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CASE #R6250V · 3 entities · 2 connections
The Max Headroom Signal Hijacking
Someone hijacked two Chicago TV stations in 1987 wearing a Max Headroom mask — and the FCC never found out who.
On the night of November 22, 1987, unknown pranksters twice broke into live Chicago television broadcasts, replacing the signal with a person in a Max Headroom mask making bizarre, sometimes explicit statements. Despite an FCC investigation, no one has ever been definitively identified or charged.
⇄disputed
Quick facts
- →The first intrusion, on WGN-TV, lasted about 17 seconds with no audible sound but a loud buzz.
- →The second, longer intrusion on WTTW included distorted speech and ended with the masked figure being spanked with a flyswatter on camera.
- →Overpowering a station's broadcast signal requires real technical access or equipment — not a trivial prank to pull off.
- →No one has ever been definitively identified or charged, despite decades of amateur and official investigation.
Entities on file
Max Headroom signal hijacking (event)
1987 Chicago broadcast signal intrusion; culprits never identified.
No outgoing connections on file.
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WGN-TV (organization)
Chicago station whose signal was hijacked first, for about 17 seconds.
→ was the first station hijacked in → Max Headroom signal hijacking✓documented
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WTTW (organization)
Chicago PBS station whose signal was hijacked second, more extensively.
→ was the second station hijacked in → Max Headroom signal hijacking✓documented