The Great Moon Hoax of 1835: A Newspaper Convinced The World There Were People on the Moon

In August 1835, the New York Sun began publishing one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of American journalism: a supposed discovery of life on the Moon. According to the newspaper, the Moon was populated by bizarre animals, lush forests, oceans—and intelligent, winged humanoids. It was completely fabricated. The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 became one of the most famous newspaper hoaxes in American history, captivating readers and turning the New York Sun into a publishing sensation. The story claimed that the discoveries had been made with an extraordinarily powerful telescope and attributed them to the real-life astronomer Sir John Herschel. But why did so many people believe it? How was the hoax created? Who was behind it? And how did a newspaper manage to convince readers that civilization—and creatures—had been discovered on the Moon? On The Tom Gulley Show, Tom looks back at the Great Moon Hoax, the strange world it created in print, the newspaper business of 1830s New York, the public's fascination with astronomy, and the remarkable story of how one of the greatest fake news stories ever published became a genuine newspaper phenomenon. Long before social media, viral posts, clickbait and the internet, there was the Great Moon Hoax. #GreatMoonHoax #MoonHoax #History #AmericanHistory #Journalism #NewYorkSun #TomGulleyShow #Hoaxes #FakeNews #19thCentury thetomgulleyshow.com