1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: Hi, and Happy Saturday. Today we are concluding our two 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: part podcast on the Great Moon Hoax of eighteen thirty five, 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: which is where the hoax gets really weird. I mean 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 1: it's weird from the beginning. Here's where it gets really weird, uh. 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: And it's also where we talk about how the hoax 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: was received by the end of the whole thing. We 7 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: hope you have fun and laugh a little bit. Enjoy. 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff you missed in history class from how 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 10 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: I'm Polly Fry and I'm Tracy Vie Wilson. And today 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: is the second part of our two part episode on 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: a series that ran The New York Sun UH in 13 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: August of eighty five, detailing some incredible and amazing discoveries 14 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: that have been made by viewing the lunar surface through 15 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: a brand new type of telescope created Sir John Herschel. 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: It had discussed at some length bison that had been seen, 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: Flora goat like unicorns, and in the last chunk that 18 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: we talked about before we Cliff hung the first episode, 19 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: bat people right, and also the bipedal beavers with no 20 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: tails that carried their babies around like human babies. He Yeah, 21 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: I was telling our producer Nol that I want to 22 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: start a band called Lunar Beavers because that's funny to me. 23 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: I don't have any musical talent, but I'm going to 24 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: do it just the same. I figure I can at 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: least make band t shirts. Right, It's a great idea. 26 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: So now we're going to pick up with the fifth 27 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 1: entry in this sixth part series UH, and we will 28 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: go on to describe it and the sixth part UH 29 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,919 Speaker 1: and what they contain, and then we will talk about 30 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: sort of the cultural context of all of this and 31 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: how it affected people. The fifth entry in this series 32 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: appeared in in the newspaper on Saturday, August twenty nine, 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 1: and this one started with the description of three oceans 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: on the surface of the Moon, which were visible even 35 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: with the puniest of telescopes. That also described seven seas 36 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: and innumerable smaller bodies of water. Additionally, there were all 37 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: matter of outcroppings that the astronomers really started to struggle 38 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: to name because there's not really a comparable geography on Earth. 39 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: And while they were surveying all of these lunar attributes, 40 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: and again this is after they had just this is 41 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: the the following session, after they had discovered these bat people, UH, 42 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: the astronomers identified an unusual architectural figure in the landscape. 43 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: So they paused for a moment and they adjusted their instruments, 44 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: lenses and its setting so that they could take a 45 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: closer look at it. What they discovered was a triangle 46 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: shape temple that was made entirely of sapphire or some 47 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: other bluestone that closely resembled sapphire. The temple had numerous 48 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: massive columns around its outside edges that were estimated to 49 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: be six ft or one pot eight meters wide and 50 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: seventy ft one tall. These columns were spaced at about 51 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: twelve feet or three point seven meters apart. Yeah, and 52 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: when we say triangle shaped, what we mean is the 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: footprint of it was triangle shaped. It wasn't a pyramid. 54 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: It was kind of like if you were looking at 55 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: it from above, it was a triangle, but it rose 56 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: like a column, uh in the sum of its parts. 57 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: And it was according to Dr Andrew Grant, who you 58 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: will recall if you listen to the first part was 59 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: the assistant to UH, Sir John Herschel, who was relaying 60 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: this information to UH in Edinburgh Scientific Journal and sharing 61 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: these notes with the press, and he said that this 62 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: was quite a beautiful structure. The roof was a golden 63 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: metal and it appeared to mimic the look of flames, 64 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,119 Speaker 1: and with in the flames, as though it was being 65 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: consumed by them, was a sphere that the astronomers have 66 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: observed that looked as though it were made of a 67 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,119 Speaker 1: clouded copper, And on each of the temple's three corners 68 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: was a smaller sphere of what appeared to be the 69 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: same copper material. A scroll made from the same metal 70 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: as the flames unfurled from the roof over the upper 71 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: walls of the building, and the temple was open and airy. 72 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: There weren't really any additional walls or are altars um 73 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: that existed in addition to all these columns. With the 74 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: inclusion of the flame ornamentation on the top, they estimated 75 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: that it was almost a hundred feet or thirty meters high. 76 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: There were no man, bats, or other humanoid moon beings 77 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: at the temple, only birds. And this fifth entry pretty 78 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: much just describes this temple UH and then it concludes 79 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: with speculation about the meaning of the temple and its 80 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: flame symbolism. It asked the question, quote, did they buy 81 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: this record any past calamity of their world or predict 82 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: any future one of ours. The sixth and final entry 83 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: in the New York Sun's Lunar series was printed on Monday, 84 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: August thirty one, eighty five. Yes, so that at this 85 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: point they've run basically for a week. Uh. Not far 86 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: from the temple discussed in the fifth entry, which they 87 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: referred to as the Veil of the Triads. The astronomers 88 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: saw similar beings to their man bats that they had 89 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: talked about in the fourth entry, which they had named 90 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: Vespertilio homo. These creatures, however, were a lot larger and 91 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: they were lighter colored than the ones that they had 92 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: seen in the Ruby Colosseum. Doctor Grant claimed that these 93 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: man bats were quote an improved variety of the race. 94 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: The team observed these larger man bats eating yellow gourd 95 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: like fruits and then sucking the juice from a red 96 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 1: fruit that was sort of shaped like a cucumber. Uh. 97 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: The astronomers observed these creatures and their group dynamics, and 98 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: they noted how polite they seemed to be in terms 99 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: of their society, and they're seeming serenity overall. They also 100 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: observed eight or nine previously unseen quadruped species, including a 101 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: really elegant stag like beast that had a white coat 102 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: and black antlers. Grant commented on the way that all 103 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: of the beings of the moon seemed to cohabitate peacefully 104 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: without any sort of predator prey kind of relationship, which 105 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: kind of contradicts the earlier accounts where they decided that 106 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: there must be fish in the water because the birds 107 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: were diving for them. Yeah, that's not brought up again 108 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: at all, um, And at this point, uh, they sort 109 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: of it's a shorter observational period. They kind of conclude 110 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: the day's observation. However, this is not the end of 111 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: this sixth entry in the newspaper series. After gawking at 112 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: all of this amazing stuff and the more advanced man 113 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: bats of the moon, the astronomers wrapped up for the 114 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: night by accidentally failing to correctly lower the lens and 115 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: place it horizontally. They lowered it, but they left it 116 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: in a perpendicular position, and consequently, Uh, the observatory that 117 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: Herschel and his team had constructed caught fire because of 118 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: the light that continued to reflect in the telescope because 119 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: it hadn't been laid down flat. So while the structure 120 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: and its contents were safe, there was a massive hole 121 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: that had been burned in the reflecting chamber of the observatory, 122 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: and that's why everything was abruptly cut short. Of course, 123 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: workmen were hired for a rush repair job, according to 124 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: this account by Grant, and within a week the telescope 125 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: and its supporting elements were once again fit to do 126 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: their work. But unfortunately, at that point the Moon had 127 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: moved out of observable position and it wouldn't come back 128 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: again for a bit. What follows is a whole section 129 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: where the telescope was then turned to Saturn and it's ings, 130 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,239 Speaker 1: and the account detailed various things about that celestial body 131 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: rather than the moon, UH, which is all a very 132 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: fascinating read, but we're going to keep focused to the 133 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: moon stuff for UH for this UH. And by the 134 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: time the moon had moved back into an observable position UH, 135 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: Grants notes indicated that Herschel was still really deep in 136 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: his Saturn studies, so that he couldn't quite refocus back 137 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: to the Moon yet. But doctor Grant and the other 138 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: two assistants that were there did decide to take another 139 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: peak at the moon, and at this point the three 140 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: found an even more beautiful group of vespertilio homo, which 141 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: seemed to have a ceremonial social structure which was similar 142 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: to what they had seen among the bat people near 143 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: the Sapphire Temple, and an even more advanced proclivity for 144 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: producing art. But that's where the account of doctor Grant ends. 145 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: He said he wished to quote let the first detailed 146 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: account of them appear in Dr Herschel's authenticated it natural 147 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: History of this planet, which is so kind of him. 148 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: Did not want to steal the spotlight. So, uh, we 149 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: are going to talk next about how the world of 150 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: felt about all of this moon talk and these amazing 151 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 1: and fantastical discoveries. But before we do, we're going to 152 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: pause for a word from a sponsor. Okay, So back 153 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: to uh the New York Sun's published accounts based on 154 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: the notes of doctor Grant, of the things they had 155 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: seen on the Moon as part of Sir John Herschel's expedition. 156 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: Uh So, this newspaper series featured a Moon filled with 157 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: lush landscapes, of crystals and poppies, fauna similar to bison, unicorn, 158 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: and sheep, and a relatively advanced race of bat people. 159 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: Uh so you are probably wondering what on earth did 160 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: the public make of all this? And the short answer 161 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,479 Speaker 1: was people were really excited. They've debated over the veracity 162 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: of these reports from the lunar surface. There were lectures 163 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: given and open panels to discuss the implications of this 164 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: new finding of life on the moon, and other news 165 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: outlets started picking up the story even before all of 166 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: the installments had been published, so like by the second one, 167 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: they began to reprint this and within weeks the tale 168 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: of lunar civilization had really kind of traveled around the world. 169 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:36,839 Speaker 1: Uh it's as one outlet picked it up and shared 170 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: it with another, etcetera, etcetera. The Sun made a nice 171 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: chunk of cash from this hoax. The readership numbers might 172 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: have bumped up a little, but the paper also sold 173 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: really popular pamphlets about the discoveries, prints of artist renderings 174 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: of the various elements that have been described in the series, 175 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: and that included the solar temple and the bat people. Yeah, 176 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 1: those images are fantastic. I love them. Um and inter 177 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: of context in the greater cultural landscape. A decade before 178 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,959 Speaker 1: the Great Moon Hoax, German professor at Munich University had 179 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: published a paper that translates to discovery of many distinct 180 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,079 Speaker 1: traces of lunar inhabitants, especially of one of their colossal buildings. 181 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: And this one was not intended as a hoax. That 182 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: discusses the multicolored patches of the Moon and how they 183 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: might relate to gradations, uh how those gradations might relate 184 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: to possible different climate zones, different crops, and perhaps even 185 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: different cities and man made structures. Just a few months 186 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: before The New York Sun ran this story, there was 187 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: also an Edgar Allen Post short story that came out 188 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: called The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Fall And that 189 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 1: had been published in the Southern Literary Messenger. This was 190 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: the story of a man's return to Holland, and he 191 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: was filled with stories of a balloon adventure that had 192 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: taken him to the Moon. This had been intended, as 193 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: was the case for satire at the time, to fool 194 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: at least some of its readers, but post story was 195 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: quickly recognized as fiction by typical readers. Most of the time. Further, 196 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: the Southern Literary Messenger had a really small circulation, whereas 197 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: the New York Sun had a much larger readership. Yeah, 198 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: some of the numbers that you'll see, uh word like 199 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thousands for distribution. There is some debate 200 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: about what the true numbers were and how much of 201 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: that was a bump from this story. But thousands versus 202 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: a much smaller group that we're reading, uh, the Southern 203 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: Literary Messenger, And whether the Hans Fall tale inspired this 204 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: lengthy faux scientific series of notes that the Sun published, 205 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: we don't know for certain. Uh, It's certainly entirely possible 206 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: that both were developed independently. But this was a time 207 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 1: when an expedition like Herschel's trip to South Africa, which 208 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: was a real thing to observe. Hayley's comment, was big news, 209 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: and astronomy and the possibility of life on other worlds 210 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: were really sparking the imaginations of the general public. And 211 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: in fact, forty years earlier, Sir John Herschel's father, William Herschel, 212 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: had published a paper speculating about life on other planets. 213 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: So this was a topic that was kind of rumbling 214 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: through culture already the Sun's series had been really carefully 215 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: designed to capitalize on all that interest in space and 216 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: life on other worlds, and all of that it was 217 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,080 Speaker 1: grounded in true thanks to the use of Herschel's name 218 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: and his very well reported trip research trip to Cape Town. 219 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 1: It developed slowly, first establishing all of the scientific instruments 220 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: that were being used in the research, and then it 221 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: unwound the details of these lunar wonders bit by bit. 222 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: And while you will hear and read if you look 223 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: at many historians treatment of this different accounts of really 224 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: how this kind of UH came out in terms of 225 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: numbers of like what proportion of the population and believed 226 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: it versus what didn't. At least for the first several installments, 227 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: it seemed that a lot of people did believe these claims, 228 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: or were at least sort of wanted to believe them 229 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 1: enough to think about them of flora and fauna that 230 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: were being observed with this amazing fictional telescope. But the 231 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: fourth installment, so that's where they introduced these bat people, UH, 232 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: went a little too far past believability for a lot 233 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: of readers. That kind of tipped the scale of like, uh, 234 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: you've gone too far now. By the time the fifth 235 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: entry was published, most of the other papers had started 236 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: denouncing the entirety of this series as a hoax. Richard 237 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: Adams Lock, a British journalist who had moved to America, 238 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: was accused of penning the faux discovery narrative. Lock had 239 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: been hired as an editor of The Sun just two 240 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: months before this hoax began, and Locke actually addressed these 241 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: accusations with a nebulous denial letter that he wrote to 242 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: the New York Herald on August thirty one, so that 243 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: was the same day that the last installment of the 244 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: tale was published in the New York Sun. And in 245 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: this letter Locke wrote, quote, I beg to state, as 246 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: unequivocally as the words can express it, that I did 247 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: not make those discoveries. And it is my sincere conviction, 248 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: founded on a careful examination of the internal evidence of 249 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: the work in which they first appeared, that if made 250 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: at all, they were made by the great astronomer to 251 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: whom all Europe, if not an incredulous America, will undoubtedly 252 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 1: ascribe them. A Philadelphia paper reprinted Locke's letter along with 253 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: an advertisement for real estate auction to sell off newly 254 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: discovered property identified by Sir John Herschel, the sale of 255 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: which could include the native one horn sheep with the 256 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: fleshy lip flaps if the buyer so desired. Yeah. So, 257 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: some people were definitely kind of picking up the joke 258 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: and running with it in their own ways. Uh. And 259 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: even though at this point it clearly seemed to all 260 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: be one big lark and most people had accepted it 261 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: as such, there were still people who believed the account ounts. 262 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: Plus there was this added complication. Remember we're talking about 263 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty years ago that in some places 264 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: the news of the discovery had spread, but the follow 265 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: up hoax discussions had not. So they were only getting 266 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: the accounts as though they were real. They had not 267 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: had any of the follow up talk that was going 268 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: on in other papers. Of course, there was no doctor 269 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: Andrew Grant who had been traveling and working with Sir 270 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: John Herschel. He was completely made up. But Herschel did exist, 271 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: and he had been working on a new telescope, and 272 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: he did travel to the Cape of Good Hope in 273 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty four. It was on that trip that he 274 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: made some important observations of Howe's comments, So that little 275 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: tiny kernel of truth fueled the fires of belief as 276 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: this whole hoax played out, and Edgar Allen Poe believed 277 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: that Locke was the author of the Great Moon Hoax 278 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: as the serial came to be known. It certainly wasn't 279 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: published that way, but later on people started calling it that, 280 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: and he suggested that Law had actually stolen the Hans 281 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: Fall idea and reworked it. And after almost ten years 282 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,919 Speaker 1: of complaining about this, as though it had been a 283 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: slight to him, Poe wrote another story which was entitled 284 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: The Balloon Hoax. And this was about an intensely speedy 285 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 1: balloon trip across the Atlantic Ocean. If I'm remembering correctly, 286 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: it like took seventy five hours. And this too was 287 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: a hoax, apparently inspired by the Great Moon Hoax, and 288 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: it ended up being published in the New York Sun. 289 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: The Balloon Hoax fooled a lot more people than the 290 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: story of Hans Fall, so the New York Sun never 291 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 1: retracted this story. It also never named the true author, 292 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: although most historians do you believe that it was Locke, 293 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: And we'll talk about that more in a moment. While 294 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: most people and other news publications seemed unbothered by this. 295 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: The Sun's primary competitor, The New York Harold declared The 296 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: Sun's printing of the series to be quote highly improper, wicked, 297 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: and in fact a species of impudent swindling. But most 298 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: people saw it as basically a clever joke. The reason 299 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: that most people were willing to let this hoax go 300 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,680 Speaker 1: without protests about The Sun's journalistic integrity and the ethics 301 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: that they should have upheld sort of stem from the 302 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:13,959 Speaker 1: fact that The New York Sun was a penny paper. 303 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 1: Uh at the time, there were penny papers and there 304 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: were six cent papers, and six cent papers at the 305 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: time were aimed at more discerning readers, usually a little 306 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: more educated, a little more highbrow, whereas penny papers UH 307 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: printed more lurid news. They would print gossip, they would 308 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: print crime reports and murder sheets, and they were aimed 309 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,160 Speaker 1: at sort of a wider audience. They just weren't considered 310 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: on the same level as the six cent papers. I 311 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,959 Speaker 1: think this is similar to the divide between the tabloid 312 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: format papers and broadsheet papers today. It is although penny 313 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: papers would report real news as well, but they have 314 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: sort of that leverage to have a little bit of 315 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: wits and yeah, yeah, and tabloids have basically have definitely 316 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,960 Speaker 1: broken some legitimates worries before uh, you know, you the 317 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: classic bat Boy cover of a you know, a tabloid 318 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: papers is what this whole story kind of reminds me of. 319 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: And who doesn't love bat Boy. Uh. We're going to 320 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about Locke and about Sir 321 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: John Herschel in just a moment, but before that, we 322 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: are going to have a quick word from a sponsor, 323 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: if that's cool with Tracy. Sure. So, Almost five years 324 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: after The Great Moon Hoax was published, and after a Locke, 325 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: who was noted to be kind of a heavy drinker, 326 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: was said to have confessed his authorship to various colleagues 327 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:50,120 Speaker 1: in the newspaper industry in various states of intoxication, Lock 328 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: actually wrote a letter to the paper New World, and 329 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: at this point he had returned to life as a 330 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: freelance writer. After he left the Son, he went to 331 00:19:58,040 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: another job at the New Era, but then when he 332 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: was I'm from that, he went back to freelance. Locke's 333 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: letter appeared on the front page of the New World 334 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: on May sixteenth, of eighteen forty, and in it he 335 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,439 Speaker 1: said that he had written The Great Moon Hoax, but 336 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: that it had not been intended as a hoax. He 337 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: claimed that it had been written as satire, intended to 338 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:21,440 Speaker 1: skewer the effect that religion was having on science, which 339 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,360 Speaker 1: he believed led to the acceptance of fanciful thinking over 340 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: solid truth, and so that would seem to clear the 341 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: um the case on whether or not Alack had written it. However, 342 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: there is still some debate over whether he could have 343 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 1: even written this series, given the information about astronomy that 344 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: can that it contained, and that some people say he 345 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: just would not have known. Uh. It is of course 346 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,159 Speaker 1: entirely possible that Locke could have consulted with experts, or 347 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: that multiple writers worked on these accounts that they put 348 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 1: forward as the work of this fictional uh dr Andrew Grant. 349 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: And it's also entirely conceivable Locke may have learned enough 350 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: about astronomy through his own reading. He was apparently a 351 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: very well read man and sort of a lifelong learner 352 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 1: that he could have written this piece without assistance. So 353 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: it's not an open and shut but most people still 354 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 1: think Locke did do the writing. You may be wondering, 355 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 1: I know, I was exactly what Sir John Herschel thought 356 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: of all of this. And while all of this work 357 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,919 Speaker 1: was going down in the States, Sir John Herschel was 358 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 1: still in South Africa doing actual, legitimate astronomy work. In 359 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: late eighteen thirty five, he was given a copy of 360 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 1: the narrative that The Sun had published, which had cited 361 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: his work, and his initial reactions seemed to be one 362 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: of amusement. He said to have remarked that his own 363 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: actual work would probably seem quite dull by comparison once 364 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 1: it was published. So even though the initial reception on 365 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: his part was pretty jolly, over time that amusement wore 366 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: right off. Uh. Several years down the road, he wrote 367 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: a letter to his aunt Caroline Herschel, who was also 368 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 1: an astronomer of some renowned I have been pestered from 369 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: all quarters with that ridiculous hoax about the moon in English, French, 370 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: Italian and German. As for the Sun, it continued its 371 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: circulation until it merged with the New York World Telegram 372 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty, and that company eventually went under in 373 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven. And that's the great Moon hoax which 374 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,080 Speaker 1: I think I did not credit earlier, but our listener 375 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: Brian wrote to us and mentioned this a while back, 376 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: and it kind of went on my list and I've 377 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: been eyeballing it ever since, so I'm glad that this 378 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: was the week that I carved out time to do it. 379 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 380 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,160 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 381 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 382 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 383 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,199 Speaker 1: be obsolete now, so here's our current contact information. We 384 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: are at History Podcast at how stuff works dot com, 385 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: and then we're at Missed in the History. All over 386 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest, 387 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 388 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff Works dot com.