Hoax Collection

Bigfoot film, 1967
Bigfoot film. Still photograph from the famous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film made in North Carolina, USA, on 20 October 1967

Photographic evidence of the Loch Ness Monster
Photographic " evidence" of the Loch Ness Monster

Operation Mincemeat - naval ID card of Major Martin
Fake naval identity card of Major William Martin. His body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943 carrying sensitive documents

SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPH, 1863. French illusionist Henri Robin with a ghost, in a double exposed publicity photograph by Eugne
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPH, 1863. French illusionist Henri Robin with a ghost, in a double exposed publicity photograph by Eug├¿ne Thi© bault, 1863

Uk / Chartism / Punch, 1848
Cartoon of a hoax petition which included the signatures of Queen Victoria, seventeen (!) Dukes of Wellington and others!

Operation Mincemeat - site of grave of Major Martin
Site of the grave of Major William Martin in the Nuestra Senora cemetery in Huelva, Spain, whose body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943

Operation Mincemeat - gravestone of Major Martin
Gravestone of Major William Martin in the Nuestra Senora cemetery in Huelva, Spain, whose body was found washed up on shore in Spain on 30th April 1943

Peking Man A new link in human evolution. Chimpanzee, Pithecanthropus, Peking Man and Piltdown Man (later shown to be a hoax). Date: 1929

A discussion on the Piltdown skull by John Cooke
Portrait group of well-known British scientists examining the Piltdown skull. This topical painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915

Piltdown Man memorial, 1938
The site of the discovery of the Piltdown skull: the monolith memorial unveiled by Sir Keith Arthur on 22nd July 1938. The memorial was placed in the grounds of Barkham Manor at Piltdown

UFO: PARIS. Photograph of UFOs in Paris, France

Rev Francis Ward Monck and William Oxley, spiritualists
Rev Francis Ward Monck (right, c. 1842-?)) and William Oxley (1823-1905), spiritualists. Oxley was a Methodist, Swedenborgian, spiritualist and writer based in Manchester

Cunicularii or the Wise Men of Godliman in Consultation, 1726 (engraving)
XJF867967 Cunicularii or the Wise Men of Godliman in Consultation, 1726 (engraving) by Hogarth, William (1697-1764); Private Collection; (add.info.: Story of Mary Toft, the woman)

Piltdown Man reconstructed, 1912
Piltdown Man, as imagined by Illustrated London News special artist Amedee Forestier, soon after the discovery of the bones was made public in 1912

Piltdown Man article- The most ancient inhabitant of England
The most ancient inhabitant of England: the newly found Sussex Man. A page from the Illustrated London News by W.P Pycraft, examining the parallels between the Piltdown Man skull and jaw

Piltdown forgery meeting
Meeting to present the extent of the forgery at the Geological Society of London at Burlington House on 30 June 1954

MEDIUM DURING SÔÇ░ANCE, 1912. The medium Eva C. with a materialization on her head and a luminous apparition between her hands

PREHISTORY: PILTDOWN MAN. A reconstruction of the head of the Piltdown Man (here called Man of Sussex) from the original publication in The Illustrated London News, 28 December 1912

Geologists at Piltdown
Geologists Association party visiting the pit at Piltdown on 12 July 1913

Mary Celeste / Fosdyk 1872
ABEL FOSDYKs STORY All the crew, except Fosdyk, are eaten by sharks : he survives on drifting wreckage of the fallen quarter-deck (almost certainly a hoax)

UFO over Balwyn, Melbourne
Unidentified flying object photographed over Balwyn, a suburb of Melbourne. A hoax seems likely... Date: 2 April 1966

Faked UFO image created by the Hamilton Advertiser to illustrate extraterrestrial visitations. 3rd January 1970

UFO flying over desert
action, arizona, bizarre, color image, concept, crisis, curiosity, danger, day, desert, digital composite, discovery, fake, fantasy, flying, futuristic, hoax, horizontal, hovering, intelligence

The Dreadnought Hoax
THE DREADNOUGHT HOAX The Emperor of Abyssinia and his suite prepare to inspect the Royal Navy : Virginia Stephen (Woolf) on left, Horace Cole on the right Date: February 1910

West German student Norbert Sudhaus runs into the stadium as a prank at the end of the marathon at the 1972 Munich
Athletics - 1972 Munich Olympics - Marathon West German student Norbert Sudhaus runs round the stadium in a track uniform, initially fooling the officials and crowd, who began to cheer him

Corpse Deception World War Two 1943 Operation
corpse, deception, world, war, two, 1943, operation, mincemeat, body, major, william, martin, second, wwii, ww2, death, dead, hoax, british, intelligence, glyndwr, michael, the, of, and, a, to, in

Discovery of the Piltdown Man in 1911
BAL4279 Discovery of the Piltdown Man in 1911 by Cooke, Arthur Claude (1867-1951); Geological Society, London, UK; (add.info.: discovered in 1912 by Charles Dawson; )

Theodore Hook (engraving)
619698 Theodore Hook (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Theodore Edward Hook (1788-1841), English man of letters and composer

An apology to the town (engraving)
559195 An apology to the town (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: An apology to the town.); Look and Learn / Peter Jackson Collection; English

Count Franz de Telek thinks he sees his former lover La Stilla
CHT449099 Count Franz de Telek thinks he sees his former lover La Stilla, illustration for The Carpathian Castle by Jules Verne, published by Hetzel, 1892 (litho) by French School

German soldier captured by French soldiers as a result of a trick
DGC288182 German soldier captured by French soldiers as a result of a trick, cartoon from the April Fools Day ( Poisson d Avril ) edition of La Baionette magazine

Little Women - Mrs March and Jo read a letter
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Mrs March and Jo read a letter, purporting to be a love letter to Meg from John Brooke, but actually a practical joke and forgery. 1880

The Cock Lane Ghost (engraving)
611385 The Cock Lane Ghost (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: The Cock Lane Ghost.); Look and Learn / Peter Jackson Collection; English, out of copyright

Thomas Millwood, the supposed Hammersmith Ghost (engraving)
609148 Thomas Millwood, the supposed Hammersmith Ghost (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Thomas Millwood, the supposed Hammersmith Ghost)

Cover Illustration for The Carpathian Castle by Jules Verne
CHT449098 Cover Illustration for The Carpathian Castle by Jules Verne, published by Hetzel, 1892 (litho) by Benett, Hippolyte Leon (1839-1917); Private Collection; (add.info)

The Kitchener Coffin Hoax: Frank Power, freelance journalist
The Kitchener Coffin Hoax: Frank Power (real name Arthur Vectis Freeman), freelance journalist. who earned notoriety as the author of the Great Kitchener Yarn - Power claimed to have brought

The Cat Hoax at Dublin (engraving)
1041129 The Cat Hoax at Dublin (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: The Cat Hoax at Dublin)

How a wise woman charmed away the foot and mouth disease near Ilchester (engraving)
736223 How a wise woman charmed away the foot and mouth disease near Ilchester (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

A mother reclaims her daughter from the den of an astrologist (engraving)
736164 A mother reclaims her daughter from the den of an astrologist (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

Crypt, St Johns Clerkenwell, visited by Dr Johnson in connection with the Cock Lane Ghost fraud (litho)
5999372 Crypt, St Johns Clerkenwell, visited by Dr Johnson in connection with the Cock Lane Ghost fraud (litho) by Railton, Herbert (1857-1910) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: Crypt)

House of the Cock Lane Ghost, 1759 (litho)
5999376 House of the Cock Lane Ghost, 1759 (litho) by Railton, Herbert (1857-1910) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: House of the Cock Lane Ghost, 1759)

Chevalier D Eon, who many years passed as a woman (engraving)
609484 Chevalier D Eon, who many years passed as a woman (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Chevalier D Eon)

Toby, a well known imposter (engraving)
609361 Toby, a well known imposter (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Toby, a well known imposter); Look and Learn / Peter Jackson Collection

Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godlimon in Consultation, December 1726

The Automaton Chess Player, 1845. Creator: Unknown
The Automaton Chess Player, 1845. A machine...invented in the year 1769. by Wolfgang de Kempelin...the concealed player was seated immediately under the chess board of the Automaton...the reverse of

The Venus de Gonon, 1938
Photograph of the Venus de Gonon statue, which was unearthed by a farmer in the Loire district of France in 1938. At first it was believed to be an ancient Greek sculpture

Theodore Hook
(1788-1841). He was an English man of letters and composer and briefly a civil servant in Mauritius. He is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1810

Ann Moore, the fasting woman of Tutbury, 1822. Creator: Robert Cooper
Ann Moore, the fasting woman of Tutbury, 1822. Portrait of Ann Moore (1761-1813) of Tutbury in Staffordshire who became notorious as a fraudulent fasting woman

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"Hoax: Unveiling the Shadows of Deception" In the realm of mysteries and enigmas, hoaxes have long captivated our imaginations. From the iconic Bigfoot film in 1967 to photographic evidence of the elusive Loch Ness Monster, these tantalizing glimpses into the unknown have left us questioning reality. One such intriguing tale dates back to 1863 when French illusionist Henri Robin posed with a ghost in a spirit photograph. Crafted by Eugène Thiébault using double exposure techniques, this cleverly orchestrated publicity stunt blurred the lines between fact and fiction. Delving further into history, we encounter a pivotal moment during UK's Chartism movement in 1848. Satirical magazine Punch played its part by perpetuating false narratives that fueled public opinion and manipulated perceptions. Fast forward to Operation Mincemeat, where a gravestone bearing Major Martin's name became an integral piece of an elaborate ruse during World War II. This audacious plan involved deceiving German intelligence through fabricated documents and strategic misdirection. The discovery of Peking Man added another layer to our understanding of human evolution; however, skepticism arose surrounding its authenticity. Doubts were raised about whether this ancient link was indeed genuine or merely another carefully constructed hoax. Meanwhile, Piltdown Man took center stage in 1912 as scientists unveiled what appeared to be an extraordinary missing link between apes and humans. Yet it turned out that this celebrated find was nothing more than an elaborate forgery—a shocking revelation that shook the scientific community. Moving beyond Earthly deceptions, UFO sightings have sparked intrigue for decades. A photograph capturing unidentified flying objects hovering over Paris ignited debates on extraterrestrial existence while leaving skeptics wondering if it was yet another well-crafted fabrication designed to deceive us all. As we reflect on these historical instances of deception, we are reminded that truth can often be obscured within layers of deceit.