ever since the first humans looked up and began contemplating the objects in the night sky our Celestial neighbor the moon has been a constant source of awe and wonder over the short time humankind has walked the Earth our view of the moon has evolved a lot we built structures such as Neolithic circles and pyramids to honor it we wrapped it in mythology fo to the Egyptians aramus to the Greek s and Chandra to the Hindus we blamed it on disease and psychiatric changes giving birth to the word lunatic and we even linked it to dark
tales of men morphing into wolves with the invention of the telescope however came A New Perspective of the Moon Galileo for example observed it as being rugged and created in the 17th century and of course with the start of the Space Age came a dramatic shift in our understanding of our closest neighbor then in 1969 NASA achieved something remarkable they put man on the moon marking one of the greatest moments in human history however as the Apollo missions unfolded another narrative emerged one of skepticism and disbelief despite overwhelming evidence supporting the Apollo moonlandings a conspiracy
theory sprouted claiming that these historic events were staged some individuals believed that NASA had orchestrated an elaborate hoax While most people agree that the moon landings did happen many still to this day Believe In The Conspiracy Theory even though it has been debunked on many occasions but this isn't the only time the moon has been linked with a popular hoax because there was a short period in the 19th century when the world looked up at the moon and saw an entirely different lunar landscape one that was believed would change Humanity as we know it so
what was this hoax and how did it trick the world into believing something that clearly did not exist you're watching v101 space my name is Rob and if you enjoy my videos then remember to subscribe and tap the notification Bell to never miss an upload imagine walking through the streets of New York City in 1835 paved with uneven cobblestones the sound of horse and carriage and floods of pedestrians created a lively bustling atmosphere people from all different walks of life would be going about their day many of whom would be buying goods from the street
vendors such as fruits and vegetables clams and oysters and of course the extremely popular Penny Press paper the penny Press Paper was a groundbreaking Concept in journalism that aimed to make news accessible to everyone at an affordable cost of only 1 cent per copy which is around 35 cents in today's money the New York Sun founded by Benjamin day is generally considered to be the beginning of the penny press becoming extremely successful because it used illustrations engaging writing style and catered to a much wider audience than the more Elite and expensive newspapers of the time
this form of Journalism created an enormous appetite for news among the general public but anyone who opened the pages of the New York sun on Tuesday August 25th 1835 would have had no idea of the astonishing story they were about to read or the global sensation it was about to cause they were about to become a part of one of the most imaginative hoaxes of of all time the article which was the first of a six-part series had a headline that read great astronomical discoveries and described the supposed findings of Sir John herel A real
astronomer of the time according to the Sun the Articles were reprinted from the Edinburgh Journal of Science in Scotland and reported how herel had discovered that the moon was teeming with life challenging the belief that the lunar surface was a desolate Barren landscape the story described how herel had managed to create a massive telescope lens over 7 m in diameter six times larger than the largest lens of the time and carted it all the way from England to South Africa then according to the paper once set up he turned the lens on the moon and
made multiple astonishing discoveries at first there were hints of vegetation along with a beach of white sand and a chain of Slender pyramids herds of brown quadrupeds similar to bison were found in the shade of some woods and in a valley were single horned goats the blush color of lead in part three it became even more bizarre small reindeer mini zebra and bipedal beavers that carry their young in their arms like human beings and move with an easy gliding motion was said to live there but the real surprise came on day four when creatures that
looked like small humans with wings and that could fly were apparently discovered the author writes we scientifically denominated them as vespertilio homo or manbat and they are doubtless innocent and happy creatures it was reported that readers of the time were captivated by the prospect of a world beyond their own causing the New York Suns sails to so as people rush to find out the latest news on our living Luna neighbors it is even estimated that 90% of New Yorkers believed in the article the only problem was it was all a hoax later becoming known as
the Great Moon Hox of 1835 it turned out that Sir John hsel did not make these astronomical discoveries nor did he claim to in fact he had no idea the story even mentioned his name and it is reported that he was initially amused by the whole thing before later becoming annoyed by the constant questions being asked about it if this kind of story was published today it would be laughed off as science fiction but back in 1835 scientific understanding amongst the public was nowhere near as developed and the moon remained a largely mysterious and unexplored
Frontier you could imagine the readers becoming more and more excited with every word not knowing it was mostly based on pure fiction or at least not wanting to believe that it was however regardless of the sensation it caused resulting in the New York Sun becoming the most widely red paper in the world at the time according to the author it was never meant to fool any anyone the stories had not been published as an attempt to trick the world but instead the paper underestimated the gullibility of the public it was reported years later after confessing
to writing the series Richard Adams lock said it was meant as satire and that they were designed to poke fun at earlier serious speculations about extraterrestrial life on other worlds why so many believed in in this extraordinary hoax was likely due to multiple factors including a limited scientific understanding linked with a curiosity and enthusiasm towards science just like us they also wanted to learn of new Incredible discoveries people of the time also likely had too much trust in the press and didn't question the authenticity of stories probably because they didn't have the factchecking abilities we
have today but it would have also been entertaining in an era without television radio or the internet people were drawn to stories that offered a sense of wonder and spectacle and the vivid descriptions provided in the Articles certainly would have fueled the Public's imagination although we can look back at this story as a laughable moment in history in essence the Great Moon Hox of 1835 does serve as a sort of cautionary tale after all it did go viral before social media TV or radio reminding us that the media then and now is a powerful force
and that we shouldn't always believe everything we read a lesson that remains highly relevant in today's digital [Music] age
