Archive topic
Fabrications, mistaken identifications and media-driven stories, examined through the evidence that created, spread or corrected them.
Hoaxes, Misidentifications & Media
The Cardiff Giant was a carved gypsum fake sold as a petrified ancient man, and it remains one of the cleanest lessons in spectacle, profit and belief.
Hoaxes, Misidentifications & Media
The Face on Mars became a classic anomaly because one low-resolution Viking image looked uncannily human until better imaging restored it to geology.
Hoaxes, Misidentifications & Media
The Feejee Mermaid became an object lesson in showmanship because the hoax was never just the object; it was the lecture around it.
Hoaxes, Misidentifications & Media
A face in a window is a useful archive case because it lets us talk about pareidolia, photography and the way expectation edits what we think we saw.