Hoax Museum Blog: Urban Legends

Quick Links: False Lobster, etc. — False Lobster
Maine Senator Olympia Snowe is lobbying to remove the pelagic crab known as "langostino lobster" from restaurant menus in Maine.

Pine Cone 'Help' Hoax
A careful 'help' was spelt out in pine cones at a junction of two roads in Oregon, complete with an arrow pointing out into the woods. After a nine-person, six-hour search, it was deemed to be a hoax.

Nigerian Bulldog Scam — The latest in the long series of what are known as 'Nigerian Scams' is one featuring bulldog puppies.

Three red flags went up when Mindy Gorman enquired after a $500 bulldog advertised on the Savannah Morning News website. When she emailed the sellers, they replied with an announcement that the puppies had been sold, but:


Then there was the fact that the seller was in Nigeria. Thirdly, when she offered to pay to the transport of the puppy using Pay Pal, the seller, who identified himself as 'Pastor Harry', said that he would only accept a $500 payment sent to Lagos via Western Union.

Ms Gorman did not go through with the transaction, but another customer in the area lost $900 on the scam.

Jeff Thomas, with the Savannah office of the U.S. Secret Service, was unaware of the Nigerian puppy scam. But the details, including the offer of English bulldogs in a state where the biggest football mascot is the same breed, didn't surprise him.
"These folks are not dumb," he said. "They may do their homework in terms of regional interest. People here are nuts about Georgia football."
Thomas suggests puppy lovers approach any Nigerian offers with skepticism.

The website no longer runs the advertisement.

An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin — The literary world has been talking about a work of fiction that managed a brief masquerade as nonfiction. The book is An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin, by Rohan Kriwaczek. As the title suggests, it tells the history of that popular genre of music, funerary violin music. The Guardian reports: The book will be published next month by Duckworth Publishers in Britain, and Overlook Press in America. The publisher claims that it believed the book to be a work of genuine nonfiction. Or rather, it didn't care too much whether it was fiction or nonfiction because it thought the book was interesting. The hoax was "exposed" by a book-buyer in Iowa City who saw the book described in Overlook's catalog, thought it looked fishy, and brought it to the attention of David Schoenbaum, an expert in the history of the violin and also a reviewer for the New York Times. The Times then revealed the hoax.

Personally I'm thinking the publisher probably had a hand in the exposure of the hoax. What better publicity could a book get than to be "exposed" by the Times right before its debut?

Soldier Head Twist — On this footage from Google Video, it seems that a soldier is able to twist his head a full 180 degrees.

One of the tags for the video says 'fake', and I can't work out whether or not it is (partially due to the problems I'm having with my computer, which means that video tends to make it shut down).

My gut feeling says it isn't real, though.

Elevator Illusion — The floor of this elevator, in Taiwan, is painted to look as if there is no floor, just the lift shaft.

As someone who's terrified of heights, I would need to be crowbarred into this lift. There's not a chance of me voluntarily travelling in it - it would freak me out too much. Yes, I'm a wuss.

(Thanks, Charybdis.)

Quick Links: Banyan Tree Gets Police Protection, etc. — Banyan Tree Gets Police Protection
A century-old banyan tree in Jakarta has been given police protection after a group of youths attacked it to prove it had no mystical powers.

Parents Kidnap Bride-To-Be
The day before her wedding, Julianna Redd's parents told her they were taking her on a shopping trip. Instead, they drove her 240 miles to Colorado and held her there until after the wedding was supposed to take place.

3D Studies of the Mona Lisa
New 3D studies of the Mona Lisa have led scientists to be able to pinpoint more precisely the date it was painted.

Common Job Scams
A brief rundown of some of the most common job scams.

(Thanks, Accipiter.)

Yellow Lines Painted Under Parked Car — Nasser Khan left his car in what he was sure was an unmarked section of road. He was understandably bemused to return the next morning only to find yellow lines beneath his car and a ticket for illegal parking on his windscreen.

CCTV footage showed workmen crouching beneath the car to paint in the lines, whilst a traffic warden waited to write the ticket.

It appears that the machinery used to paint the lines damaged the tyres on Mr Khan's car, which were then declared unroadworthy by a local garage. Salford City Council have quashed the ticket, but refuse to pay for damages to his car.

A witness to the odd event, who works in a neighbouring building, said: "We saw a group of workmen and two traffic wardens surround the car for several minutes. One of the workmen came back and crouched under the car to paint the yellow line, and then the traffic warden issued the ticket. A friend of mine caught the whole thing on his mobile phone as we thought the driver might need evidence to contest the ticket."

‘Mockumentary’ May Get Superintendent Fired — Rich Mitchell may lose his job after making a mock documentary portraying his staff as killers, strippers and drug dealers.

The Bremen High School District Superintendent did video interviews with his faculty members, then spliced in his own footage.

The 'mockumentary' was first aired in front of 500 faculty and staff members at a back-to-school seminar. Mitchell then posted the footage, along with outtakes, on the District's web site. The film has since been removed from the site.

School board president Evelyn Gleason is quoted as saying: "I personally think he stepped over the line when it went on the Web site. We're a great district, we have wonderful teachers and students and this is not representative of them. I think it was a bad idea gone wrong."

The seven-member board will conduct an investigation.

(Thanks, Accipiter.)

Quick Links: Man Dives 50 Feet for 20 Dollars, etc. — Man Dives 50 Feet for 20 Dollars
$20 blew out of Mark Giorgio's hand when he was crossing a bridge. So he followed it.

Prisoners Train as Crocodile Handlers
Five prisoners from Darwin Correction Centre in Northern Australia are currently involved in an 11-week rehabilitation pilot scheme.

Mosquito Dance Track
The Mosquito anti-teenager device has theoretically already been used as a ring tone. Now it's being made into a dance track - 'Buzzin' - which mixes two tracks, one normal, and one using the Mosquito technology.

Chess Championship Split Over Loo Breaks
Viktor Kramnik of Russia has been accused of cheating during his multiple toilet breaks. He and Veselin Topalov are playing for the title of world chess champion and the bathrooms are the only area not under video surveillance.
(Thanks, Accipiter.)

Ethnic Games End in Cross-dressing and Gang Violence
After several contestants in the women's dragon-boat racing event were described as "big women with Adam's apples", it was found that they were men in wigs. Then a dispute over a wrestling final sparked off a violent brawl.
(Thanks, LaMa.)

Talking Elephant — A sixteen-year-old Asian elephant named Kosik has been found to echo eight words back to his keeper. Staff at the South Korean amusement park say that Korik 'says' words such as 'yes', 'no', 'sit' and 'lie down' by putting his trunk into his mouth and shaking it whilst exhaling.

It is not known whether Kosik knows the meaning of the words, but spectograms show that the elephant's voice frequency is a 94% match with his keeper's voice, prompting speculation that he is trying to bond with the keeper by copying the noises.

Video can be found here.

(Thanks, Nettie.)

Quick Links: Eating Sand, etc. —
Woman eats 1.5kg of sand daily
Ram Rati, 80, credits her good health to her sand-eating habit. I'm amazed she's still alive if she really eats that every day. Sounds to me like she may have the eating disorder pica.

A case of gnome-icide
Store causes controversy by selling "stabbed" gnomes. "Shelly Oldfield, of Wakefield, was shopping with her elderly mother at Tong Garden Centre, Bradford, when they stumbled across the lifeless bodies – on sale for £9.99 each – and raised the alarm."

Hamster grounds airplane
A plane is forced to land to search for a passenger's escaped hamster. Big Gary notes: "New terrorist weapon-- hamsters."

Telepathic Chiropractor loses his license
James Burda claimed that "he possessed the power to heal clients via techniques he dubbed "Bahlaqeem Vina" and "Bahlaqeem Jaqem," made-up terms that he said described his ability to go back in time to the date of an injury and realign bones and joints using telekinetic vibration." Now he's lost his chiropractor's license. (But do chiropractor's even need a license to practice?) Check out his website if you're interested in how to do a Vibrational Vina on your weyzic.

Viagra Fish
Tiny Ayrai Kunchu fish have become all the rage in India, thanks to a rumor spread by fishermen that the fish have a Viagra-like effect (i.e. they cure impotence). However, "While it is believed that the fish can cure male impotency, those who sell it are not able to say what quantity of the fish must be consumed to achieve the Viagra-like effect." Sounds like the perfect recipe for a scam. If it's not working, they'll tell you it's because you need to eat even more.

Quick Links: Itsy Bitsy Imposter, etc. — Itsy Bitsy Imposter
Paul Vance, co-writer of the song 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' was slightly startled to read his own obituary - the result of an imposter.

Robot Art Goes On Display
A Portugese artist has devised a robot that creates its own paintings.

Teddy Bear Causes 2,500 Trout Deaths
A teddy bear that fell into a pool at a Fish and Game Department hatchery earlier this month clogged a drain, and suffocated a large number of trout in New Hampshire.
A written warning has been given: "RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into the fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED."

(Thanks, Accipiter.)

Microscopic Art — Alex from Colombia forwarded me these pictures of microscopic art. The pictures come with this caption: Yes, it's all true. The artist's full name is Willard Wigan. You can check out his website.

Incidentally, Wigan is not the only micro-sculptor around. The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles has, for quite a few years, had a display of the microminiatures of Hagop Sandaldjian. Worth checking out if you're ever in the area. The MJT website notes that Sandaldjian also developed a technique for working between heartbeats:

Writer Behind J.T. LeRoy Comes Clean — Laura Albert, the writer behind J.T. LeRoy, has finally confessed to the hoax.

She says that her psychiatrist encouraged her to write when she was in therapy.
In terms of her attitude to perpetrating a hoax, the article says: When asked if she felt any shame about misleading people, she replied: "I bleed, but it's a different kind of shame... If knowing that I'm 15 years older than (LeRoy) devalues the work, then I'm sorry they feel that way."

Although it was fairly clear that the young man was fictional, even when Geoffrey Knoop (the partner of Laura Albert, and half-brother to LeRoy's 'public face', Savannah Knoop) confessed to his part in the scam, he said he doubted Albert would ever admit it, and was quoted as saying:"For her, it's very personal. It's not a hoax. It's a part of her."

Seems he was wrong.

Previous posts on J.T. LeRoy:
February 07 2006 Knoop Confesses JT Leroy Was a Hoax
October 10, 2005: Is JT Leroy A Hoax?
January 9, 2006: JT Leroy: An Update

(Thanks, J.)

My Twinn — My Twinn is a legitimate website selling dolls which look like the child you're buying them for.

First you pick an outfit, skin tone, and hair and eye colour. You send in a photograph of your child, and the artists craft the doll to resemble the photograph, including painting on such things as freckles or birthmarks. You can also buy matching outfits for the doll and child, and matching accessories.

The dolls do seem very well made - they really do look like the children they're made for. One of the testimonials from previous customers states that "Over the years many people have mistaken the doll as a real child!"

I think that is my trouble with them - they look very creepy to me.

Quick Links: Henrietta the Four Legged chicken, etc. — Henrietta the Four Legged Chicken
Henrietta had been living peacefully among 36,000 other chickens for 18 months when her owners noticed that she had four legs.

Separation Agency Takes the Stress Out of Breaking Up
A German agency will break up with your partner for you, if you are too scared to do it yourself. The client gives the agency three reasons why they want to break up, which are then passed on to the dumpee. The service costs 20 Euros by phone, or 50 Euros in person.

Dog Starts Car
After George the dog swallowed the immobiliser chip out of his owner's electronic key fob, the only way to get the car started (until the chip was... passed) was to put the dog in the front seat.

Nuclear Explosion Over Netherlands — Gerrit forwarded links to radar maps showing some extremely unusual cloud activity over the Netherlands. I managed to visit the radar sites myself in time to see the unusual clouds. However, the maps have since updated and are no longer showing the same activity. But I can vouch that, for a while, they really were displaying the sudden appearance of a mysterious ring of clouds around the Netherlands. Screenshots of the radar image have been posted here and here. Has anyone checked that the Netherlands are still around?

American Airlines 9/11-Themed Ad — Here we go again. Yet another ad circulating around that features a plane flying towards two tower-like structures. Wilson Bryan Key would probably claim that it's done deliberately as a form of subliminal seduction, like the skulls hidden inside ice cubes in alcohol ads. I, on the other hand, am willing to give the advertisers the benefit of the doubt. Although I'm not sure exactly what those tower-like structures are. Stereo speakers, I'm guessing. (Submitted anonymously)



Update: Looks like American Airlines pulled the ad and replaced it with this version (that omits the speakers).

Live Fish Discovered in Duck Egg — Biologists at the University of Manchester were on a field trip to the French Alps when they found a duck egg in a small pond. Noticing its movement, they cracked it open, to discover three live minnows inside.

The scientists, despite their combined knowledge of the natural world, are at a loss as to how the fish got inside the visibly uncracked egg.


Dr Cobb and his colleague have written to the magazine New Scientist to see if any reader can come up with the solution.

(Thanks, Iridium and Yashca.)

Cockroach vs. Weatherman — The weatherman in this clip is Justin Mosely, meteorologist for Sarasota station SNN6. He has a rather over-the-top reaction to the appearance of a cockroach (which remains off camera). The clip looks staged, but it isn't. However, neither did it appear on-air. The St. Petersburg Times reports: Also, when the clip claims that there was a 3-hour delay between the first and second appearance of the cockroach, that's not true: "There was no 3-hour delay," DesMarais said. "Somebody, I don't know who, altered that video. It all happened within 20 seconds or less. The bug didn't go and come back."