Lemon Juice Robbery: A Bewildering Blunder

In January 1995, Macarthur Wheeler and Clifton Johnson devised an absurd robbery plan that later became a case study in poor decision-making. Believing that lemon juice could act as invisible ink, they applied it to their faces, thinking it would render them undetectable during a bank heist. With lemon juice-doused faces, they confidently entered the bank, assuring baffled tellers that their faces were invisible. Unsurprisingly, both bank employees and security cameras easily identified them, leading to their swift arrest.

Confronted with security footage, Wheeler exclaimed, "But I wore the juice!" This bizarre case inspired psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger to explore the Dunning-Kruger effect, a phenomenon where individuals lacking self-awareness overestimate their competence.