| Revision as of 15:24, 9 November 2021 editVolunteer Marek (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers94,120 edits →Extant for 10+ years: Enough. The guy who created this "hoax about a fake hoax" has been indef banned by WMF from all Misplaced Pages projects. He has been socking extensively to keep nonsense like this in. Just recently almost sneaked through into an adminship. WP:DENY applies and Icewhiz's ol' friends really need to drop trying to defend his 'legacy' or whateverTag: Reverted← Previous edit | Revision as of 16:36, 9 November 2021 edit undoPolska jest Najważniejsza (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users695 edits Undid revision 1054355527 by Volunteer Marek (talk)find a consernsus for such a drastic move. leave it to third party. you're a user directly involved in this affair. WP:COITags: Undo RevertedNext edit → | ||
| Line 2,435: | Line 2,435: | ||
| ! style="width:20%;"| Error type | ! style="width:20%;"| Error type | ||
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| | Claim that the ] was an ] that killed 200,000 ethnic Poles (up to 400,000 in the infobox of some Misplaced Pages versions ) using a gas chamber in a tunnel near ] and other methods. | |||
| | data-sort-value="1500" | 15 years | |||
| | August 25, 2004 | |||
| | August 28, 2019 | |||
| | , . Also present in ] for 13 years 3 months (, ), ] for 12 years, 3 months (, ), ] for 10 years, 5 months (, ), ] for 12 years, 8 months (, ), ] for 13 years, 5 months (, . Was also present on dewiki ( - ), plwiki( - , + additional wikis (probable transations). | |||
| | Type 4 (False or unreferenced and dubious statement that may or may not be a hoax as it could arguably have been added as a mistake or in good faith). The first introduction of this claim into Misplaced Pages took place in 2004, and that version of the article was unreferenced. The claim dates back to 1970s Polish sources and has been subject to increased scrutiny and debunking by professional historians in late 2000s / 2010s. It has persisted on Misplaced Pages until 2019 when it removed in August following the first mention of the error in Misplaced Pages in '']'' . It further drew media attention in October that year when "Misplaced Pages's longest-standing hoax". There is however no evidence that the editor or editors who added it to Misplaced Pages realized it was fake or disputed back in early 2000s ("a hoax is defined as a clear and deliberate attempt to deceptively present false information as fact. Libel, vandalism, and honest factual errors are not considered hoaxes"). As such, while this is one of the longest-standing errors in Misplaced Pages, it may not be a longest-standing hoax. See also ] and ]. | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | Claim that there had been a proposal to put a spire atop the ] "to simplify window washing". | | Claim that there had been a proposal to put a spire atop the ] "to simplify window washing". | ||
Revision as of 16:36, 9 November 2021
 |
Please do not attempt to create new hoaxes on Misplaced Pages; here is why. |
This is a list of known historical hoaxes created on Misplaced Pages. It is not for known hoaxes which are notable in their own right, such as Piltdown Man. Its purpose is to document hoaxes on Misplaced Pages, in order to improve our understanding of them and our ability to detect them. For the purpose of this list, a hoax is defined as a clear and deliberate attempt to deceptively present false information as fact. Libel, vandalism, and honest factual errors are not considered hoaxes. A hoax is considered notable enough for inclusion in this list if it evaded detection for more than one month or was discussed by reliable sources in the media. This list is incomplete, as many hoaxes remain undiscovered.
Hoaxes can be added to this page if they meet the requirements above. Do not list Misplaced Pages April Fools' Day pranks or factual articles about encyclopedically notable hoaxes. Start/Deletion date and Length are the dates and approximate time the article was generally visible.
For many of the below hoaxes, you can see an archived version of the deleted article by clicking on its title (see also list of archived hoaxes). Some also remain available from mirror sites. Any administrator can create an archived version of a hoax upon request by following the instructions below.
| Suggestions to administrators on archiving hoaxes |
|---|
|
Academic research has investigated the impact and characteristics of Misplaced Pages hoaxes, and has proposed automated methods for detecting them. Researchers found that the automatic classification system was better at identifying hoaxes on Misplaced Pages than humans (86% vs. 63% accuracy) and used their algorithm to identify previously undiscovered hoaxes like "Steve Moertel" which went undetected for almost 7 years.
One way to identify hoax articles included examining the article structure and content, its mentions in other articles on Misplaced Pages (i.e., embeddedness), and features of the editor who created the page. Specifically, hoax articles are likely to be longer than a legitimate article, less likely to have links to other Misplaced Pages articles, references, images, or other "wiki-like" markup, less likely to be mentioned in other Misplaced Pages articles before its creation, and more likely to be created by a new account with few to no other edits.
While most hoaxes on Misplaced Pages are short-lived (90% of discovered hoaxes are flagged within one hour of creation and only 1% of hoaxes persist for more than a year), those that make it past this initial screening have an increased probability of continuing to "survive" and remain a part of Misplaced Pages for much longer (if a hoax survives past its first day, it has an 18% probability of lasting for a year or more). Compared to unsuccessful hoaxes, successful hoaxes that survive for long periods of time are more likely to include some "wiki-like" mark-up and more likely to include links to other articles on Misplaced Pages.
Compared to legitimate articles, successful hoaxes generally receive less daily traffic, have a longer median article length (134 vs. 71 words), and include fewer links to other Misplaced Pages articles when considering their article length.
Hoax articles
Extant for 10+ years
| Hoax | Length | Creation date | Deletion date | Size in bytes (last edit) |
Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eduardo Corrochio Fictitious 1890s New York tap dancer; tap dance as a style did not originate until 1928. |
16 years, 1 month | July 10, 2005 | August 27, 2021 | 2,839 | Deletion discussion |
| Jack "Russer" Russell Fictitious 18th century traveler, a "Western Icon" in Japan where his journals are 'pop culture'. |
16 years | September 11, 2005 | September 19, 2021 | 1,020 | Deletion discussion |
| Malkiel (comics) Fictitious Norwegian comic book. |
15 years, 2 months | August 3, 2006 | October 18, 2021 | 746 | Deletion discussion |
| Abu-Ali Urbuti Fictitious sheikh, the name is a pun (Sheikh Urbuti = "shake your booty"; cf. Frank Zappa's album title "Sheik Yerbouti"). |
14 years, 10 months | April 7, 2006 | February 10, 2021 | 2,649 | Archived version of the hoax |
| Mustelodon Fictitious extinct carnivore genus. |
14 years, 9 months | November 9, 2005 | August 12, 2020 | 1,285 | Deletion discussion and discussion on WikiProject Palaeontology |
| Arekh Fictitious anti-religion scholar in medieval Persia. |
14 years, 6 months | August 8, 2006 | March 3, 2021 | Deletion discussion | |
| The Gates of Saturn Fictitious ITV slapstick television program starring Jim Dale. |
14 years, 5 months | February 8, 2006 | August 7, 2020 | 1,373 | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax" |
| Defauly Creek Fictitious creek in British Columbia, Canada |
14 years | December 12, 2006 | December 25, 2020 | Archived version of the hoax | |
| Nuremberg Plate Fictitious torture instrument used during interrogations. Was previously deleted on the German Misplaced Pages in 2007 for being a hoax. |
13 years, 10 months | July 23, 2007 | June 13, 2021 | Deletion discussion | |
| Stone Ridge, Maryland Fictitious municipality in Maryland, US |
13 years, 10 months | June 22, 2007 | May 7, 2021 | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| Sequenceome Fictitious biology concept, "the totality of polymer sequences on Earth". |
13 years, 7 months | December 19, 2007 | August 17, 2021 | 281 | Deletion discussion |
| Joseph G. Williams Fictitious country singer-songwriter. |
13 years, 7 months | August 4, 2007 | March 6, 2021 | – | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax" Archived version of the hoax |
| Karsgaard Fictitious Scottish surname |
13 years, 5 months | February 21, 2008 | August 2, 2021 | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| Tim Verfaillie Fictitious biography about a Belgian painter, first created on the Dutch-language Misplaced Pages and in 2006 here |
13 years, 4 months | June 2, 2006 | October 6, 2019 | 1,010 | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax" |
| Whimbling iron Fictitious tool |
13 years, 4 months | March 25, 2008 | July 29, 2021 | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| Eric van Viele Fictitious biography about an actor of the 1922 horror film Nosferatu who supposedly sent death threats to the director. Although the subject might have been a real person, this and other extraordinary claims about him, such as that he was executed, had no sources. |
13 years, 2 months | April 4, 2006 | June 30, 2019 | – | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax |
| Harivansa Fictitious Portuguese Indian chapel |
13 years, 2 months | October 28, 2007 | January 10, 2021 | – | Archived version of the hoax |
| Madrigal Shipping Lines Fictitious Australian shipping company. |
12 years, 9 months | March 20, 2008 | January 12, 2021 | 4,680 | Deletion discussion |
| Transformatix Fictitious American new wave band |
12 years, 9 months | June 24, 2008 | April 3, 2021 | Archived version of the hoax Deletion discussion | |
| Vivarem Fictitious Sanskrit word meaning "information" |
12 years, 9 months | April 3, 2006 | January 5, 2019 | 542 | Deletion reason and identification as a hoax |
| Bont Fictitious ball game, supposedly from France |
12 years, 8 months | August 17, 2006 | April 27, 2019 | 425 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bont |
| Nelson Larios Fictitious successful Honduran football player |
12 years, 8 months | December 28, 2008 | September 27, 2021 | 2,977 | Deletion discussion |
| Messenger Premier League Fictitious professional table tennis competition in Australia |
12 years, 8 months | September 24, 2008 | May 30, 2021 | 7,540 | Deletion discussion |
| JBOB Fictitious acronym for "Just a Bunch Of Bytes", said to be a term used to describe unstructured data that does not have a fixed format |
12 years, 8 months | October 21, 2008 | July 8, 2021 | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax", see deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| Synchronized Football Fictitious variant of association football. The article spuriously claimed it was a popular sport among youth in Norway and also contained a hoax diagram of one of its possible playing fields. |
12 years, 5 months | January 7, 2007 | June 24, 2019 | 6,506 | Deletion log Archived version of the hoax |
| Groove Radio Fictional British radio station, admitted to have been created by the editor for GCSE coursework in a 2008 forum post. The article existed as "Grooveradio" until a page move was made in 2019. |
12 years, 4 months | April 13, 2008 | August 14, 2020 | 1,037 | Internet Archive |
| Bine (mythology) Fictional ancient Akkadian demon claimed to equip demons with wings in preparation for the Second Coming; also claimed to have actually been a mortal carpenter who died and rose again. Despite having no sources, the hoax was included in Theresa Bane's Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures, published by McFarland & Company in 2012. |
12 years, 4 months | April 22, 2005 | August 23, 2017 | 1,112 | User talk:Doug Weller/Archive 46#Bine (mythology) hoax article |
| Chu Chi Zui Fictitious Chinese bishop |
12 years, 3 months | April 1, 2006 | July 21, 2018 | 940 | Deletion discussion |
| The Deadweights Fictitious American punk rock band; was part of a semi-walled garden of hoax articles about the band's alleged discography |
12 years, 3 months | September 16, 2007 | December 28, 2019 | 14,957 | Deletion discussion Teahouse report |
| Spanish tickler Claimed medieval torture device also known as Cat's paw |
12 years, 2 months | December 15, 2005 | March 2, 2018 | 1,398 | Rationale for deletion |
| Lollie Alexi Devereaux Fictitious French actor and opera singer |
12 years, 1 month | September 26, 2008 | November 22, 2020 | Archived version of the hoax | |
| Milk Studios Fictional speciality products retailer in Sweden. |
11 years, 8 months | December 7, 2004 | August 31, 2016 | 1,123 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Milk Studios A number of other organizations appear to exist which share this name but are actual studios or music studios. |
| Global Open University Indian degree mill posing on Misplaced Pages as a real university |
11 years, 8 months | November 3, 2008 | July 16, 2020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Global Open University Archived version of the hoax | |
| Mauser C6 Fictitious firearm produced by Mauser |
11 years, 6 months | November 1, 2009 | May 24, 2021 | Deletion discussion | |
| Teddy Dressing Fictitious children's book about dressing. |
11 years, 7 months | December 29, 2008 | August 27, 2020 | 1,070 | Deletion discussion |
| George K. Broomhall Fictitious brevet general during the American Civil War who was also credited with the invention of cream soda. |
11 years, 5 months | July 21, 2006 | January 5, 2018 | 2,622 | Identification of hoax |
| Lipid therapy Fictitious medical treatment |
11 years, 1 month | September 23, 2008 | November 13, 2019 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Lipid therapy Archived version of the hoax | |
| Sheer Perfection Purported HBO miniseries, either fictitious or abandoned extremely early in development. |
10 years, 10 months | August 31, 2005 | July 19, 2016 | 419 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sheer Perfection |
| Christopher Hamilton Fictitious Anglo-Irish politician and commander |
10 years, 9 months | February 10, 2010 | November 20, 2020 | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| 48 Belgrave Square London house falsely alleged to have been owned by fictitious Anglo-Irish politician and commander Christopher Hamilton (see above) |
10 years, 9 months | February 10, 2010 | November 19, 2020 | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| Courts (village) Fictional village in Graubünden, Switzerland. |
10 years, 9 months | March 11, 2009 | January 9, 2020 | 450 | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax: per PROD, obvious hoax by indef-blocked sockmaster" |
| Fuzz (musician) Fictional British musician and film star |
10 years, 7 months | February 9, 2011 | October 6, 2021 | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax" Archived version of the hoax | |
| Théophile Figeys Alleged major general in the Belgian army |
10 years, 3 months | February 19, 2010 | June 8, 2020 | 1,245 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Théophile Figeys, archived version of the hoax |
| Jack Robichaux Fictional 19th-century serial rapist in New Orleans |
10 years, 1 month | July 31, 2005 | September 3, 2015 | 1,164 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Jack Robichaux Archived version of hoax: Please note: John Robichaux was a different, real, nineteenth-century New Orleans personality. |
Extant for 8–9 years
| Hoax | Length | Creation date | Deletion date | Size in bytes (last edit) |
Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maddi Fairthorne Fictitious president of the World Bank from 1985 to 1988. In reality, Alden W. Clausen and Barber Conable held the office during that time. |
9 years, 11½ months |
September 1, 2006 | August 25, 2016 | Maddi Fairthorne deletion log Archived version of hoax: | |
| Guillermo Garcia Imaginary "highly influential" oil and forestry magnate in 18th-century South America |
9 years, 10 months |
November 17, 2005 | September 19, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Guillermo Garcia (businessman) | |
| Jar'Edo Wens Fictional Australian Aboriginal deity, presumably named after "Jared Owens". |
9 years, 9 months |
May 29, 2005 | March 3, 2015 | 539 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Jar'Edo Wens. Archives: English article, English article's revision history. Note also: French translation, Revision history of French article, Wikidata entry, Revision history of Wikidata entry |
| Pikes on Cliffs Fictional Spanish coastal house, claimed as the 16th-century home of a nonexistent Irish sailor who survived a death sentence from Sir Francis Drake. |
9 years, 8½ months |
March 17, 2005 | December 5, 2014 | 936 | Pikes on Cliffs deletion log Archived hoax: |
| Salvadorian Magpie Fictional bird allegedly found in Jamaica |
9 years, 8 months | March 7, 2011 | November 24, 2020 | 1,020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Salvadorian Magpie |
| World Laparoscopy Hospital Fictitious Indian hospital, actually an apparent scam |
9 years, 7 months |
November 27, 2010 | June 28, 2020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/World Laparoscopy Hospital Archived version of the hoax | |
| Gregory Namoff An "internationally known" but nonexistent investment banker, minor Watergate figure, and U.S. Senate candidate. |
9 years, 6½ months |
June 17, 2005 | January 13, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Gregory Namoff Archive | |
| Izana Fictional Incan creation myth |
9 years, 6½ months |
October 25, 2010 | May 11, 2020 | AFD nomination, archived article | |
| Double Hour Supposed German and American television show, covering historic events over a two-hour span. |
9 years, 6 months |
September 23, 2005 | April 4, 2015 | Double Hour (TV series) deletion log Archived version of hoax: | |
| Sean Mann "Allan K. Wood Distinguished Professor of Bioethics and Korean language" at the University of California, Berkeley, with a remarkable but totally fake career as a bioethicist, theologian, and anarchist. |
9 years, 6 months |
October 6, 2005 | April 5, 2015 | 6,819 | Sean Mann deletion log |
| Snappy & friends Supposed animated show |
9 years, 5½ months |
March 6, 2005 | August 22, 2014 | 958 | |
| Conchobar Mac Con Raoí Fictitious inhabitant of Galway, Ireland who lived (or claimed to live) 280 years from 1300 to 1580. References mentioned an Irish historian as source, but this author's work does not mention the subject. |
9 years, 4½ months |
December 14, 2009 | May 5, 2019 | 1,427 | deletion discussion |
| Blood Eagle (band) Supposed British band |
9 years, 3½ months |
December 30, 2005 | April 21, 2015 | deletion log, addition at Blood eagle | |
| Nicholas Burkhart Fictitious 17th-century legislator in the House of Keys on the Isle of Man. |
9 years, 2 months |
July 19, 2006 | September 26, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Nicholas Burkhart | |
| Henry Vaughan Fictitious 18th-century landowner, supposedly killed by a mob and buried at the Radnorshire Arms in Presteigne. |
9 years, 1½ months |
October 28, 2005 | December 11, 2014 | Henry Vaughan deletion log Related hoax material removed in stages from Radnorshire Arms during November & December 2014. Original creation with multiple hoaxes at Radnorshire Arms Main hoax removal Removal of additional hoax information about hotel | |
| Rich Bradford Supposed New Mexico Lobos football player, falsely listed as an Outland Trophy nominee and credited with a key play in the California Raisin Bowl. |
8 years, 11½ months |
May 1, 2007 | April 16, 2016 | 1,277 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Rich Bradford. The author Mosaicbull (talk · contribs) and his sock LoboSportsBureau (talk · contribs) created Fumble Rumble and Las Vegas All-Star Classic to support the story and created links in a number of existing articles. Las Vegas All-Star Classic lasted two months and was deleted as a content fork rather than as an hoax. Although it linked to Fumble Rumble no suspicions were aroused. Fumble Rumble was re-created twice and survived for more than a year and was deleted for lack of notability with just a suspicion that it might be an hoax. And although it linked to Rich Bradford suspicions were again not aroused. |
| Hey Everybody Fictional album |
8 years, 11 months |
January 5, 2008 | December 16, 2016 | 2,060 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Hey Everybody |
| Emilia Dering Long-lived article about a non-existent 19th-century German poet started with the basic "Emilia Dering is a famous poet who was born in Berlin, Germany on April 16, 1885" and immediately given an image of Mark E. Smith by a single purpose account |
8 years, 10 months |
December 6, 2006 | October 6, 2015 | 643 | Emilia Dering deletion log; deleted via A7. On the same day of the article's creation, a person claiming to be the granddaughter of Emilia Dering made a blog post with an attributed poem supposedly by her. |
| To the Hills with Thee, Angharrad Nonexistent one-man play set in Wales, the United States, and Vietnam, falsely ascribed to Boyd Clack; cited a fake review by Kenneth Tynan. |
8 years, 8 months |
December 2, 2006 | August 10, 2015 | Deletion log | |
| Doni Kochev Imaginary 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionary against the Ottoman Empire. |
8 years, 7 months |
January 19, 2007 | August 31, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Doni Kochev | |
| Bodhi stones Supposed mythical stones carved from Mount Meru and distributed among eight elders in eight villages because of their sacred powers; falsely sourced to the Mahabharata before G3 deletion. |
8 years, 7 months |
August 15, 2006 | March 16, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bodhi stones Archived version of hoax: | |
| Jeffrey Boehm Fictitious British naval officer with supposed feats in battle at Grenada, the Saintes, and Trafalgar. |
8 years, 6½ months |
January 23, 2007 | August 11, 2015 | 3,344 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Jeffrey Boehm |
| Catherine Higgins Nonexistent TV actress, supposedly noted for roles on the imaginary ABC shows Death Reward and Ocatavius Merredrew; G3 deletion. |
8 years, 6 months |
January 19, 2007 | July 18, 2015 | Catherine Higgins deletion log Archived version of hoax: | |
| Library of Amartya Fictional library. |
8 years, 5½ months |
January 13, 2007 | July 4, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Library of Amartya. | |
| Near Dark (unfinished film) Nonexistent remake, based on claims of a remake that was cancelled in the pre-production stage. |
8 years, 5 months |
August 9, 2007 | March 15, 2016 | 676 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Near Dark (unfinished film). |
| Medio Oriente Fictitious borough of San Juan, Puerto Rico |
8 years, 5 months |
September 21, 2010 | February 16, 2019 | Deletion discussion | |
| Hugh Bruce Cunningham Supposed Scottish minister noted for a fictitious coat of arms and the rejection of a knighthood from King George III. |
8 years, 4 months |
March 28, 2007 | August 6, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Hugh Bruce Cunningham Archived at ejje.weblio.jp | |
| Collins Slip Nonexistent instruction sheet included with prescription drugs, based on a spurious 1983 accident in Akron, Ohio. |
8 years, 3½ months |
November 22, 2006 | March 8, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Collins Slip | |
| Eric Heineman Supposed Czech-American mathematician and electrical engineer with reputed academic career at Charles University and Yale in 19th & early 20th century. |
8 years, 3 months |
August 18, 2006 | November 29, 2014 | Eric Heineman deletion log Archived version of hoax: | |
| Don Meme A fictitious "mythical, wise guru" in Puebla, Mexico, supposedly the subject of a nonexistent short story collection; also claimed to be a mentor for real-life bands and "an entity that appears as soon as a bohemian party is summoned." Later deleted via G3. |
8 years, 3 months |
December 14, 2006 | March 21, 2015 | Don Meme deletion log | |
| Bessa Vugo Nonexistent molecular biologist and collaborator with Jacques Monrod who "famously" had children eat brussel sprouts, and disproved Fouriers Law for Heat Transfer. |
8 years, 2½ months |
October 11, 2006 | January 9, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bessa_Vugo Archived version of hoax: Vugo | |
| Victor Escobar Nonexistent Colombian student at School of the Americas, whose unexplained disappearance supposedly prompted a bill in the United States House of Representatives. |
8 years, 2½ months |
October 11, 2006 | January 9, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Victor Escobar Archived version of hoax: | |
| Chaozhouxieye Fabricated Chinese leisurewear company "best known for their plastic open toe slippers or flip-flops" and apparently worn by Jodie Marsh, Ken Dodd, and C+C Music Factory (whose song "Things That Make You Go Hmmm" also allegedly inspired by the company) |
8 years, 2 months |
August 20, 2007 | October 22, 2015 | 1,138 | |
| Horng fong "Legendary" Vietnamese reptile not mentioned in any sources (including the real sources mentioned in the article). |
8 years, 2 months |
November 2, 2008 | December 29, 2016 | 2,099 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Horng fong |
| Jairo Valos Rodriguez Invented American yo-yo champion born on August 26, 1989. |
8 years, 1½ months |
April 24, 2009 | June 15, 2017 | 2,416 | |
| Ted and the Treble Tones Fake rock band from Fresno, credited with an imaginary 1959 hit that appears nowhere on the Billboard charts. |
8 years, 1½ months |
November 13, 2006 | January 1, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ted and The Treble Tones | |
| Daniel de Búrca Nonexistent 18th-century Irish philosopher, credited with fake controversial essays that supposedly influenced David Hume. |
8 years, 1 month |
October 16, 2006 | November 30, 2014 | Daniel de Búrca deletion log Speedily deleted (A11) in 2006; article subsequently restarted and survived more than eight years before G3 deletion. | |
| Gaius Flavius Antoninus Supposed assassin of Julius Caesar, claimed to have later been assassinated himself by a male prostitute hired by Mark Antony |
8 years, 1 month |
June 9, 2004 | July 13, 2012 | 835 | Discussion at WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome |
| Alyse Squillace Fictitious American children's book author |
8 years, 11 days |
February 6, 2007 | February 17, 2015 | 1,039 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Alyse Squillace |
| Glamoč Airport Fictitious airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
8 years, 5 days |
February 10, 2013 | February 15, 2021 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Glamoč Airport Archived version of the hoax |
Extant for 4–7 years
| Hoax | Length | Creation date | Deletion date | Size in bytes (last edit) |
Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Falsetto Basses Fictitious pop band of the late 1980s, supposedly based in Asheville, North Carolina and credited with two nonexistent hit songs. |
7 years, 11½ months |
April 8, 2007 | April 3, 2015 | The Falsetto Basses deletion log | |
| Scarlett Montanaro Fictitious British singer/actress |
7 years, 11 months |
June 27, 2012 | May 29, 2020 | Scarlett Montanaro deletion log Archived version of the hoax | |
| St Angeline Fake wind-powered "submersible research centre" in the Atlantic Ocean west of England, supposedly designed for the study of life support and land reclamation systems. |
7 years, 10½ months |
October 4, 2007 | August 31, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/St Angeline | |
| Morgan Dee Voon Alleged amateur female scientist and possible mistress of the founder of modern genetics Gregor Mendel |
7 years, 10½ months |
April 7, 2007 | February 23, 2015 | 3,091 | Morgan Dee Voon deletion log Justification at the creator's talk page |
| Guy de la Bretaigne Imaginary "critic, dandy, and man of letters" in 19th-century France, supposedly noted for his "studied indifference" and correspondence with Charles Baudelaire. |
7 years, 9½ months |
June 20, 2007 | April 18, 2015 | 3,091 | Guy de la Bretaigne deletion log |
| Wolsebuse Games Fictitious 1990s video game company |
7 years, 9½ months |
February 10, 2007 | December 5, 2014 | 4,138 | Wolsebuse Games deletion log |
| The Brothers Wing Invented Florida-based reggae band with a fictitious album |
7 years, 9 months |
March 10, 2007 | December 19, 2014 | 2,130 | The Brothers Wing deletion log |
| PH Games Nonexistent tabletop game manufacturer in India, credited with numerous imaginary titles across multiple platforms. Deleted via prod for being an advertisement, then deleted due to Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/PH Games. |
7 years, 8½ months |
November 6, 2007 | July 25, 2015 | 1,188 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/PH Games |
| The Vans Brothers Fictitious mid-2000s New Zealand blues band, with a nonexistent album and record label. |
7 years, 7 months |
January 21, 2008 | August 31, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/The Vans Brothers | |
| Reede-drum Imaginary frame drum from Kyrgyzstan |
7 years, 7 months |
December 10, 2007 | July 18, 2015 | 2,130 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Reede-drum |
| TNT television Nonexistent 2001-2002 Australian children's show on Network Ten |
7 years, 6½ months |
January 16, 2008 | August 2, 2015 | Last version prior to being tagged as hoax; Article history; redirected to TNT (TV channel) after being nominated for G3 deletion. | |
| James Snipplet Nonexistent 19th-century member of Parliament, poet, and songwriter, supposedly noted for his advocacy of Irish tenant farmers' rights; hoax Twitter account created for support. |
7 years, 6 months |
February 25, 2008 | September 8, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/James Snipplet | |
| Evarts Friedman Imaginary 1910s and 1920s vaudeville promoter, whose supposed career ended in debt, disaster, and conflict with "bailiffs, Mafioso and the Chicago State police." |
7 years, 5½ months |
June 11, 2007 | December 1, 2014 | Evarts Friedman deletion log | |
| Mendaxi Fictitious Greek cosmetics company, supposedly backed by Aristotle Onassis and purchased by L'Oreal in 1976. |
7 years, 5½ months |
February 17, 2008 | August 7, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Mendaxi | |
| Hector Does Nonexistent 1987 animated Conservative Party short films on political topics (e.g., Hector Refuses to Join a Trade Union), apparently derived from Charley Says; supposedly ordered destroyed by Margaret Thatcher. |
7 years, 4½ months |
March 21, 2008 | August 8, 2015 | Hector Does deletion log | |
| Nihil Pop Organization Supposed counter-cultural organization with branches in the United States, France and Italy; allegedly dedicated to "nihilism through pop culture" by means of art exhibitions, fanzines, and terrorism. |
7 years, 3 months |
June 24, 2008 | September 23, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Nihil Pop Organization | |
| Clyde McKnight American rapper; appears to be a real person, however article falsely claimed collaborations with Paris Hilton, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and more. |
7 years, 2 months |
November 25, 2012 | January 30, 2020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Clyde McKnight Archived version of the hoax | |
| Chen Fang A Wikipedian noticed in November 2012 that The Harvard Guide to Using Sources said that "an Expos student who was writing a paper about the limitations of Misplaced Pages posted a fictional entry for himself, stating that he was the mayor of a small town in China. Four years later, if you type in his name, or if you do a subject search on Misplaced Pages for mayors of towns in China, you will still find this fictional entry." No longer. |
6 days | February 11, 2005 | February 17, 2005 | 2005 VfD, Discussion on the Admin noticeboard | |
| 7 years, 2 months |
September 25, 2005 | November 19, 2012 | |||
| Fictitious works, Cadamekela and Durkeamynarda, attributed to Indian mathematician Brahmagupta | 7 years, 1 month |
June 25, 2007 | July 29, 2014 | Talk page discussion added, removed; removed from French and Hungarian Misplaced Pages in September 2015. | |
| Siete Viejo (gang) Fictitious street gang allegedly founded by Vietnam War veterans. |
7 years, 1 month |
August 5, 2011 | September 5, 2018 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Siete Viejo (gang) | |
| Mr Bennett Goes to Town Nonexistent Nazi propaganda film set in Manchester, supposedly produced in 1937 but never released because of production complaints by Joseph Goebbels. |
7 years, 1 month |
March 15, 2008 | April 14, 2015 | Mr Bennett Goes to Town deletion log | |
| Elaine de Francias Supposed illegitimate daughter of Henry II of France; hoax was suspected for years on talk page and taken apart piecemeal before final PROD deletion. |
7 years, ½ month |
February 28, 2008 | March 20, 2015 | Elaine de Francias deletion log | |
| J.J. Johnson Fictional NFL player with a fabricated career with UCLA, the Kansas City Chiefs, and numerous teams in other leagues |
7 years, ½ month |
October 25, 2007 | November 15, 2014 | J.J. Johnson deletion log Not to be confused with an actual J.J. Johnson who was active in the NFL at the same time | |
| Manfred Jung Fictitious French poet, noted for his equally spurious "philosophical or theological" poetry collection Instructions. |
7 years | September 16, 2008 | September 26, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Manfred Jung | |
| Gatsby Major Alleged to be Director of Bureau of Fisheries in 1897. |
6 years, 11 3/4 months |
October 23, 2008 | October 19, 2015 | 1,545 | Gatsby Major deletion log |
| Tony's Home Spectacular but false record (#2 on the Billboard charts in 2006, 376,000 sales in first week) for an obscure rap album |
6 years, 11½ months |
September 25, 2008 | September 19, 2015 | 2,396 | Tony's Home deletion log |
| Olimar The Wondercat Fictional children's television programme. Author later admitted he made it for his cat. |
6 years, 11 months |
August 5, 2006 | July 9, 2013 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Olimar The Wondercat | |
| Steve Moertel Fictitious inventor of a new type of popcorn. |
6 years, 10½ months |
March 12, 2009 | February 3, 2016 | Hoax discovered by researchers from the University of Maryland and Stanford University as part of an academic paper. | |
| George Colby and Colby Pirates A supposed British privateer and profiteer ("Colonial Colonel Cheese Colby"), and his group of pirates, of the French and Indian War (1754–1763) |
6 years, 10 months |
August 5, 2006 | June 7, 2013 | 1,406 1,211 |
Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/George Colby, Believed by at least one book and many people online |
| Napalm Brain Nonexistent English psychedelic rock band credited with two fictitious albums. |
6 years, 9½ months |
February 19, 2008 | December 10, 2014 | Napalm Brain deletion log | |
| Daniel Pontillas Supposedly a "gentleman thief, master of disguise, and an amateur detective" in a 1905 short-story collection; partial name-change plagiarism of Arsène Lupin. |
6 years, 9 months |
July 5, 2008 | April 9, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Daniel Pontillas | |
| Murder of Andre Marshall Imaginary murder in Bridgeport, Connecticut. |
6 years, 9 months |
November 30, 2006 | August 26, 2013 | 4,653 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Murder of Andre Marshall |
| Athanasius of Dendrinata Fictional "negotiator and scholar" in Athens during the 2nd century BC |
6 years, 8 months |
August 2, 2009 | April 15, 2016 | 709 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Athanasius of Dendrinata via SwisterTwister |
| Howard's Law Fictitious formula for diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, supposedly identified in 1955 by the equally spurious doctor "Howard Luci-Liu." |
6 years, 7 months |
October 2007 | May 29, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Howard's Law Cited on a MLB.com message board in a totally unrelated discussion about Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard | |
| Milton Bradley Playmate Supposed 600-cubic-foot computer prototype designed in late 1960s to play various board games using a giant robotic claw arm. |
6 years, 7 months |
January 2008 | August 10, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Milton Bradley Playmate | |
| Kings of All Times Nonexistent Yemeni novel, credited to two different dubious authors, about the political and personal challenges of an Estonian and his delusional friend in Yemen. |
6 years, 6½ months |
April 30, 2008 | November 23, 2014 | Kings of All Times deletion log | |
| Tillery Band that supposedly perished in an airplane crash on December 12, 1956 en route to a "Lester Concert Hall", which also does not exist. |
6 years, 6 months |
November 20, 2005 | May 14, 2012 | 380 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Tillery |
| O-Ha! Nonexistent sitcom on ABC (now TV5) in the Philippines, with only four episodes from 2006-2007. |
6 years, 5½ months |
October 13, 2008 | April 9, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/O-Ha! | |
| Bonehill international Supposed KGB "department for exportation of revolution," blamed for a nonexistent financial scandal in Latvia. |
6 years, 4½ months |
July 14, 2008 | December 3, 2014 | Bonehill international deletion log Speedily deleted soon after creation (A1), but article was immediately rebuilt and survived more than 6 years. | |
| Crocodile shears Supposed Medieval torture device |
6 years, 4½ months |
March 20, 2006 | July 30, 2012 | 1,172 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Crocodile shears Named by Listverse as the most gruesome medieval torture device |
| Rough Creek Ranch Supposed ranch in Oklahoma which claimed to be "the first parcel to be purchased in a long-term plan to re-establish the equivalent of conditions in Oklahoma which existed prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th through 18th centuries." |
6 years, 3½ months |
September 5, 2006 | December 15, 2012 | 546 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Rough Creek Ranch |
| Assorted made-up political parties in Kosovo Democrat Republic Party Christian Party of Kosovo Union of Kosovo Party Serbian Union of Kosovo & Metohija Peoples Party of Kosovo |
6 years, 3 months |
October 11, 2008 | January 17, 2015 | 416 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Democrat Republic Party |
| The Travails and Tribulations of Geoffrey Peacock Fictional novel alleged to have been written by Huxley, the book was listed on Huxley's article in 2008 and an article on the novel was written in May 2014, prompting its detection. |
6 years, 3 months (inclusion on Huxley's page) |
February 25, 2008 | May 14, 2014 | 7,203 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/The Travails and Tribulations of Geoffrey Peacock |
| 1978–79 Boston College basketball point shaving scandal Player Joe Streater was alleged to have been involved, even though he wasn't even a member of the team that year. Only identified after spreading to numerous sources, including the Associated Press. |
6 years, 2 months |
August 12, 2008 | October 8, 2014 | Signpost article | |
| Hasan Masurica Claimed inventor/engineer who built an airplane out of wood in 1899. |
6 years, 2 months |
March 6, 2012 | May 1, 2018 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Hasan Masurica | |
| Rhys Hopkin Supposed Newcastle Falcons rugby player and politician, with fabricated career as mayor of Durham and a brother claimed to be Labour MP for Wells; deleted via G3. |
6 years, 1 month |
June 27, 2009 | August 6, 2015 | Rhys Hopkin deletion log | |
| Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment Indian degree mill presented as a legitimate academic institution |
6 years, ½ month |
June 18, 2014 | June 30, 2020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment | |
| Victoria Jade Meyers Non-existent Australian actress |
6 years | February 13, 2013 | February 18, 2019 | 1,891 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Victoria Jade Meyers. Article creator previously also created an article on another likely fabricated Australian actress, Cheyenne Carthy, which was quickly caught and deleted. |
| Kunhar River Spot-Boi Fictitious river in Pakistan |
5 years, 11½ months |
November 18, 2014 | October 31, 2020 | Archived version of the hoax | |
| Sura of Parthia Fictitious Iranian warrior princess, non-existent daughter of the real Ardavān V, last king of the Parthian empire. Hoax only discovered after both fooling a senior academic and also inspiring another woman to change her name in honour of this imaginary princess. |
5 years, 11 months |
June 3, 2012 | May 3, 2018 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sura of Parthia Archived version of hoax: | |
| WWVS-LP Fictitious American TV station |
5 years, 11 months |
October 4, 2014 | September 2, 2020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/WWVS-LP Archived version of hoax | |
| Saint Ofelia Alleged Danish Catholic saint and disciple of Saint Ansgar |
5 years, 10 months |
June 8, 2008 | April 14, 2014 | 521 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Saint Ofelia |
| Mark L. Smith (musician) Fictitious American pianist |
5 years, 10 months |
March 15, 2015 | January 19, 2021 | Archived version of the hoax | |
| Operation Pax Romana Fictitious Nazi program to expand the Holocaust in Romania, directed by a fake "Colonel Johannes Jodl" before his supposed escape to Brazil; hoax was revealed in a 2010 edit but self-reverted and survived five more years. |
5 years, 10 months |
May 26, 2009 | March 29, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Operation Pax Romana | |
| Gold Tea Supposed brand of tea from the Confederate States of America. Originally an unsourced stub, it was later expanded to claim that gold flakes were put into the tea for smuggling to the north. |
5 years, 9 months |
May 17, 2005 | February 16, 2011 | 1,163 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Gold Tea |
| Unit 773 Imaginary Japanese biological weapons unit in the imaginary Chinese city of "Songo", created by a banned user |
5 years, 9 months |
October 7, 2006 | July 3, 2012 | 805 | Unit 731 is a similar actual article The imaginary Unit 773 fooled at least one website and one book. |
| Nevsky (Russian mafia) Alleged organized crime family in Russia and the United States; supposedly reduced drastically through "constant wars with rival criminal families." |
5 years, 8½ months |
July 6, 2009 | March 31, 2015 | 3,024 | Nevsky (Russian mafia) deletion log |
| Gideon Planke Fictitious 17th-century witch-finder active in Shropshire, supposedly the subject of a 19th-century poem used to "enforce good behaviour on unruly children before bedtime." |
5 years, 7 months |
September 8, 2009 | April 20, 2015 | Gideon Planke deletion log Believed by a book before G3 deletion. | |
| La Croix du Sanguine Rouge A supposed novel by a non-existent French writer that was released in French and English. |
5 years, 7 months |
March 6, 2010 | October 3, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/La Croix du Sanguine Rouge | |
| Japan Television Service Nonexistent TV network broadcasting in both Japan and the United Kingdom. |
5 years, 6½ months |
February 7, 2010 | September 3, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Japan Television Service | |
| Katiba Ketubah Fictitious reality TV series |
5 years, 6 months |
December 6, 2014 | June 10, 2020 | Archived version of the hoax | |
| George P. Burdell Various fictitious additions in articles on a race car driver, a record producer, a West African Colonial figure. Part of a group of seven long lasting vandalisms. |
5 years, 6 months |
June 28, 2009 | December 23, 2014 | Addition, Removal Addition, Removal Addition, Removal | |
| Digital Lady Nonexistent San Francisco rock band that supposedly included the brother of the White House press secretary and used acoustic guitars and kitchen utensils to simulate the Moog synthesizer. Survived more than five years before G3 deletion. |
5 years, 6 months |
December 2008 | July 12, 2014 | Digital Lady deletion log | |
| Bicholim conflict Fictitious conflict between the Portuguese rulers of Goa and the Maratha Empire which supposedly took place from mid-1640 to early 1641. It was assessed as a good article in September 2007, but failed a featured article nomination the next month as page numbers were not provided for references. ShelfSkewed (talk · contribs) investigated these references in 2012 and found that the main works cited do not actually exist. One of the longest and most elaborate hoax articles on Misplaced Pages. Probably the only one to have been assessed as a good article. |
5 years, 5½ months |
July 4, 2007 | December 29, 2012 | 33,577 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bicholim conflict Reference at Daily Dot and Yahoo! News |
| Joswig syndrome Fake hereditary disease, supposedly identified by "H. Joswig M.D." in 1882; cited made-up reference from United States National Library of Medicine. |
5 years, 5½ months |
June 24, 2009 | December 18, 2014 | Joswig syndrome deletion log. Archived by Abebooks.com | |
| Majeed Pejajj Fictitious Muslim cleric |
5 years, 5½ months |
April 8, 2007 | September 21, 2012 | 1,110 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Majeed Pejajj |
| Lloyd 2: Growing Up Nonexistent 2003 film, supposedly a sequel to 2001's Lloyd. |
5 years, 4 months |
May 6, 2010 | September 10, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Lloyd 2: Growing Up | |
| Midnight in Oklahoma Supposed alternative rock-country band with seven fictitious albums |
5 years, 4 months |
April 26, 2009 | August 27, 2014 | Midnight in Oklahoma deletion log | |
| Corey Petryschuk Supposed football player and famous musician |
5 years, 3½ months |
October 9, 2010 | January 30, 2015 | 6,445 | Petryschuk Corey Petryschuk deletion log |
| K890 (G3) Fictitious submachine gun. |
5 years, 3½ months |
November 22, 2006 | March 1, 2012 | 1,614 | Included in book by Source Misplaced Pages |
| Antón de Palategui Fictitious 16th century conquistador and poet. |
5 years, 3½ months |
December 4, 2008 | March 17, 2014 | 6,194 | deleted by PROD |
| Bobohetti Made-up Indian dish "consisting mainly of bay leaves and bamboo shoots," supposedly popular at fast food restaurants in Europe. |
5 years, 2½ months |
May 13, 2010 | July 28, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bobohetti | |
| Limping duck Nonexistent and highly unconventional form of wushu |
5 years, 2½ months |
August 3, 2009 | October 15, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Limping duck | |
| Chad Berryman Imaginary baseball catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies during World War II |
5 years, 2 months |
August 4, 2010 | October 13, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Chad Berryman | |
| Reich Corps of the Trombone (G3) fictitious Nazi organization of trombonists created by Joseph Goebbels for propaganda purposes |
5 years, 2 months |
January 29, 2006 | March 31, 2011 | 3,389 | Confession on Slashdot Axis History Forum image at ookaboo |
| Elijah Joel Smith A fictitious British athlete, educator, and hero of both World Wars supposedly executed in Denmark by the SS for helping Jews escape the Holocaust. |
5 years, 2 months |
September 24, 2009 | November 24, 2014 | Elijah Joel Smith deletion log | |
| Ernest Luxembourg Wright Fictitious Massachusetts poet and writer of the early 20th century; deleted via G3 |
5 years, 1½ months |
June 1, 2010 | July 18, 2015 | Ernest Luxembourg Wright deletion log | |
| Ooranayakanvalasu Nonexistent village in Indian state of Tamil Nadu |
5 years, 1 month |
November 9, 2009 | December 9, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ooranayakanvalasu | |
| A Condor's Fire: a novel Nonexistent, anagram-based novel ascribed to "Richie F'lin" and set in Colorado. Hoax cited made-up reviews from the New York Times Book Review and a fake biography from Oxford University Press. |
5 years, ½ month |
July 26, 2009 | August 18, 2014 | G3 deletion: A Condor's Fire deletion log | |
| Childhood Retournade Nonexistent 1980s experimental French film, attributed to the invented filmmaker "Je Suis." |
5 years, ½ month |
November 20, 2009 | December 12, 2014 | Childhood Retournade deletion log | |
| The Restless Nevers Fictitious Washington band with false claims of touring with Kajagoogoo in the 1990s. Article was deleted (A7) in August 2009, but resurfaced the same day and survived five years. |
5 years, ½ month |
August 1, 2009 | August 22, 2014 | The Restless Nevers deletion log | |
| The Derby Series of The Table A series of horse races in Kentucky and Tennessee |
4 years, 10 months | May 12, 2011 | March 16, 2016 | 3,230 | Spotted by SwisterTwister |
| Hinckley Band of Thieves | 4 years, 9½ months |
August 31, 2005 | June 16, 2010 | 664 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Hinckley Band of Thieves |
| Joseph Warshaw "one of the least Known Highwayman": speedily deleted, then {{hoax}} tagged and prodded when recreated the day it was started, but it took more than four years until it was deleted once more |
4 years, 9½ months |
February 17, 2006 | December 3, 2010 | 1,057 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Joseph Warshaw |
| Disney's Wide World of Sports Challenge A hoax page for a non-existent Disney sports challenge. |
4 years, 9½ months |
April 1, 2010 | January 25, 2015 | 2,509 | |
| Warren Chaney Series of articles written about Warren Chaney, filled with small deceptions and embellishments, and in the case of at least one article (Magic Mansion), outright fabrications. |
4 years, 9 months |
March 11, 2011 | December 13, 2015 | 52,209 | A technical overview of the process (including links to the AfDs) can be found here and a narrative overview here. This was also listed at Gawker as one of "The 10 Best Articles Misplaced Pages Deleted This Week" |
| Bandicoda seed Seed of a fictitious tree species (Bandicoda genrea), supposedly found in Zimbabwe and the English town of Barnsley. |
4 years, 9 months |
April 29, 2010 | February 1, 2015 | Bandicoda seed deletion log | |
| E'tedalion Party Fictional Iranian political party |
4 years, 8½ months |
February 12, 2010 | October 25, 2014 | 1,247 | |
| Never Be Alone (series) Fictional Philippine TV series |
4 years, 8 months |
September 19, 2016 | June 1, 2021 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Never Be Alone | |
| Sam Sackey Fictional 1980s soccer star for Ghana |
4 years, 8 months |
March 20, 2010 | November 24, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sam Sackey | |
| Gottfried Eschenbach Non-existent German "composer, conductor and virtuoso violist" |
4 years, 8 months |
January 10, 2010 | September 10, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Gottfried Eschenbach | |
| Blue Blue Sky Nonexistent 1998 film, winner of the imaginary "Andrew Smith award for Best Musical Comedy" and nominee for two "Dutch Acknowledgement movie awards." |
4 years, 7½ months |
August 31, 2010 | April 18, 2015 | Blue Blue Sky deletion log | |
| Argusto Emfazie Fictitious American occultist |
4 years, 7½ months |
February 25, 2002 | October 5, 2006 | 5,080 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Argusto Emfazie |
| V-Jay's Verghjesles Fictitious "micro-processor controlled surround sound amplifier"; listed nonexistent parts and specifications from Texas Instruments and other actual companies. |
4 years, 7 months |
January 24, 2011 | September 1, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/V-Jay's Verghjesles | |
| Hilfiger High School | 4 years, 6½ months |
July 14, 2008 | February 4, 2013 | 1,371 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Hilfiger High School |
| Cranmore chase Nonexistent race involving Victorian-era runners hired by local landowners to deliver titles to land in India. |
4 years, 5½ months |
July 15, 2010 | December 29, 2014 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Cranmore chase Cited as the inspiration for an actual modern 10-kilometer run in Somerset. | |
| EuroNation 1 London Fabricated European singing competition |
4 years, 5 months | May 16, 2011 | October 22, 2015 | 1,630 | |
| Ebenezer Crummett 18th-century American soldier, falsely credited with saving the Marquis de Lafayette and challenging Alexander Hamilton to a duel. |
4 years, 4½ months |
August 24, 2010 | January 22, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ebenezer Crummett | |
| The Rock Gang Made-up 1980s Swedish rock band with several fictitious albums, noted for using a vacuum cleaner as a saxophone; deleted via G3. |
4 years, 3 months |
June 2011 | September 5, 2015 | The Rock Gang deletion log | |
| Fredrick Joseph Logan Fictitious 19th-century graphic designer, credited with the equally fake "Logan's Law" regulating maximum widths of business logos in advertising. |
4 years, 2½ months |
June 8, 2011 | August 30, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Fredrick Joseph Logan | |
| Manão Fictitious mountain village in Portugal |
4 years, 2½ months |
April 30, 2007 | July 14, 2011 | 845 | PROD deleted |
| Martin Coleman (American football) The story of a non-existent American football player who played for Clemson, Pitt, and the Oakland Raiders. It was recreated several days after deletion and lasted for nearly another month before being deleted again. |
4 years, 2½ months |
November 5, 2006 | January 23, 2011 | 2,520 | See also Martin I. Coleman |
| De Beaumont-Spain baronets | 4 years, 1½ months |
July 15, 2017 | September 3, 2021 | Admitted by the author | |
| Jesse Aaron Richardson Reputed author of the spurious Rotten Apple graphic novel series about a New York bounty hunter's journey into "organized crime, drug dealing, corruption, private investigation, cults, serials killers, unlicensed boxing, treasure hunting, hired assassinations, and more." |
4 years, 1½ months |
October 7, 2010 | November 26, 2014 | Jesse Aaron Richardson deletion log | |
| The Vanderdark Morgue Fictitious morgue and family created to promote a local Kentucky Halloween attraction |
4 years, 1 month |
July 26, 2011 | August 25, 2015 | 17,133 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/The Vanderdark Morgue |
| Bryan J. Baldelli Non-existent American baseball player |
4 years | February 26, 2008 | February 28, 2012 | 1,977 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bryan J. Baldelli. Listed at Bryan (given name) in good faith. Also listed on German Misplaced Pages under Baldelli until deletion in August 2014. |
Extant for 1–3 years
| Hoax | Length | Creation date | Deletion date | Size in bytes (last edit) |
Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wollen-Blohm Prize Made-up $10,000 annual award for achievements in philanthropy and economics, attributed to an "unidentified Singaporean patron of the arts." |
3 years, 11½ months |
October 14, 2011 | September 30, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Wollen-Blohm Prize | |
| Imhyre Kértez Fictitious Hungarian actor at the National Theatre in Warsaw, supposedly a victim of the Nazi invasion in World War II. |
3 years, 10½ months |
November 7, 2011 | September 25, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Imhyre Kértez English article created in good faith during 2011 as a partial translation of a Spanish Misplaced Pages article, the original hoax, which began in May 2004. | |
| Colin Kennedy Fictitious American Old West criminal who supposedly murdered John Sutter's brother in San Francisco on April 9, 1853 |
3 years, 10 months |
April 8, 2009 | February 7, 2013 | 4,563 | Prod deleted; see |
| Altamont Lamina Fictitious British spy in both world wars, supposedly called "The Silent Blade" for his "above-average skills in sneaking, spying, and assassinating." |
3 years, 10 months |
February 18, 2011 | December 17, 2014 | Altamont Lamina deletion log | |
| Zechariah Seal Fictitious emblem |
3 years, 9½ months |
October 24, 2015 | August 17, 2018 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Zechariah Seal Was created at Ben Hayim Seal on October 24, 2015, then cut-and-paste moved to this name a day later. Author also created a myriad of images pertinent to the hoax. | |
| Sshiaga-llat Made-up mythological force of chaos, supposedly adored by "ancient different people from the Sumerians to the Asturians" |
3 years, 9½ months |
January 28, 2011 | November 19, 2014 | Sshiaga-llat deletion log | |
| Monte Carlo polarization Fictitious business theory algorithm |
3 years, 9½ months |
March 13, 2017 | December 28, 2020 | ||
| Phoedelia "The ecclesiastical name for one of the stoppers which accompany the cruets used in liturgical rites" that no one but the article creator had ever heard of. |
3 years, 9½ months |
October 31, 2009 | August 12, 2013 | 506 | Discovery and discussion. Added to cruet the next day, added to bung in 2011. It was widely believed by people on the Internet, including multiple auctioners. Note that Phoedelia is a real girl's name. |
| Jean Moufot Fictitious French philosopher and mathematician. Article first appeared on nl.wikipedia, then translated versions subsequently appeared in French, German and English Wikipedias. Hoax was first discovered by the German Wiki and deleted across the wikis within a week. |
3 years, 9½ months |
September 24, 2004 | July 16, 2008 | 2,298 | discussion on nl.wikipedia, discussion on de.wikipedia, mirror with links to discussion |
| Bunaka (G3) Non-existent Indonesian island |
3 years, 9 months |
March 18, 2007 | December 20, 2010 | 5,440 | discussion |
| Charles E. Whitmeyer Fictitious North Carolina politician, undertaker, and inventor of the child leash |
3 years, 9 months |
March 13, 2007 | December 16, 2010 | 4,270 | |
| Bucharest Film Festival A hoax created to support an article on Yuri Gadyukin. |
3 years, 9 months |
June 16, 2009 | March 12, 2013 | 3,394 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Bucharest Film Festival |
| 3G Boyz Completely fabricated contents created by manager to support new band. |
3 years, 9 months |
December 27, 2009 | October 16, 2013 | 3,540 | Prod |
| Housecoat 3 Nonexistent 1987 American romantic comedy; cited a fabricated review by Leonard Maltin. |
3 years, 9 months |
December 2, 2011 | September 10, 2015 | 2,352 | Spotted and tagged for speedy |
| Cancun Broadcasting Company Hoax Mexican broadcaster, with "drama, children, news, sports, game shows, entertainment, high definition and more." |
3 years, 9 months |
October 29, 2011 | July 31, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Cancun Broadcasting Company | |
| Eric the sheep Nonexistent graphic novel about the adventures of a super-intelligent Welsh sheep |
3 years, 8½ months |
February 19, 2011 | November 7, 2014 | Speedy deletion Deletion log | |
| High Fenton Fictitious English village in County Durham, reputedly noted for an unusual engagement custom involving cheese; deleted via G3. |
3 years, 8½ months |
September 22, 2012 | June 5, 2016 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/High Fenton | |
| Jûtien-Gustave DuRoi and Sallah Ukhmed Fictitious husband-and-wife writers, with a list of works that was expanded over time |
3 years, 8 months (DuRoi) |
June 9, 2006 | February 7, 2010 (DuRoi) | 1,970 and 1,161 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Jûtien-Gustave DuRoi Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sallah Ukhmed |
| Eurygaster confidens Nonexistent bug species; deleted via G3. |
3 years, 8 months |
September 29, 2013 | May 26, 2017 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Eurygaster confidens | |
| Loretta Scott Crew Fictitious inventor of S'mores, where it was also reported. Has been incorrectly included in printed books and numerous websites. |
3 years, 7½ months |
July 1, 2009 | February 13, 2013 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Loretta Scott Crew | |
| Another Demonstration of the Cliff-Guibert Fire Hose Reel, Showing a Young Girl Coming from an Office, Detaching Hose, Running with It 60 Feet, and Playing a Stream, All Inside of 30 Seconds Made-up short silent film from 1900 from IMDb. |
3 years, 7½ months |
May 19, 2013 | January 10, 2017 | 946 | This one is IMDb's fault; this hoax was made on their site in ~2003 or so, and it was probably mirrored onto Misplaced Pages in good faith. After some pestering, IMDb eventually agreed to delete their entry as well. |
| Grâce à feu et aux flammes Nonexistent composition by Claude Debussy, supposedly discovered under floorboards in his house; deleted via G3. |
3 years, 7 months |
September 5, 2011 | April 10, 2015 | Grâce à feu et aux flammes deletion log | |
| Yuri Gadyukin Fictitious Soviet filmmaker defected to the UK and murdered there in 1960 at the age of 28. Apparently, was created to support a low-budget movie. |
3 years, 7 months |
August 3, 2009 | March 6, 2013 | 8,304 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Yuri Gadyukin; explanation of history and purpose |
| Shantal Méndez 4-time Grammy Winner, or so the article said of this hypothetical singer |
3 years, 7 months |
September 27, 2007 | May 3, 2011 | 5,332 | Discussion at Misplaced Pages talk:Unreferenced_BLP_Rescue |
| Saint Elizabeth College Fictitious liberal arts college in Youngstown, Ohio, supposedly with 3,500 students, 30 programs, 116 years of history, yet zero record of its existence. |
3 years, 6 months |
August 3, 2011 | February 9, 2015 | G3 deletion (Deletion log) | |
| Okeke Okonjo Fictitious politician in Lesotho, article cites various sources that do not mention this person. |
3 years, 6 months, 29 days |
April 18, 2013 | November 16, 2016 | 2,899 | |
| Brahmanical See | 3 years, 5½ months |
August 4, 2004 | January 21, 2008 | 2,230 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Brahmanical See, Mirror and discussion at WR |
| Upton H. Pennyworth (Prod) (G3 speedy deletion) Fictitious British explorer |
3 years, 5½ months |
September 7, 2007 | February 18, 2011 | 938 | discussion |
| Pierre Dupont Fictitious 19th-century French painter; several spurious references, including at least one PDF file in a self-published "journal," created to support hoax. |
3 years, 5 months |
December 3, 2012 | May 14, 2016 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Pierre Dupont (painter) | |
| Ceasar McKenzie Fictitious point guard for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, claimed to be the 2005 Rookie of the Year instead of Emeka Okafor |
3 years, 5 months |
June 22, 2011 | November 26, 2014 | Ceasar McKenzie deletion log | |
| Sarah River List of rivers of New Zealand was vandalized changing "Saxon" to "Sarah", and was later turned into an article by bot |
3 years, 4 months |
May 18, 2006 | September 13, 2009 | original vandalism, Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sarah River, article now at Saxon River | |
| Pilot Season, a non-existent film directed by Kevin Smith | 3 years, 3½ months |
April 14, 2011 | August 28, 2014 | 938 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Pilot Season (film) |
| Trundu An ancient tribe belonging to the Trund civilisation |
3 years, 3½ months |
May 22, 2006 | September 7, 2009 | 1,042 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Trundu |
| Por muerte del fantasma de Montero Families Hoax online novela |
3 years, 3½ months |
May 6, 2012 | August 26, 2015 | Deletion log | |
| Sei Wee Lim Supposedly an Olympic swimmer from Brunei |
3 years, 3 months |
September 15, 2006 | December 16, 2009 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sei Wee Lim | |
| Morton Schwartz Supposedly a B-movie actor |
3 years, 3 months |
May 4, 2007 | July 27, 2010 | 1,270 | Discussion at Unreferenced BLP Rescue |
| Flerte Fatal (band) Imaginary Brazilian band, with elaborate set of accompanying articles on albums |
3 years, 2 months |
March 19, 2015 | May 20, 2018 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Flerte Fatal (band) | |
| Clem and Lachlan's Adventures Imaginary Australian ABC teen drama from 2006 to 2012 |
3 years, 2 months |
May 27, 2012 | August 1, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Clem and Lachlan's Adventures | |
| Fredric Croix and Quickslide Rick Two supposed 1920s Michigan Blues Musicians |
3 years, 2 months |
February 9, 2008 | April 15, 2011 | 2,314 | WP:Articles for deletion/Fredric Croix and Quickslide Rick |
| Tors Peerson Fictitious Australian food manufacturer |
3 years, 2 months |
July 16, 2017 | September 13, 2020 | Deletion discussion Archived version of the hoax | |
| Kevin Musker Name-change plagiarism of "Charles Ferguson Smith", suspected for 3 years but retained |
3 years, 1½ months |
February 24, 2006 | April 13, 2009 | 4,333 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Kevin Musker, Revision of Charles Ferguson Smith article was based on |
| James Geiss Fictitious English whaler |
3 years | June 29, 2006 | June 30, 2009 | 2,015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/James Geiss |
| Jack Stacey Supposed character ("Chief Resident") during eighth season of ER. |
2 years, 11 months |
October 3, 2012 | September 3, 2015 | Jack Stacey deletion log | |
| Soyombo Revival Society Fictitious Mongolian secret society |
2 years, 11 months |
February 22, 2017 | January 24, 2020 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Soyombo Revival Society Archived version of the hoax | |
| Slow Blind Driveway Fictitious blues musician |
2 years, 9½ months |
November 16, 2006 | August 26, 2009 | 5,705 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Slow Blind Driveway |
| Mittapalli Nonexistent Indian village, based on old revision of Bandarlapalle |
2 years, 9 months |
July 23, 2010 | April 27, 2013 | 1,034 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Mittapalli |
| Ocular citrosis A fictional type of eye infection resulting from periodic exposure to acidic substances. Created on 1st April and referred to in other disease articles a few weeks later. |
2 years, 9 months |
April 1, 2010 | January 7, 2013 | 2,757 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ocular citrosis |
| Vitus Sebastian Barbaro fictitious member of a real Venetian family repeatedly added to real articles by numerous sockpuppets: Misplaced Pages:Requests for checkuser/Case/Societyfinalclubs, Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/Mctrain/Archive |
2 years, 9 months |
May 29, 2007 | February 25, 2010 | 1,636 | User:Barneca/watch/societyfinalclubs |
| Richard Hopkins (chess player) and Ruy Lopez, Hopkins Gambit Fictitious chess player and the opening chess moves allegedly named after him. |
2 years, 8½ months |
December 28, 2010 | September 22, 2013 | 10,882 and 4,219 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Richard Hopkins (chess player) Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ruy Lopez, Hopkins Gambit |
| Lewis William Walt Fictitious marriage and child added to bio. |
2 years, 8½ months |
April 8, 2013 | January 16, 2016 | ||
| Ruy Lopez, Marshall Attack, Rombaua Trap Fictitious chess trap |
2 years, 8 months |
January 7, 2011 | September 9, 2013 | 3,964 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ruy Lopez, Marshall Attack, Rombaua Trap |
| Jason Donoghue Actor that allegedly had roles in Hollyoaks and Outlander. |
2 years, 8 months |
December 29, 2013 | September 14, 2016 | 6,036 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Jason Donoghue (2nd nomination) |
| The Tarsus Club and Murray Chance Articles on a fictitious club and individual created as guerrilla marketing for the film The Conspiracy |
2 years, 7½ months |
December 17, 2010 | August 10, 2013 | Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive807#Elaborate hoax articles | |
| Operation Gray Cloud A suppposed operation conducted by US forces during the Vietnam War, which was actually a description of the plot to the film Operation Dumbo Drop |
2 years, 7 months |
January 1, 2012 | August 13, 2014 | Added to the article, Role of the United States in the Vietnam War Removed | |
| Olle Halvorssen Suppposedly a 9th century Danish king that should have been the first king of a (completely unknown) petty kingdom centered around Århus and "Sønnestrom" (also a hoax). His son Haakon Ollenson should allegedly have conquered the major part of Denmark in the beginning of the 10th century with the exception of the island of Funen. |
2 years, 7 months |
February 6, 2017 | September 12, 2019 | 3,465 | Deletion log |
| Rudolph's Greatest Adventures Fictitious Rankin/Bass Productions special |
2 years, 7 months |
December 7, 2012 | July 12, 2015 | 3,727 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Rudolph's Greatest Adventures |
| Paul Berowne and McIver-Berowne baronets | 2 years, 7 months |
December 3, 2012 | July 7, 2015 | Discussion at Reference Desk/Humanities | |
| Charles Krum & Krum Corporate Alleged businessman and his London-based company |
2 years, 6½ months |
February 28, 2013 | September 16, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Krum Corporate (nomination for both articles and tagged for speedy deletion G3) | |
| The "Cohen-Cruse Ruse" an elaborate set of hoax articles and edits over many articles including the fictitious people Baron Cruse-Cohen, Jean Alexandre Cohen, Jonathan Cohen, Sir David Cohen, and Stephen B. Jacobsohn, and several fictitious synagogues including Beth Sadeh Synagogue and Sephardic Temple Adat David. A small project was formed to hunt down all the various edits involved. |
2 years, 5½ months |
May 1, 2009 | October 15, 2011 | User:Vivisel/cohen cruse ruse, Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Baron Cruse-Cohen, Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Stephen B. Jacobsohn, additions to Salisbury, North Carolina, etc. | |
| Wichita Glade, Florida Fictitious community in the U.S. state of Florida |
2 years, 5 months |
June 7, 2014 | December 1, 2016 | 587 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Wichita Glade, Florida |
| Balboa Creole French Fictitious highly endangered French-based creole language, supposedly spoken exclusively by about 20 people on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, an extremely wealthy suburban town in Orange County, California. |
2 years, 5 months |
April 3, 2010 | September 10, 2012 | 2,875 | Blogpost referencing Balboa Creole French as one of "Seven Languages That Are About To Die" |
| Trembulo Fictitious musical instrument |
2 years, 5 months |
July 26, 2010 June 12, 2016 |
December 27, 2012 June 16, 2016 |
4,656 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Trembulo, Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Trembulo (2nd nomination) |
| Rothmanhaus Fictitious hotel in Naumburg, Germany. Allegedly the place of death for "wildly popular" ice hockey player Leopold Nosske, who was also fictional. |
2 years, 5 months |
April 29, 2015 | October 2, 2017 | 1,265 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Rothmanhaus |
| Långrocken Fictitious Swedish serial rapist in 1893, allegedly searched by undercover policemen in women's clothes |
2 years, 4½ months |
July 24, 2005 | December 8, 2007 | 1,576 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Långrocken |
| Peace breaker's muzzle Fictitious torture device |
2 years, 4½ months |
August 2, 2004 | December 10, 2006 | 934 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Peace breaker's muzzle, added to Torture article, removed |
| Functional temporalism Postmodern anthropological theory |
2 years, 4 months |
August 8, 2007 | December 7, 2009 | 1,563 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Functional temporalism |
| Sean MacLeod Fictional comedian |
2 years, 4 months |
September 9, 2006 | January 8, 2009 | 4,077 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sean MacLeod |
| Be A Star (UK TV series) Fictitious UK talent show |
2 years, 4 months |
January 21, 2017 | May 17, 2019 | 11,974 | Detection, Deletion discussion |
| Wander Donkey Fictitious adventure game for the Nintendo DS |
2 years, 3½ months |
May 15, 2007 | September 5, 2009 | 4,283 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Wander Donkey, archived forum confession from September 3, 2009 |
| Thomas Stokes Fictitious English player in the Football League with clubs including Yeovil Town, Grays Athletic, and Southend United. |
2 years, 3 months |
January 14, 2014 | April 21, 2016 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Thomas Stokes (2nd nomination) | |
| Genck Azonho Fictitious Argentinean writer and social reformer of the 1970s, noted for his "extreme moralistic and ascetic views." |
2 years, 3 months |
April 12, 2013 | July 18, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Genck Azonho | |
| Parfact A secret language of Worcestershire teenagers |
2 years, 3 months |
November 8, 2006 | February 1, 2009 | 7,124 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Parfact |
| Monvilla Non-existent Shropshire village. |
2 years, 2½ months |
January 3, 2006 | March 21, 2008 | 577 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Monvilla |
| Nueces de la Perez Fictitious 18th-century Spanish mission near the site of present-day Corpus Christi, Texas |
2 years, 2 months |
November 7, 2012 | January 14, 2015 | Nueces de la Perez deletion log | |
| Matthew Lyons Texas frontiersman and CSA cavalry soldier |
2 years, 2 months |
February 18, 2008 | April 19, 2010 | 4,156 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Matthew Lyons |
| Fadl Attraction Fictitious Canadian male porn star |
2 years, 2 months |
November 4, 2007 | January 10, 2010 | 1,199 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Fadl Attraction |
| Cindy and the Halo Boy Nonexistent direct-to-DVD movie, supposedly starring Haylie Duff and Frankie Muniz and added to Duff's page. |
2 years, 1½ months |
March 15, 2007 | May 8, 2009 | Added, removed; admitted in a 2015 Gawker.com post. | |
| Curtis James Real high-school runner with spectacular fictitious professional career |
2 years, 1½ months |
October 4, 2008 | November 18, 2010 | 40,549 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Curtis James |
| The Siccness Network Fictional animated television show that ran on BET |
2 years, 1 month |
September 4, 2013 | October 13, 2015 | 9,891 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/The Siccness Network |
| Shai Bernstein Fictitious Jewish-Russian thinker - Bernstein was actually a student in Houston |
2 years, ½ month |
September 1, 2007 | September 16, 2009 | 5,352 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Shai Bernstein, had a Hebrew translation |
| Morris Guggenheim Fictitious son of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who supposedly married a member of the British royal family and became mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. |
2 years | August 18, 2013 | August 21, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Morris Guggenheim | |
| Moroccans with Disabilities Act of 1992 "Copied from a past revision of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 article". |
2 years | September 10, 2009 | September 13, 2011 | 22,359 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Moroccans with Disabilities Act of 1992 |
| Taylor Mowry Fictitious actor; based closely on an old revision of Tristan Wilds |
1 year, 11 months |
December 15, 2009 | November 15, 2011 | 4,118 | |
| The Lying Student Fictitious Czech satirical poem stated to have been written in 1914 |
1 year, 11 months |
January 23, 2015 | December 28, 2016 | 4,291 | Failed verification as noted by anon editor at Talk:The Lying Student. This article was nevertheless featured on the main page under DYK |
| Canyon View Junior High School Fictitious school in Edmonton, Alberta |
1 year, 11 months |
December 15, 2009 | November 15, 2011 | 5,222 | |
| Jeanette Magel Fictitious British High Court judge |
1 year, 10 months |
February 3, 2019 | December 14, 2020 | Archived version of the hoax | |
| Five Star Generals Fictitious rock band from Buffalo, New York |
1 year, 10 months |
June 1, 2013 | April 12, 2015 | Five Star Generals deletion log | |
| Haď Čarém Nonexistent 10th-century Hungarian Muslim merchant and economist, supposedly cited as an "incipient anti-colonialist and anti-slavery advocate" in later Communist theory. |
1 year, 10 months |
March 27, 2013 | January 29, 2015 | 14,303 | Haď Čarém deletion log Justification at the creator's talk page |
| Brazilian copperfish Nonexistent fish of the family Characidae, supposedly native to the waters near Rio de Janeiro and forming a "vital part of Brazilian culture and cuisine." |
1 year, 9½ months |
March 3, 2007 | December 18, 2008 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Brazilian copperfish | |
| Noah Chazzman Name-change plagiarism of Steven Pinker |
1 year, 9 months |
January 17, 2011 | October 23, 2012 | ||
| Juan Gadiel Rosado Colón Name-change plagiarism of Don Francisco |
1 year, 9 months |
April 22, 2013 | January 27, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Juan Gadiel Rosado Colón | |
| Marathonius Granthius (G3) Fake Roman soldier |
1 year, 8½ months |
August 21, 2006 | May 2, 2008 | 5,337 | Discovered when blanked by an IP who warned that it was a hoax |
| European Tennis Club of Culture (PROD) | 1 year, 8 months |
November 15, 2005 | July 15, 2007 | 889 | Noticed in April 2007 on talk page |
| Baldock Beer Disaster Was listed on Did You Know? |
1 year, 8 months |
November 15, 2005 | July 15, 2007 | 2,636 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Baldock Beer Disaster Did You Know entry Discussion Was temporarily made into an article about the hoax before being deleted regardless. Cited as the inspiration for an actual India Pale Ale produced by an Illinois brewery. |
| Æblerød (CSD) Fictional Danish municipality |
1 year, 8 months |
January 12, 2004 | September 8, 2005 | 358 | Removal from municipalities list, discussion, featured in Danish newspaper Politiken (December 5th, 2006) |
| Battle of Stuart's Pond | 1 year, 7½ months |
May 29, 2008 | January 18, 2010 | 2,131 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Battle of Stuart's Pond |
| Maria Portaro (G3) Fictitious marine biologist with "500 published papers" |
1 year, 7 months |
March 3, 2008 | October 3, 2009 | 1,618 | |
| Dhanunjaya Rao Web developer who poached the career of Ravi Teja |
1 year, 7 months |
October 7, 2015 | May 20, 2017 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Dhanunjaya Rao | |
| Oyster Injustice Fictitious financial disaster affecting Chesapeake Bay fishermen |
1 year, 7 months |
July 6, 2007 | February 4, 2009 | 2,139 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Oyster Injustice |
| Earl of Aldbury (G3) Non-existent 17th-century peer. |
1 year, 6½ months |
May 13, 2009 | December 3, 2010 | 471 | |
| Herzthiolate heptahydrolysic acid Hoax genetic molecule with an invalid chemical formula (NaO 2H 8Mg 4S 2Ci 2 Al 2Si 2He 4Fe 2CaN 2C), supposedly found in the imaginary "Stenaphyllzone (Plasma life-form)" and sebum. |
1 year, 6½ months |
February 27, 2014 | September 14, 2015 | Deletion log | |
| Quaff distillery Made-up name for the still genuinely constructed by mutineers from HMS Bounty on Pitcairn Island in the 1790s. Drink was supposedly also called "quaff" and supposedly gave its name to a enduring worldwide drinking club. |
1 year, 6 months |
December 30, 2013 | June 15, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Quaff distillery. Found its way into Pitcairn Education Work Pack produced to accompany the 2014 play Pitcairn | |
| Ciarán Dunphy Fabricated 19th century Irish author, "a member of Sinn Féin from the Irish War of Independence and a "significant public political figure, as well as one of the chief chroniclers of Irish nationalism in literature". |
1 year, 6 months |
January 26, 2014 | October 22, 2015 | 9,888 | |
| Talinsfadasporia (G3) Fictitious Indian town, mostly cut and pasted from Dibrugarh |
1 year, 5½ months |
May 31, 2009 | November 20, 2010 | 6,703 | |
| Mrs Brown: The Musicals Fake musical comedy series based on Mrs. Brown's Boys, supposedly featuring Broadway songs and broadcast on RTÉ One and BBC One; deleted via A11. |
1 year, 4½ months |
November 23, 2013 | April 18, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Mrs Brown: The Musicals | |
| Anaxiphales Fictitious presocratic philosopher |
1 year, 4½ months |
February 12, 2005 | June 28, 2006 | 4,384 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Anaxiphales |
| Count Wladmir Shchwekochov Imaginary 19th-century Russian nobleman, supposedly owner of an estate with "over 300 acres of forest, 5 lakes, a waterfall, 2 farms, a mine, and a 40 bedroom palace with a malachite and gold-plated ballroom." |
1 year, 4½ months |
March 10, 2015 | July 24, 2016 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Count Wladmir Shchwekochov | |
| Elizabethan Lizard Fictitious punk rock band from Minnesota; G3 deletion |
1 year, 4 months |
November 8, 2013 | March 13, 2015 | Elizabethan Lizard deletion log | |
| Ingrid Vakaslavik Fictitious tap dancer from Russia |
1 year, 3½ months |
February 15, 2009 | May 31, 2010 | 993 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ingrid Vakaslavik |
| Crowborough Caves With "Dr. SP Leo Logist" |
1 year, 3 months |
April 8, 2007 | July 27, 2008 | 516 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Crowborough Caves. Pun on speleologist. Their hoax website now links back to this page. First detected by an anon who called it "a well known 'fun' story / hoax". |
| Emerson LaSalle Fictitious author |
1 year, 3 months |
November 27, 2007 | February 27, 2009 | 3,298 | After the deletion discussion had started, the original author rewrote the article to describe the subject as fictional (as well as to criticize the deletion), but it was still deleted. |
| Freedom Channing Fictitious "conductor" of the Underground Railroad |
1 year, 3 months |
July 11, 2005 | October 8, 2006 | 1,056 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Freedom Channing |
| Nippon Super Rugby League Fictitious rugby competition, created along with the equally spurious 2016 Rugby League Asian Series; included made-up teams such as "Saitama Hippopotamus" and "Yohokama S.Yamaga." |
1 year, 2½ months |
March 6, 2015 | May 30, 2016 | Nippon Super Rugby League deletion log | |
| Amorica (legend) Given its own article for 8 months rather than deletion |
1 year, 10½ months |
November 9, 2004 See original article May 24, 2005 |
January 22, 2006 | 1,031 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Amorica (legend) |
| Plathubis the grey fox Made-up hunting myth from Latvia about an amphibious, rain-bringing fox, designed "to warn impetuous young men not to kill animals for fun"; deleted via G3. |
1 year, 2 months |
February 8, 2014 | April 20, 2015 | Plathubis the grey fox deletion log | |
| Vengeance On Elm Street Nonexistent "upcoming" sequel to the Nightmare on Elm Street series; deleted via G3. |
1 year, 2 months |
January 21, 2014 | March 28, 2015 | Vengeance On Elm Street deletion log | |
| Francis Bunbury (PROD) Non-existent architect; names in article taken from The Importance of Being Earnest. |
1 year, 2 months |
October 24, 2009 | December 26, 2010 | 2,320 | First noted by an anon October 2010 |
| Unbeatables Nonexistent children's show set in Russia, broadcast on the equally fictitious network Bamboo TV. |
1 year, 2 months |
February 14, 2015 | April 13, 2016 | Unbeatables deletion log | |
| Jason Waterfalls Imaginary British football player whose name happened to match a frequently misheard lyric in the song Waterfalls by TLC. Created by a single-purpose account overwriting an existing redirect. |
1 year, 2 months |
November 7, 2015 | January 4, 2017 | Speedy deletion per WP:G3: blatant hoax. Log | |
| Joshua G. Cantor-Stone (G4) Fictitious Jewish WWII naval aviator and hero |
1 year, 1½ months |
February 22, 2009 | April 11, 2010 | 6,564 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Joshua G. Cantor-Stone |
| Eric Radloff Fictitious singer-songwriter |
1 year, 1½ months |
July 5, 2004 | August 23, 2005 | 2,015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Eric Radloff |
| Little Adventures of Bruno Supposed animated television series by Mitchell Hurwitz that would be a followup of sorts to Sit Down, Shut Up |
1 years 1 months |
October 17, 2013 | November 22, 2014 | 5,976 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Little Adventures of Bruno |
| Magnesium lasering Article about a fictional scientific practice. |
1 year, 1 month |
May 14, 2009 | June 13, 2010 | 890 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Magnesium lasering |
| Earl of Iford Partial name-change plagiarism of Earl of Shaftesbury |
1 year, 1 month |
April 13, 2008 | May 11, 2009 | 2,276 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Earl of Iford |
| Federlandese (coin) "Had this "coin" been real, it would have pre-dated the oldest known Scandinavian coins by perhaps ~800 years, so we would have heard of it elsewhere. Also, people in Scandinavia didn't have a monetary economy 2100 years ago." |
1 year, ½ month |
December 2, 2009 | December 22, 2010 | 693 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Federlandese (coin) |
| Ladedaism Invented social/artistic movement |
1 year, ½ month |
July 7, 2005 | July 19, 2006 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Ladedaism | |
| Nam Nguyễn Thành Fictitious international soccer player for Vietnam, supposedly recommended by Barry Hayles |
1 year | February 19, 2014 | February 25, 2015 | Nam Nguyễn Thành deletion log | |
| Vanda Varvara Fictitious painter One of the longest and most elaborate hoax articles on Misplaced Pages. |
1 year | January 26, 2012 | January 29, 2013 | 28,171 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Vanda Varvara |
| Odin's Globe Fictitious Norse mythological artifact of diverse powers ("protection, luck, minor telepathy, slow or speed up time, willpower, support, empathy, understanding, wits, health"); falsely sourced to a nonexistent poem, "Loki's Lunar Lover." |
1 year | April 6, 2014 | April 12, 2015 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Odin's Globe | |
| The Bierrum Effect Fictitious biological effect occurring in isolated environments |
1 year | September 3, 2008 | September 7, 2009 | 3,299 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/The Bierrum Effect |
| St Forbadil Fake 7th-century Bishop of Mercia and Celtic saint, depicted with the head of a dog and credited with the miraculous invention of beer; possibly created to supply a backstory for a brewery. Deleted via G3. |
1 year | August 20, 2015 | August 24, 2016 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/St Forbadil | |
| James and the Pontoons Fake rock band |
1 year | July 20, 2007 | July 21, 2008 | 5,947 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/James and the Pontoons |
| Hevstäf Fictitious Czech village |
1 year | October 12, 2006 | October 15, 2007 | 4,822 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Hevstäf |
Extant for less than one year
This section lists hoaxes covered for at least one month but less than one year. See Misplaced Pages:List of hoaxes on Misplaced Pages/Less than one year for the full list. This section should list only hoaxes covered in independent third-party sources. Short-lived hoaxes are innumerable and so we do not normally track them — they can be found by searching deletion logs for "hoax".
| Hoax | Length | Creation date | Deletion date | Size in bytes (last edit) |
Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Seigenthaler Sr. Real journalist who had a hoax article in 2005 claiming he was a suspect in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. |
4½ months | May 26, 2005 | October 7, 2005 | The subject of Misplaced Pages biography controversy. Widely reported in the press and led to the introduction of the Misplaced Pages:Biographies of living persons policy. | |
| Edward Owens hoax Article concerning late 1800's Chesapeake Bay oyster fisherman who turned to piracy created as a part of an internet hoax performed by students enrolled in a George Mason University class entitled "Lying about History". |
30 days | November 18, 2008 | December 18, 2008 | After several mainstream news sources reported on the internet meme, students came forward to admit the deception. Survived speedy deletion, proposed deletion and two AFDs (1, 2) as a well documented hoax, before being incorporated as a part of an article on George Mason University hoaxes. | |
| Alan Mcilwraith A "Walter Mitty" character who faked a bio of his supposed military record on Misplaced Pages. It initially lasted three weeks before being deleted at AfD. It was recreated three times but deleted within a day each time, but then the story hit the headlines in April 2006 and the article was recreated to be about him as a hoaxer |
21 days | October 5, 2005 | October 26, 2005 | The hoax version | |
| Upper Peninsula War Account of a fictional conflict in 1843 between the State of Michigan and Canada over a disputed territorial line in the Upper Peninsula and subsequent secession attempt by the governor of Michigan. |
13 days | May 2, 2007 | May 15, 2007 | 24,553 | Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Upper Peninsula War |
| Helen Anne Petrie, Strutt Family Trust South African painter whose falsified biography was seeded on the internet in an apparent attempt to increase the value of artwork. Related names included Sebastian L.S Schwagele, Fan Moniz and PR by a Marlene Duval, User:Marlene Duval |
37 minutes | June 19, 2007 | June 19, 2007 | 17,873 | Afd discussion, Afd discussion, SSI report, Commons Village Pump London Times article(registration required) South African Art Times article |
| 8 days | May 1, 2009 | May 9, 2009 | 3,455 | ||
| 2 days | October 29, 2009 | October 31, 2009 |
False statements in articles
Besides entire articles, there have also been false statements that were added to otherwise authentic pages. Please note that some of the entries here are possibly not hoaxes. Hoaxes require proof of an intentional attempt to mislead. Many false statements can be a result of a mistake or might represent cases where the person who added them believed in claims made.
Extant for 10+ years
| Claim | Length | Insertion date | Removal date | Links | Error type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim that the Warsaw concentration camp was an extermination camp that killed 200,000 ethnic Poles (up to 400,000 in the infobox of some Misplaced Pages versions ) using a gas chamber in a tunnel near Warszawa Zachodnia station and other methods. | 15 years | August 25, 2004 | August 28, 2019 | Article creation in 2004, TNT on 28 August 2019. Also present in German camps in occupied Poland during World War II for 13 years 3 months (added, removed), Extermination camp for 12 years, 3 months (added in 2007, removed), Pabst Plan for 10 years, 5 months (creation in 2009, removed), Nazi crimes against the Polish nation for 12 years, 8 months (creation in 2006, removed), War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II for 13 years, 5 months (addition in 2006, removed. Was also present on dewiki (added in 2006 - removed 2009), plwiki(creation in 2005 - removal 2016, + additional wikis (probable transations). | Type 4 (False or unreferenced and dubious statement that may or may not be a hoax as it could arguably have been added as a mistake or in good faith). The first introduction of this claim into Misplaced Pages took place in 2004, and that version of the article was unreferenced. The claim dates back to 1970s Polish sources and has been subject to increased scrutiny and debunking by professional historians in late 2000s / 2010s. It has persisted on Misplaced Pages until 2019 when it removed in August following the first mention of the error in Misplaced Pages in London Review of Books in May 2019. It further drew media attention in October that year when Omer Benjakob of Haaretz called it "Misplaced Pages's longest-standing hoax". There is however no evidence that the editor or editors who added it to Misplaced Pages realized it was fake or disputed back in early 2000s ("a hoax is defined as a clear and deliberate attempt to deceptively present false information as fact. Libel, vandalism, and honest factual errors are not considered hoaxes"). As such, while this is one of the longest-standing errors in Misplaced Pages, it may not be a longest-standing hoax. See also Signpost story and user analysis. |
| Claim that there had been a proposal to put a spire atop the Louvre Pyramid "to simplify window washing". | 14 years | June 11, 2007 | May 31, 2021 | Added, removed | Type 4 (False or unreferenced and dubious statement that may or may not be a hoax as it could arguably have been added as a mistake or in good faith). The claim was added by a sockpuppet of a banned user in 2007 with a suspicious edit summary and built-in {{cn}} tag. The claim remained in the article, always tagged as unsourced, for over a decade, being removed just shy of the 14-year mark in 2021. The only references on the Web to a spire on the Louvre Pyramid are passing references on blogs, all postdating the claim's addition to the article. |
| Claim that a 10 metre fibreglass Zulu was discovered in a hotel beer cellar in the Scottish Highland village of Tomintoul. | 13 years, 4 months |
August 8, 2006 | December 9, 2019 | added, removed | Type 2a (Obvious hoax due to elaborateness). Unreferenced section added by an IP to an article when at the time said article had no references. The hoax was finally removed when it was mistakenly identified as plagiarising the Travel Scotland tourist site, who had in fact taken their colourful piece of local history from Misplaced Pages (see Misplaced Pages:CITOGENESIS). No reliable sources for this claim have been found so far. |
| Claim that the 1924 Democratic National Convention was also known as the "Klanbake" | 12 years, 7 months |
August 23, 2005 | March 15, 2018 | added, removed | Type 4 (False or unreferenced and dubious statement that may or may not be a hoax as it could arguably have been added as a mistake or in good faith). This alternative name was added to the article in 2005; at that time the article had no references. The name was reused in another hoax or error that begun circulated on social media in 20015 (see the section discussing the "Klanbake" meme in the 1924 Democratic National Convention article) until it was removed from Misplaced Pages in 2018 after repeatedly failing verification. |
| Claim that the Singaporean town of Ang Mo Kio was named after the fictitious "Lady Jennifer Windsor", whose ghost haunted the bridge where her three children drowned. | 11 years, 8 months |
November 21, 2008 | July 29, 2020 | Added, removed. | Type 2a (Obvious hoax due to elaborateness). The claim was added by Paulchen68 in 2008; at that time the article had no references. The short lived account made several other edits to Misplaced Pages which appear to have been in good faith. The ghost story was removed in 2020 when it failed verification. See discusion; with the only source pre-dating the Misplaced Pages entry being an Internet forum post from earlier that day. Before being removed from Misplaced Pages, the hoax made its way into at least one book and a TV show. |
| A claim that former UK Prime Minister John Major's interest in politics was partly sparked by "a chance meeting with Clement Attlee on the King's Road." | 11 years, 5 months |
November 9, 2008 | April 15, 2020 | added, removed | Type 3 (Possible hoax but with room for doubt). The claim was added by a SPA account without a reference to an unreferenced paragraph. It was eventually removed over a decade later as failing verification. |
| The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny A claim that the song was distributed under the nonexistent record label "Bandung Records" |
11 years, 2 months |
January 23, 2010 | March 24, 2021 | added, removed | Type 4 (False or unreferenced and dubious statement that may or may not be a hoax as it could arguably have been added as a mistake or in good faith). Claim added by an anon to an infobox and removed fo being unreferenced over a decade earlier. See also Talk:The_Ultimate_Showdown_of_Ultimate_Destiny. |
| The existence of Moose Boulder Island, an alleged fourth-order island located within Ryan Island on Isle Royale | 10 years, 10 months |
May 5, 2009 | March 10, 2020 | added, removed | Type 3 (Possible hoax but with room for doubt). In 2020 an article In Atlas Obscura discussed the results of an investigation of local explorers into the existence of this purported island, noting they failed to locate it. The article traced the story of it to Misplaced Pages, further writing that "The identity of that first Misplaced Pages user to write about it—with those completely unrelated sources—remains a mystery, but all available evidence suggests that it was a person having a laugh, nothing more." The article further noted the claim has been removed and reinstated on Misplaced Pages, however with a note that "the second Misplaced Pages editor—who perpetuated the earlier misinformation on Moose Boulder—had been “genuinely duped” rather than a conspirator." The journalist investigation, however, did not relevant any information about the editor who added the error, and there is no evidence their addition of Moose Boulder to Misplaced Pages was intended to mislead anyone, and the article contains a disclaimer that we "can’t be 100 percent sure that it doesn’t exist, without exploring every square foot of the island, which is very densely forested." While the claim has been removed from Misplaced Pages's entry for Isle Royale shortly after the publication of the Atlas Obscura story, as of 2021, the hoax is discussed at Siskiwit Lake (Isle Royale) (where it was copied to upon the page creation in 2014), , to which the Moose Boulder (created in 2020) redirect points to. See also Talk:Siskiwit_Lake_(Isle_Royale)#Moose_Flats_and_Moose_Boulder. |
| Torvald Hightower A fictitious 18th-century "philanthropic pioneer," who was claimed to exist on the page for the name Torvald |
10 years, 7 months |
September 10, 2008 | May 5, 2019 | added, removed, added again, removed a second time | Type 3 (Possible hoax but with room for doubt). Unreferenced short entry added to a list of otherwise unreferenced entries by an IP (note: disambiguation pages are usually unreferenced per Misplaced Pages's Manual of Style). The name "Torvald Hightower" does not appear in any sources. It was originally added by an IP in December 2007, then removed in April 2008, before being added again by a different IP in September 2008. The last addition was not undone until May 2019. |
Extant for 8–9 years
| Claim | Length | Insertion date | Removal date | Links | Error type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Avenue station (BMT Lexington Avenue Line) Claim that the station was originally named Electric Avenue because electricity was discovered here. |
9 years, 10 months |
May 30, 2011 | March 14, 2021 | added, removed | Type 2b (Obvious hoax due to pattern of vandalism by the account which added it). Claim was added by an account whose other edits were obvious vandalisms: , , . Unlike others, this one seemed somewhat plausible and evaded scrutiny for almost 10 years. |
| Adam Gilchrist Fictitious claims that Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist read the works of Karl Marx when on tour. |
9 years, 2 months |
February 22, 2009 | May 2, 2018 | Added here and here, removed. Gilchrist's denial on twitter (dead link) | Type 3 (Possible hoax but with room for doubt). Claim added by a single-purpose IP. The hoax claim was cited to a fictitious statement in a real book by Australian Captain Ricky Ponting. Claim failed verification (removed with edit summary: "The claim doesn't appear on the cited pages of the book - or anywhere in it.") and was disputed by the subject who Tweeted that "someone taking the piss" after it spread to several newspapers, including The Times of India. However, other information added by the IP has been correctly referenced and was so far retained as correct. Whether the IP intended to mislead or made an error is unclear. |
| Lord Byron Claims that he kept a crocodile and a honey badger as pets |
8 years, 8½ months |
November 20, 2006 | August 7, 2015 | crocodile added, honey badger added, both removed Crocodile mentioned in The Sunday Times |
Type 4 (False or unreferenced and dubious statement that may or may not be a hoax as it could arguably have been added as a mistake or in good faith). Both claims were added by an IP (one in November 2006 and the other in January 2014). At those times the list of animals Lord Byron kept was entirely unreferenced anyway, and the claims seem plausible. A request for citation for this list of animals was added in May 2014. In August 2015 reference was added by the same editor who removed entries for crocodile and honey badger, who also said "Add a citation for the animals (except the parrot, which I can't find a source for, but it was added in the same edit as the others and wasn't a deliberate hoax" and removed the entry for the parrot as well. The list of animals was added in June 2003 without a reference by an editor in good standing. Whether the entries for the parrot, crocodile and honey badger were all intentional jokes, honest errors, or based on a rare and as of yet uncited source cannot be determined at this point. |
| 1 year, 6 months |
January 29, 2014 | ||||
| Muhammad Ali "A youth club in Ali's home town, a species of rose (Rosa Ali) and a small child have all been named after him." |
8 years, 4½ months |
November 9, 2006 | March 28, 2015 | added, removed. | Type 1 (Admission of hoax). The statement was added by an IP on November 9, 2006. On 28 March 2015 Michael Deacon stated revealed that he was the one who added it: "Once, when I was working at a men’s magazine, a colleague was compiling a quiz about Muhammad Ali. As a test, I inserted a banal lie into Ali’s Misplaced Pages biography (I said a species of rose, rosa ali, is named after him). Innocently my colleague incorporated the lie into his quiz. Ten years later, on Ali’s frequently updated Misplaced Pages page, that lie is still there." The hoax was subsequently removed from Misplaced Pages within 24h. |
Extant for 4–7 years
| Claim | Length | Insertion date | Removal date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim that women in Uganda refer to the Protopterus as a "sister fish" and for this reason abstain from eating them. |
7 years, 11 months |
March 11, 2009 | February 7, 2017 | added, removed |
| A Japan Academy Prize awarded for "Outstanding Achievement in Winning an Outstanding Achievement" | 7 years, 7 months | May 12, 2007 | December 13, 2014 | added, removed |
| In Bill Mauldin: Mauldin's friend Irving Richtel supposedly served as the model for Willie, a cartoon character of an American soldier. Mauldin served with a jeep driver named Irving Richtel (Mauldin, Bill (1944). News of the 45th, pp. 97–98, 115, 142.; Mauldin, Bill (1971). The Brass Ring, p. 164.) but never said that Willie was modeled after Richtel. After the 2008 appearance in Misplaced Pages, the hoax migrated to Julian M. Olejniczak's 2015 book To Be A Soldier: A Selective American Military History, p. 143, and it made it into several websites such as the Armed Air Forces History Museum and the West Point Association. |
7 years, 7 months | March 9, 2008 | October 16, 2015 | added, removed |
| In Microsoft Windows: "The history of Windows dates back to September 1981, when Chase Bishop, a computer scientist, designed the first model of an electronic device and project Interface Manager was started." |
7 years, 3 months |
September 26, 2010 | January 25, 2018 | added, removed, |
| Fictional minor planet "14345 Mousen", named after nonexistent Pakistani astronomer and planetarium director "Mousen Saeed" | 7 years, 1 month |
April 19, 2012 | May 29, 2019 | added on March 30, 2012, removed on March 30, 2012, added back mistakenly on April 19, 2012, removed after 7 years on May 29, 2019 |
| Robert Serber Fictitious assassination attempt, fictitious assassin added later |
6 years, 9½ months |
May 6, 2009 | February 12, 2016 | Diff |
| Janusism: a fictitious form of word play | 6 years, 8 months |
February 5, 2015 | October 14, 2021 | added, removed |
| A claim that pyruvate decarboxylation is known as the "Swanson conversion." In actuality, the term was coined by a high school chemistry teacher of the same name, who decided not to remove the reference from Misplaced Pages in order to encourage his students to be more careful when researching. | 6 years, 6½ months |
December 15, 2010 | June 24, 2017 | added, removed |
| Claim that the fictitious vulgar name "hairy bush fruit" was an existing synonym for kiwifruit. Hoax only came to light after hoaxer admitted to it. | 6 years, 5 months |
November 6, 2007 | March 2, 2014 | Addition Blanking Removal |
| The article on Henry David Thoreau included a made-up quote by Louisa May Alcott about the writer's "neck-beard". | 6 years, 3 months |
December 21, 2007 | March 18, 2014 | Added, removed Talk page comment detailing the hoax Medium article about the hoax |
| The article on Voice of Fire included a made-up quote indicating the painting had been hung upside down. | 6 years, 2 months |
February 23, 2015 | May 2, 2021 | Talk page comment detailing the hoax |
| Allegation that Brierfield, Lancashire, with its smoking mills, was Tolkien's inspiration for the evil land of Mordor. | 6 years, ½ month |
March 8, 2006 | March 21, 2012 | added, removed; was spotted by a blogger in August 2006 but didn't follow up; believed by sources including The Guardian |
| Claim that the coati was also known as "Brazilian aardvark". Added by a then 17-year-old student as a private joke, the false information lasted for six years and was propagated by hundreds of websites, several newspapers, and even books by a few university presses. The spread was such that the joke indeed became a common name for the animal and was cited in several sources. After the initial removal, the name was reinserted multiple times by users who believed it had become legitimate. | 5 years, 10 months | July 12, 2008 | May 20, 2014 | added, removed |
| Claim that "Bryan Tyler" and "Mark Sims" were former members of the Eli Young Band. | 5 years, 8 months |
February 7, 2008 | October 9, 2013 | added, removed |
| A wholly fictitious origin story for Amelia Bedelia, the main character of the eponymous popular children's book series: "'Amelia Bedelia' was based on a French colonial maid in Cameroon, where the author spent some time during her formative years. Her vast collection of hats, notorious for their extensive plumage, inspired her to write an assortment of tales based on her experiences in North Africa." After being repeated tens of times, sometimes by journalists and academics, the hoax was identified by EJ Dickson, one of its authors, turned journalist, who had written it as a joke with a friend while "stoned". | 5 years, 6 months |
January 31, 2009 | July 29, 2014 | Addition Removal Admission |
| Claim that the "too slow" variant of a high five incited a war in the rebooted Planet of the Apes film series | 5 years, 3 months |
August 8, 2014 | November 5, 2019 | Addition, Initial removal, Final removal The first attempt to remove this was reverted by the original editor because the information came from a seemingly reliable source, but the source was making a joke. |
| Fictitious claim about Oscar Wilde added to List of Latin phrases | 5 years, 2 months |
September 19, 2005 | November 26, 2010 | added, removed, Story and explanation |
| Nonexistent show named "Porn Stars: the New Age" in List of programs broadcast by History (TV channel) | 4 years, 11 months |
November 13, 2014 | October 27, 2019 | added, removed |
| Lucy Gordon Fake filmography credit added the day after actress's suicide alleging she started her career in the sitcom 2.4 Children. |
4 years, 11 months | May 21, 2009 | April 10, 2014 | |
| Julius Freed Fictitious claim that the founder of Orange Julius invented auto-cleaning spectacles, an inflatable shrimp trap, and a portable pigeon-bathing unit. Dairy Queen, which now owns Orange Julius, was fooled; the company based an entire ad campaign around the hoax and produced this video about Julius Freed's supposed inventions. |
4 years, 9 months |
June 22, 2005 | March 11, 2010 | Reported by Ken Jennings on his blog. |
| Claim in List of adjectival and demonymic forms for countries and nations that a valid demonym for Guam is "Guambat" (possibly a pun on wombat). | 4 years, 6½ months |
October 24, 2013 | May 13, 2018 | added, removed |
| Reference to "glucojasinogen" in diabetic neuropathy | 4 years, 4½ months |
October 7, 2007 | February 29, 2012 | added, removed; original edit appears word for word in S.V. Tembhurne & D.M. Sakarkar (June 2010). "Influence of Murraya koenigii on experimental model of diabetes and progression of neuropathic pain". Res Pharm Sci. 5 (1): 41–47. PMC 3093092. and Talha Jawaid; Ashok K Shakya; Mehnaz Kamal & Sarfaraz Hussain (June 2008). "Amitriptyline and Sertraline in Diabetic Neuropathy: A Comparative View". International Journal of Health Research. 1 (2): 73–78.. |
| Mention of "Ysolo", a fictional eggplant harvest festival in Albania, in List of harvest festivals | 4 years, 4½ months |
July 11, 2012 | November 25, 2016 | added, removed, talk page discussion, redirect discussion. For a time, a mountain on Ceres bore the name of this "festival"; upon discovery of this hoax it was renamed "Yamor Mons". |
| Claim that Adrienne Monnier was best known for a book about an American boy named Bill Monnier | 4 years, 4 months |
November 28, 2010 | March 31, 2015 | added, removed |
| Section on the fictional non-league football career of minor British soap opera actor Will Mellor | 4 years, 4 months |
January 12, 2007 | May 9, 2011 | added, removed. Claim was repeated on the website for the artists agency represents Mellor. |
| In List of mythological objects: Ichaival Romanization of Japanese translation of Ýdalir, used in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and spread to other media such as Smite. |
4 years, 1 month |
December 16, 2013 | January 21, 2018 | Special:Diff/586361279 Special:Diff/821577014 |
Extant for 1–3 years
| Claim | Length | Insertion date | Removal date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim that, due to her fame in Japan, female wrestler Kaoru Matsumoto was known as the "Niall Quinn of Joshi" | 3 years, 7½ months |
October 13, 2008 | May 24, 2012 | added, removed |
| Jack Mills and Joey Deacon's Farmhouse Brie Fictitious cheesemaking house that survived on the Hury page for over three years. |
3 years, 6 months, 13 days |
September 21, 2012 | April 4, 2016 | Reverted |
| Former American Gladiator Jonathan Byrne Series of edits regarding an eccentric and non-existent American Gladiator |
3 years, 5½ months |
June 19, 2006 | December 6, 2009 | Thirty pages unraveled over a two day period by Jeandré du Toit. First edit Others: Other edits had been previously removed on an individual basis. Believed by people online, including some people who claimed to remember him. |
| Monarch (butterfly) as Canada's national insect | 3 years, 3½ months |
December 9, 2004 | March 26, 2008 | added, removed |
| Toyota Canarado Fictitious name for a car model |
3 years, 3 months | January 13, 2013 | April 22, 2016 | Talk:Toyota Previa#Toyota Canarado |
| 19th-century invention of the hair iron attributed to fictitious persons, "Erica Feldman" (changed from Madam C. J. Walker) and another name (apparently a classmate) on English and Simple English Misplaced Pages. Both names are now widely credited on the Internet (as well as in one book) with the invention of the hair straightener | 3 years, 1 month |
August 14, 2006 | September 15, 2009 | Erica Feldman, I. G., , , discussion at Misplaced Pages Review |
| Rosie the Riveter Original Rosie was Shirley Karp: hoax Original Rosie was Shirley Karp Dick: vandalism |
3 years, ½ month |
January 16, 2009 | January 24, 2012 | Historian Max Hastings published in the first edition of his November 2011 book Inferno: The World at War, 1939–1945 (called All Hell Let Loose in the UK): "Another much-publicised 'Rosie' was Shirley Karp Dick, who was paid $6 to model for photos, of which the most famous showed her treading on Hitler's Mein Kampf." A second edition was published October 2012 after the hoax was revealed. |
| Claim that Khofifah Indar Parawansa's middle name is Tegistha | 2 years, 10 months, 29 days |
June 12, 2017 | May 11, 2020 | added, removed, cited in Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India 2018 Fostering Growth through Digitalisation: Fostering Growth through Digitalisation |
| Mirsk Famous Residents section alleging this as city where Nicholas Copernicus contracted genital warts from a Mirsk prostitute, as allegedly proved by DNA evidence. Vandalism was removed by Jimmy Wales. |
2 years, 8 months |
January 15, 2012 | September 14, 2014 | User talk:Meishern#Do you have any evidence for this.3F, Added: , Removed: |
| Eric Clapton's various girlfriends | 2 years, 7 months |
May 9, 2011 | December 19, 2013 | A paragraph was inserted listing 15 women that Clapton supposedly dated. One was Alicia Witt who eventually saw the list and complained on Facebook that it was not true about her. The whole paragraph was supported by a hoax reference initially listing the Boston Beacon which was soon changed to the Boston Globe, even though no such article exists. |
| Claim that physicist Hans Geiger was supposedly nicknamed "Gengar" | 2 years, 6 months |
May 22, 2015 | November 18, 2017 | discussion added, removed |
| Fictitious "yachting" section on Bridgestone | 2 years, 4½ months |
September 4, 2015 | January 24, 2018 | Added to article 4 September 2015, extended July 2017, removed 24 January 2018 |
| Fictitious "further reading" on bullshit | 2 years, 4½ months |
November 23, 2007 | April 8, 2010 | added, deleted |
| Claim that the Cuban township of Guanabacoa's nickname was "Villa de Pepe Armenio", when it was really "Villa de Pepe Antonio". May have been a mistake rather than intentionally misleading information. | 2 years, 4 months, 5 days |
January 11, 2016 | May 15, 2018 | Differences between hoax and correction on the Guanabacoa article |
| Claims that Adams Packer Film Productions produced an animated series named Angel Marble Elijah or Angel Marble Eddy in the 1970's and that the series was subsequently dubbed in Finnish by Golden Voice | 2 years, 4 months |
July 8, 2015 | November 1, 2017 | added, removed |
| Fictitious Illyrian gods | 2 years, 3½ months |
October 27, 2005 | February 18, 2008 | Old revision of Paleo-Balkanic mythology showing fictitious gods, discussion |
| Characterisation of Shane (name) signifying a violent individual | 2 years, 3½ months |
December 21, 2007 | April 12, 2010 | added, deleted, believed by and |
| Just When I Needed You Most Cover version by "Daniel Selby" |
2 years, ½ month |
January 22, 2011 | January 31, 2013 | added, removed Reference to Selby also added on songwriter Randy VanWarmer's page (removed) |
| PC Card Claimed to be invented by "Jacob D. Holm" in 1986. In reality, the PCMCIA organization was formed in 1989-09, based on the initiative of Poqet Computer Corporation's Ian Cullimore with support from Fujitsu and Intel since 1989-07. |
2 years, ½ month |
August 18, 2011 | August 30, 2013 | added, removed |
| Stephen Gostkowski Claim that "Benjamin Skiest" was a high school football opponent of Stephen Gostkowski and became a running back for the Atlanta Falcons. |
1 year, 11 months |
November 1, 2018 | September 27, 2020 | added, removed |
| Let Me Be There and If You Love Me (Let Me Know) For nearly two years, both articles credited a "Navin Harris" as the backing vocalist instead of Mike Sammes. |
1 year, 9½ months |
June 17, 2010 | April 2, 2012 (both articles) | Appears in this article and this publication of Olivia Newton-John related Misplaced Pages articles Content was repeatedly re-added by an IP-hopper after first removal in April 2012, even after the addition of a source verifying the real vocalist's name, leading to indefinite semi-protection of both articles; see also Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive747#Repeated vandalism for a likely source of the name. |
| United States Secretary of Education hoax Three fake secretaries were added to the list and remained unnoticed for nearly two years. |
1 year, 9 months |
March 20, 2019 | January 1, 2021 (first one removed); January 7, 2021 (other two removed) | added, one removed, other two removed |
| Lustfaust hoax The real band Lustfaust, which the article is now about, used this fake band as a marketing tactic |
1 year, 9 months |
October 15, 2005 | July 14, 2007 | Old revision of article about fake band, NYT article describing fake article |
| Involvement of Brian Reddyb in the band Rednex |
1 year, 8½ months |
October 17, 2005 | July 3, 2007 | added, removed; User:Brian Reddyb vocally defended his hoax edits until he was banned, and Rednex personally denounced his story. Brian made a similar hoax edit to Saddam Hussein. |
| Palladium claim under 'Applications' that palladium is used in the production of the fictional substance Thiotimoline |
1 year, 2 months |
February 22, 2011 | April 19, 2012 | |
| Traffic cones called "kafele boothe cones" | 1 year, 7½ months |
October 4, 2010 | May 24, 2012 | Returned from July 28, 2012 to December 18, 2012, again on March 25, 2013, June 7, 2013 to June 14, 2013, and June 21, 2013 to July 12, 2013 |
| "Conrad Dean" as backing vocalist on Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy | 1 year, 6 months |
March 29, 2012 | September 25, 2013 | |
| Dexter, New York and Dexter, Maine On two distinct occasions, it was falsely claimed the town was named after "Dexter Borup". The IP that made the first edit also added the name uncapitalized to Dexter, Maine. |
11 months | February 23, 2007 | January 17, 2008 | first time: added, removed; second time: added, removed. Was picked up by other resources on the town. |
| 1 year, 6 months |
February 1, 2009 | July 30, 2010 | ||
| 11 months | February 27, 2007 | February 23, 2008 | ||
| Fake material in Tristan Sir Tristan as an "overweight knight" |
1 year, 5½ months |
September 2, 2004 | February 20, 2006 | Added, removed |
| Arthur Foot being Michael Foot′s brother. | 1 year, 5 months |
November 14, 2013 | April 21, 2015 | Added, removed/names of actual brothers and a nephew added |
| Addition of three trees to Man-eating tree, one of which (Duñak) is completely fabricated Inspired several pieces of artwork and literature, including a novel. |
1 year, 3 months |
October 26, 2008 | February 2, 2010 | added, removed. Believed by The Epoch Times (May 5, 2009) |
| Fictitious sons of Aaron Nada and Abidjan |
1 year, 1½ months |
March 16, 2008 | April 26, 2009 | Added |
| Gérard Louis-Dreyfus Fictitious children named "Rover and Bethlehem". (revision) |
1 year | March 9, 2009 | March 24, 2010 |
Extant for less than one year
This section lists hoaxes covered for less than one year. See Misplaced Pages:List of hoaxes on Misplaced Pages/Less than one year for the full list. This section should list only hoaxes covered in independent third-party sources. Short-lived hoaxes are innumerable and so we do not normally track them — they can be found by searching deletion logs for "hoax".
| Claim | Length | Insertion date | Removal date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie Hazlehurst Erroneous information (alleging that he had co-written a pop hit for band S Club 7) inserted into this article led to several news outlets repeating it in his obituary following his death, which in turn led to verifiable citations. The incident was widely reported in the UK meta-media, in particular by Private Eye and Have I Got News for You (the latter featuring the editor of the former as a regular panellist.) |
11 days | September 20, 2007 | October 1, 2007 | The incorrect information talk page discussing the issue |
| John F. Street Vandalism from IP editor inserting false information about how the Philadelphia mayor had formerly worked as Bozo the Clown. |
5 days | January 14, 2007 | January 19, 2007 | The incorrect information. Other IPs restore the vandalism but it is quickly reverted. Talk page discussing the issue. Article about the hoax in the Philadelphia Inquirer(dead link). A couple of months later, an IP editor added information about the hoax to the biography. Over the next few years this material was variously kept as reliably sourced, or deleted as trivial. |
| Falsified quotes by Maurice Jarre Went viral in mainstream media after his death |
24 hours | March 30, 2009 | March 31, 2009 | added Discussion at Irish Times |
| Roger Vinson Addition that the individual was an amateur taxidermist who mounted bear heads above the door of his courtroom. The hoax information became known when Rush Limbaugh misused it on his radio program. |
1 day | September 13, 2010 | September 14, 2010 | Huffington Post New York Times Wall Street Journal Pensacola News Journal |
| Scott Steiner In a wrestling storyline, Samoa Joe "attacked" Steiner with a machete at the Destination X pay-per view event. In a shocking lack of recognition of kayfabe, and thinking that even TNA at its most bewildering would show a legitimate attempted murder, an editor added a death section to the article, which was definitively removed about an hour later. |
1 hour, in total | March 15, 2009 | March 15, 2009 | The addition to Misplaced Pages is mentioned in an appendix of the expanded version of The Death of WCW, where the storyline was described as "preposterous". |
| Wrightbus A hoax edit alleged that the company was being sold; the quickly-deleted hoax nonetheless caused alarm at its headquarters in Northern Ireland, prompting a report from the Belfast Telegraph. |
47 minutes | November 26, 2015 | November 26, 2015 | First part added, second part added, removed |
| MESSENGER (NASA probe) Destination of interplanetary probe changed from Mercury (planet) to Canada. |
5 minutes | January 17, 2008 | January 17, 2008 | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Canada, ISBN 9781607101000 page 272, inexplicably devotes two-thirds of a printed page to this short-lived bit of vandalism, explaining in detail how MESSENGER was the first mission to visit Canada in over 30 years, studying its environment and characteristics from orbit. |
See also
- User:JohnCD/Hoaxes#Deleted at AfD, a list of confirmed hoaxes that are not included on this page
- List of hoaxes, articles which factually describe encyclopedically notable hoaxes
- Misplaced Pages:List of citogenesis incidents
- List of Misplaced Pages controversies
- Reliability of Misplaced Pages
- Category:Misplaced Pages suspected hoax articles
- Category:AfC submissions declined as jokes
- Misplaced Pages:Society for the Preservation of the Quazer Beast
- Fictitious entry
- "How many more hoaxes will Misplaced Pages find?", The Signpost
- Misplaced Pages:Misplaced Pages records
References
- ^ Kumar, Srijan; West, Robert; Leskovec, Jure (April 2016). "Disinformation on the Web: Impact, Characteristics, and Detection of Misplaced Pages Hoaxes" (PDF). Proceedings of the 25th International World Wide Web Conference: 591–602. doi:10.1145/2872427.2883085. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- Howard, Jennifer (December 18, 2008). "Teaching by Lying: Professor Unveils 'Last Pirate' Hoax". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on May 20, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- Matheson, Whitney (December 4, 2008). "Pop Candy blog". USAToday.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- "The Last American Pirate". December 4, 2008. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- Randall, Eric (May 19, 2014). "How a raccoon became an aardvark". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
- Kolbe, Andreas (January 16, 2017). "Happy birthday: Jimbo Wales' sweet 16 Misplaced Pages fails. From aardvark to Bicholim, the encylopedia of things that never were". The Register. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
- Jennings, Ken (May 28, 2010). "Anatomy of a Wiki-hoax". Ken Jennings Blog. Archived from the original on April 8, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- Zawodniak, Matthew (August 29, 2019). "That Time Fire Emblem Accidentally Created A Fake Norse Myth". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- "Yewfelle". Fire Emblem Wiki. March 20, 2021. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
Further reading
- "Revenge, Ego and the Corruption of Misplaced Pages", an article that describes several hoaxes which are not listed on this page
- "After a half-decade, massive Misplaced Pages hoax finally exposed" at dailydot.com