Mug Shots
Ann O'Delia Diss Debar smiles for the camera
Reader Robert Lifson sent along these mug shots of Ann O'Delia Diss Debar and they were so good I had to share.
Categories: Biography, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Supplement
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"Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries"
Here’s a hint – if it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.
Samozvantsy
false Dmitry's in Russia's time of Troubles
It was 1584 and Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was dead. The boyars of Russia now had a momentous decision to make: who would rule? Only two of Ivan’s children had managed to survive to adulthood: the Tsareviches Ivan and Fedor. Fortunately for Russia, Ivan’s oldest son Ivan […]
Categories: History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 15
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Deeply Impressed
Helen Duncan goes on trial
Helen Duncan was the last person persecuted in Britain for being a witch. Except she wasn't the last, she wasn't a witch, and she wasn't exactly persecuted either...
Categories: Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Series 14
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The Fakiest Fake in England
the haunting of Borley Rectory
The story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England. Just remember that the most and least haunted house are the exact same amount of haunted...
Categories: Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Series 13
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A Good Thing to Die By
the Reverend May S. Pepper and Bright Eyes
This one has it all: the afterlife, evil stepmothers, Kickapoo princesses, the Romanovs, bigamy and fraud, ghost farts and spirit chickens.
Categories: Biography, Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Series 13
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Mr. Mumler’s Ghosts
A small gallery of some of William H. Mumler's best spirit photographs. (By which I mean "aesthetically pleasing", not "genuine.")
Categories: Arts & Culture, Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Supplement
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What Joy to the Troubled Heart!
the tale of William H. Mumler, spirit photographer
In 1862, William H. Mumler took the first known photograph of a ghost. Maybe. What unfolded next was an epic story of fraud and self-deception...
Categories: Biography, Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Series 13
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Nuns on the Run
The Awful disclosures of Maria Monk
In 1835 Maria Monk claimed that Montreal's Hôtel-Dieu convent was a vice den. She was making it all up... but Americans desperately wanted to believe her.
Categories: History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 13
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The Ape-Man Creature of Whiteface Customized My Van
the story of the Minnesota Iceman
How two famous zoologists were fooled by a shifty carnival worker, a rubber dummy, and a three ton block of ice.
Categories: Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 12, Wild Card
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520%
if something seems too good to be true, it probably is
William F. Miller promised a 520% return on your investment... and for many it was too good an offer to pass up. Too bad it was all a scam.
Categories: History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 12
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A Warning To Future Man
either the most astonishing revelation in history... or its greatest hoax
"I myself cannot explain it. I know only that I remember Lemuria! Remember it with the absolute conviction of a fanatic..."
Categories: Entertainment & Media, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Most Popular, Series 11
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The Best Exotic Marigold Gospel
for one messiah, this is just the beginning of an exotic adventure
Where did Jesus get his ideas? Some people think he learned them in India. And some of those people have even ginned up fake evidence for that theory...
Categories: Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 10, Wild Card
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