The Hoax That Inspired Mary Shelley
In the hot summer of 1826, the British people—including science fiction author, Mary Shelley—embraced a fake and frozen Roger Dodsworth.
How a Fake Supergroup Mocked the Real Thing
The Masked Marauders were the cockamamie creation of a bored rock critic. They still sold 100,000 albums.
Spectra: The Poetry Movement That Was All a Hoax
In the experimental world of modernist poetry, literary journals were vulnerable to fake submissions.
The Mathematical Pranksters behind Nicolas Bourbaki
Bourbaki was gnomic and mythical, impossible to pin down; his mathematics just the opposite: unified, unambiguous, free of human idiosyncrasy.
Pssst, Crop Circles Were a Hoax
In the late 1970s, mysterious circular patterns started showing up in farm fields.
How the Sun Conned the World With “The Great Moon Hoax”
The birth of the penny press, the first mass media, was very much mixed up with fake news, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835.
Whatever Happened To Piltdown Man?
Piltdown Man was once considered the missing link between apes and humans. What happened?
The History of UFOs
UFOs are much older than the Cold War's flying saucers. These 1897 and 1909 sightings of flying machines were the talk of the town.
Zoological Jokes and Hoaxes
The humor in inventing fake animals comes from the fact that the audience is in on the joke. Nevertheless, the line between satire and hoax can be fuzzy.