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In August 1835 the New York newspaper The Sun ran six articles claiming that a giant telescope had revealed life on the Moon: bison, unicorns and winged 'man-bats'. The story became known as the Great Moon Hoax. None of it was true.

The Sun, New York, 1835

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The story behind the card

The articles claimed to be reprinted from an Edinburgh journal and credited the discoveries to Sir John Herschel, a real and respected astronomer who was then observing the southern sky from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and knew nothing about them. They were written by Sun reporter Richard Adams Locke, who admitted it in 1840; he may have meant them partly as satire on fanciful science writing. Many readers believed them and sales rose, though popular accounts exaggerate by how much. On 16 September the paper admitted the story was made up, but it never printed a formal retraction. Herschel was amused at first and later tired of answering questions from people who believed it.

Türkçe oku
New York'ta çıkan The Sun gazetesi, Ağustos 1835'te dev bir teleskopla Ay'da canlılar görüldüğünü öne süren altı yazı yayımladı: bizonlar, tek boynuzlu atlar ve kanatlı “yarasa insanlar”. Büyük Ay Aldatmacası diye anılan bu hikâyenin hiçbir yanı doğru değildi.
The Sun, New York, 1835

Yazılar, Edinburgh'da çıkan bir dergiden alındığını öne sürüyor ve buluşları Sir John Herschel'e mal ediyordu. Herschel gerçekten de saygın bir gökbilimciydi; o sırada Güney Afrika'daki Ümit Burnu'nda güney gökyüzünü gözlüyordu ve olup bitenden habersizdi. Yazıları gazetenin muhabiri Richard Adams Locke kaleme almıştı; bunu 1840'ta kabul etti. Locke'un amacı kısmen dönemin hayalperest bilim yazılarıyla alay etmek olabilir. Pek çok okur hikâyeye inandı ve gazetenin satışları arttı, ama bu artış sonraki anlatımlarda abartıldı. Gazete 16 Eylül'de hikâyenin uydurma olduğunu kabul etti, ama hiçbir zaman resmî bir düzeltme yayımlamadı. Herschel önce buna güldü, sonra da hikâyeye inananların sorularından bıktı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Great Moon Hoax
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