The Great Moon Hoax
A New York newspaper announced that a great telescope had revealed bison, unicorns and winged people living on the Moon.
What was reported
In August 1835, the New York Sun published a series of articles claiming that the famous astronomer John Herschel, at the Cape of Good Hope, had built a telescope powerful enough to see life on the Moon. The articles described forests, seas, herds of bison, blue unicorns, beavers walking on two legs, and finally winged human-like creatures the reporter called 'man-bats', living in temples.
The series was a sensation, sold huge numbers of papers and was reprinted around the world.
Explanations offered
It was a hoax, generally credited to the reporter Richard Adams Locke, probably meant partly as satire of the wild speculation about life on other worlds at the time. Herschel was real but had nothing to do with it, and is said to have been amused at first and later annoyed by questions about it.
- When
- August 1835
- Where
- The near side of the Moon (published in New York)
- Witnesses
- Readers of the New York Sun
- Status
- Hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.