Unexpected occurrences in the background of live TV news shots is nothing new. Most of the time, these incidents consist of people screaming obscenities, or other odd behavior. Someone watching the program from home, though, would never think they would be witness to a crime taking place during the actual segment. Strangely, this is exactly what viewers of On the Record thought had happened to them on a recent broadcast.
The show was doing a report about a prison break at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y. As reporter Molly Line was doing her segment live from the facility, an individual in a hoodie was seen walking across the background of the shot carrying a bag. The unidentified person strolled to the wall of the prison and attached the bag to a waiting rope. The bundle was then seen being quickly hoisted to the building’s roof, as the mysterious figure walked away.
Frantic viewers flocked to social media by the thousands, trying to find out what they had just seen. Everything from hardcore drugs to tools for another escape were thought to be in the package.
Sadly for these aspiring conspiracy theorists, none of these explanations were true. Greta Van Susteren of On the Record later explained to viewers that the supposed smuggling was actually just a legitimate transaction between prison employees.
With the The Shawshank Redemption playing on a continuous loop on cable, it’s pretty easy to see why some viewer’s minds may tend to go overboard when it comes to strange prison footage.
