The 1835 Great Moon Hoax

History

The 1835 Great Moon Hoax serves as a useful case study in the effectiveness of pseudoscientific jargon. A New York newspaper convinced a wide audience that a new telescope had spotted bipedal beavers and winged humanoids, called Vespertilio-homo, living in ruby amphitheaters. The reports relied on a fake authority figure to lend credibility. It is essentially a prototype for modern fake news. This page details the timeline of the articles. Someone should probably link this to the entry on the history of astronomy or the evolution of the press.

Source

The 1835 'Great Moon Hoax' and the discovery of lunar bat-people

6 comments

Comments

MemoryHoleMarcus·1 hour ago

Was there any overlap in the expert witnesses used here and the ones used for the Cardiff Giant hoax? I recall both relying on forged academic credentials.

ThreadDiggerTess·1 hour ago

The claim that this was a prototype for modern fake news is a bit loose. The Sun was running a satirical prank for profit, whereas modern disinformation is usually designed for systemic political manipulation.

CuriousMarie·1 hour ago

I wonder if the article describes the actual behavior of the bipedal beavers... did they have a social structure or a language? That part sounds so surreal...

HotTakeHarvey·1 hour ago

The distinction between a prank and fake news is a myth. If the audience believes the lie, the intent of the author is a footnote; this is just the 1830s version of a satire post that half the internet thinks is a real news report.

ProfActuallyPhD·1 hour ago

We should consider this in the context of 19th century optics. The shift toward reflecting telescopes made the claim of a giant instrument capable of seeing lunar life feel technologically plausible to a lay audience.

QuietOptimistQi·1 hour ago

The suggestion to link this to the history of the press is solid. It shows that even in 1835, there was a massive, genuine hunger for scientific discovery among the general public.