Hoax Museum Blog: Urban Legends

Hunting for Bambi — Is 'Hunting for Bambi' a hoax? In case you somehow missed it (hiding under a rock, or something), Hunting for Bambi is supposedly a company that for $10,000 will let guys hunt naked women with a paintball gun in the desert outside of Las Vegas. The company got some local TV coverage, and then the larger news outlets picked up on the story, initiating a media frenzy. But based on the emails I've been getting, a lot of people are suspicious about the company's claims. After all, exactly how does one sign up to go on one of these Bambi-hunting expeditions? That doesn't seem to be clear since the company isn't responding to most inquiries. What I would guess is that there are no Bambi-hunting trips. That would involve just too many legal problems. But the company is offering a video for sale, and members of the public can definitely buy that. I suspect that the company is just pretending to offer the 'hunts' as a way to generate a lot of publicity and sell the video (and the other merchandise they're offering). The whole scheme is reminiscent of something like Ron's Angels, which got a lot of publicity back in 1999 because it claimed to be selling the eggs of supermodels to infertile couples. That all turned out to be a hoax to promote a pornographic web site. I could be wrong about Hunting for Bambi, but I'll wait for them to provide more evidence of the truth of their claims before I change my mind.

Hunt for the Yeti — A Japanese mountaineer has put together an expedition to hunt for the Yeti in the Himalayas. Good luck to them.

Popeface — Here's the latest thing making the rounds in Italy. It's Popeface! Supposedly a picture of the Pope taken during the '80s in which he's sticking his tongue out and making a strange grimace. Prints of it are being offered for sale at popeface.com. Of course, the seller doesn't specify how much he's asking for it. He only tells you to email him for more info at his hotmail account. And strangely, he's also offering the domain name 'popeface.com' for sale. So this has all the markings of a hoax. (Thanks to an anonymous Italian visitor for alerting me to this).

What lurks beneath — I just got this cool photo in my email from a visitor (Amy Lothschutz-Hughes). When I first saw it I was sure that it was a hoax. Turns out it's real. But it's a dolphin in the water, not a shark. The photo was taken by photographer Kurt Jones.

Antennalopes — If you go to the movies this summer, you just might be lucky enough to see footage of this intriguing tall-tale creature: the Antennalope. These creatures (antelopes with antennae on their heads) are "bred to instantly relay radio signals as they frolic." They constantly roam the country in herds, instinctively migrating to where radio signals are weakest, thus helping to make possible a truly mobile national phone network. The antennalopes are featured in ads for Nextel that play before movies. They appear to be related to the Jackalope.

The Lake Tianchi Monster — Apparently China has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster called the Lake Tianchi Monster (I never knew). Its legend stretches back over 100 years, but unlike the creature in Loch Ness, there appears to be more than one of whatever is in Lake Tianchi (which is up by the border with North Korea). Sightings of the Lake Tianchi monsters have increased dramatically in recent weeks.

The Life and Death of Eric Gordon — Here's an amusing account of a Harvard grad named Eric Gordon who faked his own death in order to try to get removed from Harvard's obnoxious alumni mailing list. Harvard actually published an obituary for Eric, but then had to retract it later.

Phone Prank — A prank caller phones a grocery story pretending to be the police. Somehow he convinces the store manager to start strip-searching customers.

Bonsai Kittens — For some reason I've been getting a lot of email lately about Bonsai Kittens. I can't figure out why, since that hoax is almost three years old now. But I guess interest in some hoaxes just never dies (unlike those poor kittens in the jars).

San Diego Faux History — Being a San Diegan I appreciated this hoax history of San Diego from the San Diego Hysterical Society.

The Secret of Drive-In Theaters — Thanks to an anonymous visitor for this link which documents, at last, what I've long suspected—that drive-in movie theaters were designed and built by aliens from outer space for the purpose of studying us and beaming messages into our brains.

A Vermont Wedding — The town of Manchester, Vermont is set abuzz when rumors spread that the marriage of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck will occur there. Unfortunately, the rumors turn out to be false.

Lottery Hoax — Philadelphia DJ claims on air that his traffic reporter has one of the winning tickets for the $230 million Powerball lottery. A media frenzy ensues, followed by outrage when it all turns out to be a hoax.

Crop Circles — Four teenagers confess to having made the crop circles that appeared in the Sacramento Valley a few weeks ago (the largest circles ever to appear in the US). But others think the teenagers are lying.

Superman Vanishes — Jeff Germann, webmaster of the Superman Museum in Metropolis, IL, writes to tell of an April Fool's Day prank he pulled in the Superman Collectors Monthly Newsletter. With a little help from Photoshop, he managed to convince quite a few people that the Superman statue standing outside the museum had been stolen. He says:
This one article resulted in more emails than any other article we posted.
Believe it or not, I am STILL receiving emails at times from people who are upset over the theft of a fifteen foot tall bronze statue, even though on the "update" link, I come clean about it being a prank.

 

Now you see it... Now you don't

An Irish Life — A New Jersey DJ charmed listeners with her thick Irish brogue and tales of her life growing up in the Emerald Isle. Just one problem. She grew up in New Jersey. (Via the hoaxes community on LiveJournal)

Eurorest is a scam — A visitor asks if Eurorest is a hoax? Well, if not a hoax, then it's definitely a scam. The premise of Eurorest is that if you agree to send a message promoting their business to seven of your friends (i.e. if you agree to turn yourself into a spammer acting on their behalf), then they'll send you a 'cheque' that you can use to get 14 free days of stay at participating European hotels. But here's where it gets fishy. Sending off the emails doesn't automatically get you a 'cheque.' It only enrolls you in a lottery with the possibility that you'll receive one of these cheques. Who wants to bet that the cheque would never arrive? Plus, when you investigate these cheques more closely, you discover that the stay at the hotels isn't even free. It's only discounted at some of the hotels, while others charge an 'obligatory catering rate.'

Whale Watching in the Midwest — A visitor pointed out to me that I had neglected to include Lake Michigan Whale Watching in my list of hoax sites. Plus, while we're on the subject of whale watching in the midwest, let's not forget the web page devoted to the wonders of Mankato, Minnesota, where the temperature never drops below 70 degrees fahrenheit, even in the dead of winter, thanks to the presence of hot springs that heat the air. Mankato boasts a thriving whale watching industry on account of the annual summer migration of the whales up the Minnesota River. And to return to Lake Michigan, who can forget the case of the Viagra spill that temporarily revived its flagging spirits.

Olde Frothingslosh Pale Stale Ale — A visitor (Bill Graham) informed me of a memorable hoax that I missed: Ye Olde Frothingsloth Pale Stale Ale. Frothingslosh is a unique beer that's so light that the beer actually floats on top of the foam. It all started out as a running joke on Rege Cordic's Pittsburgh radio show in the 1950s. He made up all kinds of joke ads for this fictitious beer and invented slogans such as "A whale of an ale for the pale stale male" and "Hi dittom dottom, the foam is on the bottom." But the Olde Frothingsloth concept became so popular, that eventually it caught the attention of the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. who started selling small runs of Olde Frothingsloth for special occasions such as Christmas and holidays. Of course, the beer being sold was really just Iron City Beer repackaged with Olde Frothingslosh labels, but the labels themselves were so outrageous that they instantly became prized among beer can collectors. The most popular cans were those that featured Miss Olde Frothingslosh, Fatima Yechburgh (pictured below), the supposed winner of the Frothingslosh Beauty Contest. Fatima was described as a resident of a small town near Pittsburgh. When not studying arc welding, she enjoyed soap carving, arm wrestling, sky diving, and ballet. I believe that the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. still occasionally produces small runs of Olde Frothingslosh. I'd love to try some.

Heineken Hoax Campaign — Heineken invites you to create your own hoax.