#9: The Great Moon Hoax
August 25, 1835: the New York Sun announced the discovery of life on the moon, explaining that the discovery had been made by the famous British astronomer Sir John Herschel, who had invented a new telescope "of vast dimensions and an entirely new principle." Over the course of the next week the Sun printed details about the moon creatures Herschel had supposedly spied with his telescope. These creatures included lunar bison, fire-wielding biped beavers, and winged "man-bats." The public was fascinated by the reports. Papers throughout the nation reprinted the Sun's articles. But over time, as word from Europe failed to arrive corroborating what the Sun claimed, people realized they had been hoaxed. However, the hoax provided the Sun with such a huge circulation boost that it became one of the most widely circulated papers in the world. Journalism itself was never again the same, because the hoax revealed to editors the power that sensational stories (whether true or false) have to sell papers. For the remainder of the 19th century, the term "moon hoaxy" was synonymous with fraud. MORE
Comments
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Having observed pictures from the first moon landing in 1969, and the final landing in 1972, i noticed that the hill behind the U.S flag is a completely different size and shape, the landscape has changed, i believe this is conclusive evidence that the landings never took place, check the pics out for yourself and see what you think, it seems it was a detail they overlooked when painting the backdrops on set.
Posted by Craig Salt in Manchester, England on Thu Jun 15, 2006 at 07:02 PM
I've been trying to find a place where I can buy a print of the Ruby Colosseum lithograph but to no avail..
any ideas?
Kent
Posted by Kent in New York on Fri Apr 13, 2007 at 07:52 AM
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