Bats on the Moon and the Rise of Fake News By Thomas Hibbert
On the 25 th August 1835, the people woke up to find that a British astronomer, Sir John Herschel, had been reported by the New York Sun to have found sophisticated life on the moon. It was claimed by the newspaper that they had found the information from a copy of the Edinburgh Science Journal and promised to inform their eager readers about the discovery. It was later revealed that the intelligent life on the moon were man - bats, and the moon was also inhabited by
had ended, and when the extremely thick veil was removed
Sir John Herschel
from the operation, it was received with laughter and goodwill from practically everyone. As the years progressed after the incident, more hoaxes were created, until 1863. The bar for elaborate stories reached an all - time high, when a man named Mark Twain created a myth about a murderer. Twain lost his job, but the damage had been done. Until that point, most false stories had been about silly stories, such as a man carrying a humongous potato, and a trip across the Atlantic Ocean using a gas balloon. Twain ’ s story created fear and paranoia, and heralded the start of a dangerous era of news, Yellow Journalism. Thank you for reading .
unicorns, and obviously, beavers. Immediately, the New York Sun ’ s
newspapers began selling out rapidly. Thankfully for the New York Sun, Sir John Herschel was in South Africa, but the editors and writers for the Edinburgh Science Journal were confused, because the newspaper had shut down several years ago. Scientists from Yale also arrived on the scene, hoping to find the Edinburgh Science Journal, but the New York Sun led them on a wild goose chase until they gave up. Eventually, the public realized that, sadly there was no such thing as flying man - bats on the moon. British newspapers mocked Americans for believing in the story, but for the New York Sun, the scandal had worked, and they lost very few readers after the guile
An illustration showing bats on the moon from the New York Sun
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