Top 50 Creepiest Things Caught on Live TV

Top 50 Creepiest Things Caught on Live TV

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the strangest and most disturbing occurrences that were captured live, which shocked or worried viewers at home. We’ll be disregarding any creepypastas and fake occurrences like the Wyoming Incident.

#50: Strange Individual at Congressional Hearing
In February 2023, Iowa senator Chuck Grassley testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee about alleged abuses of federal authority. But for most viewers at home, Grassley’s words were eclipsed by the eerie presence of a man sitting right behind him. Throughout the 15-minute statement, this bespectacled figure stared right at the camera with an unsettlingly blank expression. He hardly moved and, even more unnervingly, barely blinked, only occasionally closing one eye in a slow, deliberate manner. Many have speculated that he might be Grassley’s aide, but even that has not been confirmed. This strange individual’s chilling stare was enough to give anyone the creeps.

#49: TV Presenters Spooked by Poltergeist
In October 2016, popular Mexican clairvoyant Mhoni Vidente appeared on the TV programme “Sale el Sol” to discuss the weather. But her presence seemed to stir something unsettling in the room. Just as Vidente began talking about the existence of angels, a piece of the set mysteriously broke away and crashed to the floor right behind her. This left another set piece spinning in place, a sight that sent chills through one of the startled presenters on the panel. After this clip went viral, Vidente took to social media to state that she had felt the presence of a “powerful spirit” in the room, which some believe may have been behind the eerie disturbance.

#48: Ghost Sighting During Cemetery Tour
When you wander through a cemetery, you might find more than what you bargained for. Just ask WNYT reporter Sam Hesler. In 2021, during Halloween season, Hesler and her camera crew visited Greenridge Cemetery in Saratoga Springs, New York to cover their spooky twilight tours. While she reported in front of the camera, it appears one of the cemetery’s residents was keeping an eye on things. Far in the background, viewers pointed out what looked like a ghostly figure floating across the graveyard. This chilling sight was only noticed after the footage made it on air. Perhaps it’s wise to steer clear of cemeteries if you want to avoid encountering restless spirits.

#47: News Anchor Suffers Stroke on Air
Sometimes, the most unsettling moments have nothing to do with the supernatural. Case in point: this eerie clip from a 2022 news report. Oklahoma anchor Julie Chin was delivering a story on NASA's Artemis launch when suddenly, she began struggling to speak. Despite the teleprompter guiding her, Chin was unable to articulate the report. Instead, she presented a disturbing sight that left viewers at home deeply concerned. It turned out Chin was experiencing the onset of a stroke live on air. Her colleagues called 911 after recognizing the emergency, and she was rushed to the hospital. Thankfully, she recovered swiftly, but this incident is a stark reminder of how quickly things can go terrifyingly wrong.

#46: Japanese Tsunami Ghosts
In March 2011, Japan was gripped by one of the most horrific natural disasters in human history. A powerful earthquake rocked the seafloor, triggering a tsunami that claimed nearly 20,000 lives and inflicted over $300 billion in damages. Amid the devastation, news cameras captured some strange images in the water. White, ghostly figures appeared to leap from the waves, landing on nearby buildings or simply vanishing into thin air. These spectral sightings didn’t end there. In the years following the disaster, many survivors reported seeing the restless spirits of the victims roaming the streets and, in some cases, hailing down cabs. Could these be actual ghosts or mere manifestations of grief? The answer remains unknown.

#45: Twin Sisters Run into Oncoming Traffic
In May 2008, passersby on the M6 motorway in England called highway police after spotting twin sisters, Ursula and Sabrina Eriksson, recklessly darting into traffic. A documentary crew for the BBC series “Motorway Cops” happened to be with the police and their cameras captured the bizarre events that followed. While talking with the officers, the sisters suddenly broke free, running into oncoming traffic and sustaining severe injuries. Even after regaining consciousness, Sabrina attacked an officer and attempted to run back onto the highway before being restrained. Just days later, Sabrina ended the life of an innocent man who offered her a place to stay out of pity. It is believed that both sisters suffered from a form of shared psychosis.

#44: ABC Australia Accidentally Broadcasts Disturbing Ritual
Audiences who tuned into ABC News Australia in August 2021 were in for a spine-chilling surprise. During a segment by anchor Yvonee Yong on proposed animal legislation, the feed abruptly cut to an unsettling scene. Three figures wearing black robes stood in a dimly lit red room, with one of them ominously uttering the words “Hail Satan.” The eerie snippet quickly spread across social media, sparking wild speculations of a calculated move by ABC. However, Yong later clarified that it was an accidental glitch, showing footage from an earlier segment discussing a push for Satanism in Australian schools. Talk about an unexpected brush with the underworld.

#43: Pope Francis Vanishes
You’ve heard of religious miracles like turning water into wine or parting the Red Sea, but have you ever imagined the Pope vanishing into thin air? One social media user claimed to witness just that during a live broadcast from the Vatican City. In the eerie footage, Pope Francis is seen addressing the crowd from his balcony. But as he turns to retreat inside, he simply disappears into nothingness. It’s a spooky sight that left the individual who posted the video understandably alarmed. The clip ignited a flurry of conspiracy theories: Is the Pope a hologram? Was he being shielded from some unseen danger? Maybe. But the true explanation may be as simple as an editing glitch.

#42: Live Magic Trick Gone Wrong
Magic tricks are dazzling to behold, but they can sometimes be a nightmare for participants. Just ask Polish TV presenter Marzena Rogalska. In 2016, magician Marcin Połoniewicz joined Rogalska on her morning show “Question for Breakfast,” and invited her to try the ‘Nail in a Bag’ trick. After smashing his own hand on an empty bag, Połoniewicz guided Rogalska’s hand to another bag and slammed it down hard. To their horror, this bag held the hidden nail. You only need to hear Rogalska’s cries of agony to know just how terrifying a moment it was for her. Fortunately, Rogalska was fine. Thankfully, she emerged with only superficial wounds and was able to forgive Połoniewicz for the incident.

#41: TV Reporter Nearly Struck by Lightning
Being a TV journalist can sometimes be life-threatening. Reporters often find themselves in the midst of danger when covering harsh weather, natural disasters and conflict situations. Matt Rodewald of Fox 10 in Arizona experienced such terror firsthand. While reporting on a monsoon storm in Phoenix, a lightning bolt struck the ground just across the street from him. A few feet closer, and it easily could have harmed him and his camera crew. Despite this hair-raising encounter, Rodewald returned to his post and finished the live report. When the clip surfaced online, viewers were genuinely terrified for Rodewald, and voiced their anger at the network for sending him out during such a major storm.

#40: Rubzy’s Paranormal Livestream
This eerie encounter looks like something straight out of a horror movie. YouTuber Rubzy was reportedly pet sitting at a friend’s house when his livestream audience noticed something strange. At first, it appeared that the door behind him was opening unaided. Sure, that could be attributed to a faulty hinge, but when it suddenly slammed shut all by itself, it became apparent that something spooky was going on. From there, things devolved into a horror fest. Lights going on and off, objects moving about seemingly on their own. There’s enough happening to make just about anyone lose their mind. But surprisingly, Rubzy maintains his composure throughout the ordeal, adding an even more unsettling layer to the unfolding situation.

#39: 2002 Falun Gong Hijackings
The spiritual movement Falun Gong gained notoriety in China after they were branded a “heretical organization” by the government in 1999. After years of physical protests and arrests, the group took their dissent to the airwaves. In 2002, they hijacked state TV broadcasts, airing a film accusing the Chinese Communist Party of oppression. The film also claimed that the government staged certain events to give the group a bad image. Such anti-government messages are far from the norm in China, so they understandably left a lot of viewers stunned. The duration of these interruptions varies depending on who you ask, but they occurred multiple times throughout 2002, even once cutting off the FIFA World Cup finals.

#38: A Nearly Fatal Collision
News reporting can be a dangerous job, though seldom is it so unexpected as this case. KTVU correspondent Alex Savidge was covering an unrelated incident alongside a San Francisco highway, when an out-of-control automobile nearly smashed into him. As he leapt out of the way, the disoriented camera tilted and eerily settled on one of the tire’s loose hubcaps. If that image of the crash’s aftermath wasn’t chilling enough, Savidge’s later reflections on the moment might be. He commented that his choice to go right, instead of left, was “split second.” The footage is a hair-raising reminder that the forces threatening our mortality are often only moments away. Just listen to Savidge’s shaking voice, just moments afterward, and you might be robbed of peaceful sleep.

#37: Wendy Williams Passes Out
This moment might hug the line between “scary” and “creepy,” but it’s disturbing in either case. During what was supposed to be a fun Halloween-themed intro, veteran TV personality Wendy Williams suddenly lost control of her motor functions. She stumbled backwards in wide-eyed horror, inexplicably dropping to the floor. Williams later explained that dehydration and a sudden rise in body temperature caused the incident, and she was able to recover before the broadcast was even over. Though the incident was ultimately minor, the host definitely didn’t know that at the time…and we can see that frightened uncertainty in her expression. And if you watch the clip without context, she almost looks possessed. Initial creepiness aside, we agree with Wendy’s self-assessment of herself as a “champ.”

#36: Ventriloquist Senate Candidate
In 2012, Republican hopeful Barry Hinckley challenged Democratic incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse for the Rhode Island senate seat. During his campaign, Hinckley released an adorable ad featuring his young son Hudson that grabbed everyone’s attention. However, when they both appeared for a follow-up interview on Fox News, many were unsettled by what they saw. When host Neil Cavuto questions Hudson about the ad, Hinckley strangely mouths the exact words the boy says. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think the Senate candidate and his son were just a bad ventriloquist act looking for some airtime. The interview, unsurprisingly, left a bad taste in people’s mouths, which may have contributed to Hinckley’s eventual loss at the polls.

#35: Mysteriously Moving Glass of Water
The “Primera Edición” breakfast show in Honduras had their own fair share of a spooky occurrence during a live taping in 2015. While presenting the morning news, host Carlos Molina notices his glass of water move on its own. He is taken aback, naturally, and calls the attention of his co-host Pablo Zapata to it. Molina described feeling a chilling sensation just seconds before observing the self-sliding glass, attributing it to a paranormal experience. Viewers were a bit more skeptical, however, speculating that it was likely a prank on the hosts by their co-workers. This notion has since been dismissed by Molina, who countered that when he tried to move the glass afterwards, it remained stuck to the table.

#34: Blue Light in New York City
Aliens. UFOs. The apocalypse. Those were some of the thoughts on the minds of New Yorkers when a bright blue light engulfed the sky in December 2018. Many who were indoors witnessed the eerie lights being broadcast on the news, as they pretty much turned nighttime to day. To further complicate matters, some residents saw the lights in their homes flicker and the LaGuardia Airport experienced a total blackout. Fortunately, this one wasn’t the work of any extraterrestrial force. Instead, the blue light was caused by an explosion at a power plant in Queens, which would explain the outages residents experienced. Guess the aliens decided to take a rain check on their invasion plans.

#33: UFO Flashes Intense Bright Light
In February 2020, a crowd of over 200 people gathered for a UFO sighting at Yaya beach in Peru, which has been described as a hotspot for the strange objects. The event was covered by Capital TV and broadcast live to thousands of viewers. At one point, some people in the audience noticed an unexplained light hovering above the sea. They pointed their laser pens at the mysterious object, only to be hit by an intense bright light in response. As the program was filmed late in the night, it’s not quite clear what the light source could be. A boat? A drone? A UFO? We’ll leave that for you to decide.

#32: Spanish Reporter With Reptilian Eyes
This unsettling footage was captured by a viewer who was watching the Spanish news channel TVE Internacional. Towards the end of the piece, the reporter blinks repeatedly and, for a brief moment, a second set of eyeballs appear over his closed eyelids. According to the viewer, this was possible proof of the reporter being an anthropomorphic reptile camouflaging among humans. The actual explanation, however, may be a lot less fantastic. Some internet users speculated that the reporter may have been wearing contact lenses, which made him blink often. That, combined with a camera compression glitch likely resulted in the reptilian effect. Either way, the appearance is sure to give anyone watching the creeps.

#31: Paranormal Newspapers
These days, it seems poltergeists and breakfast shows go hand in hand. Yet another alleged poltergeist disturbance occurred on the “Morning Club” show at Club FM in Tirana, Albania. At first, everything seems normal, until it suddenly isn’t. The host, Blendi Salaj, appears to be interviewing a guest on the program when a newspaper on the table in front of them abruptly flies off camera. What makes this particularly disturbing is that the two are the only ones sitting in the booth and there aren’t any open doors or windows in sight. So what exactly could have thrown the newspapers in the air? Understandably, Salaj and his guest are dumbfounded. And frankly, so are we.

#30: TV Solidarity
In September 1985, Polish audiences who tuned into the popular crime show “07 zgłoś się” were met with strange inscriptions superimposed over the broadcast. The messages read “Enough price increases, lies, and repressions. Solidarity Toruń” and “It is our duty to boycott the election”. It was later revealed that this intrusion was carried out by four astronomers from the University of Toruń in Poland. This was done as a show of support for the Solidarity opposition movement, which had called for a boycott of the 1985 parliamentary elections in protest of the communist regime. The men were eventually apprehended but due to their significant contributions to the Polish scientific community, they were only fined and given probation.

#29: UFO Descends on London Football Match
In February 2019, the 8th edition of the FA Women's League Cup was underway. The second semifinals match saw Arsenal go up against Manchester United, with the former winning by two goals to one. But it seems humans weren’t the only ones interested in the league. During the aforementioned match, one eagle-eyed fan spotted a mysterious object hovering above the stadium. Upon closer inspection, the viewer noticed a strange red object emitting the light. Like many other such sightings, it’s hard to tell if this was some form of spacecraft or just a drone. If it was indeed a bunch of aliens watching, we can only hope they at least enjoyed the game.

#28: The Ghostly Groundsmen
In September 2016, football fans who tuned in to Sky Sports for Sunderland’s match against Everton were in for a spooky surprise. While the pundits discussed the game afterwards, observant viewers picked up an enigmatic figure on a screen in the background, which then mysteriously vanished. The individual appeared to be a groundsman tidying up the stadium after the game. Moments later, a similar phenomenon occurred with another figure. Fans who spotted the ghostly groundsmen took to social media to voice out their perplexity. This could have been two phantoms caught on camera, or just stock footage of the stadium being played on a loop. If only we knew which.

#27: Flemish Secession Hoax
In 2006, the Belgian TV station RTBF orchestrated a hoax that caused quite the stir in the French-speaking parts of the country. On December 16th, they interrupted a broadcast on one of their channels with an urgent announcement that the Flemish parliament had declared independence from Belgium. The piece appeared genuine, including interviews with politicians and a fake evacuation of the Belgian royal family from their palace. To top it all off, they showed footage of crowds cheering and waving the Flanders flag. The result? More than 2,000 worried people flooded the station’s hotline with calls, and their website eventually crashed. Thirty minutes later, RTBF admitted that the report was a hoax.

#26: Mystery Voice Interrupts Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral
The 2022 state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was one of the most watched TV broadcasts in British history, with over 26 million residents tuning in to catch the event. Those who watched the funeral on ITV may have picked up a mysterious voice as the Queen’s hearse made its way to West London. For a few seconds, a female voice can be heard whispering about death and being trapped. Soon after, social media erupted with speculation about where the sound could’ve come from. One notable theory surmised that it was possibly the voice of the late Princess Diana. However, according to certain sources, it was simply that of a guest being picked up by the presenter’s microphone.

#25: The Playboy Channel Religious Message
The last place you may expect to find the gospel is on the Playboy Channel. So we can imagine how stunned Playboy audiences were on Sunday, September 6th 1987 when a broadcast of the adult film “Three Daughters” was interrupted by religious texts. The messages came from the bible verses Exodus 20:8 and Matthew 4:17, which warned them to repent and keep the Sabbath day holy. Safe to say that someone wasn’t pleased with all of the unholy viewing going on. A federal investigation later revealed that that someone was Thomas Haynie, a technician at the Christian Broadcasting Network. Haynie was found guilty of satellite piracy and sentenced to three years probation.

#24: The Great Tantra Challenge
In March of 2008, audiences in India bore witness to a bizarre showdown. Author and self-proclaimed rationalist Sanal Edamaruku dared the tantric guru Surinder Sharma to kill him live on television. Sharma had bragged during a prior panel that he could take a person’s life within three minutes using his mystic powers. Edamaruku then decided to put him to the test, volunteering himself as tribute. For several hours, Sharma seemingly invoked supernatural forces to take Edamaruku’s life, to no avail. At one point, the tantrik claimed that his subject served a more powerful god, to which Edamaruku retorted that he was an atheist. The challenge was reportedly watched by hundreds of millions of viewers, all of whom witnessed Sharma’s epic fail.

#23: Captain Midnight
For four and a half minutes on April 27th 1986, HBO experienced a signal intrusion that was caught by viewers along the east coast. While showing the 1985 film “The Falcon and the Snowman,” the feed abruptly cut to a blank screen with a strange text across it. The message appeared to have been sent by an individual named Captain Midnight, who didn’t seem too pleased with HBO’s subscription fees. The incident was investigated by the FCC and FBI, resulting in the arrest of John R. MacDougall. MacDougall owned a satellite dish which was struggling due to the cable channel’s high rates. His protest earned him a little infamy, as well as a $5,000 fine.

#22: Samuel J. Seymour’s Secret
The CBS game show “I've Got a Secret” featured a panel of celebrities trying to guess a contestant’s secret. Most of these were funny or embarrassing, but on February 9th 1956, 95-year-old Samuel J. Seymour strolled onto the set with a chilling account. After being questioned by the celebrity panel, Seymour revealed that he was reportedly the last surviving witness of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Seymour claimed that at the age of five, he sat across from the presidential box at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. when John Wilkes Booth fired the fatal shot. His haunting recollection of the event brought history to life and must have sent shivers down the spines of all who listened.

#21: Dutch TV Presenters Eat Each Other
Yep, you heard that right! In December 2011, Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno, two presenters on the Dutch show “Guinea Pigs” took a bite into the bizarre by seemingly devouring pieces of each other’s flesh live on air. It was undoubtedly an unsettling sight, as Storm and Zeno underwent surgical procedures to remove small chunks of flesh from their buttocks and abdomen respectively. These were then cooked by a chef in front of a live audience and presented to them. The brazen stunt certainly left a bad taste in many viewers’ mouths. Nevertheless, it didn’t cross the legal line, as cannibalism is permitted in the Netherlands, provided that it is not done with malicious intent.

#20: Zombie Emergency Alert

Back in 2013, a handful of Americans were tricked into thinking that Armageddon was finally at the door by a prankster who seemed to have been taking notes from Orson Welles; The unnamed joker found a way to hack into a Montana TV station’s emergency broadcast system and send out a newsflash detailing the rise of the undead from their graves, along with a warning not to engage. The hoax announcement played over airings of “The Steve Wilkos Show” and despite its illegitimacy, the message sounded real enough to turn a few heads, stirring concern among viewers across parts of the United States. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the truth was made known and the perpetrator was apprehended.

#19: The Haunted Dolly
Here’s one that’ll rock the boat: On ITV’s “This Morning”, a couple were being interviewed about alleged strange activity surrounding a china doll they’d gotten from a thrift store. This included scratches on the husband and sporadic fire alarm bursts. Whilst the hosts were rightly skeptical, viewers were more convinced; they observed the doll start to rock in its chair during the interview, seemingly of its own volition. The doll was on the show again just a few weeks later, but this time with a new owner. It’s no surprise the toy changed hands so quickly; we’ve all seen enough movies to know that keeping possessed dolls around is a BIG no-no.

#18: WrestleMania Choke-Out
It’s well known that pro-wrestling is a staged but nonetheless dangerous sport that can inflict some serious injury. Richard Belzer learned this when he was choked out by Hulk Hogan on his talk show in 1985. The Hulkster, who was on the show with Mr. T promoting the very first WrestleMania, was asked by Belzer to demonstrate some wrestling moves in keeping with the promotion. Hogan responded with a headlock that sent him straight to sleep, dropping to the floor and cracking open his head on impact. Mr. T quickly tried to ease the shocked crowd during Belzer’s blackout with a few reassuring quips, and Belzer fortunately regained consciousness, along with a few stitches and one heck of an anecdote some moments later.

#17: The Vietnam War Draft Lottery
Who wants to be a veteran? In 1969, at the peak of the war in Vietnam, CBS televised a draft lottery to determine individuals for military service, and aired live from Washington’s selective service headquarters. The lottery worked by drawing birth dates at random, followed by a second drawing of letters of the alphabet to decide which men would be sent overseas first. This controversial method had not been used since 1942 during World War II. Though we thankfully live in a time where such a lottery is neither necessary nor permitted, watching this broadcast today is a chilling reminder that the futures of hundreds of men were decided by a simple sheet of paper they watched pulled at random on television.

#16: San Francisco Earthquake Newsflash
California is no stranger to the occasional rumble, but the cameras happened to be rolling during a big one in 1989. During the World Series that saw the San Francisco Giants take on the Oakland Athletics, an enormous earthquake struck the Bay Area and was caught live on television. With a magnitude of 6.9, the Loma Prieta quake was large enough to interrupt the broadcast of the game. Though it can easily be misinterpreted as crowd jubilation, screams can actually be heard just before the game feed is cut and the picture switches to the news. Though the stadium was able to withstand the tremors, the rest of the city was subjected to major power disruptions, blackouts, and property damage.

#15: Czech TV's Panorama Prank
What a bombshell to drop. In 2007, as viewers of Czech Television’s program “Panorama” were treated to a beautiful shot of the mountain, the tranquility was soon ruined by a blinding white light and the unmistakable sight of a mushroom cloud. The bombing was quickly and fortunately revealed as a hoax, masterminded by the guerilla art pranksters known collectively as Ztohoven. The group had apparently hacked the show’s live camera feed, where they could then overwrite the footage with a CGI render they had prepared. Ztohoven explained that the prank illustrated how easy it can be for the media to manipulate and influence its consumers with false information. The lengths some artists will go to to get their work shown on TV…

#14: The Disappearing Airport Lady
Luggage goes missing all the time at terminals, but human beings? Not so much. Yet that’s what appeared to happen during an interview for Danish network TV2’s Sports Center. At an airport baggage claim, just behind the gentleman on camera, a blonde woman seemed to vanish into thin air as another traveler passed in front of her. Freaky stuff for viewers who saw it live, but a logical explanation does exist. The “ghost lady” was identified as Danish handball player Trine Jensen. Under close analysis, she can be assumed to have walked in tandem with the passing woman, creating an optical illusion. In the moment however, it seemed like a paranormal phenomena right out of the X-Files.

#13: Talk Show Possession
There’s certainly more to this girl than meets the eye. On a talk show in 2016, Thai model Thippawan Chaphupuang made an appearance and claimed to have been possessed by an evil bloodthirsty ghost while holidaying. This entity, known as a “Pop”, was said to hunger for animal blood and human flesh. The confused hosts then watched as Chaphupuang began to exhibit strange behavior - muttering to herself and screaming. Most viewers were disturbed by Chaphupuang’s behavior, but not so much sold on it; many called it suspiciously convenient that “Pop” took hold on live television. Regardless, it hardly made for comfortable viewing.

#12: Prayer Phone-In Possession
Chaphupuang’s live antics may have been uneasy to the eyes, but this next example of on-air possession proved to be an assault on the ears: This religious live show encourages viewers to call in and receive advice and guidance from a holy Sheikh. One such phone call was made by a woman in 2011 claiming to have been overtaken by a demonic entity known colloquially as a Jinn. The woman then supposedly underwent a sudden change in personality while staying on the line, laughing sinisterly as she mocked the Islamic host. The Sheikh proceeded to banish the demon with an impromptu exorcism, and the bizarre episode was done. Whether it was fake or genuine, it was certainly creepy.

#11: Los Angeles EBS
1992 was the year Los Angeles descended into chaos as riots erupted following the acquittal of the officers behind Rodney King’s heavily publicized physical assault. King’s arrest and subsequent beating at the hands of the LAPD was videotaped and broadcast a year earlier to massive outcry. During the riots, as angered citizens looted stores and destroyed public property, an emergency broadcast was sent out across all of LA county’s biggest TV stations to inform the public of the carnage. In the message, an emergency curfew was announced to be in effect from 6:45 pm onward. This chilling yet formal announcement heralded a rise in tension for the citizens of Los Angeles, as they watched the collapse of their social order unfold on screen.

#10: Alien Lights Over Milwaukee
It was only a matter of time until aliens came up. During a live Fox6 news broadcast, a group of mysterious lights were seen floating above the Milwaukee night sky. The news team was understandably alarmed, and quickly began to speculate as to the cause, with explanations ranging from fireworks to shooting stars and finally… aliens. It’s a strange sight at first glance, certainly enough to cause some confusion, and maybe even a little concern. But it only took about half an hour to shoot down E.T. expectations. An alternative angle closer to the activity shows it to be nothing more than a flock of seagulls reflecting the bright lights of the city. That’s right: Close encounters of the BIRD kind.

#9: The Australian “Mayday” Incident
While not technically a live event, these issues with broadcasting happened in real time. During the airing of an episode of the documentary series “Mayday”, the audio from a previous news broadcast somehow replaced some of the original show’s audio. This eerie new soundtrack was a looping sound byte of a Halliburton truck driver reacting to his convoy being ambushed in Iraq. For six freaky minutes, everyone at home watching was subjected to the driver repeating “Jesus Christ, help us all, Lord” over and over. The fact that this was coinciding with footage relating to a passenger train crash made a deeply unsettling end result. The creepiest part is nobody knows exactly how it happened. Mayday indeed!

#8: Jamaican Ghost Attack
In 2010, a Jamaican news crew investigated reports of an alleged poltergeist attack on a young boy in Spanish Town. The boy claimed he was being pestered by a poltergeist, known in Jamaican folklore as a Duppy, and that this specter was a recently deceased friend who was now haunting him post-mortem. The news crew were astonished during the interview when the boy was seemingly grabbed and violently dragged around by his limbs like a rag doll, whilst onlookers desperately attempted to intervene. Unsettling as it seems, it remains skeptical; most cases involving children who report being bothered by spirits are usually attributed to a neglected or traumatized child lashing out. In this case, “lashing out” is putting it lightly…

#7: The Running Shadow
So we’ve gone through aliens...now how about moving shadows? During the broadcast of a soccer game at the Hernando Siles Stadium in 2014, cameras caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a moving dark figure. Although it was running at full speed, people in the crowd didn’t seem to notice. What made this incident all the more creepy was the fact that the figure can be seen moving through fans and even a barrier. While some theorize that the figure was in fact a soccer player double exposed on camera, to this day the cause of this mysterious apparition remains unknown.

#6: The UFO Summoner
Is seeing really believing? In 2005, Ramon Watkins, a man from Las Vegas who called himself Yahweh, claimed to have learned from the Old Testament how to summon UFOs. In a news report meant to expose him as a fraud, an ABC news reporter was left baffled when Watkins proceeded to seemingly manifest mysterious orbs of light floating in the sky. The orange lights danced around above their heads momentarily before disappearing. Many who saw this demonstration hailed it as evidence of the almighty. They pointed out that it was the news team who picked the location, day and time to conduct the interview, leaving practically no room for Watkins to have feasibly staged the summoning. Divine power or complex misdirection? You decide.

#5: The Vrillon Hoax
Across the pond in 1977, something even more bizarre occurred: the UK’s Southern Television had their evening news interrupted by a six minute audio message of apparent extraterrestrial origin. The unsettling booming voice coming through claimed to represent the “Ashtar Galactic Command”. These “aliens” offered humanity a peaceful alliance if they renounced their corrupt ways and weapons of war, speaking cultishly of new ages and promises of transcendence. The channel apologized for the outlandish signal intrusion, chalking it up to a hoax. It would indeed be strange if aliens broadcast a message to just one channel. Those responsible have never come forward. Dare we look up to the sky and wonder?

#4: Justin From “Big Brother 2”
Slimeball Justin Sebik was frequently violent and confrontational with other contestants during his tenure on “Big Brother.” But the act that finally got him kicked off the series went way beyond typical reality show conflicts. Justin famously, and quite rightly, got evicted for disturbing behavior involving fellow housemate Krista. After some drinks, the two began kissing and flirting, when Justin suddenly held a kitchen knife up to her throat and asked if she'd be mad if he killed her. The drama didn’t end there; a year after being kicked out of the house, Justin was arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend. To say Krista and the other housemates dodged a bullet is a massive understatement.

#3: A Criminal on “The Dating Game”
Not quite your ‘Mr. Right’: On a 1978 episode of “The Dating Game,” bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw chose contestant Rodney Alcala as her man. Though he was a successful photographer, Alcala was later turned down by Bradshaw for his ‘creepy’ behavior. Bradshaw may have escaped with her life; it turns out that Alcala was a repeated sex offender whose penchant for photographing his victims brought to light a string of serial killings he committed throughout the 70s. His rejection on the show may have been a contributing factor in the murder of three other women. Alcala spent the rest of his life in prison, and his final kill count remains ambiguous. Seems like this casanova took the term ‘lady killer’ a little too literally…

#2: Gary Stollman
The lengths people will go to make themselves heard! In the middle of a 1987 broadcast Gary Stollman walked onto the KNBC set behind TV reporter David Horowitz and pointed a gun at his back, ordering him to read a statement concerning paranoid theories that the CIA cloned Stollman’s father. The blindsided presenters were clearly horrified but Horowitz was able to keep his cool throughout. The statement ended with the admission that the firearm was a bb-firing replica before Stollman calmly placed the toy on the desk, apparently having never intended to harm anyone. The incident resulted in Horowitz spearheading a campaign to ban realistic toy firearms.

#1: The Max Headroom Hijack
In 1987, two television stations in Chicago were hijacked in perhaps the most surreal act of video piracy ever recorded. Both instances featured an unidentified man dressed as obscure TV personality Max Headroom dancing to distorted audio. The second video, significantly longer, saw the man rambling incoherently in a distorted voice and being swatted on the behind by an offscreen accomplice. Responses to the rubber-grinned menace ranged from bemused to horrified, and the perpetrators of this seemingly random act were never identified. The segments lasted no more than a couple of minutes, but have gone down as among the most notorious incidents in television history. That face isn’t an easy one to forget!

Did you watch any of these creepy occurrences live? How did they make you feel in real time? Let us know in the comments below.