Test (the max headroom incident)

Chicago, 11/22/1987 9:15 pm WGN tv channel 9 was broadcasting the nightly news as usual and than they showed the Chicago bears highlights, when suddenly the broadcast cut to black unexpectadly for a few seconds and 20 second footage of someone in a rubber Max Headroom mask bopping back and forth with a corrugated sheet metal backround mimiking the real Max Headroom (a character from a tv show) and the only audio there was was a low buzzing noise and it cut to black again. Then it cut to the news anchor who responded on camera with "well, if your wondering what happened, haha so am i".

Two hours later on WTTW channel 11 (PBS) during a broadcast of an episode of Doctor Who (horror of fang rock), there was a split second of static and the mysterious person in the max headroom mask went back on the airwaves, this time they got the sound to work, on the air, its voice was distorted, and there was still low buzzing in the backround, but this time it lasted for a minute and a half. Here is a transcription of what it did on air: "he's a friken nerd" *giggles* "i think i'm better than Chuck Swirsky (WGN Sportscaster), friken libeerall" *keels over* "hohoho jesus hahaho" gets back up "ooohhhhh" *falls back down* *gets back up* "ohhhh yeaaaahhhhh" "catch the wave (pepsi's slogan at the time)" *laughs* "aaauoooo aoooo ooo *Shoves a rubbery blob shape close to the camera* "aooooo, your love is fading (New Coke slogan) aoooo hoho" *hums clutch cargo theme* "i still see the X(reference to the final episode)" *continues humming clutch cargo theme* "ohhhoohhhhh My piles (piles = another word for hemeroids)" ohhohhhoooooo" *shakes head rapidly* "oh i made a just made a giant masterpiece of all the greatest world newspaper nerrrrds (parody of WGN's slogan "world's gratest newspaper" (WGN is owned by the tribune company)) hahaoo *picks up glove* "my brother is wearing the other one, but it's dirty *clears throught* it's even got footprints on it oh *drops glove* it cuts to it holding the mask headroom mask to the camera "the're comming to get meeeee!" *its rear end's side profile goes up on camera* "Bend over bitch" *an accomplice slightly off camera spanks the the mysterious person in the Max headroom mask with a flyswatter* "oooooooow Make it stop" *cuts to black with the buzzing sound still eminating* *the doctor who episode returns* [end of tanscription]

In the days following it became a major news story on several Chicago tv stations, and they determined this was an act of broadcast video piracy, the cause was a mystery, even the FCC (Federal Communications Commition) was on the case, WGN technitions explained that this wasn't something anybody could have done, because it would have to have been a Microwave transmission broadcasting to the nearest transmission tower (the Willis Tower) operating in very high frequency television bandwitdth operating at a significant power level (650,000 watts for WGN, 300,000 watts for WTTW). They never cought him and to this day no one has ever come forward and it still remains a mystery to this day, an anomolie of video piracy, there are theories as to who he was and why he did it, but i'm not going into that.