This will Disturb You | Nostalgia Nerd

Go to thld.co/munkpack_nerd_0722 and use code NERD to get 20% off your first purchase! Thanks to Munk Pack for sponsoring today’s video! ~ Max Headroom was a legendary AI character from the 80s. In 1987 however, a somewhat more controversial version of him appeared on Chicago TV at 9:14pm. Rather than a comedic and exaggerated host, this version was a weirdly unsettling hijacker, and the incident became known as the Max Headroom Incident. This hack/hijack/intrusion is something that has fascinated me for years, so here, I decided to cover the whole debacle.
Timings;
0:00-01:32 Introduction
01:32-05:45 Max Headroom
05:45-07:03 Munk Pack
07:03-13:56 The Evening's Events
13:56-21:09 Understanding the Hacks
21:09-29:56 The Content of the Hacks
29:56-34:05 What can we determine?
34:05-40:27 Anecdotal Evidence
40:27-43:21 Wrapping Up
43:21-44:21 Credits and Extra Scene
🔗Video Links🔗
Bert is Evil: • A MEME Triggered an In...
Intrusion Film: • Intrusion [Max Headroo...
The Bizarre's Documentary: • THE MAX HEADROOM HIJAC...
Channel 9: • Video
Channel 11: • Doctor Who pirate inci...
News Reports: • News Footage: The Max ... / www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnwh...
Vice Article: www.vice.com/en/article/pgay3...
Reddit Thread: / i_believe_i_know_who_w...
Reddit Followup: / new_developments_in_th...
Other references to follow.
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Errors and omissions excepted.
Some material in this video may be used under Fair Dealing / Fair Use. Where under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (UK: Sections 29 and 30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), allowance is made for purposes including parody, quotation, criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, education and research. Fair Dealing / Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

[@Nostalgianerd]

Hey folks. Thanks for watching maaaa video. Hope you're doing well. Go to thld.co/munkpack_nerd_0722 and use code NERD to get 20% off your first purchase! Thanks to Munk Pack for sponsoring today’s video!

[@thomasrotweiler]

Is there a UK supplier of these Munk Pack bars ?

[@tiagopereirasantossilva556]

Nazi is left and not conservati

[@thomasrotweiler]

@@tiagopereirasantossilva556 No. Nazi is extreme right-wing.

[@mikeuk666]

10:33 90sec episode?

[@Burger_pants]

I love how you equate being right-leaning politically as being "closer to being a nazi" The political spectrum does not work that way, you are pushing an agenda, whether you realize it or not. I am not conservative but I despise this false narrative that NAzis are right wing, they are not. they are their own wing, they are fascists.

[@MontegaB]

Broadcast TV hacking is especially interesting because it's such a niche area of expertise and utilizes a lot of hardware that isn't common or readily available, even to serious amateurs. I miss the days when the world was a little more open to "experimentation"

[@cpt_nordbart]

My dad made a pirate radio station once. In his youth. But it was probably only in a small radius since he hadn access to hi power radio gear. But it was enough to put a vinyl on inside and listen to it outside on a transistor radio at the lake.

[@filminginportland1654]

I don’t know, I had the skills as a kid who built myself a pirate radio station in the early 90s (I was a broadcast nerd with subscriptions to & copies of all the engineering magazines for radio & TV broadcasting) and knew others who probably could as well, though not in Chicago. Lots of this stuff is in the ARRL handbook, but those analog STLs were dead simple and with a little time & money, you can tweak things not intended for the purpose or build your own. Not trivial to everyone, but something anyone who’s really into this with a bit of time could figure out IF they had access to the right parts & equipment (most people simply don’t care enough to know). Those STL transmitters & receivers were made for STLs and were expensive, but it’s basic tech and any microwave or VHF experience (depending on which system they used) could be used here. They had all sorts of cheaper equipment that could be modified, like the local microwave systems they used to use for premium television regionally using microwave antennas & receivers - those were readily available for cheap in ‘87 as those systems lost money and cable pretty much killed them off, so surplus was there cheap in a place like Chicago by ‘87. You could get all sorts of stuff if you tried. Local radio stations used to give me old gear all the time, when I was 10-15 or so. Surplus stores existed then as well, all over every metro area. So it really could be anyone, it certainly didn’t require a professional.

[@absalomdraconis]

Honestly, if I remember the frequencies right, then you could probably have done it with just an amplifier for analogue satellite TV (which yes, was a thing- some of the satellites might even still be active... maybe). You basically need a VCR, a frequency shifter, an amplifier, and an antenna- and if you got the right amplifier, then you'd be able to either use it straight, or modify it for the purpose, while also using it _as_ the frequency shifter. This sort of thing wasn't really used to hijack TV stations much, but there was a low-key TV-theft market for both cable and satellite TV from almost the moment they were created.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@absalomdraconis this is what I was thinking! A portable VCR such as for portable non-camcorders could’ve fit in a backpack along with the satellite TV signal booster wired backwards.

[@dcraexon134]

@@filminginportland1654 decades ago , playing around with an old CB radio wondering what the cans did inside, And a neighbor that was into tweaking radios , found outgrocery store parking lot and fast food restaurants with their headsets or parking under phone lines, If the signal is not focused properly it bleeds on to other channelsThe employees would be laughing but ask us to stop, oh yeah we got in trouble sometimes but it was fun, we didn’t know that’s what it did or would do,These phones and internet nowadays ,wouldn’t be affected, had to be in the drive-through or very close to the store , it was long ago they probably have better radios and communication now, tweaked CB radios don’t last long ,they all fried, Back in the 90s when the truckers came over the hill into Reno they were in for a comedy show especially on the weekends at night

[@tomfoolery5680]

I lived in Brighton Park by 43rd and Western. I can remember my Grandpa, (RIP) yelling my Grandma's(RIP) name saying "MARY! MARY! HES BACK AND GETTING HIS ASS SWATTED!!" I was 9 at the time, had just gotten dropped off at their house when my mom went to work. I heard a lot of talk about it the next couple days, but I didn't have a concept of how cool of a moment it was. I later saw a YT of it 8 or 9 years ago and it all came back to me.

[@bigbeefscorcho]

LMAOOO

[@GTSN38]

I live in Brighton park too, 38th and kedzie. I also seen it live

[@MorgueVOID]

Lmao

[@italianbeefslayer]

43rd & Artesian let’s all meet at Naples and smoke a blunt

[@tomfoolery5680]

@@italianbeefslayer my best friend Frank lived on Artesian between 43rd and 44th. Back in 88. And Francine Aldaco. She was yum. Is Julia's restaurant still there on Western? And Moonlighters? My grandma owned both of those back in the day.

[@Sinastyr]

I just love that lady who is mildly perturbed that she is go to have to do some VCR editing of her Dr Who recording. Perfect little moment in time.

[@wayland7150]

Does she now realise that the tape is far more interesting with the Max Headroom intrusion?

[@captain_red_beard4202]

​@@wayland7150 Lol, maybe. But you know that she probably(definitely) recorded over it.

[@MattExzy]

I've seen the clip before, but never seen the reactions from the viewers on the news... I kinda find the reactions more interesting than the intrusion itself, it's as though something breached reality and punishment is in order.

[@BilisNegra]

@@captain_red_beard4202 Not just that but also dumped the tape a few years later bc it was too worn out.

[@felicitybywater8012]

This Dr Who fan would have been startled & intrigued by the intrusion but also enraged that my Dr Who had been interrupted.

[@tommyboy9998]

The fuzzymemories clip was (at some stage) a Betamax recording, that bending at the top of the frame is standard Betamax tape wear. There is no VHS involved, as there is no head-switching in the bottom of the frame. The 'wobble' at the start and end of the intrusion is also standard Betamax behavior when using butt-joint or pause-button, or when sync needs to be adjusted. You can recreate this by switching channels on the internal tuner while recording - the same happens on some VHS machines, but not as clearly. Best stick to the uMatic (timestamped) log recordings from the station itself, as the consumer recording is clearly not reliable.

[@lordsofkobol7385]

I've read that Betamax was the industry standard in the states, so that fits.

[@thestarlitwaters]

@@lordsofkobol7385 Betacam was a professional format, Betamax was the consumer grade, both by Sony. They are not comparable despite the name.

[@kandigloss6438]

@@thestarlitwaters Also not to mention that Betacam wasn't only an industry standard in the US. Though I'm somewhat confused by their assumedly derogatory comment anyhow. Fits what exactly? Though I guess they are just being like "America uses crappy video cuz they r crappy country, tee hee, ha ha" like a 5 year old.

[@shaungreer3350]

so basically… he was a hipster 😳

[@Lemayase]

@@kandigloss6438 You assume too much. It does not read derogatory at all. Chill out.

[@timothystevenhoward]

I remember hearing about this when I was young. We are in the WGN market. Fun fact, Dan Roan just retired from WGN on May 26, 2022 after 38 years.

[@RemoWilliams1227]

Same

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Frickin' Liberal....

[@nilus2k]

I saw the second broadcast live and had it on VHS tape for years. My family were big Doctor Who fans and watched every Sunday on Channel 11(and taped them). So 9 year old me got to see this rare historical event. Was weird then and is still weird today

[@JimLeonard]

High five, I was 16 and I saw it happen live. I feel like we are members of a very small club.

[@jesterssketchbook]

@@JimLeonard yup - i'm jealous you got to see it "for real" im not gonna lie

[@southilgurl2003]

Another high five! I too got to experience the WTTW hack during Doctor Who. I was only half watching the TV when "WTF?!" and was wondering if someone dosed 17 year-old me.

[@t0xcn253]

What a lucky thing that your parents had such great taste in Sci Fi! Getting it on tape is downright legendary. Honestly having the collection of Dr who on tape is not too shabby in itself!

[@JamesPotts]

Same. I might still have the tape stashed at my mom's house.

[@Caolan114]

The first one Is creepy especially for people who don't know who Max Headroom Is Remember this was before the Internet, before smart phones, Just you and a TV remote In the dark late at night and this happens

[@Zontar82]

exactly, younger people will have difficulties imaging that, but for us it would have been a fucking heart attack

[@raymondpersaud386]

and the tv guide magazine

[@jewelofaquarius7588]

You had a remote?

[@the-engneer]

As someone who remembers pre Internet times I can honestly say it would have definitely freaked me out

[@producermichael5108]

Pre internet was the best free life.

[@Obladgolated]

The audio distortion is characteristic of a "ring modulator," which mixes an incoming audio signal with a second signal (usually a sine or square wave) using a diode ring similar to (but not the same as) a full-wave DC rectifier. The hacker knew that this would disguise his voice in a way that couldn't be de-scrambled, at least with the technology available at the time. Ring modulators were a cheap and simple way to thoroughly disguise a voice without completely destroying intelligibility.

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

They were also used on the show he was interrupting, Dr. Who.

[@Houshalter]

Would it be possible to undo that kind of distortion with software?

[@Bambisgf77]

Thanks! This Will did not know 😊

[@Obladgolated]

@@Houshalter It's probably possible to undo it in software, but probably not to the extent necessary to identify the speaker. It depends on how accurately the original audio waveform is preserved today.

[@franzkoviakalak6981]

I saw this live as an 8 year old. It spooked the shit out of me and still does. It is my earliest concrete memory.

[@HouseOfFunQM]

So it was YOU?!

[@billschlafly4107]

Your earliest memory is 8? I've got solid memories well before kindergarten. I recall peeing myself as a toddler while sleeping and it feeling sooooo good.

[@franzkoviakalak6981]

@@billschlafly4107 nice congrats

[@Persun_McPersonson]

@@billschlafly4107 Weird flex but OK.

[@razeezar]

@@Persun_McPersonson For what it's worth, I vividly remember being around 7 and sleepwalking and mistaking my bed for the toilet. I woke up as I was in the middle of standing before my bed, pissing on it. Felt weird man

[@3rdalbum]

My two favourite broadcast intrusions were: 1. The one where somebody managed to put an Emergency Broadcast System alert on screen and over the speakers warning of zombies. 2. Somebody hijacked a camera that fed a "peaceful imagery" channel and used CGI to make it look like a nuclear bomb was going off at that location Edit: The zombies one wasn't technically a broadcast intrusion, somebody hacked into the EAS decoder at the station. It has an amusing postscript though - when another TV station reported on the incident, they inadvertantly replayed the burst of coded information at the start of the false alert, which propagated it automatically to another TV station and caused a second false alert!

[@haydenmaines5905]

Hilarious!

[@stapuft]

"...not very bright realy..." well we are still talking about it 40 years later (and they were never caught)....so......id say it was VERY BRIGHT! dudes a legend, and a hero, 100%

[@xbrandi12345x]

When I was really little, I used to get in trouble for sneaking up and going and turning on the TV and watching Max Headroom. I was convinced he was from the future and had all the answers to everything I ever wanted to know. I was only 3 or 4 lol but I was attracted to that TV like a poltergeist was calling to me from it. When I watch it now as an adult it seems so silly but when I was little I really believed he was an important person 😂

[@johncamp7679]

I did something similar, when I was around 6-7 and heard another brick in the wall, I really thought kids didn’t want education and I agreed.

[@grrlpurpleable]

I just love that someone hacked a TV signal using a ZX Spectrum in the set-up!

[@locke103]

I never knew it was possible

[@jamesslick4790]

@@locke103 The ZX Spectrum outputs a standard TV video output, I used the US Version (Timex/Sinclair 2068) to make titles and animations for "home videos" in the 1980s

[@locke103]

@@jamesslick4790 I was young back then, born in 1984. My journey into computers did start at four years old, though. Dad had an Apple II GS, lured me in with gaming, coincidentally.

[@JustWhyFFS]

Old school hackers were the coolest. Phone freaking still blows me away

[@MyFriendlyPup]

@@locke103 1984 here. Respect.

[@xliquidflames]

After decades, the statute of limitations has to have expired. Why doesn't this absolute legend come forward? I remember learning about this in the mid 90s when I was just getting into computers and the fledgling internet. I was getting into phone phreaking and simple hacks on school computers. The idea of hijacking an entire TV station blew my mind. This person is a real life Zero Cool only they took it a step further than just changing what show was on. They put on their own homemade show, as creepy as it is. I was fascinated by this story back then. This is the best documentary style video I've ever seen on it and had a lot of new ideas and information I had never heard before. It's also done in an objective way that doesn't try to sensationalize anything. Well done, NN.

[@viaoutdoors]

Like the Zero Cool reference. Hack the planet! 😂 Possibly concerns for civil lawsuit or their current position would be compromised.

[@Legend813a]

Την κατάλληλη στιγμή. Παρακαλώ περιμένετε.

[@IvyPr0fen]

He's probably dead.

[@Big_Tex]

Might be dead

[@billschlafly4107]

@@Legend813a In the US of A, copyright laws protect that which has been created for 70 years after the death of the original creator. It's harder to prove in court if the creation hasn't been registered. Either way, the answer to your premise is "no". Someone can't just grab Max Headroom and run with it yet without risk of being sued. There are exceptions such as satire that fall under fair use because freedom of speech exists in the US of A.

[@wetmink]

This doesn't disturb me, it's one of the greatest moments in television history.

[@ShawnTewes]

Quite a comprehensive look at the hacking incidents. With regard to the "signal distortion" in the VHS copy of the WGN hack, I believe the stretching and overall instability were the result of flaws in either the VCR that was used to record or play back the off air broadcast. The distortion at the top of the picture is known as "skew", and is caused either by misalignment of the tape as it was being recorded, or by a misaligned playback deck used when the footage was digitized. As for the rolling horizontal lines, I think it's a combination of the hijacker's program material and time based errors caused by the VCR doing the off air recording. During points when lines appear but the overall picture remains steady, it's likely the program material. However, when the screen jumps along with the lines I believe it's a result of timing errors in the signal. VCRs of the day didn't offer any sort of built in time based correction, so when the video sync signal abruptly changes as the picture goes to black (likely at the instant the engineers switched frequencies), it causes the VCR to go crazy as it attempts to resync from the Max signal to the WGN signal, resulting in the rolling lines you see as it goes black, right before finally stabilizing. If you ever use a simple A/V switch box, you may notice the picture vertically roll quickly as you switch sources, which is caused by a change in the sync timing of the sources. If you record this with an old VCR, you'll get similar results as the continuity when Max goes black (i.e. additional horizontal lines rolling off screen and more jumping). This is not to be confused with a professional analog video switcher, in which all the sources are synced together using a reference signal, resulting in clean cuts between sources. One of our city's low end local channels uses the basic switch box approach, and I've recorded it off air on VHS in the past. It's one of those full page info graphic deals mixed with actual footage. I would get the same jumpy instability when they switched from graphics to footage. I've seen some public access stations do this as well. This was definitely the most interesting broadcast highjacking to date, and this video goes into great detail. Great job on doing it justice.

[@jamesslick4790]

WGN's call letters do come from "World's Greatest NewsPAPER". The station(s) were owned by the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune had been using the slogan "World's Greatest Newspaper" for decades bofore entering the broadcasting business.

[@thetman0068]

I feel like someday somebody’s gonna find the original camcorder tape of the incident in a Goodwill bin somewhere near Chicago.

[@nickwallette6201]

I love this so much. It just scratches all my itches - tech, radio, broadcast piracy, intrigue, local lore .. chef’s kiss.

[@foghornleghorn5882]

Likewise, ticks all the boxes

[@jakesapir]

I live in Chicago, so my now-fiance and I knew at least vaguely of this incident. I ended up referencing it in my Doctor Who RPG campaign, saying it was the work of a shapeshifting alien. Then I looked it up and realized that the hack happened during an episode of Doctor Who, and we all laughed for several minutes straight. Only upon watching this video have I learned that the Doctor Who episode in question involved...a shapeshifting alien. Gotta love it.

[@jewelofaquarius7588]

Gotta love those long play syncs!

[@ConnectTheDotsProper]

23

[@fuzzamajumula]

That's serendipitous!

[@ConnectTheDotsProper]

@@fuzzamajumula no, that's the matrix

[@anima6035]

@@ConnectTheDotsProper fr people just brush this stuff off like it's nothing 😂🙈👽

[@meh_lady]

This happened when I was a kid and it scared the crap out of me seeing it on the news. I was terrified to watch TV for months because I was afraid this would happen! 🤣

[@Burger_pants]

you were afraid that some dumb video would interrupt your tv show for a few seconds? You sound like a wuss.

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

I recall reading about this incident on Wikipedia as a kid. Not many Wikipedia articles has disturbed me as this one. I still felt uneasy watching this. Cannot even begin imagine expiriencing this live. Great video

[@Guzuma]

i’m fascinated by broadcast intrusions, i find most of them terrifying but i actually find this one hilarious. if the guy didn’t talk id probably find it scary

[@tecpaocelotl]

I remember back in the day this one hacking group gave me whole instructions on how to make my tv signal but avoided legally not writing that you could hack other channels. I remember a lot of equipment. I miss those old days. I feel like people knew more back then.

[@unduloid]

30:29 They clearly used ring modulation on the voices. They could have used a guitar pedal for that, but there are other means to get the same effect.

[@scaper8]

Probably a coincidence, but a similar form of voice modulation was done to voice the Daleks from _Doctor Who._ Again, probably not related, but if the second hack was part of the plan (which seems likely since they clearly knew the frequency and direction with little effort), then it might also tie into why that particular programming block was chosen. All just rampant speculation of course.

[@absalomdraconis]

@@scaper8 : If I had to guess, the second station was probably a backup, for signal strength and/or staffing reasons.

[@danielpope6498]

So my understanding is that a ring modulator takes in two signals and out puts both the sum and difference between the two. So if the effect was caused by feeding the mic through a ring modulator it would be the audio and some sort of carrier signal into the modulator... but shouldn't that mean you can then reverse the effect once you know the carrier signal? If someone could pull that off they could clean up the audio

[@aaronhazelwood6489]

Yes! I keep wondering why nobody has done this yet!

[@unduloid]

@@aaronhazelwood6489 It's not that easy. The type of ring modulation used for sound manipulation leads to a heavily mutated spectral mess. It gets even worse when you add other noise as well, like from a magnetic video tape.

[@MrfnordTim]

I wouldn't call him a Dollar Store Max Headroom. He was at least up to Spirit Halloween level!

[@jcxtra]

My guess is the first broadcast was a test to test whether they could do it, and maybe to see what the response is from a studio with active staff would be.

[@flamshiz]

I'd always heard "my piles" as "my files" which imo makes more sense as max headroom being an AI or newsrooms having files of reference materials

[@foghornleghorn5882]

Correct!

[@ianmangham4570]

Obviously its piles because he then says there's a mess on the floor /SHIT.

[@robertcarmosino6563]

Play on words

[@sandrajohnson2489]

I remember when Max appeared on TV in the 80's. It never occurred to me that Max Headroom meant how much room there was below a barrier. Duh. Hahaha

[@seamusoblainn4603]

I can only imagine the thrill of planning and pulling this off! Based on the speculations I've seen online, it wouldnt have been trivial.

[@jesterssketchbook]

yup - these were some knowledgable ppl doing this - and funny - i would have liked to be friends with them

[@vylbird8014]

The knowledge needed would not have been easily available at the time. Nor would the equipment. There are only two groups of people who would have both of these: Someone from within the television industry - perhaps an engineer who appropriated some scrap heading for disposal. Or a ham radio operator, who would have the skill to build their own equipment. Probably the former.

[@kurtpena5462]

@@vylbird8014 If you are saying that it would have been hard to generate an NTSC video signal and overpower an un-encoded analog channel, I'm going to go out on a limb disagree. And why would a hammie (radio enthusiast) have any special knowledge of UHF and VHF channels? You must realize that this is just the kind of stuff that electrical engineers everywhere would study in college, right? Don't you think that people knew anything before the Internet?

[@vylbird8014]

@@kurtpena5462 Because they didn't just overpower the TV transmitter: They overpowered the uplink coming from the studio to the transmitter. That was a microwave link. So you need to generate your NTSC video signal, modulate that onto a microwave carrier in the appropriate manner, and send that to the transmitter. Can't do that with consumer equipment: You're going to need to either obtain your own very specialised modulator and amplifier, or construct one from components.

[@carlosbooovy1174]

Most uplinks were microwave, yes, but if you were the sort of person who could build vhf transmitters then building a little exciter using the front end of a uhf TV and some other bits and bobs was much of a stretch... When i was a kid i never knew this stuff happened but when i read about it years later it blew my mind that someone could do that to something that seemed so impossible to do.

[@danandtab7463]

for some reason what I find the most spooky is that we will likely never, ever learn who did this...and we certainly won't learn why.

[@amyshaw893]

I always thought that "he's a frickin nerd" was referring to the doctor, but your idea does make sense too

[@mt-mg7tt]

As fan of the (real) Max, this is fascinating. Pseudo-Max's voice actually sounds a lot like a Dalek. And the woman's costume in "Horror of Fang Rock" is oddly reminiscent of "Picnic at Hanging Rock".

[@randyhavard6084]

I'll imagine nobody came forward because they believe no one would believe them and they have probably destroyed and or lost all evidence linking them to the incident. That's what I would think if I had done something like this.

[@devikwolf]

I've already watched a lot of coverage of the Max Headroom incident, but if Nerd is talking about it I'm gonna take the time to watch. Really love the way you present the weirder side of our technical history. Maybe Bert is behind the Max Headroom incident, as well as the Dodelston messages??

[@jesselowellanholt]

Thanks so much for plugging my independent film “Intrusion” in your video! I’ve been so intrigued by the Max Headroom Incident for years now and it was such an awesome passion project for all of us. So glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@alerey4363]

8:50 well to me, the "real" news guy trying to put up a silly excuse for the tv signal hijack looks even weirder than Max Headroom himself

[@rgerber]

right after seeing the "scary" hijacker with his mask the news reporter afterwards gave me a REALLY weird uncanny feeling. He looks halfway unnatural

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@rgerber his heavy makeup definitely gave him an uncanny valley effect!

[@myeyeswentdeaf6213]

I find it pretty weird how outraged people got, even the people interviewed by the news. People should’ve just had a good laugh and be thankful that Max Headroom exposed a security issue with something kinda fun and weird before someone else could’ve put hardcore porn or even a live torture/murder or something like that , that would actually give everybody good reason to be outraged about. Thanks Max Headroom! 😉👍

[@jbellflower83]

"Some ppl will be so dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it... Morpheus, The Matrix. Sheep don't like it when their routine is disturbed.

[@callumratcliffe7402]

Yeah ANOTHER SI=OP CREATED BY THE ELITES TO ADVERTISE THIS CHARACTER AND IT WORKS BEAUTIFULLY DIDN'T IT HUMANS ALWAYS FALLING FOR THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!

[@MrJest2]

For a lot of people at the time, this tech was kinda magic. Not everyone; not by a long shot - there were probably as many people (percentage-wise) in the US who could have pulled this off as there are people today who can build a good PC gaming rig. I was in my late 20s at the time this happened, and just out of the military where I had further refined my RF technical knowledge after I spent my teen years messing about with radios and even early hobbyist computers. At the time, I considered this "incident" to be rather trivial and amusing. Honestly, I still do. But I was a definite outlier compared to people such as my parents - or grandparents - who would have had some difficulty wrapping their heads around the most basic RF concepts necessary to pull off an interception like this. And - again, at the time - they were the vast majority of people living in the US. Pure, mid-tier "Baby Boomers"; the largest in raw numbers population bulge this nation has ever seen. Their attitudes and perceptions WERE "reality", no matter how actual reality worked otherwise.

[@telesniper2]

If it were me, I would have broadcast a nuclear attack EAS message. "MULTIPLE MEGATON CLASS SOVIET WEAPONS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED ON EARLY WARNING RADAR AS BEING INBOUND TO THE GREATER CHICAGO AREA. TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY". Ya know, like the Hawaii prank

[@lizbaker2960]

I was 16 when this happened. This happened during the Cold War. Shit like this freaked people out. For them it was scary.

[@TheBizarre]

Hey there! We just saw this, (Me and my brother Matthew), and we are absolutely at a loss for words at the kindness and generosity you have bestowed upon us. You have no idea how much this means to us. Seriously this is phenomenal. Thank you is too little to say, but thank you. We have had such a obstacle ridden time getting this next episode made but stuff like this keeps us going. We are so thrilled for all of this and, because of you, we just hit 100,000 views which is incredible!!! Thank you bro so much. Seriously, thank you. ~ The Reyna Bros - Creators of The Bizarre P.S. if you ever wanna hop on over and collab with us on a topic, or vice versa, or something else all together we would be more than honored

[@inhabitantwaps3qs803]

ok this is the most Bizarre almost sarcastically overexaggerated comment I've seen on KZbin. no wonder your comment has low likes for god sake.

[@billmitchell8515]

I was in college at the time this happend studying TV production here in Chicago. You have hit the on how it was likely done. The one thing of note is that WGN engineers were in the midst of bad union negotiations. Most rumors had it as an inside job. As the pros would have been the only ones that would have had access to the gear and knowledge to pull this off.

[@EmergencyChannel]

Hijacking a tv broadcast wouldn't be that hard in the analog days, especially if you had access to military surplus. I bet this was done by some bored college kids.

[@absalomdraconis]

@@cactusjackNV : Honestly, if I had to point at someone, I'd point in one of three directions- 1) station staff (NOT necessarily for any of the stations hit), 2) RadioShack or similar worker (92, so this would have bern around when they were getting rid of the techies), or 3) Cable/Satellite TV pirate (partly for the same reason as a RadioShack tech- the easiest way to bootstrap up to this probably would be a modified analogue satellite TV amplifier).

[@dickJohnsonpeter]

@@absalomdraconis what does the number 92 mean in your comment? It can't be a date because the year 1992 has no relation to this so I'm confused what it means.

[@LinearBob]

I am a broadcast engineer, and I was working for the NBC affiliate in San Francisco at the time. You need to know what a mobile Ku satellite uplink truck was. I believe someone with on of those used the large steerable dish on the truck and the 300 watts plus of a standard uplink to overwhelm the 13 GHz STL receivers of both stations. But WGN was wealthy enough to have two separate STLs. One of them was in the 13 GHz band. The other was a dedicated coaxial cable they ha used before they installed their microwave STL. WTTW was unable to do anything for another reason -- they had no choice of STLs. I believe this was a satellite uplink truck aiming at those two tall buildings from some distance away. As for the video they used, my guess is that it played from a 3/4 inch U-Matic possibly one of the BVU series cassette machines that were also common in the TV news business at the time. The TWT (travelling wave tube) amplifier that feeds the uplink antenna is a wideband amplifier, and if someone disconnected the 14 GHz thing called an exciter, and connected a portable 13 GHz shoebox remote microwave transmitter (also common in the TV news business) to that TWT, that little shoebox (which is frequency agile) could well have done the job. As for the sound -- that shoebox has a sound channel (called a subcarrier) for the sound associated with the video. But the subcarrier frequency did not match up with the frequency WGN was using, thus the silence. But WTTW was using a subcarrier closer to the frequency of that little shoebox microwave transmitter, and that's why there was some very distorted audio. FYI jamming a television station's STL is a very serious legal offense and could result in many years behind bars for whoever did it. And I don't think there is any statute of limitations on intentional jamming like this. Think international radio treaty violation stuff. Email to [e-mail] if you want more detail from my knowledge base of analog broadcast television.

[@fakeshemp9599]

@@LinearBob thank you for this 👍

[@kenji642]

this incident never ceases to amaze me

[@DavisMakesGames]

Thanks for covering! Public broadcast hijacks are always fascinating.

[@quintessenceSL]

Not even hijacks, but in general things were much looser. A tv station ran an unedited broadcast of Lifeforce late one night (which I was blessed to see).

[@1AnononA1]

And always welcome 😂

[@jesterssketchbook]

the video by The Bizarre on this is AMAZING - and waaaay under-viewed - glad it got a shout-out

[@thefadebeta580]

This guy knew a LOT about broadcasting if he didn't work in the industry he sure found a way to get a firm understanding of many of it's intriqencies, it does seem to be done by hobbiest, whoever or whatever he was this was his masterpiece...it does make me think there was a broader message that was intended.

[@klausstock8020]

It could also have been more than one guy. One guy to produce the content, and another co-conspirator to feed the signal into the feed horn. The second person perhaps being an employee in the TV business (possibly still working in the business nowadays, maybe fearing to lose his job if his identity is revealed, even though he can't be fined any more). There might even have been another person who had access to the roof of the John Hancock Building - getting a transmitter directly in front of a fee horn would have been an option to overpower the legit signal with a rather small transmitter. On the other hand, a few closed doors would, quite possibly, not present any seriously challenge to anyone with basic experience in non-destructive entry methods.

[@ilexgarodan]

The Oddity Archive's inaugural episode delves more into the incident.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Indeed, which is still one of Benny Boy's best episodes. Also it's such a criminally underrated YT channel that deserves way more subs, and views.

[@conzmoleman]

Looks like OA also has a followup from four years ago that is twice as long but has less views than their original ten year old video. Perhaps I’ll watch both. Already very familiar with the incident though.

[@ImpetuouslyInsane]

That man needs more attention. Been subscribe to him for a decent amount of time now. Kind of funny any of you guys are actually making reference to him considering he wasn't even mentioned in the video here. As far as I know, he was one of the first ones to even bring this up in any sort of analytical sense back in the day.

[@r66fplaysgames]

I was thinking about that channel too!

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@r66fplaysgames Funny your comment pops up, as I just got done watching his latest episode 10 sec ago on a Minnesota thrift hunt. 😅

[@reggiebenes2916]

I don't think it was a technician at WGN, as the intrusion occurred on 2 different frequencies broadcasting from different locations. The equipment needed could have been obtained for much less than $10K at the time. Military surplus stores, and ham radio shops sold everything needed. It certainly had to be someone with decent knowledge of frequency intrusion, and would have required a lot of power for a short period, but the actual knowledge of channel frequencies and location of broadcast was readily available. I agree with you that the 2 people filming were probably the only people involved, as if more were involved then someone would have admitted it by now. The mystery is what's kept it alive this long.

[@JimTheZombieHunter]

i remember the Headroom incidents so clearly from my late teens .. funny though, what i remember as well is that they were considered to be almost big news 'terrorist' attacks at the time (I personally thought it was awesome). Amazing in hindsight just how innocent we were in the 80's. lol.

[@markenetube]

I remember them promoting the show. They had Max on a BBC news show Nationwide. He told the presenter that he would be replaced someday by a VR presenter.

[@AmigosRetroGaming]

Really fresh look at this incident. I was watching WGN that night and it really freaked me out. I've watched blips about it pop up ever since....your look was the best and most logically done that i've seen.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

I loved watching the Max Headroom series when I was little. Admittedly I was too young to full understand it, and it's only when I rewatched it relatively recently I understood the dark story that's underneath all the crazyness that happened on the show. But i have never seen the movie version - they only ever showed the series here in Denmark. And I've honestly never heard about this TV hack, although the underground groups I were in touch with back then only cracked software and didn't care about TV

[@Yosikuma]

I was nine years old when this happened. My mother was watching Dr. Who abs I heard her loudly respond to the signal intrusion. Yeah, it scared the hell out of me.

[@mattbowd]

Great work Nostalgia Nerd - I knew only parts of this whole saga - fantastic to see it all explained :)

[@charliebadhandz]

I had never heard of this before . I was in my 20's and familiar with Max Headroom but not the origin side of the story . This is sooooo cool ! I LOVE IT !!

[@ThinkerOnTheBus]

I actually witnessed the second incident of signal hi-jacking that evening, and it was an incredible experience on so many levels!!!

[@jamesreece9502]

In 1987, my 12 year old self was a huge Max Headroom fan. I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Checking out the Bert is Evil video now.

[@rickyhaggerty6159]

Wow, so interesting! I was 5 in '85 and i do remember Max Headroom, even the real thing was weird as hell to a 5 yr old but this was swesome! I personally think that the first hack was possibly a trial run to ensure that the hack worked but the audio fail would have been evident to the perps and possibly expected in order to gain a better reading for the real deal at 11pm. The mystery is the real star but the "men in black" theory is brilliant, get J and K interviewed 😂😂

[@raspberry1440kb]

I think the audio was specifically run through a ring modulator effect, likely an EHX Frequency Analyzer

[@markwrightrf]

Nailed it, Peter. Ben at the Oddity Archive will blush when he watches this. From an old school FM engineer. You go steady now my man.

[@Rogue_Leader]

There would have been no Kryten without Max Headroom.

[@Dariushellstrome]

That interruption in broadcast also happened on WTTW public broadcast (channel 11 in Chicago) it was a Sunday night I was recording a British comic David Allen I think and then Dr Who that came on afterwards. Max Headroom was fun but that break in was strange especially for someone in 7th or 8th grade

[@nilus2k]

Yep. I feel like a lot of people got this on tape because Doctor Who nerds(like me and my Dad) taped all the episodes that channel 11 played

[@steviebarr7353]

Dave Allen was from the Irish Republic

[@ElectronicazMusic]

Amazing video. Thank you. I was 14 when Max Headroom burst into my life and I loved every bit of it. Still do.

[@peteytwofinger]

either they used a 1972 maestro ring modulator on the audio or they could have constructed their own . there was a company called paiaa and i built their kit in 89 . it uses a bipolar power supply and you can change the carrier freq .

[@peterjantzer4767]

At 67, watching your retro videos is more fun than a barrel of grandkids.

[@panqueque445]

"I got so upset, I really wanted to bust the TV set. I really did" That man needed to go out and touch grass way before social media.

[@skweek256]

Just watched "Intrusion" after your tip. It's been a tab in my browser for ages and I finally got around to watching it today. That remix of Tears for Fears is ace. It's such and odd story though, phreaking phreakerson. ;) Thanks for all your good work!

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

This was truly amazing. Fabulous writing and reporting. I was caught up the whole time. Thank you for this!!

[@bryanhamilton4415]

Yooooo thanks for the shoutout to Intrusion! 🔥

[@mattwolf7698]

36:13 I don't get it. I'd imagine anybody could buy metal like that. The actual scene was probably filmed in a basement though it's possible that even a normal room would work.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yeah it seems almost like the investigator stretching to have _something_ to put in his reports.

[@techkev140]

Great video, and the evil bert video too. I recall max headroom back in the day, looked a really cool wacky idea, but i don't see much until KZbin came along. Some good investigating. Keep the videos rolling.

[@finished_it]

Hey man, great video. Love the research and the angles you took to explain the story. I'd heard about this hack for years but never really looked into it too much. I can imagine it would have been a trip to see this live.

[@jayvan3d]

Thanks for the heads up on the Burt video. I love when you do videos like this

[@paulstubbs7678]

Ah, the good old analogue TV days when this kind of crap was relatively easy, the only catches being getting the frequency and whether the link used VSB or FM modulation. If VSB, then the modulator in the back of a VCR is a good start, add a preamp or two, a crude frequency shifter and finally a microwave PA. The PA being potentially the trickiest, however there would have been kits available - whilst targeted at the amateur/ham radio fraternity, was far from impossible. The other source could have been an old decommissioned link transmitter picked up from a radio swap-meet. The hardest bit, test equipment and the knowledge to align it all. Total cost $100 These days with digital and fibre links, way way harder

[@Fygee]

This is the best video I've seen about this event. Well done.

[@BillDemos]

What? This must be like the best episode I've seen from you! Keep it up, amazing quality...

[@trucker-ham]

This brought back so many memories! Awesome content. Glad I stumbled across your channel.

[@TheRevolucas]

Yeah. He's not calling chuck out he is mocking Dan Roan and saying it as if it's something Dan would say about Chuck. Also the original laid over translation is clearly wrong in a couple spots. He says "footprints" on the gloves and says "mas-turd-piece"

[@thedeadstig123]

"the 90 second episode of doctor who" - thats one quick episode of doctor who! Also Ive always thought this incident would of been quickly forgotten as not many people saw the 2nd hijack but the news kept showing it, many from those news interviews I doubt actually saw it broadcast during Doctor Who but just saw it on the news

[@TabbyTimeOut]

No not 90 seconds. 92nd. It is Doctor Who Episode #92.

[@scaper8]

@@TabbyTimeOut I think the OP knew that but was just making a joke.

[@TwoWholeWorms]

@@scaper8 Oh, I literally heard ninety second and was very, very confused. xD

[@DavidPysnik]

Ah, “92nd episode” makes a lot more sense than “90-second episode”, which I was also puzzled about as the latter is what I originally thought was said. Watching it again, the preceding word is “the”, which I didn’t quite catch, but certainly helps clarify it.

[@QuakeGamerROTMG]

Glad I wasn't the only one that heard that sentence wrong Took an embarrassing amount of brainpower to realise what he meant

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

That's odd. In Wales, most of the signs I've seen still read "Max Headroom" to this day.

[@kubev]

Interesting timing for this video, as AMC apparently just announced a reboot of Max Headroom.

[@Nostalgianerd]

Literally just seen that. Weird.

[@stephencresswell4760]

That corrugated metal background didn’t look held. It looks like it’s pivoting in the centre. Plus it would have got heavy to hold at arms length over that time. I think more planning went into this. It takes real effort to get something looking this rough. But the simplest explanation is normally the right one, so I’m going for a disgruntled Channel 11 employee.

[@Zoulz666]

Though i've learned about max headroom since, he completely passed me by as a kid. I was born 1978 so I guess it was just a wee bit before my time. Or maybe it was just something that never reached Sweden where I grew up.

[@zackschilling4376]

Great video! Ive seen most of the stuff here on YT about this, and your video actually had a bunch of interesting takes and a different perspective on quite a bit of this. Ive always been interested in the Max Headroom TV hack. I grew up right outside of Chicago in NW Indiana, and I clearly remember my older brother and family watching Max Headroom back in the day. I dont know why everyone was so mad when this happened, I would of been blown away as you could just tell that this is something you dont see everyday. Any of the early hacking stuff is very interesting too as its not the same as today with just downloading some programs and letting them go. Someone had to put in a bit of work.

[@cacadodo666]

Late local station tv was just spooky for some reason back then. There were a lot of low budget, local business commercials that were quirky and sporadic, changed all the time, that were hastily copied over and spliced on pre recorded tapes. Many times several seconds of an old comercial would play that wasnt ment to be shown. It might have taken people a while to catch on it was a hack.

[@StonyBlazestation]

30:32 I don't think the distorted audio was necessarily an intended effect. It sounds more like distortion coming from an improperly tuned Single Side Band.

[@chickenfizz]

I wondered something like that too, or intermod from the genuine broadcast audio carrier it's competing with?

[@foghornleghorn5882]

I remember hearing about this back in ‘88 with the hacking and phone freaking community across the Commadore 64 scene when I was just 6 all the way down here in Australia. It’s creepy but fuckin hilarious I’d forgotten about it up until mow and never see the footage. I dunno if the Trunp mask with a pair of glasses cuts it as a Headroom mask though, A for effort though! It is a little unsettling because you don’t know who it is, but that’s the charm of it, it’s just someone taking the piss. If I had scene this live at that age I would have found it hilarious. I was captivated by this story for a few days, as down here we never had Max host any shows or do any ads; just the main shit that trickled down like everything else. After discussing it since I realise not many people here my age even have heard of Max Headroom, which makes me wonder what the hell they thought the whole Cafe 80’s back to the future scene was all about? I thought everyone across the western world understood the reference, seemingly not. So does his brother wearing the other glove have any reference to Michael Jackson wearing a single white glove and doing a Pepsi commercial?? What was creepier than this was seeing the max headroom parody on the Mad Magazine cover! Makes sense why we never saw the Coca Cola ad here, Pepsi has never been nearly as popular as Coca Cola. Maybe Coke did get the memo.

[@jamesm90]

Great video, loved the analysis of the video audio and meanings. Best video I've seen on this. One point I'd like to make, U matic format wasn't a broadcast quality format. The related BVU format wasn't far off but was usually used for news gathering and viewing copies, compliance copies, etc

[@nathanwatson01]

My theory is it was a bunch of high school av club nerds. As for the audio distortion, it sounds a lot like ring modulation or some kind of high frequency amplitude modulation.

[@midimusicforever]

One of the best trolls ever.

[@Skracken]

I stumbled on this Max Headroom incident years ago more or less by chance. Since I'm not American or Brit, I had no frame of reference to who Max was or what any of this meant. And I still found it creepy tbh

[@Defensive_Wounds]

25:12 - I always thought the 'He's a freaking nerd' bit was a stab at the Doctor Who episode that was playing at the time live on that tv channel!

[@BenHelweg]

Me too

[@thepopemichael]

I remember the one about HBO. I was young at the time, but I was living on Long Island. People should do this more often before TV totally dies out

[@what-uc]

I suggest the sound distortion isn't an added effect, it's due to using the wrong type of modulation - AM vs FM

[@TaralgaBushAdventure]

I'm like 93.8% positive that the bearded exec guy shown at 2:05 is the Architect in the Matrix.

[@randykitchleburger2780]

I'm like 99.8% sure

[@somenamelessdude8095]

As an American alive back then I can say we got the irony of Max Headroom and Coke. It made it more futuristic. Blade runner type stuff.

[@danwood_uk]

I've found this story fascinating since I first found out about it back in the 90s, this is a great indepth look at the hack.

[@GodPikachu]

Ive always been curious as to why this incident is commonly described as "disturbing". I mean, pirate radio stations and radio broadcast interruptions were common in the 70s and 80s, so it really shouldnt have been so far out of the realms of possibility that someone wouldnt have been able to figure out how to do the same with TV transmissions. As for the content of the broadcast, its just funny and weird, not like its some sort of terrorist threat or warning of impending doom or something.

[@pixoariz]

As an engineering sort of guy, I've always considered this an inside job. Simply: the STL frequencies and signal paths you'd need to know about were not widely published by the FCC and not easily available to 3rd. parties back in those days. That's something you could find out by directly observing the antennas, and looking at the station licenses as posted inside the station. A surprising number of competent and high profile broadcasters I've known once dabbled in piracy.

[@maxpowell3528]

couldnt they just bruteforce it ?

[@foghornleghorn5882]

No he’s right, someone needed to know the frequency, dunno if it an inside job but someone closely linked to someone at the station, maybe a family member or close friend

[@LinearBob]

@@foghornleghorn5882 No. With a frequency agile transmitter, changing RF transmitting channels, even in the 13 GHz band was as simple as turning a standard CB radio channel switch. And with a 300 watt amplifier feeding a 15 foot diameter steerable dish antenna, this was trivial. THIS was a mobile satellite news uplink truck in the hands of some folks who probably were passing through Chicago on their way to somewhere else, but they had the hardware and some idle time. And, by the way, ALL analog television STLs are wideband FM. The vestigial sideband signal is used only for the final broadcast transmitter.

[@CornishCarper]

I have watched many KZbinrs doc about this and this has to be the best. Well done!!

[@BubbaShango]

Awesome video! I've been obsessed wtih this story for years and enjoyed this thoroughly