10 cops buried alive was a hoax

[Monkeypants]

I didn't quite know what category to put this in, so it's in GQ. Mods, please move it if it needs to be moved.

I was on the verge of posting a message to ask about the 10 policemen trapped in the mall underneath the WTC, because they were big news yesterday and I hadn't heard anything since.

I have just heard during the televised press conference that the woman who was the "wife" of one of these men, and had him on the cellphone saying he was trapped with 9 others, was lying.

She got a ride down to the scene with a cop, and everyone's spirits were lifted last night when she said she had him on the phone. Rumors were that the Police Chief had taken the phone from her and confirmed it.

Turns out, she made it up. She was born in '77, and the cop whose name and badge she gave was 55 years old.

What possesses people to do things like this?