Consumer electronics: Wind-induced ions thwart TV reception: High-altitude ionized layers can bounce a signal up to 1500 kilometers outside its normal area of coverage

If television viewers in Bridgeport, Conn., were suddenly presented with James Garner in "The Rockford Files" from KQTV in St. Joseph, Mo., instead of the customary "News-breakers Reports" on Channel 2 from WCBS-TV in New York they would be startled indeed. Yet such bizarre interference from VHF stations many hundreds of kilometers away does occur occasionally in fringe reception areas all over the U.S.