10 most famous scientific hoaxes

The scientific world has long been mired in transnational intrigues and is a moneymaker for many wealthy people. The Nobel Prize is now a prestigious award, and not a symbol of important discoveries on a global scale. In order to receive a monetary reward or simply to promote their person in the media, many scientists go to meanness, fabricating data and creating amazing hoaxes.

An inexperienced working person will not see the catch either in giant human skeletons, or in mermaids, or in revealing the secrets of the Big Bang. And all because the average layman simply loves sensations that allow him to emerge at least for a minute from the usual boring little world. Another thing is that such “orders” must be paid – for example, many are ready to sponsor absurd scientific developments.

Today we will debunk 10 scientific myths and shame scientists who resorted to hoaxes in their work.

10 Beringer Fossils, 1725

At the beginning of the 18th century, the scientific world was shocked by the statement of the scientist Beringer, who allegedly discovered the fossils of the most ancient species of animals and reptiles in excellent condition, and even with engraving on the stone.

Where could the man-made name of a deity in Hebrew come from on a prehistoric stone? The answer is simple – the fossil was a dummy made of limestone. Nevertheless, a whole hypothesis about the theory of the adventures of ancient inscriptions was inflated.

In fact, the unfortunate scientist was not to blame – he was set up by spiteful critics, planting fossils in the place of the alleged excavations. In the end, Beringer did not remain in the loser, having sued the conspirators for a hefty sum for moral damage.

9. Perpetual motion machine, 1813

Discussions on this topic seem to never lose their relevance. At the beginning of the 19th century, the news thundered that Charles Redheffer was still able to create a mechanism that could work indefinitely.

Another professional in his field, mechanical engineer Fulton, told Redheffer that he would find a mechanism that would start the engine. And whoever seeks, he always finds – the source of the movement of the “perpetual” mobile turned out to be, oddly enough, an old man who turned a lever in a hidden basement, simultaneously chewing a loaf of bread.

8. Life on the Moon, 1835

Americans do not give up hope that life on the moon once existed. The astronomer Herschel, who was able to discover new planets, allegedly invented the theory of cometary phenomena, according to which life forms could exist on the satellite.

As a result, it turned out that Sir John had never heard of the fact that he was credited with the discovery of “lunar” life, as well as with the solution of other problems of mathematical astronomy.

7. Giant from Cardiff, 1869

The history of this scientific hoax began with a common joke. The atheist George Hull decided to play a joke on a fellow priest who, while studying the Bible, pointed out the existence of giants on the planet.

Hull arranged with a sculptor who carved a huge plaster statue. The latter was buried in the backyard, and then “surprisingly” discovered by the priest. The discovery of the “remains” of a man, 3,5 meters tall, caused a public outcry, which in the future allowed Hull to sell the found “Giant from Cardiff” for 23 thousand dollars.

6. Piltdown Man, 1912

Already at the beginning of the 20th century, Charles Dawson discovered in England the fossils of a unique humanoid, which instantly sent scientists on the wrong path of the formation of mankind. About 250 treatises were devoted to the hoax, and it was revealed only half a century later.

It turned out that the fossilized skull consisted of the remains of a man and the jaw of an orangutan. By the way, the fossils were treated with a chemical agent, which allowed them to acquire such a well-worn “ancient” look. By the time the falsification was opened, Dawson had “safely” rested, having enjoyed the glory of the great archaeologist during his life.

5. Alien autopsy, 1947

The news about the operation on the humanoid spread all over the world. At the beginning of the troubled nineties, they decided to “finish off” the viewer with a documentary program called “The Autopsy of an Alien”. For 15 years already, the modern sophisticated viewer firmly believed that scientists were butchering a real alien.

The film’s author only admitted to the hoax in 2006, detailing how he framed the “affair” while vehemently claiming that the original recording actually existed.

4. Tadasai tribe, 1971

The legend about the discovery of a “prehistoric” tribe circled the planet at the end of the 20th century. On the Philippine island of Mindanao, the Tadasai tribe lives in isolation from other people, observing the traditions of the Stone Age. Representatives allegedly had a strange language, survived by gathering and hunting, used stone tools in everyday life, and caves served as their home.

After the resignation of the country’s president in 1986, the hoax was revealed – the “uncivilized” tribe communicated with society in an excellent way, lived in ordinary houses and put on familiar clothes. The cunning tadasai agreed to pretend to be primitive at the urging of the president.

3. Stone Age discoveries by Shinichi Fujimura, 1981

The famous Japanese archaeologist Fujimura was famous for his findings at the end of the 20th century. A phenomenal discovery was the discovery of the remains of a primitive human dwelling and tools, which are allegedly already 600 thousand years old.

Nosy paparazzi, ironically, managed to film Fujimura at the moment of burying the finds. After the opening of the hoax, the authority of the archaeologist burst like a soap bubble. Fujimura himself decided to justify himself in a very pathetic way, stating that at the time of the desire to create a hoax, he was obsessed with the devil.

2. Unsolved elements of the periodic table, 1998

Berkeley scientists famously announced that they were able to obtain two unique and previously unknown radioactive elements: livermorium and ununoctium. They turned out, allegedly, as a result of the combination of lead with krypton.

The discovery was supposed to put an alternative theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus, but in 2000 a refutation was published, and the physicist Ninov was caught in a hoax. Interestingly, in the same year, livermorium was obtained by other scientists for the first time, and a couple of years later, ununoctium was also obtained.

1. The remains of an archeoraptor, 1999

Not so long ago, the eminent National Geographic magazine allowed itself to recklessly publish unreliable material that the skeleton of an intermediate creature between a bird and a dinosaur, the Archeoraptor, was found.

Readers could see a snapshot of fossilized bones that made up an intricate skeleton. Later it turned out that it was composed of two dinosaurs previously known to science, completely non-feathered, as well as primitive varieties of modern birds.

These are the tricks that the “intelligent” scientific world is capable of in order to quickly and without much straining to make a fortune. Remember that “practice is the criterion of truth”, and double-check the facts, which are generously flavored with modern TV and media.