Another criticism is that universities tend more to pseudo-intellectualism than intellectualism per se ; for example, to protect their positions and prestige, academicians may over-complicate problems and express them in obscure language ( e. g., the Sokal affair, a hoax by physicist Alan Sokal attempting to show that American humanities professors invoke complicated, pseudoscientific jargon to support their political positions.

* 1934 – The " Surgeon's Photograph ", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail ( in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax ).

* 1912 – The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson.

Wonders of the Maharal " is generally recognized in academic circles to be a literary hoax ".

Another film in the book, the now-lost porn film Him, has also been cited as the hoax, though it is known to have existed.

The hoax story is disputed by Henry Bauer, who claims this debunking is evidence of bias, and asks why the perpetrators did not reveal their plot earlier to embarrass the newspaper.

He claims that he studied the photograph so often and from many different angles that he was able to discern objects that prove the photograph is not a hoax.

Alastair Boyd, one of the researchers who uncovered the hoax, argues that the Loch Ness Monster is real, and that although the famous photo was hoaxed, that does not mean that all the photos, eyewitness reports, and footage of the monster were as well.

In what is known as the Taxil hoax, he claimed that supposedly leading Freemason Albert Pike had addressed " The 23 Supreme Confederated Councils of the world " ( an invention of Taxil ), instructing them that Lucifer was God, and was in opposition to the evil god Adonai.

* 1953 – The British Natural History Museum announces that the " Piltdown Man " skull, initially believed to be one of the most important fossilized hominid skulls ever found, is a hoax.

:" My Administration's position is very clear: if the Task Force and the Bush Administration stand by their 2005 conclusions, then for over 50 years the U. S Government has perpetuated a ' monumental hoax ' on the people of Puerto Rico, on the people of the United States and on the international community.

Abbott declined, and Krantz argued this call the same day of the encounter is evidence against a hoax, at least on Patterson's part.

Whilst the perpetrator of this hoax is unknown, it is thought he sought to influence the 19th century debate on spontaneous generation — rather than panspermia — by demonstrating the transformation of inorganic to biological matter.

In Jacques Derrida's response, " Sokal and Bricmont Aren't Serious ," first published in Le Monde, Derrida writes that the Sokal hoax is rather " sad ," not only because Alan Sokal's name is now linked primarily to a hoax, not to science, but also because the chance to reflect seriously on these issues has been ruined for a broad public forum that deserves better.

Then, of course, her belief that her husband is having an affair wouldn't be based on that evidence, because she did not know it was there at all ; or, if she thought that the evidence were a hoax, then surely her belief couldn't be based on that evidence.

The hoax material is still used to this day.

Since New York based Thomas would have known about the wide spread hoax and the contents of the 1876 published book were developed during or right after The Great Tom Collins hoax of 1874, the hoax event is the most plausible source of the name for the Tom Collins cocktail.

Some shock sites display a single picture, animation, video clip or a small gallery, and are often passed around via e-mail or disguised in posts to discussion sites as a hoax in an attempt to trick users into following the link to the website ( a bait and switch ).

The hoax was lent an air of credibility because often medieval monks did discover scientific and mathematical theories, only to have them hidden or shelved due to persecution or simply ignored because publication prior to the invention of the printing press was difficult at best.

Ironically the New York Times was tricked into printing a fake list of slang terms that were supposedly used in the grunge scene ; often referred to as the grunge speak hoax.

The British philologist Robert Nares ( 1753 – 1829 ) says that the word hoax was coined in the late 18th century as a contraction of the verb hocus, which means " to cheat ", " to impose upon " or " to befuddle often with drugged liquor ".

According to Professor Lynda Walsh of the University of Nevada, Reno, some hoaxes — such as the Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814, labeled as a hoax by contemporary commentators — are financial in nature, and successful hoaxers — such as P. T. Barnum, whose Fiji mermaid contributed to his wealth — often acquire monetary gain or fame through their fabrications, so the distinction between hoax and fraud is not necessarily clear.

A hoax is often intended as a practical joke or to cause embarrassment, or to provoke social or political change by raising people's awareness of something.

There is often a mixture of outright hoax and suppression and management of information to give the desired impression.

Given inconsistencies and the lack of reliable data and completely contradicting and unpredictable behavior, the true nature of ball lightning is still unknown and was often regarded as a fantasy or a hoax.

This letter was subsequently demonstrated to be a hoax perpetrated upon Bell, who in fact had a publicly loving relationship with his Filipina wife and his previous wife Ramona, who was also Filipina, and who often spoke openly about his admiration for the Filipino people on his radio show.

Inhofe often repeats his claim that human influenced climate change is a hoax and impossible because “ God ’ s still up there .” and that it is “ outrageous ” and arrogant for people to believe human beings are “ able to change what He is doing in the climate .”

The site often publishes hoax articles each year on April Fools ' Day.

The best hoax is to repeat it so often that people are convinced that the next move is also a hoax.

* Jephson, p255, claims that despite initial rumours that the tape was a hoax, this comment was " an expression I had heard often enough to recognise its authenticity.

( This prediction often attributed by the hoax writer to Bill Gates ) A prototype computer that is allegedly under development as part of this project is called " Ibycus ".

Since then, it has often been promoted as an authentic account of slavery during the 18th century, though its inaccuracies and anachronisms have led historians to conclude that it is a hoax.

Humbug is a person or thing that tricks or deceives or talks or behaves in a way that is deceptive, dishonest, false, or insincere, often a hoax or in jest.

* David Lang ( missing person ), a fictitious person, the subject of an often repeated paranormal hoax

This elaborate hoax often gained the cooperation of faculty members and people in the town.

Some of the conversations included Brehmer talking with people, letting them fume, and then asking the angry listener what day it was ; this often resulted in the listener realizing they had been a victim of the hoax.

Perhaps because the perception of George W. Bush having low intelligence is common and had been cited by the media as well as by politicians, including a spokesperson for Tony Blair, the hoax report was widely taken to be true.

Furthermore, moon-landing hoax advocate Wayne Green cited the film as evidence for his views, apparently believing the out of context footage of Nixon staff was really about a moon landing hoax.

Despite evidence to the contrary, the Calaveras Skull continues to be cited by creationists as proof that paleontologists ignore evidence that does not fit their theories, although others have acknowledged that the Calaveras Skull is a hoax.

The term hoax is occasionally used in reference to urban legends and rumors, but the folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand argues that most of them lack evidence of deliberate creations of falsehood and are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes, so the term should be used for only those with a probable conscious attempt to deceive.

The Mets played along with the hoax, even providing a uniform for Finch.

Initial humane society statements decrying the website as " encouraging abuse " caused local investigation, along with an FBI announcement that it was to investigate the hoax.

Rendalen deliberately mistranslated a trivial Norwegian article about a local building inspector and submitted both the original story and the " translation " to TBN, along with a letter which included his real name, phone number, and address, as well as those of a pastor friend who knew about the hoax and had agreed to expose it to anyone who called seeking verification.

It was not until after the 1986 overthrow of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos that it was discovered that the 26 Tasaday " cavemen " had been ordinary people going along with a hoax.