Since it’s Halloween and people love to get freaked out at this time of year, here’s a little unexplained, slightly disturbing story for you.
The video above isn’t a fake, it’s a recording of a TV signal interruption which happened on November 22nd 1987. As you can see during an episode of Dr Who on WTTW Chicago Channel 11, an individual wearing a Max Headroom mask broke into the signal and transmitted what has since been regarded as one of the weirdest, unauthorized broadcasts in television history.
The masked man appears to say the following, although it’s difficult to determine at times:
“He’s a freaky nerd! This guy’s better than Chuck Swirsky. Oh Jesus! Catch the wave… [reference to a Coke commercial at the time of which Max Headroom was a spokesperson].
Your love is fading…I stole CBS. Oh, I just made a giant masterpiece printed all over the greatest world newspaper nerds.” My brother [mother?] is wearing the other one. It’s dirty…
They’re coming to get me…”
It was understood at the time that the person or persons responsible would have had some pretty slick and sophisticated equipment to cause such a broadcast interruption with kit valued anywhere between $400,000 and $600,000, which back then was a lot of cabbage. To date no-one was ever caught or charged and in the years which have past no-one has claimed responsibility for the incident, the footage above remains a solid mystery.
HMS Friday 