Not bloody likely! (dubious claims to witnessing famous incidents)

[UntouchedTakeaway]

I’ve seen the “Newlywed Game” item on one of those game show “Blooper” shows, but don’t know if it aired back in the day.

VCNJ~

@Wee Bairn

I actually have worked with people who saw Tommy Hilfiger on Oprah say that he doesn’t want black people buying his clothes or whatever :rolleyes:

We know the “in the ass?” Newlywed Game footage exists- does anyone know if it ever actually aired?

[Elendil_s_Heir]

A survey after JFK’s assassination showed that a far greater percentage of American voters recalled having voted for him in 1960 than actually had. I suspect a survey of 2000 and 2004 Bush voters might now show the opposite result.

[BMalion]

@Wee Bairn

…

We know the “in the ass?” Newlywed Game footage exists- does anyone know if it ever actually aired?

I believe that Liberal claimed to have seen it somewhere, got roasted in a thread for making said claim, then had a really sweet “I told you so” moment when it was revealed to really exist.

[BobLibDem]

I’m not 100% sure of this, but I recall Yogi Berra saying that more people told him that they were in the stands for Don Larsen’s perfect game than would have fit in Yankee Stadium.

[WordMan]

@An Arky

If a hundredth of the people who claim they were into Big Star in the 70s weren’t lying, Alex Chilton would be rich and famous.

Oh, the shame of it - I still ache realizing how great they were and I was a teen then but didn’t know about them. I just got into them a few years ago - so much lost time! I feel that way about the Ramones, too - I really liked a couple of songs, but never sought them out. Now I can’t imagine making breakfast on weekend mornings with my kids without them!

I bet punk qualifies - I know a lot of folks in their late 30’s early 40’s who claim to be into punk bands when I recall most folks were into Styx, Journey and REO Speedwagon…

[WOOKINPANUB]

@An Arky

Woodstock is one.

If a hundredth of the people who claim they were into Big Star in the 70s weren’t lying, Alex Chilton would be rich and famous.

The “that would be in the butt, Bob” episode of The Newlywed game.

I imagine that there might be some 9/11 posers out there, too.

I know it’s not exactly what the OP is referring to, but my first thought was of how after 9/11 happened everybody you talked to had" almost been a passenger on one of those planes!" :rolleyes: As if it doesn’t go without saying how tragic and horrifying it was to everyone in the country, many people seemed to have the need to portray themselves as * that much * closer to it. I don’t know how many people I talked to had “just been to the towers the other day!” Not to mention all the people who’s friend’s uncle’s roommate had an office “only four blocks from ground zero!” Sorry to go on a tangent here, but that kind of shameless coat tail riding is a big source of irritation to me.

[muldoonthief]

@joemama24_98

You know, I recall having the 12" Boba Fett figure as a kid, and I do remember it had a spring-loaded missile (wrist or back, I forget). Two of them, I think - maybe that is what he’s referring to?

I wish I still had it…I remember I had lost it for a while, then found it under a leave pile in the back yard the following Spring after it had snowed and frozen several times. Although it was plastic, it was pretty wrecked - metal joints frozen, cape a mess, etc.

It was the 4" Boba Fett that was modified due to the small missile. The cardboard packaging had a large, difficult to remove sticker that covered the missile launching instructions.

[Loach]

@WOOKINPANUB

I know it’s not exactly what the OP is referring to, but my first thought was of how after 9/11 happened everybody you talked to had" almost been a passenger on one of those planes!" :rolleyes: As if it doesn’t go without saying how tragic and horrifying it was to everyone in the country, many people seemed to have the need to portray themselves as * that much * closer to it. I don’t know how many people I talked to had “just been to the towers the other day!” Not to mention all the people who’s friend’s uncle’s roommate had an office “only four blocks from ground zero!” Sorry to go on a tangent here, but that kind of shameless coat tail riding is a big source of irritation to me.

I really was in the haunted house at the Great Adventure amusement park the day before it burned down killing 8. I think Hal Briston was there that day IIRC. However I was in my kitchen when the first plane hit and my living room when the second one hit during 9/11. It is true that my cousin was one of the members of the FDNY that was killed on that day.

[WordMan]

Oh - I just remembered! I have a great story about this:

I am an executive at a small medical services company. We were interviewing for the lead Practice Administrator at one of our practices - a solid, six-figure position.

A couple of candidates made it through the first round and flew up to Corporate to meet a few of us. This one fella - I’ll call him a made-up name of Jack - was brought into my office. I had noted on his resume that he was a member of ASCAP - the songwriters’ union.

He walked in and saw the poster I have on my wall of a beauty shot of a few rare Gibson Les Pauls (I swear it is tasteful, not some cheesy Ballet Shoes mood shot that you may have seen in college).

“Oh” he says “I play guitar”
“Yes, I knew you were a musician from your resume” I replied “watchya got?”
“A 1959 Stratocaster, and I had it modded” he boasted.
“Really?! What did you have done” I asked carefully.
“I installed a locking nut and tremolo”

And the interview was done. I mean, sure, I went through the motions, but I knew he was talking smack and was a bullshitter. A '59 Strat is a $50,000 guitar - even a while ago it was known as a valuable guitar. No tech would ever consider raping a guitar like that to install a locking whammy bar - you rout big holes in the body. And the basic design of a '59 Strat is nothing like the neck you want for a shredding Van Halen type of guitar - it has a completely different grip. So he was either lying or an idiot.

Then, during the interview, after discussing work (where he further disqualified himself), he asked me what music I liked and I said “all kinds.” I asked him what he liked and the type of music he played and he said metal and that he really loved Metallica. “Oh” I said “I love their riffs, but I am not a Kirk Hammett fan.” Pause.

“Who’s Kirk Hammett?” he asked
“The lead guitarist for Metallica” I replied.

Okay, we cleared that up - he was a liar.

He did so poorly on the other interviews I didn’t have to offer my stories during the eval debrief, but after the decision was made, they got quite a laugh…

[Otto]

@astorian

Fact: health food guru J.I. Rodale died while doing an interview on Dick Cavett’s talk show. According to Cavett, Rodale died on the couch just moments after proclaiming that he was in perfect health and would live to be 100.

I’ve met several people who clai mto have seen Rodale’s death on TV.

Problem is, that episode was never aired!

I can only assume that people read about the incident, or heard about it, and later convinced themselves they’d seen it.

And then there’s the infamous “pet my pussy” episode of The Tonight Show. Supposedly Zsa Zsa Gabor was on the couch with a cat in her lap, she asked Carson if he wanted to pet her pussy and he said he would if she moved the damn cat out of the way. Carson and Gabor both issued statements that it never happened yet people still swear they saw it.

[WOOKINPANUB]

@Loach

I really was in the haunted house at the Great Adventure amusement park the day before it burned down killing 8. I think Hal Briston was there that day IIRC. However I was in my kitchen when the first plane hit and my living room when the second one hit during 9/11. It is true that my cousin was one of the members of the FDNY that was killed on that day.

I’m so sorry for your loss and meant no offense. You do realize I was not referring to people who were genuinely, personally touched by it though, right? As someone who truly was touched first hand, doesn’t it piss you off that others would use your nightmare to make it all about them?
As for the haunted house story, I read the thread that you and Hal posted to (I think it was about urban legends?) and it was completely appropriate because that’s precisely what the OP was asking for. I also had not heard about that event so if you had casually mentioned it to me in conversation I’d think it was interesting in a “phew, close call!” kind of way and not that you were trying to prove something by connecting yourself to a well known event.

[Poysyn]

@kjckjc

While probably not nearly as rare as your examples, many people claim to have seen the Shuttle Challenger explode live. I did. (see it, not claim to.) Estimates show that upwards of 85% of people who saw the shuttle explode, saw it on tape. Only CNN was showing that portion of the launch live and most people did not have cable or satellite TV at the time. In fact, most of the people that DID see it live were school children as there was an effort to show it in schools. But I did see it and I thought it was kind of a downer. Like, oh…thats it? I didn’t get the tragedy until later.

I do believe I was one of those school children - I think Grade 4.

We were just all silent - I don’t think any of us (except the teacher) understood what had happened.

[zagloba]

@BMalion

While living in Burbank for close to 13 years, I met several people who claim to have been in attendance during the filming of “Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl” I have yet to believe one of them.

Over thirteen years living in the city adjacent to the venue, meeting several people who here there doesn’t seem so unlikely to me. The Bowl seats over 17,000 and the may have filmed more than one of the performances in the run of the show. I was at one of the performances, though I don’t know if they were filming that night or not.

[Loach]

@WOOKINPANUB

I’m so sorry for your loss and meant no offense. You do realize I was not referring to people who were genuinely, personally touched by it though, right? As someone who truly was touched first hand, doesn’t it piss you off that others would use your nightmare to make it all about them?
As for the haunted house story, I read the thread that you and Hal posted to (I think it was about urban legends?) and it was completely appropriate because that’s precisely what the OP was asking for. I also had not heard about that event so if you had casually mentioned it to me in conversation I’d think it was interesting in a “phew, close call!” kind of way and not that you were trying to prove something by connecting yourself to a well known event.

I’m sorry if I implied offense. I was just stating a related fact and not saying I was offended by your statement. I usually don’t bring it up because some people feel the need to mention their connection to 9/11 in any discussion about it or the war on terror as if someone without a direct connection is not entitled to an opinion. That pisses me off.

[WhyNot]

@kjckjc

While probably not nearly as rare as your examples, many people claim to have seen the Shuttle Challenger explode live. I did. (see it, not claim to.) Estimates show that upwards of 85% of people who saw the shuttle explode, saw it on tape. Only CNN was showing that portion of the launch live and most people did not have cable or satellite TV at the time. In fact, most of the people that DID see it live were school children as there was an effort to show it in schools. But I did see it and I thought it was kind of a downer. Like, oh…thats it? I didn’t get the tragedy until later.

As you say, I remember being one of the FEW who saw it live, because I was a schoolkid. Furthermore, our previous year teacher had been one of the gazillions of teachers who had applied for the position, and claimed to have “almost made it” (whatever that means). Bottom line, she was really excited about the launch, and talked the other teachers in our section into letting us watch the CNN feed live. We had another class come into our room because there weren’t enough TV’s for each class, and Matt Lawrence (who I had a horrid crush on; he barely knew I was a carbon-based lifeform) shared my desk while we watched. When it exploded, there was a general gasp and then many of us started crying - we were in sixth grade, so old enough to get it. Matt held my hand - probably the only time he ever touched me in 12 years of school together - and patted my shoulder awkwardly while I cried. Mrs. Sidler just looked stunned, and it took us a few moments to realize she was thinking it could (should?) have been her. She went home early that day.
Back to the OP: if every old hippie who claims to have smoked up with Robert Anton Wilson actually smoked up with Robert Anton Wilson, the guy wouldn’t have had time to write a word. Ditto tripping with Timothy Leary.

[mobo85]

My grandfather is one of many who claims to have heard Uncle Don mistakenly say “Well, that oughta hold the little bastards” over the air.

[Trunk]

@Queen of the Felines

(My boyfriend really DOES have a first printing of TMNT…I even got to touch it! :D)

What makes your claim different than the error pointed out by the OP?

He has a certified, one of 3000 printing?

Or he has one of the millions of “first editions” that you could get at 7-11 in 1988 or whatever year it was?

[WOOKINPANUB]

@Loach

I’m sorry if I implied offense. I was just stating a related fact and not saying I was offended by your statement. I usually don’t bring it up because some people feel the need to mention their connection to 9/11 in any discussion about it or the war on terror as if someone without a direct connection is not entitled to an opinion. That pisses me off.

We’re ridin’ the same wave, brotheh(sisteh?)

[BMalion]

@muldoonthief

It … The cardboard packaging had a large, difficult to remove sticker that covered the missile launching instructions.

and if you removed the sticker, you saw THIS!

[Dewey_Finn]

@WOOKINPANUB

I don’t know how many people I talked to had “just been to the towers the other day!” Not to mention all the people who’s friend’s uncle’s roommate had an office “only four blocks from ground zero!” Sorry to go on a tangent here, but that kind of shameless coat tail riding is a big source of irritation to me.

Yes, but so many people were or are employed at or near the World Trade Center that a large number of us might be able to find a personal connection to the events of that day. Also, many of us visited the observation deck of the Twin Towers as tourists, so that also helped us to feel connected to it.

As for the Challenger explosion, weren’t a lot of schools around the country showing the launch live, because of the schoolteacher on board, so that a lot of children might have seen the event happen?