Famous hoaxes: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:20, 20 May 2022

Hoax

This page is a list of famous hoaxes See also

a hoax by Professor of Physics Alan Sokal
Sokal published a paper purporting to take seriously the idea that the laws of physics are social constructs
- he objective was to satirize post-modernist theories in the social sciences
link to his paper: Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity (nyu.edu)
see:
- https://www.school4schools.com/wiki/index.php?title=Literary_Analysis_and_Criticism#Sokal_affair
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair

for list of pranks, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_April_Fools%27_Day_jokes
see Geographic hoaxes below for fake volcano April Fools pranks

in its April 1, 1985 issue, Sports Illustrated rana story about a yoga-practicing baseball pitcher who could throw the ball 168 mph
named Hayden Siddhartha "Sidd" Finch
- he was supposedly raised in an English orphanage and had gone to Tibet to study under a Buddhist monk
- the story claimed that Finch chose not to play baseball and instead decided to "play the French horn or golf or something"
Finch was pictured throwing the ball in bare feet
- the NY Mets participated in the hoax with players and coaches appearing with Finch
see The Curious Case of Sidd Finch (bostonbaseball.com)

in 1957, a British BBV TV program ran a fake report on "spaghetti trees" in Switzerland
the report showed Swiss workers harvesting spaghetti from trees
others have copied the hoax, including in California

on April 1, 1996, Taco Bell published ads in 7 newspapers claiming the company had purchased the Liberty Bell
- the purpose was to "reduce the country's debt"
- it would, however, be renamed the "Taco Liberty Bell".

on April 1, 1974, pranksters climbed atop the dormant 3002 ft high volcano, Mt. Edgecumbe, near Sitka, Alaska
a helicopter had dropped off old tires, kerosene, smoke bombs and rags, which the pranksters lit and threw into the crater
a Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to observe the eruption and instead saw a man standing by spray-painted show reading, "APRIL FOOL."
see
- https://school4schools.com/wiki/index.php?title=Geography_fun_facts_%26_oddities#Volcanos
- https://www.iflscience.com/environment/the-greatest-april-fools-day-prank-of-all-time-took-four-years-to-plan-and-involved-a-volcano/ Greatest April Fools Day Prank of All Time (iflscience.com)]
- http://hoaxes.org/af_database/permalink/the_eruption_of_mount_edgecumbe/

File:Great Blue Hill from Trillium.jpeg
Great Blue Hill in Massachusetts. On April 1, 1980 a local news station reported it was erupting.
at 6:00 pm on April 1, 1980, a Milton, MA news station aired a fake news bulletin that announced that a nearby, small mountain was erupting
- the report was one week after the tremendous eruption of Mt. St. Helens
- the report showed edited statements of concern by Massachusetts Governor and President Carter
- panicked residents called the police and the state Civil Defense office
- some were reported to have fled the area
at 11:00 the state apologized for the hoax
the producer of the 6:00 news segment was fired the next day
- in addition "failure to exercise good news judgment," the producer had also violated FCC rules regarding use of "stock footage" (old news footage) without identifying it as such

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 * the report showed Swiss workers harvesting spaghetti from trees
 * others have copied the hoax, including in California
+=== Taco Liberty Bell hoax ===
+* on April 1, 1996, Taco Bell published ads in 7 newspapers claiming the company had purchased the Liberty Bell
+** the purpose was to "reduce the country's debt"
+** it would, however, be renamed the "Taco Liberty Bell".
 == General hoaxes ==