The Hoax Museum Blog

Futility Closet on Berners Street Hoax

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: September 18

September 18, 1962: Fake Sputnik Fragment
In Sept. 1962, the Soviet Union's Sputnik IV satellite fell out of orbit, descending to earth over Wisconsin. A fragment was found in the lawn of a Big Falls, Wisconsin couple. But when NASA examined the fragment, the agency concluded it was a fake. At which point, 22-year old machinist Lyle Bailey admitted he had created it out of red-hot metal chips from a grinder. He had planted the fake fragment in the ground, then had doused it with fuel and lit it on fire, to give it a charred look. He explained it was simply a prank that had gotten out of hand. A real fragment from the satellite was found in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014.   Comments (0)

Free U2 tape with every cassette player

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: September 17

September 17, 1859: Emperor Norton I Declared
On this day in 1859, San Francisco resident Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States. He reigned for 21 years, walking the streets of the city dressed in a military uniform, completed by a plumed hat, gold epaulets, and a sword. Among his proclamations was the abolishment of the U.S. Congress, as well as the Democratic and Republican parties. At his funeral, over 30,000 people lined the streets of San Francisco. [wikipedia]
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014.   Comments (0)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: September 16

September 16, 1560: Martin Guerre Imposter Hanged
On this day in 1560, the French peasant Arnaud du Tilh, who had been posing as another man, Martin Guerre, was hanged outside the home of the real Martin Guerre. The real Guerre had mysteriously disappeared in 1548, abandoning his wife. Eight years later, du Tilh showed up, claimed to be Guerre, and moved in with Guerre's wife. But 4 years later, Guerre returned, exposing du Tilh's imposture. More…
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014.   Comments (0)
How an 18th Century hoax is relevant to Scottish Independence — North Country Public Radio blogger Brian Mann asks, "Is fight for Scottish independence based on a literary hoax?" He concedes that if Scotland does decide for independence, there will be "many causes, many inspirations." But he notes that Scottish cultural nationalism first got a big push back in the 18th Century when James Macpherson published his Ossian poems, claiming they were a translation of epic poems written by an ancient Scottish bard. The poems gave Scots a sense of pride in having a great cultural heritage. But the truth was that Macpherson had mostly written the poems himself. (Which, in itself, was an impressive achievement, although much of the appeal of the poems lay in the idea that they were ancient).
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014.   Comments (1)

Hamburger Helper Restaurant

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014.   Comments (0)

Fake Pigeons

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014.   Comments (0)

Jesus Pierogi

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014.   Comments (2)
Are decapitated snakes still deadly? — True or False? Decapitated snakes can still inflict lethal bites.

Unfortunately it's true. [Huffington Post]
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014.   Comments (1)

The Villejuif Leaflet

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014.   Comments (0)
Bigfoot Believers Keep Believing — The Yakima Herald reports that Bigfoot believers in Washington State are keeping the faith, despite much discouraging news recently. (Such as that recent Oxford University study of suspected Bigfoot hairs, that found that all the hairs came from racoons, horses, bears, etc.) The believers note that even if all suspected Bigfoot hair samples are found to come from other (known) species, that doesn't mean Bigfoot doesn't exist. It just means that those particular hairs weren't from a Bigfoot.
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014.   Comments (0)
Fake Vacation Plagiarism? — Turns out there's some controversy surrounding Zilla van den Born's fake vacation (see previous post). Another art student, Merel Brugman, says that Zilla stole the idea from her, because two years ago, while Merel was at the Willem de Kooning Academy, she did an art project that was almost identical. Merel's project was called "Same Same But Different" and also involved simulating a vacation in Asia via photoshopped pictures. There's an article (in Dutch) about the controversy here. And details of Merel Brugman's project are on her site.
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014.   Comments (0)

Zilla’s Fake-ation

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014.   Comments (1)

This Day in the History of Hoaxes: September 10

September 10, 2009: Seeking Child's Father
On this day in 2009, a video appeared on YouTube purportedly created by a Danish woman named Karen who explained that she was trying to locate the father of her child, since she couldn't remember his name. The child, she said, had been conceived in a drunken one-night stand. The video promptly went viral, but then was exposed as a hoax created by the Danish government's tourism agency in order to promote tourism to Denmark. [youtube]
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014.   Comments (0)
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