# Greatest Pranks of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668 "2013-07-16T14:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/1 "2013-07-16T14:35:24Z")
As racist and insensitive as the prank was, the Asiana Pilot Names / KTVU prank has to be considered one of the most successful in recent memory. In its wake, I thought it would be a good time to name/link the best ever. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/2 "2013-07-16T14:49:08Z")
Well, the spaghetti trees have to be mentioned. > **[Spaghetti-tree hoax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_tree_hoax)** > > The spaghetti-tree hoax was a three-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current-affairs programme Panorama, purportedly showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the family "spaghetti tree". At the time spaghetti was relatively unknown in the UK, so many British people were unaware that it is made from wheat flour and water; a number of viewers afterwards contacted the BBC for advice on growing their own spaghetti trees. Decades later, CNN ... ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/3 "2013-07-16T14:54:08Z")
Christianity? Too soon? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/4 "2013-07-16T14:55:15Z")
I just remembered the very recent Manti Te’o / Lennay Kekua hoax: > **[Manti Te'o](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manti_Te%27o#Girlfriend_hoax)** > > Manti Malietau Louis Te'o\[a\] (/ˈmæntaɪ ˈtɛʔoʊ/ MAN-ty TEH-'oh; born January 26, 1991) is a former American football linebacker. Te'o played college football at Notre Dame, where he was a consensus All-American and received eight national awards. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, and played in the National Football League (NFL) until 2021. > In 2012, Te'o became the victim of a catfishing ruse when Naya Tuiasosopo created a fake online persona nam... ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/5 "2013-07-16T15:12:05Z")
My personal favorite is the [Great Rose Bowl Prank of 1961.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rose_Bowl_Hoax) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/6 "2013-07-16T15:24:48Z")
I’m fond of this one, especially #5: [London Airport Announcements](http://www.hendess.net/london.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/7 "2013-07-16T15:27:47Z")
As I’ve just seen a [movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_of_Destiny_%28film%29) about it, I have to nominate the [removal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_of_Scone#Removal_and_damage) of the [Stone of Scone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_of_Scone) from Westminster Abbey by four Scottish students. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/8 "2013-07-16T15:28:08Z")
This one’s fake, but what a great idea: [Seeded Field Prank | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/college/pranks/birdseed.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/9 "2013-07-16T16:12:30Z")
I JUST posted about the greatest “might-have-been” [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16479303&postcount=14). ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/10 "2013-07-16T16:32:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Christianity? > > Too soon? :facepalm: ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/11 "2013-07-16T17:45:57Z")
[**Piltdown Man**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_man). > [@](#): > > The Piltdown hoax is perhaps the most famous paleoanthropological hoax ever to have been perpetrated. It is prominent for two reasons: the attention paid to the issue of human evolution, and the length of time (more than 40 years) that elapsed from its discovery to its full exposure as a forgery. My hope is that Arthur Conan Doyle will be proved to be the hoaxer. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/12 "2013-07-16T18:35:18Z")
[Piltdown Man?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man) ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/13 "2013-07-16T18:42:45Z")
Well there’s the great Canadian [Fur covered trout hoax](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur-bearing_trout). ---
**Author:** ![Mithras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mithras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithras)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/14 "2013-07-16T18:57:33Z")
The [Great Moon Hoax](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Moon_Hoax) is a good one. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/15 "2013-07-16T19:10:18Z")
Among my faves: During a USC-UCLA games years back, some Cal Tech students hacked into the stadium scoreboard and changed it to read something like: CAL TECH 42 SLIPPERY ROCK 0 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/16 "2013-07-16T19:12:05Z")
I have no idea who was originall behind them, but if you scan YouTube, you’ll find some great phone pranks where people called up businesses and carried on lengthy conversations using sound bites from either Arnold Schwarzenegger movies or from Al Pacino in _ **Glengarry Glen Ross.** _ ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/17 "2013-07-17T02:16:53Z")
[Lady Liberty on Lake Mendota](http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Lady_Liberty_on_Lake_Mendota/) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/18 "2013-07-17T02:17:39Z")
The [Max Headroom incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion) in Chicago has to be right up there. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/19 "2013-07-17T02:42:56Z")
That reminds me of one where they: 1. Call Chinese takeout and place order 2. Call another takeout 3. Ask first takeout to repeat order to second ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/20 "2013-07-17T02:44:57Z")
[The War of the Worlds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio_drama%29) radio broadcast is a leading contender. > [@](#): > > Some listeners heard only a portion of the broadcast and, in the atmosphere of tension and anxiety prior to World War II, took it to be an actual news broadcast.[1] Newspapers reported that panic ensued, with people across the Northeastern United States and Canada fleeing their homes. Some people called CBS, newspapers or the police in confusion over the realism of the news bulletins. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668.md?page=2)