hoaxes' Journal (original) (raw)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
6:20 pm
[jaytymez]
Awesome! Let's keep this community going!!
Saturday, November 25th, 2006
9:38 pm
[shiftcommathree]
my apologies if this has been asked before, or if it's inappropriate, but I just found this group and think maybe you guys can help us out.
my friend just sent me a link to this video on youTube of a severed dog head reacting to stimuli: http://youtube.com/watch?v=rSrIkUXwsNk
we're trying to figure out if it's a fake, since at points the head seems to lift as though it's still attached to a neck.
Sunday, August 6th, 2006
1:32 pm
[jajdushiy]
Prophecies of Nostradamus WWIII and Third Antichrist Are we already at War? World War III is a concept we have lived with
throughout the 20th century. Is WWIII the situation which is emerging
now; a state of affairs where the world's nation are so split and
maligned that eruptions of sectarian violence across the globe is part
of the same tension, hostility, and cause?
Find out the truth about WWIII in Prophecies of Nostradamus
http://www.oceanru.com/wiki/Nostradamus
Monday, February 27th, 2006
12:45 am
[praxismundi]
Thursday, January 12th, 2006
12:54 pm
[mr_dark]
Who Is Benjamin Stove? I'm really disappointed in this one. The concept is fascinating, but the delivery was a little too slick. I think I now have enough to debunk it, although it should still prove to be an interesting read.
Over on 
forteana, someone posted the link to Who Is Benjamin Stove? The site tells an interesting tale of a young man who came to own a painting that just seemed odd at first, but now has an apparently supernatural history.
The painting is of a crop circle, which is no big deal as those seem to pop up all the time these days. However, after a mishap in an airport (the painting caused some sort of concern when x-rayed) it is discovered that the date on the painting is 1913. A crop circle in 1913? That's interesting...
Inside the frame is a note from a Dr. Martinez furthering the mystery, as it signifies that the painting is of an actual 'event'. All of this breaks down to the basic question of the site, who is Benjamin Stove? The painting is by a V. Stove, and the owner of the painting discovers that Ben was born in 1958 and Vera was his grandmother. There were tales of odd things about the Stoves.
All of this is well and good, but I just couldn't resist digging deeper. A whois search revealed that the domain is registered to a GMD Studios in Winter Park, FL. (That's the Orlando area.) The writer of the Stove site claims to be a collections agent in Tampa, so this was the first sign that something is up.
A little digging, and we get the next clue that this is a hoax. GMD's specialty? 'Viral' promotions, interactive hoax sites meant to promote a product. They are the studio behind the web component of that old show Freakylinks, and recently did a viral campaign for an indie film called Nothing So Strange that featured numerous bogus sites.
The final link here is one of their primary clients: Haxan Studios. Some may remember Haxan as the studio created by the two guys behind the Blair Witch Project. Haxan has a new movie coming out, Altered (formerly Probed), which deals with alien abductions.
Putting all this together, I think it's clear to see that the Stove site is part of the Altered promotion, and may eventually lead to other sites as part of the same promotion.
Dammit, and I really hoped this one would be real, such early evidence of crop circles would have been a great find.
Current Mood: 
curious
Wednesday, December 7th, 2005
2:22 pm
[pjpoke]
Sunday, November 27th, 2005
9:04 am
[terminalpreppy]
I'm thinking of joining www.surveyscout.com and partaking in the whole getting-paid-for-online-surveys bit. I can see lots of potential of junk mail/spam/identity theft...
Has anyone else done this? Advice? Tips?
Monday, November 7th, 2005
11:14 am
[praxismundi]
More sexxy than fake seamonsters: war! Does anyone have any thoughts on War Nerd?
a friend of mine's thoughts can be found here
I don't have any of my own yet. I just found out that he 'lives in Fresno'.
EDIT:
For those of you who don't know, war nerd is a military collumnist for an expatriate sensationalist moscow based english language newspaper. Kinda like The Onion, or The Daily Show.
he claims that his (sometimes disturbing) familiarity with warfare comes from his life as a fat slob surfing war news.
The photo at the top of his column isn't him, its a guy from a Norweigan blues band (??)
I started reading him recently, and assumed he was an ex patriate Special Forces, or simply an astute grunt, when i found out he is supposedly a recluse data entry clerk in FRESNO.
Its interesting, because for a fat slob with a drudgerous data entry job in Fresno, who no one has ever heard of and is unlisted in any phone book, using a fake column photo, Gary Brecher really knows what he is talking about.
or at least he sounds like he does.
Current Mood: poundy
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
5:16 pm
[pjpoke]
The breakthrough follows decades of sightings of mysterious wild big cats throughout Australia -- but no physical proof of their existence.
The retired engineer said he lugged the cat back to his camp, but put the carcass into the river after removing the tail and photographing it. Mike Williams, a representative of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, a body that researches mysterious or out-of-place animals, said he believed it was concrete evidence that big cats are on the loose in Australia. Hundreds of sightings have been reported over the years and a leaked government document revealed 59 sightings had been reported in Gippsland between 1998 and 2001. The cats are said to be descendants of animals that either escaped from zoos or circuses or were released by US airmen who kept them as mascots while stationed in Australia in World War II. "Kurt has killed an urban legend," Mr Williams said.
"He has proved all the hundreds of farmers have been telling the truth.
"There is a breeding population of big cats."
"The tail is 100 per cent -- it is a concrete case."
Scientist Bernie Mace, who has been researching big cats in Australia for 30 years, said the animal was far too big to be a feral domestic cat, and predicted it would be identified as a puma.
Current Mood: interested
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
12:47 am
[primroseport]
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
6:49 am
[agent13]
Abel Raises Cain
by Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
"As a member of the generally credulous and gullible American public, you've probably fallen for some Alan Abel con or another through the years."
12:56 am
[agent13]
Friday, August 26th, 2005
1:02 pm
[agent13]
HOAX!
By Ofelia Casillas, David Heinzmann and Rex W. Huppke
Chicago Tribune
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Word that Sgt. Dan Kennings had been killed in Iraq crushed spirits in the Daily Egyptian newsroom. The stocky, buzz-cut soldier befriended by students at the university newspaper was dead, and the sergeant's little girl--a precocious, blond-haired child they'd grown to love--was now an orphan.
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005
3:30 pm
[agent13]
Tombstone tourism buries town history, decor’s critics claim
BY ANDREW POLLACK
NEW YORK TIMES
"George Spangenberg sold weapons to both Wyatt Earp and the gang he faced at the OK Corral. Today visitors can see the G.F. Spangenberg gun shop — "Est. 1880," according to its sign — standing on Fourth Street."
Saturday, August 13th, 2005
3:15 pm
[agent13]
Friday, August 12th, 2005
5:13 pm
[agent13]
Collecting an urban legend
By Charles F. Trentelman
Ogden Standard-Examiner
"Dana Leeds' children spent the summer collecting 40,000 aluminum can pull-tabs because they thought they were saving the life of a little girl who needs kidney dialysis."
4:15 pm
[agent13]
In search of the next great hoax
By Steven Snyder
Minnesota Daily
"Approximately halfway through Jenny Abel and Jeff Hockett’s “Abel Raises Caine,” the documentary starts spinning."
Monday, August 8th, 2005
2:49 pm
[agent13]
Satanic Panic - Twenty Years Later Special report: Kern's witchhunt
BY CHRISTINA VANCE
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"Jon Cummings looked darn good for having been sacrificed to the devil. The 22-year-old father glanced uneasily at the reporter in his parents' house, then strolled into a back room. When he was 2, Kern County took Jon and two brothers from his parents."
Former sheriff remains a believer
By CHRISTINA VANCE
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"The "Satanists" won."
Accused pastor, family scared for their lives
By CHRISTINA VANCE
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"The voice on the phone was as cold as a bloodless corpse. "Some night, I'm going to put a bullet in your head," he said. The Rev. Farrell Neeley, pastor of Hilltop Assembly of God Church in Lamont, listened to the stranger describe Neeley's nightly lockup routine."
Sketchy illustrations, skeptical reporters: Media had its own twists
By CHRISTINA VANCE
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"The Californian staff was bewitched in 1985, former occult suspects said recently."
High-profile case led to procedural changes
By CHRISTINA VANCE
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
"A cassette tape isn't heavy, but it can tip the scales of justice."
This newspaper may require registration to read the articles linked to here. If you don't wish to register, I recommend the BugMeNot service at http://bugmenot.com/ to bypass those log-ins.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
Monday, August 1st, 2005
12:51 pm
[agent13]
False tales of turkey on a tray
By Roy Rivenburg
Los Angeles Times
"In today's image-mad world, what you do in life has become passe. It's what people think you do that matters. And, don't worry, everyone's too busy to check your resume for embellishments."
Thursday, July 14th, 2005
3:18 pm
[akktri]
Rush Limbaugh bloopers? Where can I find that big list of Rush Limbaugh mistakes I've heard about?
Is anyone updating it?