On August 25, 1835, The New York Sun published the first of a series of articles describing the miracles that astronomers allegedly saw when observing the moon through a super-powerful telescope. They described the Moon as being covered in dense forests and teeming with bipedal beavers, bearded blue unicorns and, most surprisingly, humanoid bats. Readers were delighted and the series was reprinted and discussed many times. There was only one problem: not a single word in it was true.
How the story began
The New York Sun was a low-quality, cheap newspaper that usually had to deal with news of murders and fires. But starting from August 25, 1835, in a short time, she became the main scientific authority in the world. This transformation began with the publication of "Great Astronomical Discoveries," a series of six articles that recounted the startling discoveries allegedly made by astronomer Sir John Herschel while observing the sky in South Africa. According to the newspaper's editors, the sources for their publications were articles that originally appeared in the Edinburgh journal Science.
Contents of the first article
The first article introduced readers to Herschel, who was described as the scientist who solved or corrected almost all the leading problems of mathematical astronomy during his recent expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. The article also talked about his revolutionary new telescope, which had a huge size and a completely new principle of operation. Its magnifying power was said to be 42,000 times.
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Unusual world
An article published the next day recounted what happened when Sir John pointed his super telescope toward the moon. This was followed by an image of the lunar surface in focus, where he and his fellow scientists saw intricate basalt rocks and fields of blood red poppies. The article said that this is the first organic object of nature outside the earthly world that has ever opened to the eyes of people. Further observations showed that the Moon has green forests and shimmering blue seas, as well as brown four-legged animals resembling small bison. Astronomers were also stunned when they saw unicorns with goat beards and amphibians moving at high speed along the pebbled beach.
Third day shock
On the third day, readers were expected to describe even more lunar curiosities, including volcanic eruptions and rocks of quartz crystals. Miniature zebras roamed the green hillsides, and the forests were inhabited by horned bears, herds of deer and elk. The most surprising of all of this were the so-called bipedal beavers - tailless, upright creatures who carried their babies in their arms like humans, used fire and lived in wooden houses.
Continuation of the sensation
The last three publications have become a real sensation. Observing the ruby hills, scientists allegedly discovered winged humanoids that ascended into the moonlit sky as easily as we walk on the ground. The article claimed that these creatures were 1.2 m in height, their body shape resembled an orangutan and were covered, except for the face, with short copper-colored hair. It was said that these creatures participated in a conversation with each other, and this is a sure sign of the presence of consciousness. "We scientifically named them Vespertilio-homo, or the man-bat," writes the author of the story, "and they are undoubtedly innocent and happy creatures."
By the time Vespertilio-homo was revealed to the world on August 28, the Great Astronomical Discoveries series was already a runaway success. Readers besieged the offices of The New York Sun to buy the latest issues, and the newspaper's circulation grew to 19,000 copies. At the time, it was more than any daily newspaper in the world. Competing newspapers relentlessly commented on these stories and began reprinting them themselves. The New York Transcript newspaper even published accounts from an exclusive correspondent who claimed he was also present at the sightings. As the hysteria grew, The New York Sun owner Benjamin Day began printing 25-cent booklets that featured images of the bat-man and other lunar species. They sold with great success.
Who was behind the deception
This media-fueled circus could have been justified were it not for the simple fact that the stories about the moon were a hoax. Sir John Herschel was indeed an astronomer, and he did observe the sky in South Africa. However, the tales of his new telescope and the majestic creatures he found were just science fiction. The author of this hoax was Richard Adams Locke, editor of The New York Sun. A science enthusiast, Locke wrote these stories as a satire on the astronomical community of the early 19th century and his penchant for making claims about extraterrestrial life. His main target was Thomas Dick, a Scottish priest and bestselling author in which he, among other bizarre theories, argued that the solar system was home to 21894974404480 inhabitants.
Locke later admitted that he hoped to ridicule Dick and his supporters by making equally absurd assumptions, passing them off as science, but most readers failed to understand this satire. Everyone believed these publications and wanted to know more about the wonderful discoveries of Sir John Herschel … There were, of course, a few skeptics, but expressing doubt about the truth of the great lunar discoveries was considered almost as heinous sin as questioning the truth of the Bible.
Critical reaction
One of the most famous critics was the writer Edgar Allan Poe. Just a few weeks before the publication of these stories about the moon, he wrote the story "Hans Faal". It dealt with the Dutchman's journey to the moon in a balloon. Poe considered the publications of The New York Sun to be a plagiarism of his story, but even he could not help but wonder at the popularity this sensation caused.
The popularity lasted until skeptics started digging a little deeper, and cracks began to appear in the history of the moon. On August 31 - the same day that The New York Sun published a description of another species of Vespertilio-homo - the New York Herald published an article entitled "Clarifying Astronomical Hoaxes." It highlighted many of the inconsistencies in the reports, including the fact that the Edinburgh journal Science had not been published for several years at the time. Even more devastating, the New York Herald named Richard Adams Locke as the true author of these tales. Other accusations soon followed, claiming that Locke had confessed to one of his reporters while intoxicated.
Confession
The New York Sun denied the allegations and began a public feud with the New York Herald, but after a month passed and there was no official confirmation of the existence of lunar beavers or bat-man, it became clear the story was a scam. Locke finally confessed everything five years later in a long letter to the New World newspaper. He said he regretted writing the articles, but accused people of inadequately responding to the books of the Reverend Dick and other sensational scholars whose theories prepared the public to swallow anything, no matter how absurd the claim was.
Unlike Locke, The New York Sun has never acknowledged or backtracked on what became known as the Great Moon Swindle. Its sales continued to grow even after the stories had already begun to be forgotten. Instead of being shocked, most people just took this streak as a clever trick.
Sir John Herschel was less impressed. The venerable astronomer finally received word of these stories in late 1835, and he soon grew tired of the constant questioning of ignorant readers. Even after the hoax was exposed, lunar stories continued to circulate in foreign newspapers around the world. According to some accounts, they were still published even in the 1850s.
Anna Pismenna