before laughing. Then, the hijacker continues, “Yeah, I think I’m better than Chuck Swirsky. Frickin’ liberal. Oh, Jesus.”
He also declares, “My piles!” and hums part of the Clutch Cargo theme song, all while engineers were failing to regain control of the network. Then, the broadcast cut to the hijacker bending over, receiving a light smack from a woman only partly in the frame, who tells him to “Bend over, bitch!”. This clip lasted about one minute and 30 seconds before the hijackers stopped the broadcast themselves.
To this day, the identity of the hijackers remains unsolved, although there are many internet forums and Reddit threads dedicated to discussing their possible identities. Yet, no one has ever taken responsibility, so the case remains a bizarre mystery.
Hope it was the bits with the t*ts.
“Were any of the weapons of evil removed?”
Sure! That’s why the world is at perfect peace today.
who took over a broadcast of Horror of Fang Rock
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Sacrilege! Interrupting Doctor Who!
Bookmark
It was either a Monday football game or baseball game but some guy stole the audio feed and broadcast “Howard Cosell, the great state of Texas hates your F#@%ing guts”
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