26GARBO: Pujol's Double-Agent Deception
During World War II, Juan Pujol Garcia, a Spaniard, initially tried to offer his services as a spy to the British, but with no relevant experience, they declined. Undeterred, he approached Nazi intelligence in Madrid, posing as a pro-Nazi spy. The Nazis accepted, and Pujol, nicknamed GARBO, fed them fabricated information from Lisbon, impressing both sides. Eventually, he convinced MI6 to accept him as a double agent. Working with Tomas Harris, they created a fictional spy network that played a crucial role in deceiving the Germans about D-Day preparations. Pujol received both the Iron Cross from the Germans and an MBE from the British for his remarkable deception.
27. Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist, hailed the Piltdown Man as a groundbreaking discovery in 1912 while searching for the "missing link" between apes and humans in accordance with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Unearthed in Piltdown, Sussex, the fossils were initially celebrated but later revealed to be a hoax in 1953 when new dating techniques exposed inconsistencies. Subsequent analysis in 2009 implicated Charles Dawson as the likely mastermind behind the forgery, marking a significant deception in the history of human evolution research.
28. In 1924, Artur Alves Reis, a Portuguese arms dealer just released from jail, convinced London-based printing company Waterlow and Sons to print 300 million escudos (nearly 1% of Portugal's GDP) secretly for a loan to Portuguese Angola. The money, printed in 500 escudo notes, appeared genuine. Reis laundered it in Portugal, establishing the Bank of Angola & Metropole. Attempting to control the Bank of Portugal, he bought over 20% of its shares by September, triggering suspicions. The scheme unraveled by November, causing a crisis and contributing to a coup. Reis was sentenced to 20 years in prison and died penniless in 1955.
29. Yoshitaka Fujii, a Japanese anesthesiologist, fabricated 172 scientific articles during his 19-year career, making him the record holder for scientific fraud. Dismissed from Toho University in February 2012 for lacking ethics approval in eight studies, suspicions had lingered for over a decade. A review revealed the improbability of true results in 168 of Fujii's papers. Exploiting minor aspects of anesthesiology and diverse journal placements, he navigated through seven different jobs, evading suspicion.
30. In 1959, prankster Alan Abel initiated a hoax called The Society for Indecency to Naked Animals (SINNA), claiming their mission was to clothe animals for decency. With the slogan "A nude horse is a rude horse," Abel generated press releases and convinced people of the organization's existence. The "president," portrayed by actor Buck Henry, even appeared on Walter Cronkite's CBS news show in 1962. The ruse persisted until 1963, when Time magazine exposed it.
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31Balloon Crossing: Poe's Edgar Allan Hoax
On April 13, 1844, The New York Sun published a sensational article about eight people flying across the Atlantic in a balloon. Claiming famous figures were on the journey, including Monck Mason, the balloonist, the story was a hoax created by the destitute Edgar Allan Poe. The paper retracted the tale after only two days.
32. In 1933, a widely circulated photograph falsely claimed to depict German Chancellor Adolf Hitler as a baby, portraying him with a scowl and aiming to ridicule him. German officials responded by providing a genuine baby photo of Hitler, which appeared normal. The origin of the hoax was falsely attributed to Austria, but the true source remained unknown. The baby in the photo was later revealed to be an American, and the image had been manipulated to make him appear angrier.
33. The Feejee Mermaid, popularized by P.T. Barnum, was presented as a mummified creature with the body of half mammal and half fish. Barnum leased it from Moses Kimball and exhibited it as a curiosity. However, the mermaid was a gaff, created by an Indonesian craftsman using papier-mâché, exotic fish materials, or the tail of a fish combined with the torso of a baby orangutan and the head of a monkey. The original exhibit was lost in a fire, and Harvard University's Peabody Museum now houses a copy.
34. In 1917, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths took five photographs in Cottingley, England, purportedly showing them with fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle later endorsed their authenticity, but skepticism persisted. In 1981-82, Frances and Elsie admitted that the first four photos were hoaxes and that they faked the pictures with paper cut-outs from a book. They maintained the fifth photo's authenticity until their deaths.
35. In 1997, Nathan Zohner conducted a science fair project titled "How Gullible Are We?" where he distributed a report on the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) to classmates. The report highlighted seemingly harmful effects of DHMO, such as excessive urination and metal corrosion. Zohner's classmates, unaware that DHMO is water, voted to ban it. The project aimed to expose the lack of critical thinking in accepting perceived scientific facts, earning Zohner the first prize.
36Naked Came the Stranger: Literary Hoax
24 journalists under the direction of Mike McGrady wrote "Naked Came the Stranger," a book with a ridiculous plot and gratuitous sex scenes that defies literary standards. Despite its flaws, the book was published, reviewed in reputable newspapers like The New York Times, and became a bestseller. The group revealed the hoax on The David Frost Show, boosting sales, and the book spent 13 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List, later inspiring an unrelated film with the same name. The experiment highlighted the challenges in defining literature or, perhaps, people's affinity for controversial content.
37. In 1896, the Louvre purchased the alleged ancient Tiara of Saitaphernes, presented by Russian art dealer Schapschelle Hochmann. Despite doubts from archaeologists, the Louvre displayed the artifact for six years before a 1903 article in Le Matin exposed Israel Rouchomovsky as the real creator, unaware of the deception. The revelation led to public backlash against Hochmann and the Louvre, while Rouchomovsky gained acclaim as a skilled goldsmith.
38. In Australia's notable literary hoax, soldiers James McAuley and Harold Stewart created the fictional poet Ernest Malley to submit nonsensical work to Angry Penguins, a modernist magazine. The duo, critical of modernist verse, aimed to test if proponents could distinguish between real and fabricated poetry. Despite the poems being exposed as a hoax, Angry Penguins received acclaim for Malley's work, which eventually gained recognition as excellent Australian literature in the years following the revelation.
39. On December 28, 1917, H.L. Mencken published a satirical article titled "A Neglected Anniversary," claiming the bathtub was invented by Adam Thompson, criticized by doctors, and introduced to the White House by Millard Fillmore. The entire story was a hoax meant to mock public gullibility. Mencken later confessed to the prank in a follow-up article, but it didn't garner as much attention as the original satire.
40. In 1883, James Addison Reavis claimed ownership of 44,000 square kilometers of land in Arizona and New Mexico, collecting rent illegally for three years. He forged documents, alleging a purchase from a family with a Spanish land grant. When he sued the U.S. government, his deception was exposed, leading to a two-year prison sentence.