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44 Absurd Lies That Pulled a Fast One On Us

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44 Absurd Lies That Pulled a Fast One On Us

October 13, 2023

Lies! We’ve all told them at some point in our lives. Maybe you’re a toddler insisting NO, I’M NOT TIRED before immediately passing out. Maybe you’re a student saying the dog ate your homework. Maybe you’re an employee faking a cough on the phone with your boss. Maybe you’re a retiree saying you totally remember where you put your glasses (we call this the four lifecycles of lies, patent pending).

We get it, it happens. But let’s be clear: Lying is generally bad, and frequently hurts people. Sometimes, though, lies can spiral completely out-of-control. Like, just totally, mind-bendingly out-of-control. Here are some of the wildest ones we could find…

44

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield published a study claiming that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Thanks to his research, the anti-vaccination movement was born, and previously controlled diseases are reaching epidemic levels. The findings were fake. Wakefield falsified the results, and his co-publishers and the journal it appeared in have retracted their work. Wakefield was planning to patent an alternative MMR vaccine, and to sue vaccine manufacturers. CRACKED.COM ttp:psychcentral com/newsarchives/2004-03/1-moa030304.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

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44 Absurd Lies That Pulled a Fast One On Us — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

42

In 1865, world-renowned doctor James Barry died of dysentery. He had risen from hospital assistant to become the top-ranking doctor in the British Army, and performed one of the first successful Caesarean sections in medical history. The autopsy revealed that he was a woman. Margaret Bulkley wanted to become a doctor when it wasn't possible for women to do so. So took her uncle's name, padded her clothes with towels, and fooled the world. CRACKED.COM pages.com/hub/A-perfect-female-the-fascinating-tale-of-Dr-James-Barry# — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

41

Dr. William Summerlin floored the scientific community with his patchwork mice who had transplanted tissue. He'd transplanted black fur onto white mice, with science. And then the transplanted fur rubbed off. Turns out the good doctor had colored the mice's fur with a marker. CRACKED.COM hitn ttp://w.astro.berkeley.edu/-kalas/ethics/documents/painted-mouse.pdf — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

40

In 1921, Stanley Weyman introduced Princess Fatima of Afghanistan to President Harding. He did it by posing as a government official. Weyman told the princess he could get her an audience with the president, then bluffed his way in by saying he was the State Department Naval Liaison Officer. CRACKED.COM — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

39

In 1912, Charles Dawson discovered Piltdown Man, the missing link. It was a human skull attached to an orangutan jaw with filed down teeth. The discovery was accepted by the scientific community for 40 years before new dating technology allowed scientists to take a closer look at the bones. CRACKED.COM nhm and-staff/library-and-archives/collections/piltdown-man.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

38

Mary Toft created a media sensation when she gave birth to 17 rabbits. They were up in her lady bits because she put them there. It was 1726, and doctors at the time believed that a mother's experiences during pregnancy could make an impression on her baby. They even warned them against contact with pets. CRACKED.COM Jan Bondeson 1997 A Cabinet of # Medical Curiosities — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

37

In 1910, William Voigt commanded a group of soldiers to overthrow the town of Kopernick. He did so by cobbling together a uniform from the surplus shop, and barking orders. The soldiers who followed him tossed out the mayor, then Voigt helped himself to the town coffers and disappeared. CRACKED.COM Benjamin Carter Hett. 2003. The Captain of Kdoenick* and the Transformation of German Criminal Justice. 1891-1914 — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

36

In 2001, a carver discovered a stone covered with viking runes, and the Viking museum pounced on it. It was actually the second time a runed stone had been discovered in Minnesota. The first had been dubbed the Kensington Runestone. It turned out it had been carved by grad students in 1985. The students had made the carvings to prove that the Kensington Runestone was a fake. CRACKED.COM http://archive.archaeology.org/0201/newsbriefs/runestone.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

35

When Frenchman Roger Tichborne was lost at sea, his mother searched the world for her son. Arthur Orton showed up, and Tichborne's mother believed she'd found him. Tichborne had been thin and dark-haired, where Orton was fat and light-haired. Even 'more puzzlingly, Orton was Australian and didn't speak any French. Orton inherited the family fortune. CRACKED.COM htto ://www. sl au/discover_collections/history_nation/justice/felons/tichborne/index.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

34

When Emily Miller walked in on a home invasion, she became a gun rights advocate. BANG! Except she lied about the home invasion. Miller's version of the story (in her book, for example) has her interrupting a robbery in progress. In the version she told police she questioned a man delivering firewood. CRACKED.COM http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-reporter-emily-miller-* under-fire-for-allegedly-fabricating-home-invasion-details/ -home — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

33

Realtor Sam Leccima was featured on an episode of A&E's Flip this House. FOD SOLD CALS He didn't actually own, fix up, or sell the houses. Leccima had his friends and family pose as buyers and sellers, and staged cosmetic renovation scenes for the camera. Not only did he not own the homes, he would not have been able to sell them. His realtor license had been revoked. CRACKED.COM http:/fwww todav.com/id/18985912# VhFe(RNVhBc — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

32

Phony Degrees

Dr. Laura Callahan served as the Department of Homeland Security's Deputy Chief Information Officer. All of her degrees were phony. All three of Callahan's degrees, including her Ph.D., had been purchased from an online diploma mill within the space of one year. She'd had them backdated to avoid suspicion. CRACKED.COM Http://www.cbsnew3.com/news/diplomas-for-sale-08-11-2004/ — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

31

In 2010, Lin Chunping became a financial celebrity by saving the bankrupt Atlantic Bank, in Delaware. Lin's success landed him a cushy position on a Chinese government advisory board. There was no Atlantic Bank in Delaware. Lin made the whole thing up. CRACKED.COM — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

30

Journalist Tom Kummer published incredible, exclusive celebrity interviews. He accomplished this by making them up. In the phony interviews, Mike Tyson pontificates on Nietzsche, Sean Penn discusses Kierkegaard, and Bruce Willis philosophizes about morality. In his defense, Kummer called his work borderline journalism. CRACKED.COM ww.nvtimes.com/2000/06/02/world/hallywwood-tales-just-fiction-german-paper-savs.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

29

Lotus CEO Jeffrey Papows claimed to be a Marine flier with a black belt in tae kwon do and a PhD. He was none of those things. He also claimed to be an orphan, when his parents were alive and well. Alarmingly, he used his phony war stories to secure sales to the U.S. Military. CRACKED.COM http://www.zdnet.com/article/background-of-otus-chief-under-fire/ — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

28

Vinnie the Chin Gigante roamed Greenwich Village in his bathrobe, ranting and peeing himself, for 30 years. He was a mob boss trying to evade arrest. It worked. His act convinced the public, several judges, and even court psychiatrists, that he was unfit to stand trial. It wasn't until he was 75 years old that he admitted it had all been a con. CRACKED.COM hitn .nydailynews. gigante -arrested- -window- --scam- 2229489 — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

27

Dr. Joseph Cyr's mother read an article in the paper about her son's heroics aboard a Canadian destroyer. 1 Her son wasn't at sea. The man in the story was Ferdinand Demara, who was posing as Dr. Cyr aboard the military ship, despite having no medical background. In the past he'd posed as an engineer, a hospital orderly, a deputy, a prison warden, a cancer researcher, a lawyer, a teacher, and a Benedictine monk. CRACKED.COM Chttp://www.kvacanada.com/stories /pimposter.htm — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

26

David Deng recruited soldiers into a special forces group, and charged them fees. It was all an immigration scam. Deng dressed up an abandoned store to look like a military recruiting center, and promised recruits they'd improve their chances of becoming U.S. citizens. CRACKED.COM http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/13/ocal/ia-me-04-13-fake-armv-20110413 — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

25

Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for her news story about an 8 -year-old heroin addict named Jimmy. The story created a sensation in D.C., and Mayor Marion Barry assigned a special task force to locate the kid. Jimmy never existed Not only was the story complete fiction, but Cooke had extensively padded her resume and Pulitzer application with lies. Her Pulitzer Prize was revoked. CRACKED.COM class.umd.edu/archive/newshoax/casestudies/journalists/JourJim3.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

24

In 2002, when a tugboat collided with a bridge in Oklahoma and caused multiple casualties, Billy James Clark announced that he was in charge of the rescue and recovery operation. He showed up in an Army uniform, and claimed to be a Green Beret. The 20 local, state, and federal responding agencies on the CLARK USEAR scene believed him. Clark has never been in the military. As part of the cleanup, he commandeered a truck from a local dealer, and demanded several free hotel rooms for his personal use. CRACKED.COM wadn.com/article/curious-cases-William-iames-clark — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

23

Decorated retired Lt. Col. Jay Cafasso worked as an expert consultant for Fox News during their coverage of the invasion of Afghanistan. fasso Except his milibary background was a lie. Cafasso claimed to have served in Vietnam and Iran, and to have received the Silver Star. His only actual military experience was 44 days of boot camp in 1976, after which he was discharged. CRACKED.COM http: times.com/2002/04/29/business/at-fox-news-the-colonel-who-wasn-t.html — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

22

When Mila Kunis auditioned for That '70s Show she told producers she would be 18 on her birthday. That was technically true.... ...but not on her NEXT birthday, or the one after that, or the one after that She was 14. (Luckily when they found out they were amused enough by her ploy to let her keep the job) CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

21

Old Orphan

When a shy 15-year-old orphan named Francisco showed up at a French school, teachers enrolled him. He was actually 31. Frederic Bourdin pulled it off by slumping his shoulders, dressing as a teenager, and hiding his bald spot with a baseball cap. If anyone asked, he said he had been abused, and wore the hat to hide the scars. CRACKED.COM http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/08/11/the-chameleon-2* — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

20

Robin Thicke claimed co-writer credit with Pharrell Williams on their smash hit single Blurred Lines... until the estate of late blues icon Marvin Gaye filed a lawsuit saying that the song lifted beats from Gaye's 1977 song Got To Give It Up. Thicke then changed his tune; pointing the finger at his producer and claiming that Pharrell had written it all by himself. It couldn't have been him, because he'd been high on Vicodin at the time. Yeah, that's it! CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

19

Jazz musician Billy Tipton spent decades hiding the fact that he had been born Dorothy Lucille Tipton. Not even the women who lived with him as his wives knew about it. Dorothy became Billy because women didn't get hired to play jazz. Later, he'd explain he bandaged his chest because of an accident. Only upon his death, in 1989, did everyone find out the truth. Including his adopted children CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

18

Berkeley professor Eugene Bolton went nuts when somebody found a plate signed by Sir Francis Drake. DATECHEIP HELP REITED HERR normalian C The plate was actually created by his drinking buddies as a prank. Bolton had ranted about the plate to his Clamper friends one too many times, and they decided to teach him a lesson. It didn't work the truth about the forgery didn't come out until 40 years later. CRACKED.COM http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Secret-of-Drake-hoax- brevealed-after-70-vears-2670003.pho#phato-2143426~ — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

17

Bill O'Reilly claimed that he had witnessed multiple combat situations like EI Salvador, the Falklands conflict, Northern Ireland terror attacks and Israel. However, multiple news sites discovered that he was lying. For example, he claimed that he 'saw nuns get shot in the back Of the head' in EL Salvador, but Media Matters for America found proof that Bill only stepped foot in EI Salvador months after the event. Bill O'Reilly then said that he'd only seen photos Of the murdered nuns, and that nobody should've inferred that he had actually reported on EI Salvador. CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

16

At 16 Vince Vaughn was certified and worked as a life guard. Fortunately it didn't result in a tragedy, but he lied about having taken a CPR course and despite his claims he made to the woman in charge, he was also a terrible swimmer. GRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

15

In January 2014 Dr. Haruko Obokata published her groundbreaking research showing how stem cells could be made quickly and cheaply, described as a major scientific discovery and agame changer by respected scientists. A few months later, after over 100 attempts in seven laboratories worldwide failed to reproduce the results, a report on the matter found that she falsified and fabricated data. She claimed to be extremely perplexed, apologised and resigned, while her supervisor committed suicide. CRACK — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

14

He's never actually seen one on, this thing that took his hand. I turn it on, unlock the screen, and pass it to him. He takes it. The icons flare into view, and he strokes the screen with his ruined hand, and the icons slide back and forth. And he says something to Cathy, and Cathy says, 'he says it's a kind of magic. 9:41 Mike Daisey told a number of stories for National Public Radio about visiting the Foxconn factories in China to see Apple products being made. He later admitted that many of his tales, like this story — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

13

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o claimed CRACKED.CO COM his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, died of leukemia. The heartbreaking story, combined with Te'o's on field performance, made him a Heisman Trophy candidate. His girlfriend turned out to not be a real person. Te'o claims that he only learned of the hoax months later, just before the winner of the Heisman would be announced, and only lied about it at that time. Te'o claimed to have met Kekua in 2009, but the hoax started in 2011 when Te'o tweeted nice to meet u too ma'am to her fake account. — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

12

YAZOC YAF During a shareholder struggle over seats on the board of directors, Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson was revealed to have padded his resume with a Bachelor's Degree in computer science from Stonehill College. Investigations showed that Stonehill didn't even offer a computer science major at the time Thompson would have been in attendance. Thompson has refused all comment on the matter and a Yahoo press release merely states that he has left the company CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

11

In 1985, Hardy Rodenstock sold Bill Koch four bottles of Thomas Jefferson's wine. The price: Half a million bucks. Not only was the wine fake, so was Rodenstock. Hardy had been posing as a music manager and professor. Turns out he was a former train engineer named Meinhard Goerke who had never been a professor and had managed only a single shitty German band. CRACKED.COM http://www.newvorker.com/magazine/2007/09/03/the-jefferson-bottles — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

10

For years, prolific character actor Brian Dennehy talked about his service with the Marines in Vietnam. Glenna Whitley and B.G. Burkett, authors of the 1998 book STOLEN VALOR, subsequently determined that Dennehy was stationed in Japan (in the athletic department) during his time with the Marines, and was out of the service altogether in 1963, before major combat operations in Vietnam had started. In a letter to the authors, Dennehy admitted he had lied about his service, writing, I started the story that I had been in 'Nam. and I got stuck with it. Then I didn't know how to — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

9

CRACKED.COM Jim Morrison of The Doors didn't get along with his father, a Navy Admiral who disapproved of his son's musical career. Jim stopped speaking to his dad, but then took things a step further: He told reporters his parents were dead. Several years later, when asked about the lie, he responded: I guess I said my parents were dead as some kind of joke. — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

8

While promoting her play Speed-the-Plow, actress Lindsay Lohan claimed that during her community service fulfillment at the L.A. County Morgue she was tasked with handling Whitney Houston's body bag. A Coroner's Office official debunked the story, stating that no one in the probation program would have come into contact with Houston... And that the late icon was never even in a 'body bag.' CRACKED.COM — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

7

CRACKED .COM Rap musician Tyga claimed that he has lived. in the rough streets of Compton his whole life. But then an unreleased MTV video showed him bragging about living in the Valley and that his mom drove a Range Rover. Tyga later said that the video was scripted. — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

6

GRACKED.COM Hip Hop artist Rick Ross has made a career out of being a gangster rapper. In 2008, it was brought to light that he used to be a corrections officer in South Florida. He vehemently denied it until pictures of him in his uniform surfaced, then he was forced to admit it was true. — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

5

CRACKED.COM P Diddy claimed that he owned a private jet that is about ,000,000 to maintain and later said that he ditched his private jet because he couldn't afford to travel due to high gas prices. Truth is, there was no private jet registered under P Diddy's name. Diddy later responded to this by saying that he did own a part of the jet (a wing), and it was registered under someone else's name. — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

4

Douglas Stringfellow was a wheelchair vet who served on the U.S. House of Representatives. Except he totally wasn't paralyzed. He had served in the military, but his heroics- and his paralysis - were lies. The Mormon Church, which had supported him until he was exposed, forced him to make a public confession. CRACKED.COM http:/hoaxesorg/archive/permalink/douglasrstringfellow/ — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

3

On Thanksgiving 2015, khloekardashian FOLLOW Khloe Kardashian 650k likes bragged about her holiday khloekardashian am SOOOOO proud of myself lol can say that??? filmed on a baking accomplishments! tripod in my kitchen a lot of me baking and prepping for today so will have that up on my app soon!!! testing myself and seeing can accomplish and actually make successfully! Now let's pray it tastes as great as they look! This monkey bread is going to be so fucking bomb The pies she shared on Instagram were just like the ones she showed baking on racks the year before! khloekardashian All of my homemade — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

2

William Hillar claimed the movie Taken was based on his life. He spent 10 years giving seminars and workshops in counter-terrorism, human trafficking, and drug smuggling, citing his qualifications as a retired army colonel with a PhD. He was lying. Hillar was never in the army, and never even graduated from college. And the daughter he claims was kidnapped and killed never existed. CRACKED.COM as-md-hillar-201101251maryland-man-mail-fraud-military-life — Source: The 27 Weirdest Lies That Everyone Believed

1

CREAM When they first gained popularity, Meg and Jack White of the WHITE STRIPES Told fans that they were brother and sister. Then a newspaper found their wedding certificate.... ...and no. They weren't both. Jack later explained he thought when band members are relatives instead of lovers, fans care more about the music, not the relationship — Source: 17 Lies Celebs Told That People Forget

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