Max Headroom Signal Hijacking
On November 22, 1987, two Chicago television stations (WGN-TV and WTTW) were briefly hijacked by unidentified perpetrators who overrode the stations' analog signals to air a person wearing a Max Headroom mask. The first intrusion interrupted WGN's 9:00 p.m. news for roughly 15–30 seconds and was cut off when engineers changed link frequencies; the second interrupted WTTW's Doctor Who broadcast for about 90 seconds and included audible commentary and visual profanity. The Federal Communications Commission and other authorities investigated immediately, but the perpetrators were never identified; the statute of limitations expired in 1992. Technical analysis indicates the hijackers used a powerful microwave uplink from a line-of-sight location to the downtown broadcast towers as their method of intrusion.
Chicago
