Max Headroom broadcast intrusion

Max Headroom broadcast intrusion was a signal intrusion occuring in Chicago, Illinois. The intruder successfully interrupted two broadcast channels, WGN-TV, and WTTW.

WGN-TV
During a news report on the 9:00 news about an American football match, the signal cut to black, for fifteen seconds, to which the signal comes back, but a man wearing a Max Headroom mask appears, rocking and swaying his head while jumping up, behind a sheet of swaying corrugated metal, which was a background for the Max Headroom.

There was no audio, only a crackling, buzzing noise. The intrusion lasted for thirty seconds before WGN-TV managed to get their signal back.

This left newscaster, Dan Roan shocked and bemused, saying "If you're wondering what happened there, so am I,", before unsuccessfully trying to repeat he was trying to say, before the intrusion happened.

WTTW
Then, two hours later, when WTTW was broadcasting a rerun of a Doctor Who episode, Horror of Fang Rock, the intruder successfully interrupted the broadcast in only a small course of two hours. The intruder managed to get audio in the intrusion, although it was distorted.

The episode was interrupted by television static, to which the man in the Max Headroom appeared, behind the swaying corrugated metal. He started giggling and laughing, about WTTW pundit, Chuck Swirsky, saying he is better than him. The intruder uttered random and unrelated phrases. He started to moan, while he picked up a Pepsi can, saying New Coke's slogan "Catch the Wave!". Max Headroom was a sponsor for New Coke.

The intruder then leaned to the camera, and gave the finger while screaming. He then retrieved the Pepsi can, moaning "Your love is fading!", which referred to the song, I Know I'm Losing You. He then started to hum the theme to Clutch Cargo, saying "I still see the X", which refers to the final episode of Clutch Cargo. WTTW was rerunning the series, and broadcasted the final episode an hour before the intrusion.

The intruder started to moan painfully, exclaming about the piles, while he blew a raspberry noise. He then said he just made a "giant masterpiece for all the  world's greatest newspaper nerds." WTTW's call station's slogan was "World's Greatest Newspaper".

He then picked up a thick glove, saying that his brother was wearing the other glove, before putting it on, and then exclaming that is dirty and has bloodstains on it, before throwing the glove down on the floor in disgust.

The camera was panned to the mask, which the intruder was now wearing over his finger, although leaving his face from the camera, with him howling "They are coming to get me!", to which he then says "Come and get me!", to which he bends over, to which an unidentified person wearing a French maid costume spanked the intruder with a flyswatter, with the intruder howling and screaming, before the signal returned to Doctor Who. This intrusion lasted for 90 seconds.

Reponse
WGN-TV and WTTW joined HBO, which had a similar incident last year, as victims of broadcast signal intrusion. The FBI got involved, saying that the intruders could face a $2000 fine and a year sentence in prison. Many were outraged about the incident, some were bemused, and some thought it was hilarious.

However, even though that the police, FBI and other lawkeepers have become involved in trying to find the intruders, they have never caught the intruders as of today, leaving the incident's outcome unsolved and failure to capture the intruders.

The incident, along with the Southern Television broadcast interruption ten years ago, is the most famous example of signal intrusion, and the intruders for both of the signal intrusions have never been caught by police.