Famous hoaxes (21 photos)

1. Opening of the Roswell alien.

In 1995, British film producer Ray Santilli unveiled a sensational video with the alleged 1947 alien autopsy dead (Roswell incident). Later it turned out that it was a fake with fake humanoids, taken at the initiative of Santilli. In 2006, the incident was beaten in a British television comedy with Anthony and Declan Donnelly MakPartinom (pictured).



2. Cardiff Giant.

In 1868, American archaeologist George Hull of Binghamton moved from Chicago to Cardiff, New York, and buried on the farm of his brother carved from plaster three-meter giant. Giant right hand clutching his stomach, as if at the moment of death in pain. During the two years of preparation hoax George Hull sharp instrument created finest details: fingernails sculpture, nostrils, genitals, skin pores. A year later, on October 15, 1869, workers discovered the burial. People believe that they face a fossilized giant, or at least, an ancient statue, and tourists crowds pushed farm. The famous impresario PT Barnum offered for the discovery of 50 thousand. USD., But was refused. Then he created his own giant and announced that he had bought the same original. Litigation ensued, during which each side claimed that the opponent has a forgery. As a result, Hull admitted that the giant from Cardiff - a hoax.



3. The boy on the ball.

October 15, 2009 the world excited about the news of the six year old boy Falcon Hin from Colorado, Gone with the homemade balloon. The boy is in serious danger, because it could freeze or crash. When the ball landed on one of the fields, the rescuers rushed to rescue the boy, but did not find him in a basket. There are reports that the boy could fall out of the basket during the flight. However, it soon became clear that the boy was alive and well and will not fly away, and all the rally, organized by parents Falcon. Previously, they had participated in a reality show and wanted to become famous again. As a result, they had opened a criminal case.



4. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" - appeared in the beginning of XX century in Russia and has been widely used in the world collection of texts representing the publishers as documents worldwide Jewish conspiracy. Some have argued that it records the participants' reports of the Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. The texts are set out plans for the conquest of Jewish world domination, penetration into the structure of government, taking control of the non-Jews, the eradication of other religions. While it has long been proved that the "Protocols" are anti-Semitic hoaxes, there are still many supporters of their authenticity. Especially this point of view is common in the Islamic world. In some countries, the study of the "Protocols" even included in the school curriculum. (In the photo Syrian edition of the "Protocols" of 2005).



5. Microsoft I: Catholic Microsoft.

In 1994 he appeared on the Internet, "the press release Microsoft», stating that the company Microsoft acquired the Catholic Church. The document lists alleged belonged to Bill Gates words: "The combined resources of Microsoft and the Catholic Church will allow us to make religion easier and more fun for a broader range of people." "Press release" was so widespread that Gates had to publish a retraction. The incident went down in history as the first large-scale Internet hoax.



6. Microsoft II: E-mail will make you rich.

Another wonderful (and much more complicated) hoax involving Microsoft began around the same time as the "Catholic" incident. Customers began receiving letters from fake with Microsoft, allegedly offered to participate in a very important study. For this we need to send a letter received their friends. For each company Perez is ready to pay $ 245. But that is not all. If the person to whom the letter was forwarded in turn forward it to someone else, the first sender receives a further $ 245 241. And so on. Those wishing to earn extra money on the delivery of letters was very much.



Sidd Finch 7. - a phenomenal pitcher.

In April 1985, the American magazine Sports Illustrated published a story about a new acquisition of the baseball team New York Mets. It was reported that a player Sidd Finch (Sidd Finch), who throws the ball with amazing speed - 270 km / h (almost 2 times faster than other players) and never misses. And this despite the fact that Sid did not even played the game before. To achieve such amazing results he supposedly helped to classes in Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the great Lama Milaraspa. As is usually the case, many believe in this story, and Sports Illustrated was swamped with requests to tell readers more about the unique player. The article was an April Fool's hoax invented by journalist George Plympton (pictured).



8. Hitler Diaries.

In 1983, the authoritative German magazine "Stern" published a sensational excerpts from diaries supposedly discovered by Adolf Hitler. Several notebooks with "records of the Fuhrer" 1932-45 biennium. magazine worth several million marks. It soon turned out that the Hitler diaries - a forgery. The exposure was even more sensational than the actual diaries. Later it turned out that in the hoax were former Nazis who sought to rehabilitate the image of Hitler.



9. The drawing of Sarah Palin ..

During the last presidential election race in the US candidate for US vice presidential Republican Party Sarah Palin was the victim of a telephone lottery Canadian comedian and broadcaster Marc-Antoine Odette, presented by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In a telephone conversation Palin had time to discuss with "Nicolas Sarkozy" "political issues, ease of going hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney, and, of course, the beautiful wife of the French president." During the conversation, Audette several times quite transparently hinted that it was a hoax, but it is up to the end and did not understand it. For example, he said that following the election campaign with the help of his adviser in the US French singer Johnny Holliday, and Canadian singer Stef Kars "the French president" called the prime minister of Canada. But Sarah showed no misunderstandings. At the end of the conversation, "Nicolas Sarkozy" said he liked the "documentary" about Palin, mentioning the pornographic tape titled "Nailin` Paylin", removed the founder of Hustler magazine with the actress, like a Sarah Palin on the candidate for vice -President said: "It's great, thank you very much." And only after that Audette opened her eyes to what is happening, calling his real name, and the station is running.



10. Drawing on the Munich Olympics.

During the Munich Olympics in 1972 resourceful German student Norbert Sadhaus deftly joined forty-two-kilometer marathon, when the end was less than a kilometer, easily overtook the tired athletes, arrived first and found himself in the limelight, as the "Olympic Champion". However, sports glory did not last long - officials quickly denounced it. But he went down in history as a great joker.



11. False bigfoot.

In August 2008, the world learned that science finally has at its disposal a snowman. However, the dead, but in excellent condition. This was announced at a press conference in Palo Alto (CA) "cryptozoologist" Tom Biscardi and two hunter snowman - Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton. Upon closer examination, however, revealed that "the corpse of Bigfoot" - just a rubber gorilla suit. However, the hoax was a success: the sensational news about the yeti reprinted not only lazy, and photos of the rubber gorilla in the refrigerator still emerge as an illustration for an article about Bigfoot. It is noteworthy that in 2005 Biscardi has arranged something like this and not bad profited from the sale of access to the online views supposedly available to him the remains of Bigfoot, which so no one saw.



12. Bathroom hoax.

In 1917, a popular New York edition of the «New York Evening Mail» appeared fake story baths in the United States, written by journalist Henry Mencken specifically to demonstrate how easily any hung to deceive the public through the media. The article quoted "facts" being reluctant to accept the United States appeared there in the middle of the 19th century baths. Bathing in the tub was supposedly officially recognized as harmful to health, in connection with which some places these procedures were assessed draconian taxes, significant restrictions or even prohibited. Despite the falsity of information given in the article, or even its absurdity, it was widely known and has been repeatedly cited in various publications and even serious scientific papers. Only eight years later, Mencken published a self-exposure. But it is, however, not particularly damaged the reputation of false stories baths. For example, in 1952 President Truman cited article Menken in a speech on the topic of health, and in 2004, the "Washington Post" gave a false fact from her column, "I bet you do not know that ...».



13. The first picture of Nessie.

In 1934, the English "Daily Mail" appeared first in the history of the picture Loch Ness monster, the legend of which existed long ago. Author picture London surgeon, Wilson claimed that filmed the monster accidentally when walking around. In 1994, it was found that the image imprinted on Nessie - a fake, made by Wilson and his three accomplices. Two of the accomplices Wilson voluntarily confessed to the crime, and the first recognition (in 1975) was left without public attention, since faith in the honesty of Dr. Wilson, it would seem, who had no motive to deceive, it was unwavering.



14. The left-handed burger.

April 1, 1998 fast-food chain Burger King published in the journal USA Today ad about the new hamburger: "Left-Handed Whopper", specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the announcement, the new product had the same composition as the original Whopper, but all the ingredients were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of its customers - lefties. The following day Burger King issued a rebuttal, saying that although the "Left-Handed Whopper" was nothing more than a festive joke, thousands of customers in its restaurants require a new sandwich. And an even greater number - Whopper, designed exclusively for right-handers.



15. The Autobiography of Howard Hughes.

In the early seventies, the American writer Clifford Irving was the author of the loudest literary hoaxes of the 20th century. After a series of writers' failures, he decided a scam: the creation of fake authorized biography of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. The venture was a success and brought Irving money and fame, but eventually he was accused of fraud and was jailed. In 2006, history was reflected in the film "The Hoax" with Richard Gere.



16. Jump from the Brooklyn Bridge.

The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge at a cost of $ 16 million and took 26 lives. Subsequently, the bridge was fixed for him infamous: with him in the water of the East River caught a lot of suicides. However, the first jump from the bridge was quite "fortunate." Desperate young man, Steve Brodie, ostensibly, on a bet jumped into the water from a height of 42 meters, which had witnessed his buddies. It subsequently emerged that the cronies Steve dropped from a bridge scarecrow, and he just swam at the right time to the right place. However, the exposure did not prevent Brodie for a long time to exploit the fame of the heroic diver to the Brooklyn Bridge.



17. Crop Circles.

Certificates of mysterious figures in the fields there from time immemorial. Especially rich in them England, and especially in recent decades. In 1991, two British artists, Dave Chorley and Doug Bauer, said that all the circles, found in the last thirteen years in the British corn fields created by their hands. They said that they managed to fool scientists, farmers' organizations and government agencies. With the help of poles, planks and rope artists have reproduced quite authentic circle in a cornfield in Kent. However, it convinced few - too prosaic ...



18. Paul is dead.

Paul is dead, known as the Paul is dead (Paul is dead) argues that Paul McCartney of the group "The Beatles" died in 1966 and was replaced by a twin with a similar appearance and voice. Supporters of the legends associated cessation of concert performances of the group this year was the death of Paul (although concerts stopped before the estimated date of death McCartney). As evidence of the supporters of the legends used "keys" in the works "The Beatles" (music, lyrics, album art design), ostensibly included to specifically to hint at the death of Paul. Among the evidence - sounds supposedly audible when you scroll through records back all sorts of obscure metaphors in song, ambiguous image, and so on. N. Some of these "keys" are inconsistent with each other or with known facts from the life of McCartney and other group members. It is not always clear whether it is a joke or a "conspiracy theory." Paul is dead repeatedly studied by sociologists. It was also alleged that the rumors of the death of Paul deliberately disbanded by the Beatles as a hoax or publicity stunt. All four band members have repeatedly denied this.



19. Shroud of Turin.

For many of the faithful (as in this photo 78-year) Shroud of Turin, housed St. John the Baptist in Turin - an unquestionable relic, but inquiring scientific mind is not satisfied with religious dogmas, trying to get to the truth in all its details. Numerous scientific studies - from the historical to the radiocarbon dating - questioned the authenticity of the relics, but convincing enough nor deny nor confirm the authenticity of the Shroud scientifically so far failed. At the moment, there are at least 1300 documented hypotheses about the Shroud of Turin. According to one of the most popular versions of the Shroud - the work of Leonardo da Vinci, and it captures the very genius of the medieval (this is, for example, radiocarbon analysis confirms that associates the creation of the shroud to the period of the life of Leonardo).



20. Piltdown man.

In 1912-13. English-taught archaeologist Charles Dawson presented the scientific world of the skull of early hominids, is a the missing link between man and apes, as well as stone tools, allegedly found during excavations near the village of Piltdown. The find was one of the major scientific sensation of the century and was so until 1949, when it became clear that the Piltdown man - clever hoax. Parts of the skull belonged to a man and orangutan, and stone tools were only 2-3 thousand. Years. The whole complex of finds has been artificially colored special dye colors corresponding to the color of ferruginous gravels, and the teeth on the jaw have been specially rasped. However, there is still wines Dawson finally proved. Some even claim that Dawson was the only one among archaeologists speculators who have no idea what is happening in reality.



21. The War of the Worlds.

Radopostanovka mockumentary "War of the Worlds" by HG Wells, orchestrated his namesake Orson Welles and aired on the eve of All Saints Day, October 30, 1938, caused panic among millions of people in the East Coast of the United States and Canada. Auditions was made in the form of a report about a real invasion of Martians. Credibility statement gave radioshkaloy game, ie the inclusion of the other stations on the air, and a fictitious address of President Roosevelt. Taking all of reality, people fought hysterically, jumping out of windows, grabbed the first available under the arm and ran out of the house. Roads scored weight machines that flew, not respecting the rules. In government offices, police stations, hospitals, telephones rang incessantly, begging people to save them. Militant citizens demanded to open the inventory and give people weapons urgently mining road in the path of the Martians and even send them on suicide pilots planes filled with explosives. There were also witnesses who claimed that his eyes have seen all the excesses of the Martians and only narrowly escaped death. Their colorful descriptions only fueled panic. Fortunately, the morning of passion subsided, people began to settle down and return to their homes, and Orson Welles went down in history as the man who managed to scare America.



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