Category: Hoaxes
The story of the Cardiff Giant Hoax. In 1869, trickster George Hull masterminded one of the 19th century’s most sensational hoaxes: the discovery of a 10-foot-tall giant. George Hill had an argument with a minister about whether or…
Retired Glasgow-born actor Arthur Furguson was a terrific salesperson. However, like many other such people, he was unaware of his talent until one inspiring day when the perfect opportunity presented itself to him. His moment happened in Trafalgar Square, one…
Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency “onecoin” that would rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she disappeared, she has not been seen since. The biggest thing…
Haunted House 1129 Ridge Avenue looked like your average, ordinary house. Of course, as we all know, ordinary houses often have something else going on beneath. For this house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that something was a ghost story. The…
World’s biggest con? Joseph Berger, a tailor by trade, made a living running swindles on the unsuspecting throughout northern California. The suave dandy used his good-looks, smooth-talking, and cunning intelligence to bilk the naïve out of their hard-earned money. With…
Crop Circles Whenever a mysterious crop circle would appear in large fields in Great Britain, extra-terrestrial enthusiasts across the country would go wild with curiosity. With claims of them being messages from aliens, which were widely disputed, in 1991 two…
The strange story of Elmyr de Hory Good artists copy, great artists steal…..Picasso In 1955, Harvard University’s Fogg Museum bought a Matisse drawing, “A Lady with Flowers and Pomegranates,” from a Miami art dealer named E. Raynal. Raynal also agreed…
Henricus (Han) Antonius van Meegeren was born in Deventer in the Netherlands in 1889. He began studying architecture but gave that up to become an artist. My paintings will become original Vermeers once more. I produced them not for money…
On April 23rd, 2013, the Associated Press tweeted out the following: “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The tweet, which went up at approximately 1:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, had an immediate impact on…
For Sale: The Brooklyn Bridge Background: Not long after the Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, a shifty 20-year-old named George C. Parker decided on a whim to see if he could “sell” it to an unsuspecting tourist. He did.…
The Fox sisters were three sisters from New York, Leah, Margaret (also called Maggie) and Kate (also called Catherine). The two younger sisters used “rappings” to convince their much older sister and others that they were communicating with spirits. Their…
We take a look back at the archives of the Weekly World News and the strange New York stories: GIANT TURTLES In 1997, The New York uncovered a nest of giant turtles in the New York sewer system capable of…
