The Place: Norristown Pa. and the surrounding areas.
The Time: Fall of 1976
Channel: 5 and 18.
Recorded With: A Sears cassette recorder from a Midland 13-885.
The Characters:
Papa Bear: First guy heard, but is being heterodyned badly. He’s not amused with the "Invader".
The "Invader": A local having a little fun with a new toy.
Zipper: Papa Bear's brother, trying to get back to him from the mobile.
Cap’t Kidd: Records the fun, but can’t help letting his feelings be known when Papa Bear threatens to "get ahold" of Invader's coax.
Joker: Goes along with the fun, and has a good time with the "Invader".
"Bags": Heard briefly telling Cap't Kidd to "Take it to 15".
Background: This clip dispels any rumor that the people in my area had no sense of humor. In fact, over the years, I’ve known a few people who had pulled pranks similar to this one. "Invader" was one of the locals who, at the time that the recording was made, I didn’t know the real identity of. Some of the inadvertent clues which he left allowed me to narrow down the choices. Then one day, a few months later, he admitted to it. This stunt was done back in the days before you could buy an echo mike at your local CB shop. For someone to hook up a mechanical reverb (Reverbs in those days had springs in them to make the echo effect) to a CB and make it sound semi-intelligible, took a little know how. Today, someone like this would be greeted with a "no big deal" attitude. But back then, it was a rarity, and much more fun.
Invader Visit's Earth Approx 3:38, mp3 format.