The Museum of Hoaxes
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April Fool's Day Content
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April Fool Categories
April Fool: Recurring Pranks
April Fool: Regions
April Fool: Perpetrators
April Fool: Serial Corporate Pranksters
April Fool: Settings
April Fool's Day Archive, Contents:
Before 1900: Origin of April Fool's Day | 1700-1799 | 1800-1899
Early 1900s: 1900 | 1901 | 1915 | 1919 | 1920 | 1923 | 1925
1930s & 40s: 1933 | 1934 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1940 | 1949
1950s & 60s: 1950 | 1957 | 1959 | 1960 | 1962 | 1965 | 1969
1970s: 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980s: 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
1990s: 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999
2000s: 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
2010s: 2010 | 2011
category
Space and Astronomy-Themed April Fool's Day Hoaxes
Also see Extraterrestrial Life-Themed April Fool's Day Hoaxes
$99 Flights to Mars (2009)
Expedia.com announced it was offering flights to Mars for only $99, which it calculated to be a savings of $3 trillion for travelers. "In this economy, you can't afford NOT to go!" it declared.
Categories: Space and Astronomy, Traffic and Transportation, Businesses, 2009.
Water on Mars (2005)
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site published photographic evidence of the discovery of water on Mars.

Categories: Space and Astronomy, 2005.
Planets Renamed (2004)
CBBC (Children's BBC) announced that astronomers had decided to rename the planets in the Solar System after characters from the Lord of the Rings. The Earth would henceforth be known as Gandalf, and Mars would become Frodo. Pluto would be known as Sauron, and even the Moon would receive a new name: Gollum.
Categories: Space and Astronomy, 2004, BBC.
Google Copernicus Center (2004)
Google announced that they were accepting applications for positions at Copernicus Center, their new "lunar hosting and research center." Applicants, Google noted, must be "capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences as soy low-fat lattes, The Sopranos and a steady supply of oxygen." Google went on to say that the facility, set to open in Spring 2007, would house 35 engineers, 27,000 low cost Web servers, two massage therapists and a sushi chef.
Categories: Space and Astronomy, Businesses, Websites, United States, 2004, Employment, Internet, Google.
First Kazakh Woman In Space (2001)
Novoye Pokoleniye, a Kazakh newspaper, reported on Friday, March 30 that Dariga Nazarbayeva, the daughter of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, would become the first Kazakh woman to fly into space. Accompanying her would be her one-year-old daughter who was receiving special training to become the world's first child astronaut. Nazarbayeva was already something of a Kazakh celebrity because of her presidency of Khabar TV. Her mission in space would be to launch a new satellite TV channel, Khabar-3, which would transmit to "the most remote areas of the world where the Kazakh diaspora lives: in the USA, Mongolia, France, New Zealand and so on." The paper also reported that only Kazakh cuisine would be served on the flight. In addition, "The research programme also envisages making several feminine space experiments such as wet cleaning in zero-gravity conditions, cleaning of portholes in open space, nail-varnishing and hair-dyeing in a vacuum. The time of narrow specialist-orientated research is gone and the epoch of space exploration for everyday-life purposes is coming. So, who else, if not a woman and housewife, is to make laboratory experiments here?"
Categories: Space and Astronomy, Newspapers, Central Asia, 2001.
Life Discovered on Jupiter (1996)
In 1996, the internet-based service America Online had gained five million subscribers, all of whom were greeted with a news flash that read, "Government source reveals signs of life on Jupiter," when they logged onto the service on April 1. This headline was backed up by statements from a planetary biologist and an assertion by Ted Leonsis, AOL's president, that his company was in possession of documents that proved the government was hiding the existence of life on the massive planet. The story quickly generated over 1300 messages on AOL, and hundreds of people called the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California trying to obtain more details about the discovery. When it turned out to be a prank, many questioned whether the service had risked losing its credibility by perpetrating such a stunt, but AOL dismissed these concerns. A spokeswoman for the company later explained that the hoax had been intended as a tribute to Orson Welles' 1938 halloween broadcast of the "War of the Worlds."
Categories: Space and Astronomy, Extraterrestrials, Websites, United States, 1996, Internet.
Space Shuttle Lands in San Diego (1993)
Dave Rickards, a deejay at KGB-FM in San Diego, announced that the space shuttle Discovery had been diverted from Edwards Air Force Base and would land instead at Montgomery Field in a few hours (at 8:30 am). Montgomery Field is a small military airport located in the middle of a residential area just outside of San Diego. Thousands of commuters immediately headed towards the supposed landing site, causing enormous traffic jams that lasted for almost an hour. Police eventually had to be called in to clear the traffic. People arrived at the military airport armed with cameras, camcorders, and even folding chairs, ready to witness the landing. Reportedly the crowd swelled to over 1,000 people.

Of course, the shuttle never landed. In fact, the Montgomery Field airport would have been far too small for the shuttle to even consider landing there. Moreover, there wasn't a shuttle in orbit at the time. The police were not amused by the prank. They announced that they would be billing the radio station for the cost of forcing officers to direct the traffic. In its defense, the radio station said, "It was a joke. We're sorry, but it was April Fools. We're just trying to have some fun." The prank was actually not original. A Belgian newspaper had perpetrated the identical hoax on its readers in 1992. However, the San Diego hoax fooled far more people than its Belgian predecessor.
Categories: Poorly Received, Space and Astronomy, Radio, United States, 1993, Wild Goose Chase.
Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity (1976)
British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at exactly 9:47 a.m. the planet Pluto would pass behind the planet Jupiter, and that this alignment of the planets would result in a stronger gravitational pull from Jupiter, counteracting the Earth's own gravity and making people momentarily weigh less. He told listeners that they could experience this phenomenon for themselves by jumping in the air. If they did so, he said, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 a.m. arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of calls from listeners who claimed that they had felt the sensation. One woman claimed that she had been seated around a table with eleven friends, and that all of them, including the table, had begun to float around the room. Another caller complained that he had risen from the ground so rapidly that he had hit his head on the ceiling.
Categories: Science, Space and Astronomy, Radio, Scientists, United Kingdom, 1976, BBC.
Soviets Land in Kankakee (1969)
The Daily Journal, based in Kankakee, Illinois, reported that a Soviet space capsule had landed just outside of the city. Apparently the cosmonauts had seriously miscalculated their trajectory during reentry. The Soviet government was said to be keeping its silence about the capsule. An accompanying photograph showed a space capsule with a hammer and sickle displayed on its side. The article said that one of the cosmonauts was named Lirpa Loof, who had been missing for over a year. Many people drove to the supposed site of the landing to see the capsule.


Spacecraft Lands Safely In Kankakee
World headlines are being made in Kankakee today with the first landing of a spaceship on American soil having taken place here.

Air Force and NASA officials are expected momentarily to inspect the ship on N. Hobbie Avenue.

The National Guard has replaced police, firemen and sheriff's deputies who assisted state police with guarding the site early this morning. Arrival of special troops from Ft. Sheridan, Chicago is expected momentarily.

The craft, which landed during the night is thought to be a Russian ship which miscalculated during reentry.

The Russians, who rarely announce space feats until they are well under way, have made no comment to international speculation that the ship is theirs.

The familiar hammer and sickle, symbol painted on the craft, plus the fact that the ship has made a land and not a sea touchdown, has prompted the unconfirmed announcement that the ship does belong to Russia.

Residents of Kankakee reported they were frightened by brilliant lights from the ship about five minutes after the entire Kankakee area was shaken about midnight by what was thought to have been an explosion or heavy sonic boom.

By the time police and firemen arrived at the landing site, the astronauts (or cosmonauts) were pulling the parachute into the craft, locking the doors from the inside.

However, once NASA officials are in charge, it is hoped the ship's occupants can be induced to open the locks and confer with the Americans. Linguists from Chicago are on route to act as interpreters during the interrogation.

Either by accident or pinpoint maneuvering, the landing was effected so intricately that no signs of damage to surrounding property are visible, and no injuries have been reported.

Observers at the scene say there appear to be at least three men aboard who have been seen looking from a window.

Photo Caption: Capsule Landing In Kankakee Startles World
Kankakee is in the headlines today with the unexplained appearance of this spaceship on N. Hobbie Ave. Official photograph of the bizarre occurence is being used by courtesy of Dnamra Keitsrok. One of the cosmonauts is thought to be Russian Lirpa Loof, missing for the past year.
Categories: International Relations, Space and Astronomy, War and Military, Newspapers, United States, 1969, Loof Lirpa.
Swiss Lunar Landing Hoax (1967)
An hour-long Swiss Radio broadcast announced that U.S. astronauts had just landed on the moon.

The broadcast (which aired on all German-language Swiss radio stations) began with a news flash interrupting the regularly scheduled show. Listeners heard reports from Swiss radio correspondents in cities around the world, as well as interviews with experts and men in the street. The broadcast also included (prestaged) "technical faults," such as slamming doors and the sound of newscasters running in with late-breaking bulletins.

The announcement generated enormous excitement. Telephone exchanges became jammed as people tried to phone friends to share the news. Even U.S. authorities in Switzerland initially weren't sure if the news was true or false. Americans vacationing in the resort of Klosters staged a huge celebration.

The broadcast concluded with the report that the moonship would take off from the moon at 7 p.m. Listeners were urged to climb to a high vantage point, away from the city lights, to watch it return to Earth. As a result, there was a huge rush of people who tried to leave Zurich and get to the top of Mt. Uetliberg, overlooking the city. The railroad up the mountain had to add additional trains to handle the number of passengers.

The hoax broadcast was directed by newscaster Hans Menge of Radio Zurich.

U.S. astronauts landed on the moon for real approximately two years later (July 20, 1969).
Categories: Space and Astronomy, Radio, Switzerland, 1967.
Kansas University Memorial Tower Launched Into Orbit (1959)
The Lawrence Daily Journal-World reported that a group of science students had launched Kansas University's World War II Memorial Tower into orbit:

"Those crazy college boys have done it again! In line with the current rocket and missile craze that has seized the world, a group of Kansas University science students Tuesday night sneaked up on Mt. Oread, equipped the Memorial Campanile with rockets and as APRIL 1 dawned today they ran their count-down and sent the famed 'singing silo' of Lawrence zooming toward orbit. There was some question today, however, as to whether Ronald Barnes, KU carilloneur, was allowed to get out of the tower before it was launched from its Jayhawk pad. When last heard from, Barnes was practicing at the carillon keyboard. He couldn't be located today. The KU Launching Society was not sure early this afternoon whether the Campanile had gone into orbit, but they were monitoring it carefully hoping at any time to hear a beeping of 'The Crimson and the Blue' from outer space. Oh, yes, if you haven't guessed it by now, this is all an April Fool joke. Nobody really launched the campanile and carilloneur Barnes wasn't out of this world today, having both feet solidly on Kansas soil as he went about his duties at KU. Journal-World photographer Leonard Bacon simply transposed a Campanile photo on that of a rocket leaving its pad at Cape Canaveral to create a bit of April tomfoolery."





The KU Campanile (image source)
Categories: National Landmarks, Space and Astronomy, Newspapers, United States, 1959, Photo Hoaxes.
Artificial Satellites Around Mars (1959)
An April Fool's joke by an amateur American astronomer was apparently taken seriously by a highly regarded Soviet scientist. Walter Scott Houston, professor of English at Kansas State College and editor of the Great Plains Observer, the monthly newsletter of the Great Plains Astronomical Society, included an article in the April edition that made the following claim:

Just last week Dr. Arthur Hayall of the University of the Sierras reports that the moons of Mars are actually artificial satellites... They are truly space stations in the most elaborate sense of the word... even though the race that flung them so magnificently into orbit may be dead and gone, they still orbit as the greatest monument to intelligent accomplishment yet known to mankind.

Houston later explained that he chose the story because it was "so ludicrous it would not need to be labeled a gag." Both Dr. Hayall and the University of the Sierras were fictitious.

But soon after, the same theory was advanced by a Soviet scientist, Dr. Iosip Shklovsky, in an interview with Komsomol Pravda, a Communist youth league publication. American scientists were baffled by Shklovsky's assertion since there was no indication he was joking. Dr. Gerald Kuiper of the Yerkes Observatory was quoted as saying, "He is much too brilliant to believe such nonsense." [Jefferson City Post-Tribune, May 4, 1959.]
Categories: Science, Space and Astronomy, Extraterrestrials, Magazines and Journals, Scientists, Russia, United States, 1959.
Beeping Cylinder (1958)
W.D. Loy of Charlotte, North Carolina first heard a loud bang, then a series of beeps coming from his front yard. He went out to investigate and found on his lawn a silvery cylinder shaped like a missile with an antenna protruding from the top.

Loy sent his family into the basement to hide, then called the police, and carried the object into the center of the road. Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered to look at the strange object. The suspicion was that it was some kind of Soviet satellite, similar to Sputnik.

But when the police arrived, they unscrewed the bolts holding the object together and found inside a beeping electric bicycle horn, as well as a note that read, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. April fool!"

The photo shows Officer K.K. Scott posing by the device and reading the note.
Categories: Space and Astronomy, Freelance Pranksters, United States, 1958.
World To End Tomorrow (1940)
On March 31, 1940 the Franklin Institute issued a press release stating that the world would end the next day. The release was picked up by radio station KYW which broadcast the following message: "Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at 3 P.M. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Fool joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, director of the Fels Planetarium of this city." The public reaction was immediate. Local authorities were flooded with frantic phone calls. The panic only subsided after the Franklin Institute assured people that it had made no such prediction. The prankster responsible for the press release turned out to be William Castellini, the Institute's press agent. He had intended to use the fake release to publicize an April 1st lecture at the institute titled "How Will the World End?" Soon afterwards, the Institute dismissed Castellini.
Categories: Poorly Received, Caused Panic, Science, Space and Astronomy, Radio, United States, 1940, Fake Warnings.