Broadcast Interruptions are rare events - when something happens thats totally unexpected
- maybe someone hijacks a TV channel and starts sending their own signal or maybe some secret
footage that was never meant to be seen is shown to millions of people.
It sounds crazy, but it does happen - and these are the best examples of all time.
My name is Danny Burke and this is the Top 10 Scary Broadcast Interruptions.
Just before we get into that I wanna let you guys know about our brand new channel - Beyond
The Screen - its a channel about all things TV and Hollywood presented by one of our new
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Shes great, the channel is great - I guarantee you there is something for everyone on there.
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Starting off at number 10 we have The Wyoming Incident[a].
According to internet legend, this was a broadcast hack that happened in 2008, affecting a number
of communities in the town of Niobrara in Wyoming.
Their regular news show was interupted with this.
CLIP FROM START.
Over the next 6 minutes or so, viewers were shown text messages and strange visuals with
audio snippets playing over them.
Every 10 to 15 seconds, a message would appear announcing that this was a SPECIAL PRESENTATION.
The text messages said things like -you will see such pretty things- -you are ill, we just
want to fix you- and -what hides in your mind?- … that question was later answered with
the chilling message -we have already seen it- … what was even stranger was that people
reported having a physical reaction to the footage.
This included vomiting, hallucinations and headaches.
Others said that the frequencies played made viewers eyeballs vibrate and create visual
hallucinations.
Im glad we didnt show the whole clip then …
Next up at number 9 we have Max Headroom.
This is perhaps the most famous one on the list.
On the evening of November 22, 1987, many people were enjoying an episode of Doctor
Who on Chicago WTTW Channel 11.
For those Who fans out there - the episode was Horror of Fang Rock.
Anyway, the broadcast was interrupted by a signal intrusion.
Suddenly, viewers saw an unknown person wearing a Max Headroom mask and sunglasses.
Max Headroom was a TV character from a show in the mid 80s.
The imposter hijacked the broadcast for 90 seconds in which he rambled about Coca Cola,
the TV series Clutch Cargo and WGN anchor Chuck Swirsky.
To be honest, even with subtitles, its difficult to make out whats being said.
CLIP.
At the time, an FCC engineer said that the perpetrators would face a maximum 10,000 dollar
fine, up to a year in prison, or both.
Its been over 30 years since the event though and the culprits have never been found …
Coming in at number 8 we have Vrillon[b].
This is a strange one from 1977.
During a regular news show on Southern Television, there was a broadcast interruption just after
5 PM on November 27th.
After some static and visual warping, a voice made this announcement.
CLIP FROM START.
The person, calling themself Vrillon, claimed to be an alien commander from an intergalactic
association.
The disembodied voice spoke for 6 minutes - the main message was a warning to all humans
to put down our weapons of war and to end a new age of aquarius.
Then, and only then, would we make it to the -next level- of evolution.
PLAY MORE CLIP.
Moving on to number 7 now we have Playboy[c].
Im sure I don't need to explain to you guys what Playboy is and if I do - I probably shouldnt.
Needless to say its late night TV shows have been very popular for many years.
Its one of those channels where you wouldnt expect to see much er - religious talk, shall
we say.
However, thats exactly what you would have seen if you tuned in on September 6th 1987.
Someone interrupted the broadcast that night and displayed a quote from the bible.
I wonder how that went down the the Playboy viewers.
The bible verses were taken from Exodus and Matthew and read -Thus sayeth the Lord thy
God.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand- … the white text and black background appeared
during a movie that Playboy had on called -Three Daughters- and a number of viewers
phoned in to ask what happened.
Police were able to trace the signal though and 3 years later, a man called Thomas Haynie
was identified as the culprit ...
Next up at number 6 we have The Nuke[d].
OK, for this one, I want you guys to imagine youre chilling at home, just watching a channel
that shows beautiful scenery live, its playing relaxing music - and then you see this.
CLIP.
Yeah, that looked a lot like a nuke - and people in Czechoslovakia thought so too when
this appeared on the TV show Panorama in June 2007.
The show usually showed scenic footage of the Czech countryside to attract tourists
to Prague and the surrounding area.
When the camera appeared to show a nuclear bomb exploding during the morning broadcast,
all hell broke loose.
Some people who lived in the area started trying to leave before the radiation spread
- others were contacting the government asking what to do.
The government received so many panicked calls that they had to issue an official statement
confirming that Prague had not been bombed.
It turns out that the footage was created as a performance piece by a group called Zthoven.
Im sure their artistic message is appreciated by some - but maybe not the ones who thought
they were fleeing for their lives …
Coming in at number 5 we have The Old Couple[e].
This is a strange one that occured in July 2007.
During regular broadcasting on ABCs affiliate WJLA - this image appeared on screen.
To this day, nobody is exactly sure what this picture is of.
Clearly its two faces, one of them is smiling and one of them looks concerned - the faces
look like theyve been computer generated - to me they look like something out of a 90s video
game.
This creepy image stayed on the screen for several seconds, with no sound, before vanishing
off screen.
Many people said there was a dark meaning to all of this - that this was no ordinary
interruption.
The cable company in charge of the broadcast said that there was a programming mix up from
an advertisement for the Oprah Winfrey show.
That seemed to satisfy most people but things took a turn when videos of the event were
all removed from YouTube due to -restricted access- … to this day, I couldn't find any
clips of this on YouTube - all that has survived is the image, and the questions that come
with it …
Coming in at number 4 now we have War of The Worlds[f].
Have you guys seen the War of The Worlds movie with Tom Cruise?
I liked that movie - but did you know where that title came from?
In 1938, future filmmaking legend Orson Welles created a radio drama based on HG Wells novel
-The War of the Worlds- … It was made to sound like a genuine news broadcast about
aliens from Mars invading Earth.
If you guys were to hear it on the radio today, you might think -oh, this is obviously a piece
of drama, its not real- … well, back in 1938, on the eve of world war 2, it was a
different time.
Many people listening to the broadcast missed the introduction where it clearly states that
the follow is a piece of radio drama - and they thought it was real.
This is what they heard.
CLIP.
According to legend, some people were so convinced that America was being invaded by Martians
that they fled their homes in a panic.
In the following days, there was an outcry for broadcasters to be regulated to stop this
kind of thing happening again.
That failed, and the piece went down in history as one of the most famous pieces of radio
drama - and possibly one of the greatest pranks of all time …
Next up at number 3 we have Handy Manny[g].
Some of our North American viewers may have grown up watching this kids show.
The animated TV series follows Manny, a repairman with talking tools.
Its fun, its educational, they sing - you get the idea.
Handy Manny is also famous though for a shocking broadcast interruption which occured on May
1st 2007.
Viewers of the show in Lincroft New Jersey had their episode interrupted by a clip from
an adult movie.
Many of the other interruptions weve talked about today went on for maybe 10, 15, 30 seconds.
The adult film clip on Handy Manny went on for several minutes.
Naturally, people wanted to know what happened - thousands of kids must have seen this.
Comcast was the network that was responsible for the intrusion - or at least, they should
have been the ones to stop it from happening - they didnt have an answer for why it happened
and over a decade on, they still don't …
Moving on to number 2 now we have Mayday[h].
On January 3rd, 2007, Channel 7 in Australia was airing a Canadian documentary called Mayday
which features cases of air disasters.
At some point during the broadcast, things got strange.
The visuals continued as normal but the audio started repeating a phrase on a loop.
One quick thinking YouTube uploaded this video of the event.
Many people think the voice is that of a man from Americas deep south saying the phrase
-Jesus Christ, help us all lord- … see what you think … CLIP.
That went on for an astonishing 6 minutes before everything returned to normal.
Many people wanted answers but Channel 7 were very evasive.
They denied that there had been an intrusion but also disputed what was actually said.
They claimed the voice said -Jesus Christ, one of the Nazarenes- … the fact that so
many people disagree with that has only added fuel to the fire that something very strange
happened that day …
And finally at number 1 we have Coast to Coast AM[i].
Thats the name of this talk show run by Art Bell.
He was used to strange calls on the show, but things got even stranger on September
12th 1997.
That night, Art got a call from a guy who claimed to have been an employee at the mysterious
Area 51 base - where conspiracy theorists say the US Air Force contained and studied
aliens and their crashed spacecraft.
The caller sounded terrified and claimed that -they- were coming for him, and that he didnt
have much time to share with the world what he knew about Area 51.
He talked about extra dimensional beings who are not what they appear to be - that they
have infiltrated the US military and are taking over.
CLIP.
The caller began to sound more erratic and panicked.
Finally, he started talking about how governments are trying to get human populations down to
a manageable number so that they are easier control.
Just after this - the line went dead when the power cut out at the station.
By the time they got the backup generators running, the caller was gone.
Conspiracy theorists say that it was more than a coincidence that the caller was cut
off and never heard from again, just when he began to spill the beans on secret government
activity.
What do you guys think?
Alright guys, there you go - some scary broadcast interruptions - hopefully this video wasnt
interrupted by something strange otherwise youre probably really freaking out now.
Don't forget to go and check out Beyond the Screen using the link below, thanks for watching
as always guys, my name is Danny Burke and Ill see you all in the next video!