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About the Museum
The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoax Photo Database, the Hoax Forum, the Hoaxipedia, and:
The Museum of Hoaxes is the sister site of Weird Universe.
The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoax Photo Database, the Hoax Forum, the Hoaxipedia, and:
The Museum of Hoaxes is the sister site of Weird Universe.
GORILLA COSTUMEHave a monkey-load of fun on Halloween with this costume.
HOAX FORUM: Most Recent Posts
Prankplace.com
COVERT CLICKERSecretly control the TV, anywhere, any time! This device is so small it is easily concealed in your pocket. It can control volume, change the channel or turn the TV on & off. It works on 90% of all TV's.
FAKE TONGUE PIERCINGIf you've always wanted a tongue ring, but don't want to insert a huge needle through your tongue, here's your chance to finally get your wish. Our special tongue ring stud stays on using suction. It looks real enough to fool your mom!
Old Forum
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THE SUBSTITUTE TEACHER IS IN DA HOUSE!
Status: HOAX REVEALED
OK, I heard back from Alex, who is now in Germany. My log-in is working now (obviously) so it's Go Time!When I couldn't log in as the Subby, I said in a comment that as soon as I could be here in my "official" capacity, I would make a confession. Here goes.
Earlier this year, when Hillary Clinton was still in the race for the White House, I got a crazy idea for a hoax so I went with it. As "retired dot com entrepreneur Bob Porter," I spread the word that I wanted to pay the Senator $750,000 (later increased to a cool million bucks) to pose for a "series of tasteful nude photos." This was supposedly to prove that she really was the different kind of candidate she claimed to be. How exactly posing for nude photos would "prove" that I'm not exactly sure, but I stuck to my story.
As ridiculous as the premise may sound, I managed to do 15 radio interviews (13 with American stations, 1 for an Irish station and 1 with an Australian station), almost all of which took me seriously. I even managed to convince some of my interviewers of the "logic" of my argument.
The story also showed up on a number of websites, including Fark.com and Madville.com. As eccentric millionaire Bob Porter, I did a series of YouTube videos, including one from my hospital bed when I had my appendix removed (for real). For your dining and dancing pleasure, here's a link to the videos:
youtube.com/hillaryproject08
Between feeling kind of lousy for a time after my surgery and Hillary's campaign losing steam, I let my project languish. I've never fessed up to it publicly before but I figured the MOH was the ideal place to come clean, so there you go.
I'm curious to see if any of you heard me on the radio or read about what I was claiming to be doing. If so, what did you think of it? Did you believe me? Did you think I was nuts? Did you smell a rat? Comments?
I’m off to Germany!
Status: announcement
I've barely been able to post anything in the past week. Why? I'm blaming it on my decision to remodel the hallway bathroom in my house... and do all the work myself (because I can't afford to hire a contractor). New drywall, plumbing, electrical wiring, tile floor. I did it all. Problem was, I really wanted to get the bulk of it done before I go on vacation to Germany, which I do today. My flight leaves in about four hours. So that meant I've been scrambling to get it done for the past few days. Here's a picture of the new tile floor I just installed (the first tile floor I've ever installed), which I'm quite proud of. You can see that the sink is not yet installed. That'll have to wait.
Unfortunately I'd never be able to get a job as a contractor because, while I can do all the handyman stuff, I'm painfully slow at it.
So anyway, I'll be gone for two weeks, but I'm leaving everyone in the capable hands of hoax expert Bob Pagani, aka Cranky Media Guy. All the regulars here know him already, of course.
Hopefully I'll be able to post a few times while I'm in Germany visiting relatives. I'll be a week in Berlin, followed by a week in Bremen.
New Cardiff Giant Book
Status: Book
It's probably not going to be received by the book-buying public with as much enthusiasm as the latest John Grisham thriller, but this is the kind of book that gets me excited. It's a new (and what looks to be very well researched) history of the Cardiff Giant hoax titled A Colossal Hoax: The Giant From Cardiff That Fooled America by Scott Tribble. It's due out at the end of November. A bit pricey, but that's often the case with non-mass-market books. From its blurb:In October 1869, as America stood on the brink of becoming a thoroughly modern nation, workers unearthed what appeared to be a petrified ten-foot giant on a remote farm in upstate New York. The discovery caused a sensation. Over the next several months, newspapers devoted daily headlines to the story and tens of thousands of Americans-including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the great showman P. T. Barnum-flocked to see the giant on exhibition. In the colossus, many saw evidence that their continent, and the tiny hamlet of Cardiff, had ties to Biblical history. American science also weighed in on the discovery; and in doing so revealed its own growing pains, including the shortcomings of traditional education, the weaknesses of archaeological methodology, as well as the vexing presence of amateurs and charlatans within its ranks. A national debate ensued over the giant's origins, and was played out in the daily press.
Ultimately, the discovery proved to be an elaborate hoax. Still, the story of the Cardiff Giant reveals many things about America in the post-Civil War years. After four years of destruction on an unimagined scale, Americans had increasingly turned their attention to the renewal of progress. But the story of the Cardiff Giant seemed to shed light on a complicated, mysterious past, and for a time scientists, clergymen, newspaper editors, and ordinary Americans struggled to make sense of it. Hucksters, of course, did their best to take advantage of it.
The Cardiff Giant was one of the leading questions of the day, and how citizens answered it said much about Americans in 1869 as well as about America more generally.
Ultimately, the discovery proved to be an elaborate hoax. Still, the story of the Cardiff Giant reveals many things about America in the post-Civil War years. After four years of destruction on an unimagined scale, Americans had increasingly turned their attention to the renewal of progress. But the story of the Cardiff Giant seemed to shed light on a complicated, mysterious past, and for a time scientists, clergymen, newspaper editors, and ordinary Americans struggled to make sense of it. Hucksters, of course, did their best to take advantage of it.
The Cardiff Giant was one of the leading questions of the day, and how citizens answered it said much about Americans in 1869 as well as about America more generally.
Satirical Candidates
Status: addition to the site
I just finished writing a list of the Top 20 Satirical Candidates of All Time, which I've now added to the site. It seemed an appropriate time for it. I chose "Nobody" as the #1 satirical candidate. I thought it was an obvious choice. After all, how can Anyone top Nobody?But also on the list are the foot powder that won an election, Pat Paulsen, Stephen Colbert, Vermin Supreme, etc.
What the list doesn't cover is mock political parties. The focus is entirely on candidates.
Prankplace.com
A Year Without Lying
Status: Experiment
Cathal Morrow is embarking on an experiment to live for a year without lying. When he's done, he'll report the results in a book to be titled The Complete Kant. (The title refers to Immanuel Kant, who said that lying is always morally wrong.)Morrow doesn't seem to have a publisher yet for the book, though according to the Guardian, he does have a private equity company financing him for the year in exchange for half the profits of the book. (The book better be a bestseller if they expect to make a return on their investment.)
I don't believe it's possible to go a year without telling some kind of lie, unless you stop communicating altogether.
If, at the end of the year, Morrow claims to have done it, I won't believe him.
Piper Palin gives one-finger salute
Status: Hoax
A picture (top) has been doing the rounds showing Piper Palin, Gov. Palin's six-year-old daughter, apparently giving a boy the finger. Yes, it's a hoax. In the original (bottom), which can be found on the Alaska state website, it's clear that Piper has two fingers raised.
Posted By: Alex | Date: Mon Oct 06, 2008 |
Permalink |
Comments (58)
Category: Photos/Videos, Politics
Category: Photos/Videos, Politics
Iranian Interior Minister Admits Fake Degree
Status: Fake credentials
Iranian Interior Minister Ali Kordan has announced that he is shocked, shocked to learn that his honorary degree from Oxford University is fake. The dodgy circumstances by which he obtained it eight years ago (via "an agency in Tehran for English-language affairs that represents Oxford University") never raised any red flags with him. Nor did any of the spelling and grammatical mistakes in the document (misplaced commas, the word "entitle" is misspelled, etc.)Kordan is, appropriately, in charge of guarding against fraud and forgery in Iran's upcoming election. Link: LA Times
Coincidentally, the United Arab Emirates announced today that it will "impose a life ban on the employment of those found to be using fake certificates in order to secure jobs in the country."
The Museum of Fakes
Status: Museum con
The BBC reports that a 60-year-old Korean man has been arrested for running "a private museum stuffed with fakes." He bought cheap artifacts from flea markets and then displayed them as ancient treasures. He claimed one of his fakes was a "Koryo Dynasty celadon." All in all, he managed to earn $443,000 from this scam through ticket sales.Two things occur to me:
1) So people are assuming that most museums aren't full of fakes? The dirty little secret of the worlds of art and archaeology is that they're awash in fakes. And even when a museum owns the genuine artifact, it might not display the real thing for security reasons.
2) To play devil's advocate, what difference does it make if people see the real thing or a fake? The vast majority of audience members are unable to tell the difference. My theory is that when people visit museums to gawk at artifacts they don't understand, they're actually engaging in a form relic worship. And the power of the relic lies not in its authenticity, but in the belief in its authenticity.