The case record
What was reported?
Two Chicago television broadcasts were interrupted by an unauthorised recording on 22 November 1987. The disruption is well documented, but the people responsible have not been publicly identified conclusively.
A short intrusion affected WGN’s evening news, followed later by a longer interruption of Doctor Who on WTTW. A person wearing a Max Headroom mask appeared against a moving background. Surviving recordings show the intrusion itself without revealing a verified production location or identity.
Both intrusions occurred that evening. The city marker is a broadcast-region reference, not a suspected transmitter site.
- Reported date
- 22 November 1987
- Witnesses
- Historical records, investigators and observers; see case-specific account · Not reliably reducible to a single count
- Investigation
- Historical and research accounts reviewed from: WTTW Chicago
Evidence in the record
Broadcast recordings and accounts from the affected stations establish the event. WTTW’s retrospective addresses the interruption from the broadcaster’s perspective. Online suspect theories generally add little independently verifiable evidence.
Competing explanations
Official and research context
Signal interference explains the broadcast mechanism. The reviewed station account does not establish the perpetrators’ identities.
Conventional explanations
An unauthorised signal overpowering a studio-to-transmitter link explains the broadcast mechanism. Technical capability narrows what equipment or knowledge was required without identifying an operator. The performance was a deliberate human production, not an unexplained transmission in origin.
Arguments that remain contested
The perpetrators, preparation and precise location of the interfering transmitter remain unknown.
Locations & timeline
Coordinates are representative. Area and route labels do not imply exact paths or object positions.
- Primary reference location
Chicago broadcast region
Both intrusions occurred that evening. The city marker is a broadcast-region reference, not a suspected transmitter site.
Representative case location · Approximate area radius: 30 km
41.880°, -87.630° · point · Regional reference only; not survey-grade
Record notes
Map coordinates are representative and do not establish an exact incident position.
Case-specific sources researched 8 September 2026. Evidence, alternatives, dates and representative geography reviewed.
Original dataset status: unresolved