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30 Astonishing ‘Facts’ That Fooled Really Smart People

By:: Eric B; Cracked Writers

October 02, 2023

30 Astonishing ‘Facts’ That Fooled Really Smart People

Is it really that hard to fool really smart people? Apparently, the answer is yes — at least according to these astonishing “facts” that fooled some of history’s smartest minds. Read on to see how you, too, could be duped by these convincing falsehoods…

30

When Frenchman Roger Tichborne was lost at sea, his mother searched the world for her son. Arthur Orton showed up, and Tichborne's mother believed she'd found him. Tichborne had been thin and dark-haired, where Orton was fat and light-haired. Even 'more puzzlingly, Orton was Australian and didn't speak any French. Orton inherited the family fortune. CRACKED.COM htto ://www. sl au/discover_collections/history_nation/justice/felons/tichborne/index.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

29

When Emily Miller walked in on a home invasion, she became a gun rights advocate. BANG! Except she lied about the home invasion. Miller's version of the story (in her book, for example) has her interrupting a robbery in progress. In the version she told police she questioned a man delivering firewood. CRACKED.COM http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-reporter-emily-miller-* under-fire-for-allegedly-fabricating-home-invasion-details/ -home — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

28

In 2010, Lin Chunping became a financial celebrity by saving the bankrupt Atlantic Bank, in Delaware. Lin's success landed him a cushy position on a Chinese government advisory board. There was no Atlantic Bank in Delaware. Lin made the whole thing up. CRACKED.COM — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

27

30 Astonishing ‘Facts’ That Fooled Really Smart People — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

26

Realtor Sam Leccima was featured on an episode of A&E's Flip this House. FOD SOLD CALS He didn't actually own, fix up, or sell the houses. Leccima had his friends and family pose as buyers and sellers, and staged cosmetic renovation scenes for the camera. Not only did he not own the homes, he would not have been able to sell them. His realtor license had been revoked. CRACKED.COM http:/fwww todav.com/id/18985912# VhFe(RNVhBc — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

25

Journalist Tom Kummer published incredible, exclusive celebrity interviews. He accomplished this by making them up. In the phony interviews, Mike Tyson pontificates on Nietzsche, Sean Penn discusses Kierkegaard, and Bruce Willis philosophizes about morality. In his defense, Kummer called his work borderline journalism. CRACKED.COM ww.nvtimes.com/2000/06/02/world/hallywwood-tales-just-fiction-german-paper-savs.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

24

William Hillar claimed the movie Taken was based on his life. He spent 10 years giving seminars and workshops in counter-terrorism, human trafficking, and drug smuggling, citing his qualifications as a retired army colonel with a PhD. He was lying. Hillar was never in the army, and never even graduated from college. And the daughter he claims was kidnapped and killed never existed. CRACKED.COM as-md-hillar-201101251maryland-man-mail-fraud-military-life — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

23

Vinnie the Chin Gigante roamed Greenwich Village in his bathrobe, ranting and peeing himself, for 30 years. He was a mob boss trying to evade arrest. It worked. His act convinced the public, several judges, and even court psychiatrists, that he was unfit to stand trial. It wasn't until he was 75 years old that he admitted it had all been a con. CRACKED.COM hitn .nydailynews. gigante -arrested- -window- --scam- 2229489 — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

22

Berkeley professor Eugene Bolton went nuts when somebody found a plate signed by Sir Francis Drake. DATECHEIP HELP REITED HERR normalian C The plate was actually created by his drinking buddies as a prank. Bolton had ranted about the plate to his Clamper friends one too many times, and they decided to teach him a lesson. It didn't work the truth about the forgery didn't come out until 40 years later. CRACKED.COM http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Secret-of-Drake-hoax- brevealed-after-70-vears-2670003.pho#phato-2143426~ — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

21

David Deng recruited soldiers into a special forces group, and charged them fees. It was all an immigration scam. Deng dressed up an abandoned store to look like a military recruiting center, and promised recruits they'd improve their chances of becoming U.S. citizens. CRACKED.COM http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/13/ocal/ia-me-04-13-fake-armv-20110413 — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

20

Dr. Joseph Cyr's mother read an article in the paper about her son's heroics aboard a Canadian destroyer. 1 Her son wasn't at sea. The man in the story was Ferdinand Demara, who was posing as Dr. Cyr aboard the military ship, despite having no medical background. In the past he'd posed as an engineer, a hospital orderly, a deputy, a prison warden, a cancer researcher, a lawyer, a teacher, and a Benedictine monk. CRACKED.COM Chttp://www.kvacanada.com/stories /pimposter.htm — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

19

In 1912, Charles Dawson discovered Piltdown Man, the missing link. It was a human skull attached to an orangutan jaw with filed down teeth. The discovery was accepted by the scientific community for 40 years before new dating technology allowed scientists to take a closer look at the bones. CRACKED.COM nhm and-staff/library-and-archives/collections/piltdown-man.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

18

Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for her news story about an 8 -year-old heroin addict named Jimmy. The story created a sensation in D.C., and Mayor Marion Barry assigned a special task force to locate the kid. Jimmy never existed Not only was the story complete fiction, but Cooke had extensively padded her resume and Pulitzer application with lies. Her Pulitzer Prize was revoked. CRACKED.COM class.umd.edu/archive/newshoax/casestudies/journalists/JourJim3.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

17

In 2002, when a tugboat collided with a bridge in Oklahoma and caused multiple casualties, Billy James Clark announced that he was in charge of the rescue and recovery operation. He showed up in an Army uniform, and claimed to be a Green Beret. The 20 local, state, and federal responding agencies on the CLARK USEAR scene believed him. Clark has never been in the military. As part of the cleanup, he commandeered a truck from a local dealer, and demanded several free hotel rooms for his personal use. CRACKED.COM wadn.com/article/curious-cases-William-iames-clark — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

16

Dr. Laura Callahan served as the Department of Homeland Security's Deputy Chief Information Officer. All of her degrees were phony. All three of Callahan's degrees, including her Ph.D., had been purchased from an online diploma mill within the space of one year. She'd had them backdated to avoid suspicion. CRACKED.COM Http://www.cbsnew3.com/news/diplomas-for-sale-08-11-2004/ — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

15

Decorated retired Lt. Col. Jay Cafasso worked as an expert consultant for Fox News during their coverage of the invasion of Afghanistan. fasso Except his milibary background was a lie. Cafasso claimed to have served in Vietnam and Iran, and to have received the Silver Star. His only actual military experience was 44 days of boot camp in 1976, after which he was discharged. CRACKED.COM http: times.com/2002/04/29/business/at-fox-news-the-colonel-who-wasn-t.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

14

When a shy 15-year-old orphan named Francisco showed up at a French school, teachers enrolled him. He was actually 31. Frederic Bourdin pulled it off by slumping his shoulders, dressing as a teenager, and hiding his bald spot with a baseball cap. If anyone asked, he said he had been abused, and wore the hat to hide the scars. CRACKED.COM http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/08/11/the-chameleon-2* — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

13

In 1865, world-renowned doctor James Barry died of dysentery. He had risen from hospital assistant to become the top-ranking doctor in the British Army, and performed one of the first successful Caesarean sections in medical history. The autopsy revealed that he was a woman. Margaret Bulkley wanted to become a doctor when it wasn't possible for women to do so. So took her uncle's name, padded her clothes with towels, and fooled the world. CRACKED.COM pages.com/hub/A-perfect-female-the-fascinating-tale-of-Dr-James-Barry# — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

12

GRACKED.COM The People's Content 26 May R Fake #Cabbage. How do you know what your buying in stores is really #Cabbage? 301k Views Like Comment Share 1.5k Chronological 12.310 shares 798 comments Videos documenting the manufacture of artificial cabbages have gone viral, exposing how disgusting chemical substitutes are replacing regular disgusting cabbages across the global market. Cabbage-lovers are being urged to check their purchases for authenticity. In reality, the artifical cabbages are actually exactly that; models intended for display. — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

11

Obama did not ban the Pledge of Allegiance from schools. A circulating hoax claims that Obama outlawed the pledge from public schools under Executive Order 13738. Executive Order 13738 exists, but it's merely an amendment to the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Act and does not mention the pledge at all. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

10

In 2016, in the days nearing the 9/11 Anniversary, Facebook's Trending feature promoted this article: September 11: The footage that 'proves bombs September 11th Anniversary 320K people talking about this were planted in Twin Towers' Humans of New York ON the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, experts are 11K people talking about this sensationally... See More dailystar.co.uk SPONSORED Posts by ABC7NY, Washington Post, ABC News about an hour ago and others... However, the article and the footage were all just conspiracy theories, with no real news to offer and no actual proof to show. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

9

Bill F Murray was never running for president of the United States. BILL MURRAY IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?! As your neighbours, America. we fully endorse this. XO Canada My mom has texted me to tell me that Bill Murray is running for president N Bill Murray running for president now Lol abcnews.com.co CO People eagerly took bait set by scam sites using spoofed URLs. Considering the actual candidates, who them? CRACKED.COM can blame — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

8

CRACKED.COM Despite what your Facebook friends tell you, The Simpsons did not predict Pokemon GO. The background is from Season 14 episode How I Spent My Strummer Vacation and the hand holding the game was edited into the screengrab. — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

7

Observatorial HOME NEWS VIDEOS POLLS NEWS Firefighter Suspended & Jailed By Atheist Mayor For CRAOM Praying At Scene Of Fire In September 2016, some conservative news sites started reporting a fire fighter in Dequincy, Louisiana was suspended and jailed for praying at the scene of a fire by an atheist mayor, Lawana Jones. THAT NEVER HAPPENED. This was a product of fake news sites that copy the websites of legitimate news organizations and fabricate click bait stories. The mayor of DeQuincy is Lawrence Henagan, not Lawana Jones. Also, the pictured firemen are actually from Iowa, not Louisiana. — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

6

NO, NORTH KOREA HAS NOT BANNED SARCASM. Fox News, The Independent, and other news outlets completely butchered a rather dull story from Radio Free Asia about North Korean officials warning small groups of people against hostile actions and language against the state. North Korea bans sarcasm because Kim Jong-un fears people only agree with him 'ironically' Mocking expression 'a fool who cannot see the outside world is said to be circulating in North Korea Harrier HarriesAgerhotm are Lost 17K According to an unnamed source, one official allegedly suggested that people avoid saying This is all America's fault ironically, as it implies North Korea — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

5

HILLARY CLINTON WASN'T REPLACED BY A BODY DOUBLE Follow LIVE on Lip Rumors of #hillarysBodyDouble Sartwell We were maybe True! blast today! Notice Had a power! very different noses Fight the & subtle hair Sync Battle! differences! AFTER BEFORE #hillarysBodyDouble trended on Twitter after the candidate left a 9/11 memorial event unsteady and returned hours later in good spirits. Conspiracy theorists claimed she was replaced by lookalike Teresa Barnwell. However, Barnwell was in Los Angeles for a live taping of Lip Sync Battle. She has been impersonating Clinton since the 1990s but she's not her body double. Teresa Barnwell Follow — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

4

If Tyler Perry had known Gone Girl was based on a book, with fans who wanted it adapted their way, he'd have turned it down. His agent, who knew about this, didn't tell him the movie was based on a book until after he took the role. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

3

The filming of 2016's Blair Witch was SO hush-hush, the studio gave almost all of the cast and crew a fake name for the movie. BLAIR WITCH THERE'S SOMETHING EVIL HIDING IN THE WOODS TI.E.ATERS SEPTEMBER I6 LIONSGATE PLAIRWITCH.COM BLAIRWATER Some people finished the shoot not knowing they worked on a Blair Witch movie. CRACKED.COM — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

2

In his Die Hard fall, Alan Rickman was supposed to get dropped on the count of three. They dropped him before three, to get a look of pure shock. CRACKED — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

1

30 Astonishing ‘Facts’ That Fooled Really Smart People — Source: 18 Lies That Launched Beloved Pop Culture

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