WGN-TV’s on-site technicians neutralized the “pirate” transmission by switching to an alternate transmitter, but the attacker’s motives and methods were a mystery. As Chicago’s televisions reverted back to the world of the ordinary, the visibly flustered sports reporter reappeared, and commented, “Well, if you’re wondering what happened… so am I.” Half a minute later, as suddenly as it had appeared, the strange scene was gone. As a low buzzing sound belched from thousands of televisions throughout Chicago, the intruder’s image swayed and wiggled in front of a slowly rotating background.As a low buzzing sound belched from thousands of televisions throughout Chicago, the intruder’s image swayed and wiggled in front of a slowly rotating background. It was not the first time a commercial television broadcast had been commandeered, but very few prior attempts had been successful. The previous year a satellite dish salesman going by the fanciful pseudonym “Captain Midnight” had succeeded in briefly replacing HBO’s signal with a complaint about their prices, and earlier in 1987 an employee of the Christian Broadcasting Network had hijacked the Playboy Channel’s signal. Both of these prior offenders had clear motives, and the authorities had successfully located and prosecuted the troublemakers. But this new instance of signal hacking was much more perplexing. In spite of the quick actions of WGN-TV engineers, Chicago had not yet seen the last of of this new signal-plundering pirate. Almost exactly two hours after the first unplanned detour from normality, at 11:15pm, viewers of the PBS affiliate WTTW were absorbing an episode of the British sci-fi series Doctor Who when their TV pictures danced sporadically for a moment. With a randomly gyrating panel of corrugated metal used as a backdrop, the unnerving Max Headroom doppelganger launched into an eccentric diatribe in a highly distorted voice. “This guy’s better than Chuck Swirsky.” (a WGN -TV sportscaster at the time) With no engineers on location at the transmission tower, WTTW employees looked on helplessly as the intruder seized control of their broadcast. (hums the theme song to the 1959 TV series “Clutch Cargo”) “Catch the wave.” (a reference to the New Coke marketing slogan) “Oh, I just made a giant masterpiece printed all over the greatest world newspaper nerds.” #MAX HEADROOM BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION SERIES# This symphony of strangeness reached its crescendo when the rubber-masked imposter dropped his trousers, exposed his backside, and weathered a spirited flyswatter spanking from a female assistant. Moments later the picture went dark, and the surreal signal terminated in a flash of static. Viewers were dumped back into the pedestrian world of Doctor Who as though the bizarre buttocks-swatting incident had never happened. The following day a number of viewers contacted the station to lodge their complaints regarding the “nudity.” In a television interview, one flustered Doctor Who fan summed up his reaction: “I got so upset that I wanted to bust the TV set… I really did.” Many were confused and troubled by the display. #MAX HEADROOM BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION TV# The Federal Communications Commission and the FBI sprang into action, launching independent pirate-hunting squads to unmask the disturbing messenger.
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