Great Moon Hoax - Wikipedia
The "Great Moon Hoax", also known as the "Great Moon Hoax of 1835" was a series of six articles published in The Sun (a New York newspaper), beginning on August 25, 1835, about the supposed discovery of life and civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel and his fictitious companion Andrew Grant.[ 1]
The story was advertised on August 21, 1835, as an upcoming feature allegedly reprinted from The Edinburgh Courant.[ 2] The first in a series of six was published four days later on August 25. These articles were never retracted; however, on September 16, 1835, The Sun admitted the articles were in fact fabricated.[ 3]
The articles described animals on the Moon, including bison, single-horned goats, mini zebras, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and bat-like winged humanoids ("Vespertilio-homo") who built temples.[ 4] There were trees, oceans and beaches. These discoveries were supposedly made with "an immense telescope of an entirely new principle". The telescope - transported to South Africa from New England - was said to be many times larger than any other telescope in the world. The lens measured "24 feet in diameter and 7 tons in weight".[ 4]
A reprinted edition of 1836 added a second type named the Vespertiliones.[ 8] The author of the narrative was ostensibly Dr. Andrew Grant, the travelling companion and amanuensis of Sir John Herschel, but Grant was fictitious.
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