Great Moon Hoax
The Great Moon Hoax (The Great Moon Hoax German ) was a series of six newspaper articles that, beginning on August 25, 1835, published in the " New York Sun" and reported on the moon about the supposed discovery of life.
The series of articles under the title " GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES LATELY MADE BY SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, LLD F.R.S. & c. At the Cape of Good Hope [ From Supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of Science ] " started, first described the alleged astronomical discoveries Sir John Herschel in his 1834 established Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, which he calls" using a telescope with huge dimensions should have made and an entirely new principle. " Herschel had, it was said, created a ' new theory of cometary phenomena " that he had discovered planets in other solar systems, and that he had " almost solved or corrected each outstanding problem of mathematical astronomy. " In addition, it was said that the famous scientist have discovered life on the moon.
On Monday, August 31, 1835 gushed Richard Adams Locke, you usually see the authorship is attributed to the legendary canard: " From there we crossed the country south-east until we arrived at the Atlas (No. 6), and it was in a the lofty valleys at the foot of this mountain, where we have the most superior species of bat people ( Vespertilio homo) found. From the stature they did not exceed those last described, but they were of infinitely greater personal beauty, and they appeared in our eyes less sweet than the usual representations of angels through the imaginative painter schools. "
As the supposed existence of human beings was revealed sensationsheischend and publicity on the moon, announced the publisher of the "Sun" Benjamin Day that his sheet with 19,360 copies have the highest circulation of all newspapers worldwide. Many of the competing publisher printed the series after a hurry. The story made three weeks for as substantial turmoil that a Missionary Union in Springfield, Massachusetts is said to have given serious consideration to send missionaries to the Earth's satellite to convert the bat people.
In the U.S., the "big moon duck " applies in the New York Journal as the first example of a large-scale and deliberate falsification in newspaper journalism. It was only on September 16, 1835 acknowledged the "Sun" a forgery, the public was mostly amused. Not least because of this circumstance is the droll dizziness one of the most famous of the entire history of media.