Hoax Happens Story Hoax Happens Hoaxes are part of human history. For different reasons, at different times, some people have created a false event and have tried to convince others that it was a true event. Humans have believed unbelievable stories.
Some hoaxes are funny and others are serious.
One famous hoax was about the Moon. In 1835, the New York Sun newspaper ran some stories that were supposedly reprinted from a non-existent science journal. These articles documented discoveries supposedly made by a real scientist, Sir John Herschel, from a new telescope in Africa. Sir John was actually in Africa at the time and was unable to read the stories that carried his name. The newspaper articles described Moon oceans, beaches, wild life and birds.