# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/21 "2013-07-17T02:47:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > My personal favorite is the [Great Rose Bowl Prank of 1961.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rose_Bowl_Hoax) Why do the Wikipedia writers call that a hoax? It is not a hoax (and I do note that you correctly call it a prank). ---
**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 17, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/22 "2013-07-17T03:00:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > [The War of the Worlds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio_drama%29) radio broadcast is a leading contender. I don’t think that qualifies, as it wasn’t a prank. ---
**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, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/23 "2013-07-17T03:09:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t think that qualifies, as it wasn’t a prank. Well, it may not have originally been intended as a prank, but it sure turned out that way for a lot of people. ---
**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, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/24 "2013-07-17T04:41:07Z")
According to my mother (also supported by a quick Google search), the panic of the W of the W broadcast was greatly overstated by the media. She listened to it, said it was perfectly obvious that it was a radio play, and did not know a single person who thought otherwise. In her opinion, the media ceased upon a few isolated reports of people who were confused, and later the incident achieved legendary status. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/25 "2013-07-17T04:45:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Christianity? > Too soon? Your parents’ marriage?😛 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/26 "2013-07-17T04:48:11Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > [**Piltdown Man**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_man). > My hope is that Arthur Conan Doyle will be proved to be the hoaxer. My regret is that Clarence Darrow (who adduced _Eoanthropus dawsonii_ in the Scopes monkey trial) did not live to see “Piltdown Man” exposed as a fake. (Scopes did.) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/27 "2013-07-17T06:54:37Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Why do the Wikipedia writers call that a hoax? It is not a hoax (and I do note that you correctly call it a prank). The OP is remiss for not explaining that pranks are rated on two scales: the execution scale and the humor scale. The Asiana Airlines thing, for instance, scored high on execution (getting a newscaster to read infiltrated lines), but the judges gave it a pretty low humor score, which actually took the overall score down a notch. I don’t think hoaxes have as strict a rating system, and humor is not a requisite component of the judging. ---
**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 17, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/28 "2013-07-17T12:09:19Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Why do the Wikipedia writers call that a hoax? It is not a hoax (and I do note that you correctly call it a prank). The Caltech website calls it a hoax and not a prank. So presumably this is why Wikipedia does so as well. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/29 "2013-07-17T20:40:00Z")
No mention yet of the [Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film)? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/30 "2013-07-17T20:55:18Z")
I think we need to define hoax and prank. Personally, I think of the Caltech stuff as pranks and the Patterson-Gimlin film as a hoax. ---
**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 17, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/31 "2013-07-17T20:58:40Z")
While they’re not the same thing, I think we have space in this thread for both. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/32 "2013-07-17T21:05:31Z")
See, I think to be a prank, the “punchline” exposing the whole thing as fake has to be part of the original plan. As bigfoot hoaxers intend to fool people and never show up and shout “gotcha!” they don’t qualify. [Naked Came The Stranger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Came_the_Stranger%E2%80%8E) was a very successful prank. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/33 "2013-07-17T21:08:53Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The [Max Headroom incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion) in Chicago has to be right up there. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/34 "2013-07-17T21:15:25Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > No mention yet of the [Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot film](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film)? If that’s a hoax it’s a damn good one. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/35 "2013-07-17T21:29:22Z")
> [@bup](#): > > See, I think to be a prank, the “punchline” exposing the whole thing as fake has to be part of the original plan. As bigfoot hoaxers intend to fool people and never show up and shout “gotcha!” they don’t qualify. I agree. However, we’ll never know if the bigfoot film hoaxers ever intended to come forward to shout “gotcha”, because they both died before they could to so. Their film, whatever their motives and intent, went on to become more of a legend than either a hoax or prank. In any case, I think it is now accepted as a fake, but it sure got a lot of people talking, and those guys had been laughing all thru the years. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/36 "2013-07-17T21:43:29Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > If that’s a hoax it’s a damn good one. I think it’s completely explicable in terms of luck: if hoaxers make 500 attempts at establishing evidence for Bigfoot or UFOs or the Loch Ness monster, there are going to be a few that have no evidently disprovable points. The Patterson film managed to portray an odd creature that moves in an unusual way successfully, without a single point to spoil the illusion. It does not constitute believable evidence not because of any internal flaw, but the grievous external flaw of having not the smallest shred of corroborating evidence to support it. If the choice is a perfect hoax or the only evidence of a large ape-like creature living in North America… Occam’s Razor says it all. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/37 "2013-07-17T23:47:20Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I agree. However, we’ll never know if the bigfoot film hoaxers ever intended to come forward to shout “gotcha”, because they both died before they could to so. Their film, whatever their motives and intent, went on to become more of a legend than either a hoax or prank. In any case, I think it is now accepted as a fake, but it sure got a lot of people talking, and those guys had been laughing all thru the years. I believe Bob Gimlin is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/38 "2013-07-18T01:50:30Z")
Notre Dame playing in the Nat’l Championship ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/39 "2013-07-18T01:50:57Z")
My favorite is the one where, as their buddy was just jumping off on a bungie, they screamed at him and threw a spare one over the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/40 "2013-07-18T02:33:10Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Notre Dame playing in the Nat’l Championship Roll Tide! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668.md?page=3)