Top 10 Astronomy & Space Hoaxes Throughout History

1. Letter of Toledo

Apocalyptic warnings have been popular through history, including a warning that The Sun Will Explode in 6 Years in the Weekly World News & the Massive Tsunami From a Comet predicted by Eric Julien.

One of the earliest predictions of the end of the world with an astronomical twist was the Letter of Toledo. It first appeared in 1184 and claimed an alignment of the planets in 1186 would destroy the world. When that didn't happen, the dates changed and the letter circulated for another 100 years.

2. The Great Moon Hoax

Unlike the Great Moon Landing Hoax, this hoax was actually perpetrated.

In August of 1935, The New York Sun began to print a serialized article entitled "Great Astronomical Discoveries Lately Made by Sir William Herschel." It claimed to be reprinted from the Edinburgh Journal of Science. The article listed a many discoveries made by Herschel, including planets in other solar systems, solutions to nearly every leading problem of mathematical astronomy and life on the moon. It was a hoax.

3. Cracks in the Moon

In January of 1874 the New York World published an article that said there were cracks in the moon's frame and it was in dagner of breaking into many smaller pieces. What effect this had on the reading public, I don't know, but it was another hoax.

4. Prisoners of the Moon

New York writers weren't the only journalists who enjoyed a good prank. In February of 1876, the Chicago Times published an article claiming that scientists in Paris, using a new powerful telescope, had found buildings on the moon. Not only that, but the observers spotted groups of workers chained together as if they were prisoners.

5. Joseph Mulholland's Meteor

Joseph Mulholland was a travelling salesman who enjoyed entertaining listeners with a tall tale or two. Too often, thes tales wound up being reported in local papers to news starved citizens. One such tale concerned a meteorite that crashed in western Pennsylvania, causing a fire and burning much of that part of the state.

6. War of the Worlds

One of the best known space hoaxes in history wasn't intended to be a hoax at all.

Most people have heard of the Orsen Welles broadcast of the War of the Worlds radio play that set off a panic in 1938. Originally designed for entertainment purposes for Halloween audiences, some people did not realize they were listening to a play and thought the Earth was actually under attack by Martians.

The Museum of Hoaxes has a great article describing what happened.

7. The Great Monkey Hoax

Police near Austell, GA spoted a group of young men gathered around an object in the road. Skid marks leading up to the spot told part of the tale and soon, the boys shared the rest. They had happened upon a flying saucer and accidentally ran over one of its occupants. Even though they were skeptical, the dead body on the asphalt certainly looked alien to the officers.

8. Alternative 3

Great Britain's Anglia TV broadcast a documentary called Alternative 3, as part of its regular science series, on June 20, 1977. The report, which originally had been about scientists leaving England for higher paying jobs elsewhere, changed to a story on how those scientists were disappearing completely. After further investigation, reporters had discovered a vast conspiracy to remove scientists from the planet to protect the great minds from an "unstoppable environmental catastrophe."

9. Crop Circles

Crop circles have been the subject of fierce depates for a number of years now. Many people were of the opinion that these were messages left by aliens. This idea persists in many people despite two Englishmen, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, coming forward in September 1991 to claim responsibility for many of the more famous circles.

10. Space Cadets

This may be one of my favorite hoaxes. A British TV network created a "reality show" which was supposed to send a group of people into space. In reality, their space shuttle was a TV sound stage. If this comes out on DVD, I'm buying it.