Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia
 |
Please do not attempt to create new hoaxes on Wikipedia. Here's why. |
This is a list of known historical hoaxes on Wikipedia. Its purpose is to document hoaxes on Wikipedia, in order to improve our detection and understanding of them. It is considered a hoax if it was a clear or blatant attempt to make up something, as opposed to libel, vandalism or a factual error. A hoax is considered notable if it evaded detection for more than one month or was discussed by reliable sources in the media. This list is incomplete, as many hoaxes remain undiscovered.
A hoax can be added to this page if it meets the requirements above. Do not list Wikipedia April Fools' Day pranks, or factual articles about encyclopedic notable hoaxes. Start/End Date and Length are the dates and approximate time the article was generally visible.
For many of the below hoaxes, you can see an archived version of the deleted article by clicking on its title (see also list of archived hoaxes). Some also remain available from mirror sites. Any administrator can create an archived version of a hoax upon request by following the instructions below.
Instructions to administrators on archiving hoaxes
|
|---|
|
Hoaxes extant for at least one year
| Hoax | Length | Start date | End date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snappy & friends Supposed animated show with the Kellogg's characters |
9 years, 5 months |
March 6, 2005 | August 22, 2014 | |
| Gaius Flavius Antoninus Supposed assassin of Julius Caesar |
8 years, 1 month |
June 9, 2004 | July 13, 2012 | Discussion at WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome |
| Chen Fang A Wikipedian noticed in November 2012 that The Harvard Guide to Using Sources said that "an Expos student who was writing a paper about the limitations of Wikipedia posted a fictional entry for himself, stating that he was the mayor of a small town in China. Four years later, if you type in his name, or if you do a subject search on Wikipedia for mayors of towns in China, you will still find this fictional entry." No longer. |
6 days | February 11, 2005 | February 17, 2005 | 2005 VfD, Discussion on the Admin noticeboard |
| 7 years, 2 months |
September 25, 2005 | November 19, 2012 | ||
| Fictitious works, Cadamekela and Durkeamynarda, attributed to Indian mathematician Brahmagupta | 7 years, 1 month |
June 25, 2007 | July 29, 2014 | Talk page discussion added, removed |
| J.J. Johnson Fictional NFL player with a fabricated career with UCLA, the Kansas City Chiefs, and numerous teams in other leagues |
7 years, ½ month |
October 25, 2007 | November 15, 2014 | Not to be confused with an actual J.J. Johnson who was active in the NFL at the same time |
| Olimar The Wondercat Fictional children's television programme. Author later admitted he made it for his cat. |
6 years, 11 months |
August 5, 2006 | July 9, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Olimar The Wondercat |
| George Colby and Colby Pirates A supposed British privateer and profiteer ("Colonial Colonel Cheese Colby"), and his group of pirates, of the French and Indian War (1754–1763) |
6 years, 10 months |
August 5, 2006 | June 7, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/George Colby, Believed by at least one book and many people online |
| Murder of Andre Marshall Imaginary murder in Bridgeport, Connecticut. |
6 years, 9 months |
November 30, 2006 | August 26, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Murder of Andre Marshall |
| Howard's Law Fictitious formula for diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, supposedly identified in 1955 by the equally spurious doctor "Howard Luci-Liu." |
6 years, 7 months |
October 2007 | May 29, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Howard's Law Cited on a MLB.com message board [1] in a totally unrelated discussion about Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard |
| Milton Bradley Playmate Supposed 600-cubic-foot computer prototype designed in late 1960s to play various board games using a giant robotic claw arm. |
6 years, 7 months |
January 2008 | August 10, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Milton Bradley Playmate |
| Kings of All Times Nonexistent Yemeni novel, credited to two different dubious authors, about the political and personal challenges of an Estonian and his delusional friend in Yemen. |
6 years, 6½ months |
April 30, 2008 | November 23, 2014 | |
| Tillery Band that supposedly perished in an airplane crash on December 12, 1956 en route to a "Lester Concert Hall", which also does not exist. |
6 years, 6 months |
November 20, 2005 | May 14, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tillery |
| Crocodile shears Supposed torture device |
6 years, 4½ months |
March 20, 2006 | July 30, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Crocodile shears Named by Listverse as the most gruesome medieval torture device |
| Rough Creek Ranch Supposed ranch in Oklahoma which claimed to be "the first parcel to be purchased in a long-term plan to re-establish the equivalent of conditions in Oklahoma which existed prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th through 18th centuries." |
6 years, 3½ months |
September 5, 2006 | December 15, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Rough Creek Ranch |
| The Travails and Tribulations of Geoffrey Peacock Fictional novel alleged to have been written by Huxley, the book was listed on Huxley's article in 2008 and an article on the novel was written in May 2014, prompting its detection. |
6 years, 3 months (inclusion on Huxley's page) |
February 25, 2006 | May 14, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Travails and Tribulations of Geoffrey Peacock |
| An allegation that Joe Streater was involved in the 1978–79 Boston College basketball point shaving scandal. Streater wasn't even a member of the team that year. | 6 years, 2 months |
August 12, 2008 | October 8, 2014 | Signpost article |
| Allegation that Brierfield, Lancashire, with its smoking mills, was Tolkien's inspiration for the evil land of Mordor. | 6 years, ½ month |
March 8, 2006 | March 21, 2012 | added removed; was spotted by a blogger in August 2006 but didn't follow up |
| Saint Ofelia | 5 years, 10 months |
June 8, 2008 | April 14, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Saint Ofelia |
| Gold Tea Supposed brand of tea from the Confederate States of America. Originally an unsourced stub, it was later expanded to claim that gold flakes were put into the tea for smuggling to the north. |
5 years, 9 months |
May 17, 2005 | February 16, 2011 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gold Tea |
| Unit 773 Imaginary Japanese biological weapons unit in the imaginary Chinese city of "Songo", created by a banned user |
5 years, 9 months |
October 7, 2006 | July 3, 2012 | Unit 731 is a similar actual article The imaginary Unit 773 fooled at least one website [2] and one book.[3] |
| Bryan Tyler and Mark Sims as members of Eli Young Band | 5 years, 9 months |
February 6, 2008 | October 9, 2013 | |
| Digital Lady Nonexistent San Francisco rock band that supposedly included the brother of the White House press secretary and used acoustic guitars and kitchen utensils to simulate the Moog synthesizer. Survived more than five years before G3 deletion. |
5 years, 6 months |
December 2008 | July 12, 2014 | |
| Amelia Bedelia A wholly fictitious origin story of the main character of its eponymous popular children's book series: "Amelia Bedelia" was based on a French colonial maid in Cameroon, where the author spent some time during her formative years. Her vast collection of hats, notorious for their extensive plumage, inspired her to write an assortment of tales based on her experiences in North Africa. After being repeated tens of times, sometimes by journalists and academics, the hoax was identified by EJ Dickson, one of its authors, turned journalist, who had written it as a joke with a friend while "stoned". |
5 years, 6 months |
January 31, 2009 | July 29, 2014 | Addition Removal Admission |
| Bicholim conflict Fictitious war between the Portuguese rulers of Goa and the Maratha Empire which supposedly took place from mid-1640 to early 1641. Was assessed as a good article in September 2007, but failed a featured article nomination the next month as page numbers were not provided for references. ShelfSkewed (talk · contribs) investigated these references in 2012 and found that the main works cited do not actually exist. |
5 years, 6 months |
July 4, 2007 | December 29, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bicholim conflict Reference at Daily Dot and Yahoo! News |
| Majeed Pejajj Fictitious Muslim cleric |
5 years, 5½ months |
April 8, 2007 | September 21, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Majeed Pejajj |
| Midnight in Oklahoma Supposed alternative rock-country band with seven fictitious albums |
5 years, 4 months |
April 26, 2009 | August 27, 2014 | |
| K890 (G3) a fictitious submachine gun |
5 years, 3½ months |
November 22, 2006 | March 1, 2012 | Included in book by Source Wikipedia |
| Antón de Palategui fictitious 16th century conquistador and poet |
5 years, 3½ months |
December 4, 2008 | March 17, 2014 | deleted by PROD |
| "Adyhaffe people" in List of ethnic groups | 5 years, 2½ months |
September 28, 2007 | December 10, 2012 | added removed |
| Limping duck Nonexistent and highly unconventional form of wushu |
5 years, 2½ months |
August 3, 2009 | October 15, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Limping duck |
| Reich Corps of the Trombone (G3) fictitious Nazi organization of trombonists created by Joseph Goebbels for propaganda purposes |
5 years, 2 months |
January 29, 2006 | March 31, 2011 | Confession on Slashdot Axis History Forum image at ookaboo |
| Fictitious claim about Oscar Wilde added to List of Latin phrases | 5 years, 2 months |
September 19, 2005 | November 26, 2010 | added, removed, Story and explanation |
| A Condor's Fire: a novel Nonexistent, anagram-based novel ascribed to "Richie F'lin" and set in Colorado. Hoax cited made-up reviews from the New York Times Book Review and a fake biography from Oxford University Press. |
5 years, ½ month |
July 26, 2009 | August 18, 2014 | |
| The Restless Nevers Fictitious Washington band with false claims of touring with Kajagoogoo in the 1990s. Article was deleted (A7) in August 2009, but resurfaced the same day and survived five years. |
5 years, ½ month |
August 1, 2009 | August 22, 2014 | |
| Fictitious clitoris research | 4 years, 9 months |
October 26, 2001 | July 26, 2006 | added, removed first part, removed second part, Discussion |
| 5 years, 1½ months |
December 4, 2006 | |||
| Hinckley Band of Thieves | 4 years, 9½ months |
August 31, 2005 | June 16, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Hinckley Band of Thieves |
| Joseph Warshaw "one of the least Known Highwayman": speedily deleted, then {{hoax}} tagged and prodded when recreated the day it was started, but it took more than four years until it was deleted once more |
4 years, 9½ months |
February 17, 2006 | December 3, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Joseph Warshaw |
| Julius Freed, where it was claimed the founder of Orange Julius designed a pigeon bathing unit | 4 years, 9 months |
June 22, 2005 | March 11, 2010 | Reported by Ken Jennings on his blog.[1]. Dairy Queen, which owns the company, was fooled, basing an ad campaign around the hoax. |
| E'tedalion Party Fictional Iranian political party |
4 years, 8½ months |
February 12, 2010 | October 25, 2014 | |
| Gottfried Eschenbach Non-existent German "composer, conductor and virtuoso violist" |
4 years, 8 months |
January 10, 2010 | September 10, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gottfried Eschenbach |
| Argusto Emfazie | 4 years, 7½ months |
February 25, 2002 | October 5, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Argusto Emfazie |
| Hilfiger High School | 4 years, 6½ months |
July 14, 2008 | February 4, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Hilfiger High School |
| Reference to "glucojasinogen" in diabetic neuropathy | 4 years, 4½ months |
October 7, 2007 | February 29, 2012 | added, removed; original edit appears word for word in S.V. Tembhurne and D.M. Sakarkar (June 2010). "Influence of Murraya koenigii on experimental model of diabetes and progression of neuropathic pain". Res Pharm Sci. 5 (1): 41–47. and Talha Jawaid, Ashok K Shakya, Mehnaz Kamal, and Sarfaraz Hussain (June 2008). "Amitriptyline and Sertraline in Diabetic Neuropathy: A Comparative View". International Journal of Health Research. 1 (2): 73–78.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link).
|
| Section on the fictional non-league football career of minor British soap opera actor Will Mellor | 4 years, 4 months |
January 12, 2007 | May 9, 2011 | added, removed. Claim was repeated on the website for the artists agency represents Mellor. [4] |
| Manão Fictitious mountain village in Portugal |
4 years, 2½ months |
April 30, 2007 | July 14, 2011 | PROD deleted |
| Martin Coleman (American football) The story of a non-existent American football player who played for Clemson, Pitt, and the Oakland Raiders. It was recreated several days after deletion and lasted for nearly another month before being deleted again. |
4 years, 2½ months |
November 5, 2006 | January 23, 2011 | See also Martin I. Coleman |
| Bryan J. Baldelli Non-existent American baseball player |
4 years | February 26, 2008 | February 28, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bryan J. Baldelli. Listed at Bryan (given name) in good faith. Also listed on German Wikipedia under Baldelli until deletion in August 2014. |
| Colin Kennedy Fictitious American Old West criminal who supposedly murdered John Sutter's brother in San Francisco on April 9, 1853 |
3 years, 10 months |
April 8, 2009 | February 7, 2013 | Prod deleted; see [5] |
| Sshiaga-llat Made-up mythological force of chaos, supposedly adored by "ancient different people from the Sumerians to the Asturians" |
3 years, 9½ months |
January 28, 2011 | November 19, 2014 | |
| Phoedelia "The ecclesiastical name for one of the stoppers which accompany the cruets used in [Christian] liturgical rites" that no one but the article creator had ever heard of. |
3 years, 9½ months |
October 31, 2009 | August 12, 2013 | Discovery and discussion. Added to cruet the next day, added to bung in 2011. Was widely believed by people on the Internet, including multiple auctioners. Note that Phoedelia is a real girl's name. |
| Jean Moufot Fictitious French philosopher. Article first appeared on nl.wikipedia, then translated versions subsequently appeared in French, German and English Wikipedias. Hoax was discovered by Dutch Wiki and deleted across the wikis in two days. |
3 years, 9½ months |
September 24, 2004 | July 16, 2008 | discussion on nl.wikipedia, discussion on de.wikipedia, discussion on de.wikipedia, mirror with links to discussion |
| Bunaka (G3) Non-existent Indonesian island |
3 years, 9 months |
March 18, 2007 | December 20, 2010 | discussion |
| Charles E. Whitmeyer Fictitious North Carolina politician, undertaker, and inventor of the child leash |
3 years, 9 months |
March 13, 2007 | December 16, 2010 | |
| Bucharest Film Festival A hoax created to support an article on Yuri Gadyukin. |
3 years, 9 months |
June 16, 2009 | March 12, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bucharest Film Festival |
| 3G Boyz Completely fabricated contents created by manager to support new band. |
3 years, 9 months |
December 27, 2009 | October 16, 2013 | Prod |
| Eric the sheep Nonexistent graphic novel about the adventures of a super-intelligent Welsh sheep |
3 years, 8½ months |
February 19, 2011 | November 7, 2014 | Speedy deletion |
| Jûtien-Gustave DuRoi and Sallah Ukhmed Fictitious husband-and-wife writers, with a list of works that was expanded over time |
3 years, 8 months (DuRoi) |
June 9, 2006 | February 7, 2010 (DuRoi) | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jûtien-Gustave DuRoi Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sallah Ukhmed |
| Claim that, due to her fame in Japan, female wrestler Kaoru Matsumoto was known as the "Niall Quinn of Joshi" | 3 years, 7½ months |
October 13, 2008 | May 24, 2012 | added, removed |
| Yuri Gadyukin Fictitious Soviet filmmaker defected to the UK and murdered there in 1960 at the age of 28. Apparently, was created to support a low-budget movie. |
3 years, 7 months |
August 3, 2009 | March 6, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yuri Gadyukin; explanation of history and purpose |
| Shantal Méndez 4-time Grammy Winner, or so the article said of this hypothetical singer |
3 years, 7 months |
September 27, 2007 | May 3, 2011 | Discussion at Wikipedia talk:Unreferenced_BLP_Rescue |
| Former American Gladiator Jonathan Byrne Series of edits regarding an eccentric and non-existent American Gladiator |
3 years, 5½ months |
June 19, 2006 | December 6, 2009 | Thirty pages unraveled over a two day period by Jeandré du Toit. First edit Others: [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] Other edits had been previously removed on an individual basis. Believed by people online, including some people who claimed to remember him. |
| Brahmanical See | 3 years, 5½ months |
August 4, 2004 | January 21, 2008 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Brahmanical See, Mirror and discussion at WR |
| Upton H. Pennyworth (Prod) (G3 speedy deletion) Fictitious British explorer |
3 years, 5½ months |
September 7, 2007 | February 18, 2011 | discussion |
| Sarah River List of rivers of New Zealand was vandalized changing "Saxon" to "Sarah", and was later turned into an article by bot |
3 years, 4 months |
May 18, 2006 | September 13, 2009 | original vandalism, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sarah River, article now at Saxon River |
| Pilot Season, a non-existent film directed by Kevin Smith | 3 years, 3½ months |
April 14, 2011 | August 28, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Pilot Season (film) |
| Monarch (butterfly) as Canada's national insect | 3 years, 3½ months |
December 9, 2004 | March 26, 2008 | added, removed |
| Trundu An ancient tribe belonging to the Trund civilisation |
3 years, 3½ months |
May 22, 2006 | September 7, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Trundu |
| Sei Wee Lim Supposedly an Olympic swimmer from Brunei |
3 years, 3 months |
September 15, 2006 | December 16, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sei Wee Lim |
| Morton Schwartz Supposedly a B-movie actor |
3 years, 3 months |
May 4, 2007 | July 27, 2010 | Discussion at Unreferenced BLP Rescue |
| Fredric Croix and Quickslide Rick Two supposed 1920s Michigan Blues Musicians |
3 years, 2 months |
February 9, 2008 | April 2011 | WP:Articles for deletion/Fredric Croix and Quickslide Rick |
| Kevin Musker Name-change plagiarism of "Charles Ferguson Smith", suspected for 3 years but retained |
3 years, 1½ months |
February 24, 2006 | April 13, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Kevin Musker, Revision of Charles Ferguson Smith article was based on |
| 19th-century invention of the hair iron attributed to fictitious persons, "Erica Feldman" (changed from Madam C. J. Walker) and another name (apparently a classmate) on English and Simple English Wikipedia. Both names are now widely credited on the Internet (as well as in one book) with the invention of the hair straightener [35][36][37][38][39] | 3 years, 1 month |
August 14, 2006 | September 15, 2009 | Erica Feldman, I. G., [40], [41], discussion at Wikipedia Review |
| Rosie the Riveter Original Rosie was Shirley Karp: hoax Original Rosie was Shirley Karp Dick: vandalism |
3 years, ½ month |
January 16, 2009 | January 24, 2012 | Historian Max Hastings published in the first edition of his November 2011 book Inferno: The World at War, 1939–1945 (called All Hell Let Loose in the UK): "Another much-publicised 'Rosie' was Shirley Karp Dick, who was paid $6 to model for photos, of which the most famous showed her treading on Hitler's Mein Kampf."[42] A second edition was published October 2012 after the hoax was revealed. |
| James Geiss Fictitious English whaler |
3 years | June 29, 2006 | June 30, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James Geiss |
| Slow Blind Driveway fictitious blues musician |
2 years, 9½ months |
November 16, 2006 | August 26, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Slow Blind Driveway |
| Mittapalli Nonexistent Indian village, based on old revision of Bandarlapalle |
2 years, 9 months |
July 23, 2010 | April 27, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mittapalli |
| Ocular citrosis A fictional type of eye infection resulting from periodic exposure to acidic substances. Created on 1st April and referred to in other disease articles a few weeks later. |
2 years, 9 months |
April 1, 2010 | January 7, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ocular citrosis |
| Vitus Sebastian Barbaro fictitious member of a real Venetian family repeatedly added to real articles by numerous sockpuppets: Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/Societyfinalclubs, Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mctrain/Archive |
2 years, 9 months |
May 29, 2007 | February 25, 2010 | User:Barneca/watch/societyfinalclubs |
| Mirsk Famous Residents section alleging this as city where Nicholas Copernicus contracted genital warts from a Mirsk prostitute, as allegedly proved by DNA evidence. Vandalism was removed by Jimmy Wales. |
2 years, 9 months |
January 15, 2012 | September 14, 2014 | User_talk:Meishern#Do_you_have_any_evidence_for_this.3F, Added: [43], Removed: [44] |
| Richard Hopkins (chess player) and Ruy Lopez, Hopkins Gambit Fictitious chess player and the opening chess moves allegedly named after him. |
2 years, 8½ months |
December 28, 2010 | September 22, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Richard Hopkins (chess player) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ruy Lopez, Hopkins Gambit |
| Ruy Lopez, Marshall Attack, Rombaua Trap Fictitious chess trap |
2 years, 8 months |
January 7, 2011 | September 9, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ruy Lopez, Marshall Attack, Rombaua Trap |
| The Tarsus Club and Murray Chance Articles on a fictitious club and individual created as guerrilla marketing for the film The Conspiracy |
2 years, 7 months |
December 17, 2010 | August 10, 2013 | Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive807#Elaborate hoax articles |
| Eric Clapton's various girlfriends | 2 years, 7 months |
May 9, 2011 | December 19, 2013 | A paragraph was inserted listing 15 women that Clapton supposedly dated. One was Alicia Witt who eventually saw the list and complained on Facebook that it was not true about her. The whole paragraph was supported by a hoax reference initially listing the Boston Beacon which was soon changed to the Boston Globe, even though no such article exists. |
| The "Cohen-Cruse Ruse": an elaborate set of hoax articles and edits over many articles including the fictitious people Baron Cruse-Cohen, Jean Alexandre Cohen, Jonathan Cohen, Sir David Cohen, and Stephen B. Jacobsohn, and several fictitious synagogues including Beth Sadeh Synagogue and Sephardic Temple Adat David. A small project was formed to hunt down all the various edits involved. | 2 years, 5½ months |
Spring 2009 | October 2011 | User:Vivisel/cohen cruse ruse, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Baron Cruse-Cohen, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Stephen B. Jacobsohn, additions to Salisbury, North Carolina, etc. |
| Balboa Creole French Fictitious highly endangered French-based creole language, supposedly spoken exclusively by about 20 people on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, an extremely wealthy suburban town in Orange County, California. |
2 years, 5 months |
April 3, 2010 | September 10, 2012 | Blogpost referencing Balboa Creole French as one of "Seven Languages That Are About To Die" |
| Trembulo Fictitious musical instrument |
2 years, 5 months |
July 26, 2010 | December 27, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Trembulo |
| Fictitious "further reading" on bullshit | 2 years, 4½ months |
November 23, 2007 | April 8, 2010 | added, deleted |
| Långrocken Fictitious Swedish serial rapist in 1893, allegedly searched by undercover policemen in women’s clothes |
2 years, 4½ months |
July 24, 2005 | December 8, 2007 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Långrocken |
| Functional temporalism Postmodern Anthropological Theory |
2 years, 4 months |
August 8, 2007 | December 7, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Functional temporalism |
| Sean MacLeod Fictional comedian |
2 years, 4 months |
September 9, 2006 | January 8, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sean MacLeod |
| Fictitious Illyrian gods | 2 years, 3½ months |
October 27, 2005 | February 18, 2008 | Old revision of Paleo-Balkanic mythology showing fictitious gods, discussion |
| Wander Donkey Fictitious adventure game for the Nintendo DS |
2 years, 3½ months |
May 2007 | September 5, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Wander Donkey, archived forum confession from September 3, 2009 |
| Characterisation of Shane (name) signifying a violent individual | 2 years, 3½ months |
December 21, 2007 | April 12, 2010 | added, deleted, believed by [45] and [46] |
| Peace breaker's muzzle Fictitious torture device |
2 years, 4½ months |
August 2, 2004 | December 10, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Peace breaker's muzzle, added to Torture article, removed |
| Parfact A secret language of Worcestershire teenagers |
2 years, 3 months |
November 8, 2006 | February 1, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Parfact |
| Monvilla non-existent Shropshire village |
2 years, 2½ months |
January 3, 2006 | March 21, 2008 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Monvilla |
| Matthew Lyons Texas frontiersman and CSA cavalry soldier |
2 years, 2 months |
February 18, 2008 | April 19, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Matthew Lyons |
| Fadl Attraction Fictitious Canadian male porn star |
2 years, 2 months |
November 4, 2007 | January 10, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Fadl Attraction |
| Curtis James Real high-school runner with spectacular fictitious professional career |
2 years, 1½ months |
October 4, 2008 | November 18, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Curtis James |
| Shai Bernstein Fictitious Jewish-Russian thinker - Bernstein was actually a student in Houston |
2 years, ½ month |
Sep 6, 2007 | Sep 16, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Shai Bernstein, had a Hebrew translation |
| Just When I Needed You Most Cover version by "Daniel Selby" |
2 years, ½ month |
January 22, 2011 | January 31, 2013 | added, removed Reference to Selby also added on songwriter Randy VanWarmer's page (removed) |
| PC Card Claimed to be invented by "Jacob D. Holm" in 1986. In reality, the PCMCIA organization was formed in 1989-09, based on the initiative of Poqet Computer Corporation's Ian Cullimore with support from Fujitsu and Intel since 1989-07. |
2 years, ½ month |
August 18, 2011 | August 30, 2013 | added, removed |
| Moroccans with Disabilities Act of 1992 "Copied from a past revision of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 article". |
2 years | September 10, 2009 | September 13, 2011 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Moroccans with Disabilities Act of 1992 |
| Taylor Mowry Fictitious actor; based closely on an old revision of Tristan Wilds |
1 year, 11 months |
December 2009 | November 2011 | |
| Canyon View Junior High School Fictitious school in Edmonton, Alberta |
1 year, 11 months |
February 2011 | January 2013 | Investigation followed by an admission on Talk:Canyon View Junior High School |
| Let Me Be There and If You Love Me (Let Me Know) For nearly two years, both articles credited a "Navin Harris" as the backing vocalist instead of Mike Sammes. |
1 year, 9½ months |
June 17, 2010 | April 2, 2012 (both articles) | Appears in this article and this publication of Olivia Newton-John related Wikipedia articles Content was repeatedly re-added by an IP-hopper after first removal in April 2012, even after the addition of a source verifying the real vocalist's name, leading to indefinite semi-protection of both articles; see also Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive747#Repeated vandalism for a likely source of the name. |
| Lustfaust hoax The real band Lustfaust, which the article is now about, used this fake band as a marketing tactic |
1 year, 9 months |
October 15, 2005 | July 14, 2007 | Old revision of article about fake band, NYT article describing fake article |
| Involvement of Brian Reddyb in the band Rednex |
1 year, 8½ months |
October 17, 2005 | July 3, 2007 | added, removed; User:Brian Reddyb vocally defended his hoax edits until he was banned, and Rednex personally denounced his story. Brian made a similar hoax edit to Saddam Hussein. |
| Marathonius Granthius (G3) Fake Roman soldier |
1 year, 8½ months |
August 21, 2006 | May 2, 2008 | Discovered when blanked by an IP who warned that it was a hoax |
| European Tennis Club of Culture (PROD) | 1 year, 8 months |
November 2005 | July 2007 | Noticed in April 2007 on talk page |
| Æblerød (CSD) Fictional Danish municipality |
1 year, 8 months |
January 12, 2004 | September 8, 2005 | Removal from municipalities list, discussion, featured in Danish newspaper Politiken (December 5th, 2006) |
| Battle of Stuart's Pond | 1 year, 7½ months |
May 29, 2008 | January 18, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Battle of Stuart's Pond |
| Baldock Beer Disaster Was listed on Did You Know? |
1 year, 8 months |
November 2005 | July 2007 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Baldock Beer Disaster Did You Know entry Discussion Was temporarily made into an article about the hoax before being deleted regardless. |
| Zobin Baygan Fictional musician |
1 year, 7 months |
April 2007 | November 13, 2008 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Zobin Baygan |
| Traffic cones called "kafele boothe cones" | 1 year, 7½ months |
October 4, 2010 | May 24, 2012 | [47] [48] |
| Maria Portaro (G3) fictitious marine biologist with "500 published papers" |
1 year, 7 months |
March 3, 2008 | October 3, 2009 | |
| Oyster Injustice Fictitious financial disaster affecting Chesapeake Bay fishermen |
1 year, 7 months |
July 6, 2007 | February 4, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Oyster Injustice |
| Earl of Aldbury (G3) non-existent 17th-century peer |
1 year, 6½ months |
May 13, 2009 | December 3, 2010 | |
| "Conrad Dean" as backing vocalist on Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy | 1 year, 6 months |
March 29, 2012 | September 25, 2013 | |
| Talinsfadasporia (G3) fictitious Indian town, mostly cut and pasted from Dibrugarh |
1 year, 5½ months |
May 31, 2009 | November 20, 2010 | |
| Dexter, New York and Dexter, Maine On two distinct occasions, it was falsely claimed the town was named after "Dexter Borup". The IP that made the first edit also added the name uncapitalized to Dexter,Maine |
11 months | February 23, 2007 | January 17, 2008 | first time: added, removed; second time: added, removed. Was picked up by other resources on the town.[dead link] |
| 1 year, 6 months |
February 1, 2009 | July 30, 2010 | ||
| 11 months | February 27, 2007 | February 23, 2008 | ||
| Fake Tristan material Sir Tristan as an "overweight knight" |
1 year, 5½ months |
September 2, 2004 | February 20, 2006 | Added, removed |
| Anaxiphales presocratic philosopher |
1 year, 4½ months |
February 12, 2005 | June 28, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Anaxiphales |
| Ingrid Vakaslavik | 1 year, 3½ months |
Feb 2009 | May 31, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ingrid Vakaslavik |
| Crowborough Caves With "Dr. SP Leo Logist" |
1 year, 3 months |
April 8, 2007 | July 27, 2008 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Crowborough Caves. Pun on speleologist. Their hoax website now links back to this page. First detected by an anon who called it "a well known 'fun' story / hoax". |
| Addition of three trees to Man-eating tree, one of which (Duñak) is completely fabricated Inspired several pieces of artwork and literature, including a novel.[dead link] |
1 year, 3 months |
October 26, 2008 | February 2, 2010 | added, removed. Believed by The Epoch Times (May 5, 2009) |
| Emerson LaSalle Fictitious author |
1 year, 3 months |
November 27, 2007 | February 27, 2009 | After the deletion discussion had started, the original author rewrote the article to describe the subject as fictional (as well as to criticize the deletion), but it was still deleted. |
| Freedom Channing Fictitious "conductor" of the Underground Railroad |
1 year, 3 months |
July 11, 2005 | October 8, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Freedom Channing |
| Amorica (legend) Given its own article for 8 months rather than deletion |
1 year, 2½ months |
November 9, 2004 See original article |
January 22, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Amorica (legend) |
| 8 months | May 24, 2005 | |||
| Francis Bunbury (PROD) Non-existent architect; names in article taken from The Importance of Being Earnest. |
1 year, 2 months |
October 24, 2009 | December 26, 2010 | First noted by an anon October 2010 |
| Joshua G. Cantor-Stone (G4) Fictitious Jewish WWII naval aviator and hero |
1 year, 1½ months |
February 22, 2009 | April 11, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Joshua G. Cantor-Stone |
| Fictitious sons of Aaron Nada and Abidjan |
1 year, 1½ months |
March 16, 2008 | April 26, 2009 | Added |
| Little Adventures of Bruno Supposed animated television series by Mitchell Hurwitz that would be a followup of sorts to Sit Down, Shut Up |
1 years 1 months |
October 17, 2013 | November 22, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Little Adventures of Bruno |
| Magnesium lasering Article about a nonsense science practice. | 1 year, 1 month |
May 14, 2009 | June 13, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Magnesium lasering |
| Earl of Iford Partial name-change plagiarism of Earl of Shaftesbury |
1 year, 1 month |
April 13, 2008 | May 11, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Earl of Iford |
| Federlandese (coin) "Had this "coin" been real, it would have pre-dated the oldest known Scandinavian coins by perhaps ~800 years, so we would have heard of it elsewhere. Also, people in Scandinavia didn't have a monetary economy 2100 years ago." |
1 year, ½ month |
December 2, 2009 | December 22, 2010 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Federlandese (coin) |
| Vanda Varvara Fictitious painter |
1 year | January 26, 2012 | January 29, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Vanda Varvara |
| Eric Radloff Fictitious singer-songwriter |
1 year, ½ month |
July 5, 2004 | August 23, 2005 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Eric Radloff |
| Ladedaism Invented social/artistic movement |
1 year, ½ month |
July 7, 2005 | July 19, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ladedaism |
| Gérard Louis-Dreyfus Fictitious children named "Rover and Bethlehem". |
1 year | March 18, 2009 | March 24, 2010 | |
| The Bierrum Effect Fictitious biological effect occurring in isolated environments |
1 year | September 3, 2008 | September 7, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Bierrum Effect |
| James and the Pontoons Fake rock band |
1 year | July 20, 2007 | July 21, 2008 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James and the Pontoons |
| Hevstäf Fictitious Czech village |
1 year | October 12, 2006 | October 15, 2007 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Hevstäf |
Hoaxes extant for at least one month
This section lists hoaxes covered for at least one month but less than one year. See Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Less than one year for the full list. This section lists only hoaxes covered in reliable, independent sources.
| Hoax | Length | Start Date | End Date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Seigenthaler Sr. Real journalist who had a hoax article in 2005 claiming he was a suspect in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. |
4½ months | May 26, 2005 | October 7, 2005 | The subject of Wikipedia biography controversy. Widely reported in the press and led to the introduction of the Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons policy. |
Hoaxes extant for less than one month
- Note: This section should list only hoaxes covered in independent third-party sources. Short-lived hoaxes are innumerable and so we do not normally track them — they can be found by searching deletion logs for "hoax".
| Hoax | Length | Start Date | End Date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Mcilwraith A "Walter Mitty" character who faked a bio of his supposed military record on Wikipedia. It initially lasted three weeks before being deleted at AfD. It was recreated three times but deleted within a day each time, but then the story hit the headlines in April 2006 and the article was recreated to be about him as a hoaxer |
21 days | October 5, 2005 | October 26, 2005 | The hoax version |
| Upper Peninsula War Account of a fictional conflict in 1843 between the State of Michigan and Canada over a disputed territorial line in the Upper Peninsula and subsequent secession attempt by the governor of Michigan. |
13 days | May 2, 2007 | May 15, 2007 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Upper Peninsula War |
| Ronnie Hazlehurst Erroneous information (alleging that he had co-written a pop hit for band S Club 7) inserted into this article led to several news outlets repeating it in his obituary following his death, which in turn led to verifiable citations. The incident was widely reported in the UK meta-media, in particular by Private Eye & Have I Got News for You (the latter featuring the editor of the former as a regular panellist. |
11 days | September 20, 2007 | October 1, 2007 | The incorrect information talk page discussing the issue |
| John F. Street Vandalism from IP editor inserting false information about how the Philadelphia mayor had formerly worked as Bozo the Clown. |
5 days | January 14, 2007 | January 19, 2007 | The incorrect information. Other IPs restore the vandalism [51][52] but it is quickly reverted. Talk page discussing the issue. Article about the hoax in the Philadelphia Inquirer(dead link). A couple of months later, an IP editor added information about the hoax to the biography.[53] Over the next few years this material was variously kept as reliably sourced, or deleted as trivial. |
| Falsified quotes by Maurice Jarre Went viral in mainstream media after his death |
24 hours | March 30, 2009 | March 31, 2009 | added Discussion at Irish Times |
| Helen Anne Petrie, Strutt Family Trust South African painter whose falsified biography was seeded on the internet in an apparent attempt to increase the value of artwork. Related names included Sebastian L.S Schwagele, Fan Moniz and PR by a Marlene Duval, User:Marlene Duval |
37 minutes | June 19, 2007 | June 19, 2007 | Afd discussion, Afd discussion, SSI report, Commons Village Pump London Times article(registration required) South African Art Times article |
| 8 days | May 1, 2009 | May 9, 2009 | ||
| 2 days | October 29, 2009 | October 31, 2009 | ||
| Roger Vinson Addition that the individual was an amateur taxidermist who mounted bear heads above the door of his courtroom. The hoax information became known when Rush Limbaugh misused it on his radio program. |
1 day | September 13, 2010 | September 14, 2010 | Huffington Post New York Times Wall Street Journal Pensacola News Journal |
| MESSENGER (NASA probe) Destination of interplanetary probe changed from Mercury (planet) to Canada. |
5 minutes | January 17, 2008 | January 17, 2008 | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Canada, ISBN 9781607101000 page 272, inexplicably devotes two thirds of a printed page to this short-lived bit of vandalism, explaining in detail how MESSENGER was the first mission to visit Canada in over 30 years, studying its environment and characteristics from orbit. |
See also
- User:JohnCD/Hoaxes#Deleted at AfD, a list of confirmed hoaxes which are not included on this page
- List of hoaxes, articles which factually describe encyclopedically notable hoaxes
- List of Wikipedia controversies
- Reliability of Wikipedia
- Category:Wikipedia suspected hoax articles
- Category:AfC submissions declined as jokes
- fr:Wikipédia:Pastiches, a similar concept on French Wikipedia
- Wikipedia:Society for the Preservation of the Quazer Beast
Notes
- ^ Ken Jennings (May 28, 2010). "Anatomy of a Wiki-hoax". Ken Jennings Blog. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
Further reading
- "Revenge, Ego and the Corruption of Wikipedia", an article that describes several hoaxes which are not listed on this page
- "After a half-decade, massive Wikipedia hoax finally exposed" at dailydot.com