Spoiler for Fairies:
While the technologies have gotten smarter, the tricks haven't necessarily become more complicated.
In 1917 two girls returned from playing in their garden with a camera and apparent proof of fairy life. It wasn't until the late 1970s that the so-called Cottingley fairy photographs were definitively debunked when Elsie Wright confessed their fairy friends had been nothing more than paper cutouts.
But the idea of fairies persisted; for an April Fool's Day prank in 2007, the fake corpse of a fairy was created by London illusion designer Dan Baines. After convincing many it was real, he sold it in an internet auction for nearly £300.
• The Creepy Gnome
Spoiler for The Creepy Gnome:
With the rise of the internet and video sharing websites, thousands of strange and mysterious pieces of footage surface every day. "The creepy gnome" which apparently stalks the streets of Salta, Argentina was caught on video by teenagers. However the subsequent appearance of two different "takes" of the same encounter has lead to it being widely discredited as a hoax.
• Alien Autopsy
Spoiler for Alien Autopsy:
In 1995, Ray Santilli claimed he possessed film footage from the 1947 Roswell UFO incident of an alien autopsy. It wasn't until 2006 that Santilli announced that the film was not entirely genuine, although he maintained that it was a reconstruction of real events, rather than a complete fabrication.
• The Loch Ness Monster
Spoiler for Loch Ness Monster:
The creation of one of the most famous monsters in the world can be directly traced to "The Surgeon's photo" of the Loch Ness monster, or Nessie. However it was revealed in 1994 to be nothing more than a toy submarine outfitted with a sea-serpent head.
• The Montauk Monster
Spoiler for Montauk Monster:
The "Montauk monster", an unidentified creature that washed ashore in New York, in July 2008, prompted debate over whether it is was a concocted hoax or real animal. The predominant theory stands that it is a water-damaged racoon corpse or a complex latex creation.
• Bigfoot
Spoiler for Bigfoot:
On October 20, 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin claimed to have captured a female Bigfoot on film. Many years later, Bob Heironimus, a friend of Patterson's, claimed that he had worn an ape costume for the film...
...in spite of this hoax admission, as recent as August 15, 2008, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer claimed that they were hiking in Georgia when they stumbled upon the body of Bigfoot. It was later discovered that the hair was not real, the head was hollow, and the feet were rubber.
• The Cardiff Giant
Spoiler for The Cardiff Giant:
An illustration of the discovery of The Cardiff Giant, a ten-foot tall stone man in the field of farmer William C. Newell, Cardiff, New York, on October 16, 1869. It was later revealed to be a hoax conceived by George Hull and buried the previous year.
The Cardiff Giant is not the only giant to have captured people's imaginations. This image of an apparently over-sized skeleton being unearthed in Saudi Arabia was reported by Bangladesh's The New Nation newspaper in 2004, despite actually being an entry in a photoshop contest posted on the Worth1000.com website.
• September 11th Attacks
Spoiler for September 11th Attacks:
In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks a whole host of hoax images appeared across the internet, including this photograph apparently of a tourist posing for a snapshot on the top of the WTC as a plane approaches from behind. While easily proved as a fake, the image had already spread like wildfire.
• National Geographic's Photo of the Year
Spoiler for National Geographic's Photo of the Year:
Another viral hoax is this composition of two photographs which was widely circulated in an e-mail in 2001. The e-mail claimed the photo had been chosen as National Geographic's Photo of the Year.
• Snowball the Monster Cat
Spoiler for Snowball the Monster Cat:
In early 2000, the image of Snowball the monster cat began circulating via e-mail, claiming that the cat's huge size was a result of its mother being found abandoned near a Canadian nuclear lab. In May 2001 Cordell Hauglie came forward claiming that he created the image with his daughter's cat, to email to a few friends as a joke, never intending for it to spread as far as it did.
• Bonsai Kitten
Spoiler for Bonsai Kitten:
At the other end of the cat spectrum, and apparently for no reason other than sparking controversy, in late 2000 a website described the process of sealing kittens in glass containers - making their bones conform to the container and leading to a uniquely shaped "bonsai kitten". Despite being a spectacularly obvious hoax, people who didn't realise were outraged and demanded the site be removed.
• Hostage in Iraq
Spoiler for Hostage in Iraq:
In February 2005 reports appeared claiming that a US soldier had been taken hostage in Iraq. Within hours a toy manufacturer came forward state that the hostage closely resembled its action-figure doll.
• Hitler Diaries
Spoiler for Hitler Diaries:
Konrad Kujau admitted in 1983 to forging the Hitler Diaries in one of the most audacious journalistic hoaxes ever attempted. The 62 volumes were bought by the German magazine Stern for 2.5 million Deutsche Marks.
• Crop Circles
Spoiler for Crop Circles:
Although many maintain that crop-circles are legitimately unexplainable, many circles are known to be man-made, such as those created by Doug Bower, Dave Chorley, and John Lundberg. Bower and Chorley started the crop circle phenomenon in 1978 and were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 1992 for their crop circle hoaxing.
• Taco Liberty Bell
Spoiler for Taco Liberty Bell:
On April 1st, 1996 a full page ad appeared in six major American newspapers announcing that the fast food chain Taco Bell had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell.
• Unidentified Flying Objects
Spoiler for Unidentified Flying Objects:
A vast amount of testimonies, photographs and videos supposedly portraying unidentified flying objects can easily be very simply debunked as hoaxes.
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