Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators
Black Money Cleaning
Look! A video! It must be real!
Black Money Scam.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 04, 2011 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Stupid Criminals, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Money, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, Africa
1920s Perpetual Motion Machine
More fascinating stuff at the original article.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 03, 2011 -
Comments (5)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Technology, 1920s
Mount Rushmore Animatronics announced
Lots of federal funding is going toward this animatronic enhancement to Mount Rushmore.Don't forget the first day of the fourth month!!
Posted By: gdanea - Thu Mar 31, 2011 -
Comments (3)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators
Quis Fabricariet Ipsos Fabricares?
Dresden art dealer Petra Kujau was found guilty of forgery this week, after passing off three hundred paintings she had come into possession of as the work of her "great-uncle", Konrad Kujau. The 51 year-old singer turned dealer would add a facsimile of Kujau senior's signature to the paintings, then sell them on at a greatly inflated price.So far, so mundane. What makes this story particularly WU worthy is that Konrad Kujau was himself a forger, and his self-proclaimed niece was selling her forgeries as "genuine forgeries" created by her famous uncle Konrad. It all begins to make sense once you learn that Mr. Kujau did not limit himself to forging paintings, but was also known to forge the odd diary or two, specifically those of one Adolf Hitler. Although ultimately unsuccessful, his forgeries of the Hitler Diaries were good enough to fool not just many newspapers and magazines, but also at least two historians, and the unmasking of the hoax caused many a journalist and editor a red face. But the notoriety afforded Konrad Kujau as the man "behind" the Hitler diaries meant that he could command considerable sums for something a small as Hitler's signature on a card, and original "Kujau forgeries" soon became enough of a collector's item that he could make a comfortable living from them after his release from prison in 1987.
After his death in September 2000 his business was carried on by Petra Kujau, who evidently decided that one forgery was as good as another, and began importing cheap copies of famous works from Asian suppliers and passing them off as eminently more desirable "Kujau forgeries", which in one sense they were. But soon the sheer volume of Kujau forgeries on the market aroused the suspicions of at least one collector, who tipped off the police to the double forgery.
Which just leaves the question, just where can I get hold of a genuine Petra Kujau double forgery? Now that's something I'd like to own!
Posted By: Dumbfounded - Sun Sep 12, 2010 -
Comments (6)
Category: Art, Business, Crime, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators
Worst Art-house Movie Ever?
The site where I found this clip explains:
"The now-infamous 'cup and sea' sequence from director Turge Babonet's 1968 film, THE HORRIBLE HORROR -- which prompted writer Cleveland Amory (TV Guide. May 12, 1968) to comment on the state of European cinema, 'You have to be on LSD to understand it'. Babonet's Dutch-language drama was ambitiously rescored and subtitled for US distribution, but its story of tragically depressed cod fishermen held no appeal for American audiences."
However, many folks believe Turge is a hoax.
Look at this purported list of Turge's films, and tell me what you think.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 07, 2010 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Conspiracy Theories and Theorists, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Movies, Performance Art, 1960s, Europe
Hell’s Belles
An all-female AC/DC tribute band? Why not!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 26, 2009 -
Comments (4)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Music, Women
John Kelly
Take yer pick!Joni Mitchell - Blue
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 15, 2009 -
Comments (1)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Music
Bigfoot Prefers Garlic Cloves, Not Powdered
I could expect this on certain channels, or in tabloids. But not The National Geographic Channel! The interesting part starts at about 0:43 and goes to 6:00.
Posted By: qualityleashdog - Fri May 15, 2009 -
Comments (4)
Category: Cryptozoology, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Anthropology
The Baron of Arizona
He stole a few score billion dollars.
But how much is a whole state worth? All the land, natural resources, and structures?
That's what James Addison Reavis stole--almost getting away with the theft too.
Last night I watched THE BARON OF ARIZONA, a 1950 film by Samuel Fuller and starring Vincent Price. It tells the true story of Reavis, who cooked up an incredible con job to lay claim to the entire territory of Arizona in the year 1883.
You can read a fascinating essay about it here.
This is one film definitely worth renting for those with a taste for weird history.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 29, 2009 -
Comments (1)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, History, Historical Figure, Wild West and US Frontier, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Movies, Nineteenth Century, Arizona
Marvin Hewitt, Imposter
I ran across a fifty-year-old case recently in Life magazine from April 12, 1954. The perp was one Marvin Hewitt, and he managed to masquerade as a college-level physics professor, among other positions!
You can read most of the article here. The ending, unfortunately, was missing from my issue of the zine.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 15, 2008 -
Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities, Crime, Education, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Magazines, 1950s
| Who We Are |
|---|
| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |