Hoax in the context of "Loch Ness Monster"

The Voynich manuscript is an illustrated codex, hand-written in an unknown script referred to as Voynichese. The vellum on which it is written has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century (1404–1438). Stylistic analysis has indicated the manuscript may have been composed in Italy during the Italian Renaissance. The origins, authorship, and purpose of the manuscript are still debated, but currently scholars lack the translation(s) and context needed to either properly entertain or eliminate any of the possibilities. Hypotheses range from a script for a natural language or constructed language, an unreadable code, cypher, or other form of cryptography, or perhaps a hoax, reference work (i.e. folkloric index or compendium), glossolalia or work of fiction (e.g. science fantasy or mythopoeia, metafiction, speculative fiction).

The first confirmed owner was Georg Baresch, a 17th-century alchemist from Prague. The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who purchased it in 1912. The manuscript consists of around 240 pages, but there is evidence that some of the pages are missing. The text is written from left to right, and some pages are foldable sheets of varying sizes. Most of the pages have fantastical illustrations and diagrams, some crudely coloured, with sections of the manuscript showing people, unidentified plants and astrological symbols. Since 1969, it has been held in Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. In 2020, Yale University published the manuscript online in its entirety in their digital library.

The Yeti (/ˈjɛti/) is an ape-like creature purported to inhabit the Himalayan mountain range in Asia. In Western popular culture, the creature is commonly referred to as the Abominable Snowman. Many dubious articles have been offered in an attempt to prove the existence of the Yeti, including anecdotal visual sightings, disputed video recordings, photographs, and plaster casts of large footprints. Some of these are speculated or known to be hoaxes.

Folklorists trace the origin of the Yeti to a combination of factors, including Sherpa folklore and misidentified fauna such as bear or yak. The Yeti is commonly compared to Bigfoot of North America, as the two subjects often have similar physical descriptions.

Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a pseudoscientific set of beliefs, also called paleocontact, that hold that intelligent extraterrestrial beings (alien astronauts) visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents of the theory suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, religions, and human biology. A common position is that deities from most (if not all) religions are extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans.

The idea that ancient astronauts existed and visited Earth is not taken seriously by academics and archaeologists, who identify such claims as pseudoarchaeological or unscientific. It has received no credible attention in peer-reviewed studies. When proponents of the idea present evidence in favor of their beliefs, it is often distorted or fabricated. Some authors and scholars also argue that ancient astronaut theories have racist undertones or implications, diminishing the accomplishments and capabilities of indigenous cultures.

Holocaust denial is the negationist and antisemitic claim that Nazi Germany and its collaborators did not commit genocide against European Jews during World War II, ignoring overwhelming historical evidence to the contrary. Theories assert that the genocide of Jews is a fabrication or exaggeration. Holocaust denial includes making one or more of the following false claims: that Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" was aimed only at deporting Jews from the territory of the Third Reich and did not include their extermination; that Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas chambers for the mass murder of Jews; that the actual number of Jews murdered is significantly lower than the accepted figure of approximately six million; and that the Holocaust is a hoax perpetrated by the Allies, Jews, or the Soviet Union.

Holocaust denial has roots in postwar Europe, beginning with writers such as Maurice Bardèche and Paul Rassinier. In the United States, the Institute for Historical Review gave Holocaust denial a pseudo-scholarly platform and helped spread it globally. In the Islamic world, Holocaust denial has been used to delegitimize Israel; deniers portray the Holocaust as a fabrication to justify the creation of a Jewish state. Iran is the leading state sponsor, embedding Holocaust denial into its official ideology through state-backed conferences and cartoon contests. In former Eastern Bloc countries, deniers do not deny the mass murder of Jews but deny the participation of their own nationals.

A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was first coined in the early 1980s. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the sort of thing done in hoaxes" by Taner Edis, professor of physics at Truman State University.

Although obscure natural causes or alien origins of crop circles are suggested by fringe theorists, there is no scientific evidence for such explanations, and all crop circles are consistent with human causation. In 1991, two hoaxers, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, took credit for having created over 200 crop circles throughout England in widely-reported interviews. The number of reports of crop circles increased substantially after interviews with them. In the United Kingdom, reported circles are not distributed randomly across the landscape, but appear near roads, areas of medium to dense population, and cultural heritage monuments, such as Stonehenge or Avebury. They usually appear overnight. Nearly half of all crop circles found in the UK in 2003 were located within a 15 km (9.3 mi) radius of the Avebury stone circles.

Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different "races" or racialized ethnicities.

In the past, such marriages were outlawed in certain U.S. states, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation (Latin: 'mixing types'). The word, now usually considered pejorative, first appeared in Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro, a hoax anti-abolitionist pamphlet published in 1864. Even in 1960, interracial marriage was forbidden by law in 31 U.S. states.

Bigfoot (/ˈbɪɡ.fʊt/), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (/ˈsæs.kwɒtʃ/, SASS-kwotch; /ˈsæs.kwætʃ/, SASS-kwahtch), is a large, hairy mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Bigfoot is featured in both American and Canadian folklore, and since the mid-20th century has become a cultural icon, permeating popular culture and becoming the subject of its own distinct subculture.

Enthusiasts of Bigfoot, such as those within the pseudoscience of cryptozoology, have offered various forms of dubious evidence to support Bigfoot's existence, including anecdotal claims of sightings as well as supposed photographs, video and audio recordings, hair samples, and casts of large footprints. However, the evidence is a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, and the creature is not a real living animal.

April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool[s]!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved with these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbor has been relatively common in the world historically.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, although he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me." According to Barnum's critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers". The adage "there's a sucker born every minute" has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.

Barnum became a small-business owner in his early twenties and founded a weekly newspaper before moving to New York City in 1834. He embarked on an entertainment career, first with a variety troupe called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater", and soon after by purchasing Scudder's American Museum, which he renamed after himself. He used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb. In 1850, he promoted the American tour of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000, equivalent to $37,796 in 2024, per night for 150 nights. He suffered economic reversals in the 1850s from unwise investments, as well as years of litigation and public humiliation, but he embarked on a lecture tour as a temperance speaker to emerge from debt. His museum added America's first aquarium and expanded its wax-figure department.