As Fox Mulder from The X-Files said, “I want to believe.” Even some outspoken skeptics at heart hope that there is something paranormal in our world that goes beyond the boring routine. It is not surprising that all kinds of scientific hoaxes easily find supporters who are able to drown out the voice of reason in the scientific community. We at Find out.rf present you 11 stories that once again prove how easy it is to convince people of anything.
Behringer's "Lying Stones"
In 1725, students of the natural history department at the University of Würzburg brought their professor Johann Behringer a strange discovery - more than 2,000 stones covered with Hebrew inscriptions, images of astronomical objects, birds, spiders and copulating frogs.Beringer was sure that these were relics of the antediluvian era and that these stones were the work of God. He dedicated an entire book to his idea, but as soon as it was published, the students brought him the last stone with Behringer's name scratched out. It turned out that his colleagues, tired of his arrogance, decided to take revenge on the scientist in this way.
Perpetual motion machine
The search for an engine capable of operating forever without fuel and mechanical impact has been going on for several centuries and has so far been unsuccessful. At the beginning of the 19th century, a certain Charles Redheffer appeared in the American city of Philadelphia. He settled in a house on the outskirts and invited everyone to look at his invention - a perpetual motion machine. The rumor quickly spread throughout the city, and Redheffer applied for a grant to further improve his apparatus and extorted a lot of money from ordinary citizens. 
The expert commission would not have suspected a dirty trick if not for the teenage son of one of its members, Nathan Sellers. He was the first to draw attention to the uneven speed of movement of the mechanism, indicating that the engine was driven by external energy. Eventually the fraudster was exposed. It turned out that an old man was sitting in a locked attic and turning the handle of the device. Redheffer had to flee.
The Big Moon Hoax
This name was given to a series of six journalistic materials published in the British newspaper The Sun in August 1835. It is assumed that their author was the editor of the publication, Richard Adams Locke. The first article reported on the discovery by the great astronomer John Herschel of a super telescope with 42,000x magnification. The invention allowed him to consider the civilization on the Moon and the humanoids inhabiting the Earth's satellite with wings like bats. 
The hoax was exposed by competitors from the New York Herald newspaper. The editor demanded from The Sun the originals of Herschel's scientific works, which they, of course, were unable to provide. But The Sun benefited greatly from the scam - about 20 thousand copies of the tabloid were sold every day.
Cardiff giant
The three-metre tall fossilized human figure was found in the city of Cardiff by workers digging a well in 1896. The enterprising owner of the site immediately began charging a fee to view the wonder, and local Christians began to zealously defend its authenticity. 
Of course, the giant turned out to be a skillful fake. So the local popularizer of atheism, George Hull, decided to play a joke on a very pious city official who believed that our planet was once inhabited by giants, as the Bible says.
Piltdown Man
In 1912, lawyer Charles Dawson, who was keen on archeology, presented to the British Museum the “missing link” between man and ape, which he allegedly discovered in a sand pit in the city of Piltdown - a fossil skull. Some anthropologists noticed inconsistencies in the structure of the skull, but on the whole the scientific community accepted the find with joy. 
Only in 1949 did scientists analyze the bone material and establish that the skull was artificially aged. Moreover, the upper part of the skull belonged to an anatomically modern person, and Dawson borrowed the jaw from an orangutan.
Fairies from Cottingley
This is the story of how two cousins fooled Britain using their imagination and a camera. In the spring of 1917, 17-year-old Elsie and 10-year-old Frances, both raised on British folklore, told their parents that they spent their days playing with fairies across the village stream. Of course, they didn’t believe them. The youngest of the sisters begged her father for a camera, and an hour later they returned with “evidence.” On one of the developed films, Elsie was captured next to a fairy-like creature. 
Unfortunately, Elsie’s mother was fond of spiritualism and had no doubt about the veracity of the photographs. From her, through third parties, Arthur Conan Doyle, author of books about Sherlock Holmes and a supporter of spiritualism, learned about the mysterious photographs. He asked the girls to take three more photographs with fairies and sent them for examination, which confirmed that there were no signs of third-party intervention in the photo, the fairies were real.
It was only in 1978 that the illusionist James Randi noticed that the fairy figures were cut-out illustrations from the children’s book “Princess Marie’s Book of Gifts,” enlarged the photographs and saw the strings tied to the figures.
Crystal Skull
In 1927, during an expedition in South America, archaeologist Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedger discovered a human skull skillfully carved from a single piece of crystal. Already in the 21st century, anthropologist of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Jane McLaren Walsh proved that Hedger's finds were made at the end of the 19th century by German jewelers. 
Loch Ness monster
This famous photograph of the Loch Ness Monster was taken in 1933 by London physician R. Kenneth Wilson. The frame caused a stir among cryptozoologists and made Loch Ness a place of pilgrimage for mystery lovers from all over the world. However, 60 years later, two friends of the author of the photo admitted to the hoax. However, there is still a widespread theory that the lake is home to a plesiosaur, a reptile species that became extinct more than 65 million years ago, hidden in a sinkhole. 
War of the Worlds
On October 30, 1938, the CBS radio station, together with the artists of the Mercury Theater, decided to stage H. G. Wells's War of the Worlds. The performance began without warning: interrupting the orchestra's performance, the announcer announced the news of the Martian attack on Earth, describing in detail the Martian spaceships. 
About 6 million people listened to the production, and about 20% forgot about the upcoming Halloween and mistook the actors' performances for real news reports. The residents of the city of Concrete had it worst of all - at the climax, the local power plant went offline, and everyone was sure that this was the work of aliens. American confidence in radio was so damaged that when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, many considered the tragic news to be just another hoax.
Alien Autopsy (1947)
In 1995, Briton Ray Santilli reported that he had received from a former colonel a secret military video recording of the autopsy of an alien who landed at the Roswell base in 1947. 
The veracity of the film was instantly disputed by the scientific community. However, Santelli did not admit to deception until 2006, and to all accusations of a hoax (in particular, that his film was modern) he replied that the original film was badly damaged, so he played it on a projector and recorded it on another video camera.
Tasaday tribe
The largest ethnographic scandal in history occurred in 1971. Then a series of publications spread across the largest scientific journals in the world about the discovery of a relict Tasaday tribe on the Philippine island of Minado, consisting of 26 people and completely cut off from the civilized world. Members of the community, it was reported in the materials, live in caves according to the laws of primitive communism, survive by gathering, wear loincloths and do not know what aggression is. 
The line of researchers wanting to see the prehistoric tribe with their own eyes was huge, but the President of the Philippines, under penalty of death, forbade scientists from entering Tasaday territory without his knowledge. But when the government was overthrown in the country in 1986, a group of scientists from Switzerland decided to break the ban. Imagine their surprise when, instead of savages in skins, they saw completely modern Filipinos in jeans and T-shirts.
By the way, on the website you can test yourself for a predisposition to believe in unverified facts and myths.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
Let's figure out whether it is worth believing in this theory, which for many years has not been subject to any doubt from society.
Why did scientists become interested in disproving the theory?
Darwin's teachings are presented as mere speculation. How did it happen that this hypothesis became a clear definition of the origin of man as a species for many years? We can absolutely say that a person, and especially a scientist who has strong thinking, could not imagine that one species, for example, amphibians, could simply evolve into mammals. Even if nature decreed this, then for the subsequent preservation of a new species, its first representative needs a partner to continue the race, therefore at least two individuals must evolve simultaneously, which is impossible at the genetic level.
This fact alone can completely refute the theory, but there is even more serious evidence. So far, among the numerous fossil animals, no gene chain has been found that would clearly show the transition between the two species.
Those who follow Darwin's teachings cite as evidence the skeleton of an ancient antelope, which, in their opinion, became the ancestor of the modern giraffe. There is no scientific evidence to support this episode of evolution. There are only assumptions and some external and interspecific similarities.
Such hypotheses, which supposedly confirm Darwinism, are obviously absurd. Imagine that your friend had an old car, but after a few years you suddenly see that in his garage there is a new foreign car. In response to your question whether there is evidence of tuning the car, a friend replies that there is only one photograph that was taken somewhere in the middle of the repair. Of course you won't believe him.
How can a fish that lays eggs evolve into a sexually reproducing species, or even lay eggs? And many such examples can be given.
For followers of this movement, everything happens by itself. Previously, education was aimed specifically at the theory of evolution, so many generations did not doubt the correctness of this statement and blindly believed in textbooks.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, 80% of the planet's population are imitators and do not have their own opinions. Let's take as an example the famous legend about Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit. Many will say that it was an apple, confirming their judgment with the Bible, but there is nothing of the kind in the book. Someone once decided that it must be an apple, and everyone else just believed it.
Only 20% can question another person's theory. This is the reason that humanity has been in error for many years.
What scientific facts disprove the theory?
Firstly, Charles Darwin did not present any evidence in his book “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”, but was based only on his own guesses and imagination.
Secondly, a large number of facts indicate that the Earth is a relatively young planet that was formed 20 - 30 thousand years ago. This fact makes evolution impossible, since there simply would not be enough time for it.
Thirdly, humans have 46 chromosomes, and apes have 48. Darwinists say that during the course of evolution, the ape lost two chromosomes, but how can one evolve in mental development after losing two chromosomes? It has been scientifically proven that the loss of chromosomes leads to degradation and subsequent death. Unfortunately, we can observe this phenomenon in our time. The birth of children with Down syndrome is a clear example.
Also, in the process of evolution, animals develop underdeveloped organs, which cannot in any way contribute to existence on Earth.
“Macroevolution”, namely the transition from one animal to another, has never been observed in nature. All “macroevolution” occurs at the level of thinking, which has no evidence.
The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that all living and nonliving objects in nature are subject to destruction and aging, therefore evolution is impossible at the physical level.
As indirect evidence, one can cite the fact that when developing his theory, Darwin was not a biologist, he only loved nature and had a rich imagination and fantasy.
What theories of human origins exist?
Extraterrestrial origin theory
According to this theory, people appeared on Earth thanks to the intervention of alien civilizations. This hypothesis is criticized by the majority, but it has a chance of existence.
Theory of creation
This theory states that God created humans. The most famous interpretation of this judgment is set out in the Bible. The first people to set foot on Earth were Adam and Eve. Followers of this theory even provide some scientific evidence, but it does not contradict the theory of evolution. Some even believe that man evolved from primates by the will of God, and not by natural selection.
Theory of space anomalies
Promoting this theory, its followers cite anthropogenesis as an element of the development of the humanoid triad. The planetary biosphere develops at the level of information substance. If conditions are favorable, this leads to the emergence of intelligent life.
What to believe?
Social scientists conducted many surveys in connection with the refutation of the hypothesis. Darwin's theory remains the most popular, despite its absurdity. In 2nd place is the theory of creation. The remaining assumptions about the origin of man occupy a small share among all options.
Of course, what to believe is a matter for each person individually. Scientists can only put forward new and new theories, refuting old ones.
So, in this issue we will refute scientific facts, or rather what some mistakenly believe to be such. These myths, old wives' tales and misunderstandings have been passed down from generation to generation, but it's time to put an end to it. As they say, forget everything you were taught at school - it's time to figure out what's what!
1. The well-known noble mineral diamond is not always formed from compacted coal. Most diamond deposits are located at a depth of more than one hundred and fifty kilometers, while coal deposits are only about three kilometers deep.
2. “Blind as a bat” is not entirely correct, or rather, not at all correct expression. Although many bats use echolocation to navigate in space, all of them can see.
3. Poinsettia won't kill you or your pets, although you still shouldn't eat it. Consuming poinsettia flowers internally may cause mild illness and digestive problems.
4. If you throw a one-cent coin from the Empire State Building directly at a person, it will not kill him. The penny will fall at 80 km/h, which is not fast enough to kill.
5. Blondes and redheads will not “die out.” Genes don't die out. Recessive genes, such as those for red or blond hair, can be passed down from generation to generation without appearing as hair color.
6. Hair and nails do not continue to grow after death. Rather, the skin shrinks and dries out, causing hair and nails to appear to continue to grow.
7. Determining the nature of a cold by the color of snot is fundamentally incorrect. Both bacterial and viral illnesses can cause nasal discharge to range in color from clear yellow to deep green.
8. Pure water is not a very good conductor of electricity. The reason you can get an electric shock through water is because water contains minerals, dirt, and other substances that conduct electricity.
9. Frogs and toads will not “give” you warts, but if you shake the hand of a person with warts, you can become infected with them. Human papillomavirus is what causes warts and is unique to humans.
10. Ostriches do not stick their heads in the sand in case of danger. They don't bury their heads in the sand at all. When in danger, ostriches fall to the ground and pretend to be dead.
11. With a lack of oxygen, the blood does not become blue, but darkens almost to burgundy. Veins, when visible through the skin, simply appear blue.
12. Eating sugar does not cause hyperactivity and overexcitement in children. In several studies, children were given drinks with and without sugar, but this did not affect their levels of arousal.
13. You can place an egg on your “head” any day of the year, not just on the spring solstice. All you need is steady hands and an egg with a textured shell.
14. Cracking your knuckles - yes, it may annoy your office colleagues, but no, it will not lead to arthritis. Osteoarthritis occurs for other reasons - age, injury, obesity and genetic factors.
15. Organic food also contains pesticides. However, their content in products of organic and inorganic origin is so small that it does not pose a threat.
16. Stress does not play a big role in chronic high blood pressure. Acute stress can temporarily increase blood pressure, but in general it is not the main cause of hypertension. Things like genetics, smoking and poor diet can be major factors.
17. Lightning strikes twice in the same place. Some places, like the Empire State Building, are struck by lightning up to 100 times a year.
18. Lemmings do not commit mass suicide. During their migrations, they sometimes fall off cliffs if they enter unfamiliar territory.
19. A person is not born with all brain cells; some of them appear during life. There is evidence that at least several areas of the brain continue to produce new cells into adulthood. This is called neurogenesis.
20. Many would call this dinosaur a brontosaurus - even Michael Crichton did it in the movie Jurassic Park. However, it is actually called Apatosaurus. This myth was created by two warring paleontologists during the Bone Wars 130 years ago.
21. One gene does not equal one protein. Many genes can produce numerous different proteins, depending on how the messenger RNA from the gene is sequenced and distributed throughout the cell. Some genes do not produce proteins at all.
22. Goldfish have a good memory. They can remember certain events for several months, and not seconds, as many people think.
23. HIV was not transmitted to humans through sexual contact between a person and a monkey, as many people think. Most likely, this was contact through blood - primates were hunted for meat for a very long time.
24. Dogs and cats don't see in shades of gray. They can differentiate between blue and green. Dogs have a wider field of vision than humans, but they cannot see straight ahead as far as we can.
25. People don't use "only 10% of their brain." We use our entire brain for different purposes at different times. We couldn't survive if 90% of our brain wasn't used.
26. Only a very small percentage of people with Tourette's syndrome shout swear words. The syndrome includes many more symptoms - for example, involuntary movements and various vocal tics. The impulsive pronunciation of obscene words is called coprolalia.
27. At the dawn of the Middle Ages, almost all scientists believed that the Earth was round and not flat. The myth of such ignorance among medieval pundits dates back to the 1940s and was started by members of the British Historical Association.
28. Sharks also get cancer, and their cartilage is in no way capable of helping in the fight against cancer. William Lane told the world about the miraculous properties of shark cartilage. By the way, he was the seller of this “mega-effective anti-cancer drug.”
29. The northern hemisphere of the Earth is no closer to the Sun in summer. On the contrary, in winter (early January) the Earth approaches the Sun at a distance of 147 million km, and in summer (early July) it moves away from it by 152 million km. Summer in the northern hemisphere is warmer because the Earth is tilted at an angle to the Sun, so its energy is directed directly at it.
30. The Great Wall of China is not the only artificial structure visible from space. It all depends on your concept of space. For example, only the lights of megacities are visible from the Moon.
32. Microwave radiation does not cause cancer. The microwave simply heats the food. Only some types of radiation cause cancer, and even then it all depends on the dose: solar radiation can lead to skin cancer, but the right amount of it helps our body produce vitamin D.
33. The fact that McDonald's burgers don't rot is just a myth. Under the "right" conditions - for example, with enough water and heat - conditions are created in which microorganisms break down food.
34. When you shave your hair, it doesn't get thicker, it just seems coarser for a while. This is because the ends of the bristles are no longer cone-shaped due to the cut.
35. It doesn’t take seven years to digest chewing gum. Actually, it is not digested at all, but our body normally passes it for several hours.
+ 0
+ 0
+ 0
Why did scientists become interested in disproving the theory?
Darwin's teachings are presented as mere speculation. How did it happen that this hypothesis became a clear definition of the origin of man as a species for many years? We can absolutely say that a person, and especially a scientist who has strong thinking, could not imagine that one species, for example, amphibians, could simply evolve into mammals. Even if nature decreed this, then for the subsequent preservation of a new species, its first representative needs a partner to continue the race, therefore at least two individuals must evolve simultaneously, which is impossible at the genetic level.This fact alone can completely refute the theory, but there is even more serious evidence. So far, among the numerous fossil animals, no gene chain has been found that would clearly show the transition between the two species.
Those who follow Darwin's teachings cite as evidence the skeleton of an ancient antelope, which, in their opinion, became the ancestor of the modern giraffe. There is no scientific evidence to support this episode of evolution. There are only assumptions and some external and interspecific similarities.
Such hypotheses, which supposedly confirm Darwinism, are obviously absurd. Imagine that your friend had an old car, but after a few years you suddenly see that in his garage there is a new foreign car. In response to your question whether there is evidence of tuning the car, a friend replies that there is only one photograph that was taken somewhere in the middle of the repair. Of course you won't believe him.
How can a fish that lays eggs evolve into a sexually reproducing species, or even lay eggs? And many such examples can be given.
For followers of this movement, everything happens by itself. Previously, education was aimed specifically at the theory of evolution, so many generations did not doubt the correctness of this statement and blindly believed in textbooks.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, 80% of the planet's population are imitators and do not have their own opinions. Let's take as an example the famous legend about Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit. Many will say that it was an apple, confirming their judgment with the Bible, but there is nothing of the kind in the book. Someone once decided that it must be an apple, and everyone else just believed it.
Only 20% can question another person's theory. This is the reason that humanity has been in error for many years.
What scientific facts disprove the theory?
Firstly, Charles Darwin did not present any evidence in his book “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”, but was based only on his own guesses and imagination.Secondly, a large number of facts indicate that the Earth is a relatively young planet that was formed 20 - 30 thousand years ago. This fact makes evolution impossible, since there simply would not be enough time for it.
Thirdly, humans have 46 chromosomes, and apes have 48. Darwinists say that during the course of evolution, the ape lost two chromosomes, but how can one evolve in mental development after losing two chromosomes? It has been scientifically proven that the loss of chromosomes leads to degradation and subsequent death. Unfortunately, we can observe this phenomenon in our time. The birth of children with Down syndrome is a clear example.
Also, in the process of evolution, animals develop underdeveloped organs, which cannot in any way contribute to existence on Earth.
“Macroevolution”, namely the transition from one animal to another, has never been observed in nature. All “macroevolution” occurs at the level of thinking, which has no evidence.
The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that all living and nonliving objects in nature are subject to destruction and aging, therefore evolution is impossible at the physical level.
As indirect evidence, one can cite the fact that when developing his theory, Darwin was not a biologist, he only loved nature and had a rich imagination and fantasy.
What theories of human origins exist?
Extraterrestrial origin theory
According to this theory, people appeared on Earth thanks to the intervention of alien civilizations. This hypothesis is criticized by the majority, but it has a chance of existence.Theory of creation
This theory states that God created humans. The most famous interpretation of this judgment is set out in the Bible. The first people to set foot on Earth were Adam and Eve. Followers of this theory even provide some scientific evidence, but it does not contradict the theory of evolution. Some even believe that man evolved from primates by the will of God, and not by natural selection.Theory of space anomalies
Promoting this theory, its followers cite anthropogenesis as an element of the development of the humanoid triad. The planetary biosphere develops at the level of information substance. If conditions are favorable, this leads to the emergence of intelligent life.What to believe?
Social scientists conducted many surveys in connection with the refutation of the hypothesis. Darwin's theory remains the most popular, despite its absurdity. In 2nd place is the theory of creation. The remaining assumptions about the origin of man occupy a small share among all options.Of course, what to believe is a matter for each person individually. Scientists can only put forward new and new theories, refuting old ones.