10 of the most famous extraterrestrial farces

Ah, the facts about aliens! There is no denying that we love to get into discussions about them and their existence. Some believe, relying on the theory that it is silly to think that we are alone in the universe. But there are those who do not believe at all that extraterrestrial life exists. Each has their own beliefs and freedom to think what they want about it.

However, over the decades, especially since the 1940s, many people have taken advantage of the hypothesis that there are beings from other planets to launch various farces about them and UFO sightings in order to earn fame, money and much more. controversy.

However, even when a scam was proven to be a scam, not everyone listened. Some gullible remain faithful for the rest of their lives, no matter how unlikely such invented events are.

The cultural mark created by a rumor is exemplified in the ten most famous scams involving aliens and UFOs of recent decades, according to the List Verse website. Check it out below.

10 - Michael Shermer's Unmasked Scam - 2007

In 2007, Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic magazine, released a short video detailing his research into how easy it is to create fake UFO photos. He picked up flying saucers made by several children, using simple materials like plastic covers, glue and silver paint. She then made themselves photograph their creations by hanging the fishing line objects in a gray sky setting.

Although not made by professionals, the fishing line was not visible and the images were not smoky. When Shermer showed the photos to the public at a booth, some were skeptical and some believed they were real.

But when he told them the photos were fake, something interesting happened. Almost everyone seemed disappointed with reality, and many did not resign themselves and claimed to strongly believe in UFOs, as if accepting the evidence could demonstrate personal weakness.

9 - Images of extraterrestrial beings - from 1960 until today

In the 1950s and 1960s came the American cultural trend not only of sightings of flying saucers, but of contacts with their occupants. The mass scam spread across the country and people struggled to become the center of attention.

People's face was such that a man named RE Harrison II took pictures of an image of his television screen and claimed it was from an alien at his door.

But the most controversial example of a scam about alien at the time was a video made by Ray Santilli claiming to be from the autopsy of an extraterrestrial being. In the images, a supposed human-looking being with large eyes and large head is shown on a partially decomposed table.

The film returned to the spotlight when it became available in the nineties. But Santilli disappointed believers in alien life in 2006 when he admitted that the video was fake. But he tried to soften the gullible's disappointment by saying that the images showed the reconstitution of a true alien autopsy. Anyway, the creature seen in the video was not a real ET.

8 - Sensational tabloids - from 1950 until today

Brazil has some sensational tabloids. But in the United States and England, the business is much stronger and profitable, of course. There, these tabloids, such as the Weekly World News (USA) have been reporting scams and more scams blatantly to get an audience.

Fortunately, for the most balanced audience, hardly anyone gives a damn about scandals titled this way: "Alien Bible is translated, " "Russians shoot down UFOs", "Aliens stole my face", "UFO sparks cause forest fire, " and " Japanese woman marries alien ".

But undoubtedly someone somewhere believes this kind of news, so these tabloids are considered wholly of the fake order. Even though most people who buy these newspapers just do it for the sake of fun and a lot of laughter, these publications keep saying it's all true.

7 - The War of the Worlds - 1938

For Halloween 1938, Orson Welles directed a radio play inspired by HG Wells's story “War of the Worlds”, the classic about a violent alien invasion (which turned into a movie in 1953 and later in 2005).

But to make it more suspenseful, the show was announced on the radio differently, like an urgent newsletter that warned of an alleged alien invasion. The result was general panic in the public, who really believed the news and took to the streets in despair, fleeing their homes to save their lives.

The air of tension created by World War II received only part of the credit for the turmoil, in which about two million people were convinced that the "War of the Worlds" was indeed real news rather than a work of fiction. The misunderstanding happened because many people tuned in as they spoke of the invasion without listening to the part where they said it was a fictional story, because the radio actually warned.

Even so, many panicked and so this event was marked as a farce, somewhat unintentionally, but was mainly in the memory of those who witnessed it.

6 - The “Gate of Heaven” sect - from 1975 to 1997

Discussions about the Apocalypse and the consequent encounter of humans with the extraterrestrials permeated the sect founded by the crazy Marshall Applewhite around 1975. Named "Heaven's Gate, " the sect was led by Marshall and his wife, Bonnie Nettles, both of whom preached ideas that the earth was flooded with “luciferian” beings and that they needed to leave the planet.

Even after Bonnie's death in 1985, Marshall continued with the sect, and in 1997 he succeeded in persuading 38 loyal followers to commit suicide simultaneously, so that their souls could “hitchhike” on an alien ship following behind. Comet Hale Bopp, which can be clearly observed from Earth with the naked eye that year.

Marshall also committed suicide with his followers. But needless to say, the alien ship supposedly following the comet never existed, or at least was never actually observed.

5 - UFO Video Going Viral - 2007

You probably watched the above video in 2007 or the following years. Chances are you were also impressed by the veracity of such images showing an alleged visit by a group of alien ships to Haiti.

With the advent of easy access to high-quality 3D rendering software, the public has taken UFO observation fakes to a new level. Convincing and detailed video evidence sightings have become a constant in Britain, the United States, and especially Haiti.

The footage of the UFOs in Haiti seen above, which became very popular on Youtube, was reportedly recorded in August 2007 by local tourists who would have been surprised by this phenomenon.

On closer inspection, you can see that the video really is a scam. For example, each palm tree shown is exactly the same. And the ships were also created by 3D programs, as well as any movement, including the background landscape.

The video's creator, known online as "Barzolff81", has publicly stated that he has used a program called "Vue 6 Infinite" to make the footage for pure enjoyment.

4 - Roswell and Area 51 - 1947

According to the United States government, a secret weather balloon crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947. The military quickly collected the material after civilians discovered them, presenting them for news coverage later. What was shown by the news was undoubtedly a weather balloon.

However, witnesses said that what crashed was something completely different: a spaceship. Rumors spread that the remains of the ship and its dead occupants were taken to Area 51, a secret military base in Nevada, for storage and experimentation.

After this event, many movies, books, and television shows took advantage of the fact to create stories about it and, of course, profit from it. But while the US government would have a thousand reasons to keep it a secret, Roswell's tourism industry had plenty of reasons to keep people believing. After all, until today, the city receives thousands of visitors behind the place where the supposed ship crashed.

3 - Grainy flying saucer images - from 1947 to today

Nowadays, even a car-crashing hubcap can turn into a flying saucer with image-editing programs. An old button on the ground can become a true UFO that has fallen to Earth.

However, there are images that cannot be proven to be false even though: the grainy effect added to them prevents even the experts from getting definitive answers as to what is true or false.

2 - The crop circles - from 1976 to today

In 1975, an English couple took some planks, a rope and some measurements from a field, and after some separate attempts convinced their locals that something completely unnatural was invading their fields and leaving strange marks.

Without human confession, it was natural for curious people to relate the great and mysterious patterns to UFOs, which many people claimed to have seen flying in that area from time to time. But by the time the true circle producers admitted their acts in 1996, hardly anyone gave credit.

It didn't matter if the circles could easily be created with ordinary tools or if some people showed exactly how they were made: enthusiasts were determined in their convictions and still believed that the designs on the plantations were extraterrestrial work. And this belief continues to this day for many people.

1 - Scientology - from 1952 to today

For many, Scientology can be considered the greatest alien fraud ever. L. Ron Hubbard, a famous but mediocre science fiction writer, created a self-help system targeting vulnerable people, offering them spiritual salvation. And he did it.

Scientology followers call it a religion. But what does it have to do with aliens? As soon as one enters the scientific community, one is brainwashed (a kind of “cleansing”), vulnerable enough to reach a high level of devotion, and informed about Xenu's story.

According to such a story, Xenu was an intergalactic warlord who, billions of years ago, planned the genocide of thousands of extraterrestrials. Then an entire alien species was thrown into a volcano on Earth and (this part is amazing) "movies" about wars and human religions were shown to their ghosts.

These ghosts then became thetans, which are the so-called human souls. According to Scientology's belief, thetans cause all human ills by attaching themselves to our subconscious and transferring all their problems to us. So Scientology, of course, is the solution to all this.

Although many leaders of the Church of Scientology claim that it is a genuine religion that has been misrepresented and slandered, many people believe it to be a real scam, perhaps the most successful. A curiosity: actor Tom Cruise is a fervent follower of this belief, as are John Travolta and other celebrities.