Max Headroom Incident in Chicago

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

What if someone is talking to the viewer from the TV screen? This is normal, why not? Announcers broadcast for people on the other side of the screen, address them, greet and say goodbye. But what happens if someone else interferes in this informational idyll, and the viewer sees what he should not see? The following will describe the most scandalous and terrible moment in the history of American television, which is called the Wyoming Incident.

Backstory

Before looking at a specific case, it is necessary to understand how these events are generally characterized. What is meant by "invasion of the air"? This is a crime against people who broadcast and receive television broadcasts. The invasion looks like a suddenly missing picture (film, news and other programs), after which the hacker's private material is broadcast instead. Of course, this act is criminally punishable, since suchjokes can harm viewers or listeners (the intrusion can also be in radio format).

Local radio stations are most susceptible to such attacks, because their signal is not independent, and therefore weaker. It's easier to beat him. Although these incidents are very rare, TV and radio companies regularly complain about hacking attempts from outside.

The Max Headroom Incident

It happened on November 22, 1987 in the city of Chicago. In the evening, the WGN channel hosted a review of a football match. Exactly at 21:14 local time, the announcer disappeared from the TV screens and a creepy character took over the air for 30 seconds. Someone dressed in the mask of Max Headroom (the character of the series) spoke words incomprehensible due to interference, grimaced and smiled. However, after half a minute of a meaningless broadcast, the channel managed to return the bewildered announcer. To this day, this is the most scandalous intrusion on the air - the incident of Max Headroom.

Max Headrum's 'Parody' repeated the invasion on another channel with an even stronger signal. This time the speech of the stranger was clear. At 23:15, WTTW began broadcasting the criminal for 90 seconds. During this time, the audience listened to a series of laughter, meaningless phrases and movements. At the end of the performance, the “parodist” exposed his buttocks, and someone began to spank him with a fly swatter. The backdrop in both cases featured a moving striped backdrop like the original Headroom show, only in the form of a budget piece of corrugated iron.

Why is it dangerous?

To date, the Max Headrum incident (the famous hack) andremained a mystery. The crime was not solved and remains so for thirty years. In this case, viewers are lucky not to be misinformed, scared, outraged, or mesmerized. Television can already influence the fragile consciousness of some citizens, so this act is egregious and dangerous. There were cases when unknown people invaded the air of children's channels and broadcast materials with pornographic content instead of cartoons.

The Max Headrum incident, by the way, also contained bare buttocks in the frames. Some terrorists use this form of interference as a way to draw the attention of more people to their activities and cause panic. There is also a risk of seeing ASC materials (changing the state of consciousness) - they cause panic, migraine, nausea and more.

How did the story end?

Unfortunately, the criminal (as well as his accomplices, who, obviously, were present) could not be caught. The investigation gave several options for the development of events, but they did not lead to the trail of specific people, so they were meaningless.

Only one positive thing is that Max Headroom's costume incident didn't hurt anyone, aired in the evening when the children's audience was asleep, and some viewers took it as a regular joke.