The longest running hoax follows: (Sorry this is so long, but too many know nothing about the origins of this inflammatory book, which is circulated throughout the world right now, and many believe it is authentic.)

"If ever a piece of writing could produce mass hatred, it is this one… . This book is about lies and slander."
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is the most notorious and widely distributed antisemitic publication of modern times. Its lies about Jews, which have been repeatedly discredited, continue to circulate today, especially on the Internet. The individuals and groups who have used the Protocols are all linked by a common purpose: to spread hatred of Jews.

The Protocols is entirely a work of fiction, intentionally written to blame Jews for a variety of ills. Those who distribute it claim that it documents a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world. The conspiracy and its alleged leaders, the so-called Elders ofZion, never existed.

The Origin of a Lie
In 1903, portions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were serialized in a Russian newspaper, Znamya (The Banner). The version of the Protocols that has endured and has been translated into dozens of languages, however, was first published in Russia in 1905 as an appendix to The Great in the Small: The Coming of the Anti-Christ and the Rule of Satan on Earth, by Russian writer and mystic Sergei Nilus.

Although the exact origin of the Protocols is unknown, its intent was to portray Jews as conspirators against the state. In 24 chapters, or protocols, allegedly minutes from meetings of Jewish leaders, the Protocols "describes" the "secret plans" of Jews to rule the world by manipulating the economy, controlling the media, and fostering religious conflict.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, anti-Bolshevik émigrés brought the Protocols to the West. Soon after, editions circulated across Europe, the United States, South America, and Japan. An Arabic translation first appeared in the 1920s.

Beginning in 1920, auto magnate Henry Ford’s newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, published a series of articles based in part on the Protocols. The International Jew, the book that included this series, was translated into at least 16 languages. Both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, later the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, praised Ford and The International Jew.

Fraud Exposed 
In 1921, the London Times presented conclusive proof that theProtocols was a "clumsy plagiarism." The Times confirmed that the Protocols had been copied in large part from a French political satire that never mentioned Jews — Maurice Joly’sDialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu (1864). Other investigations revealed that one chapter of a Prussian novel, Hermann Goedsche’s Biarritz (1868), also "inspired" theProtocols.

The Nazi Era 
Nazi party ideologue Alfred Rosenberg introduced Hitler to theProtocols during the early 1920s, as Hitler was developing his worldview. Hitler referred to the Protocols in some of his early political speeches, and, throughout his career, he exploited the myth that "Jewish-Bolshevists" were conspiring to control the world.

During the 1920s and 1930s, The Protocols of the Elders of Zionplayed an important part in the Nazis’ propaganda arsenal. The Nazi party published at least 23 editions of the Protocolsbetween 1919 and 1939. Following the Nazis’ seizure of power in 1933, some schools used the Protocols to indoctrinate students.

Fraud Exposed
In 1935, a Swiss court fined two Nazi leaders for circulating a German-language edition of the Protocols in Berne, Switzerland. The presiding justice at the trial declared theProtocols "libelous," "obvious forgeries," and "ridiculous nonsense."

The U.S. Senate issued a report in 1964 declaring that theProtocols were "fabricated." The Senate called the contents of the Protocols "gibberish" and criticized those who "peddled" theProtocols for using the same propaganda technique as Hitler.

In 1993, a Russian court ruled that Pamyat, a far-right nationalist organization, had committed an antisemitic act by publishing the Protocols.

Despite these repeated exposures of the Protocols as a fraud, it remains the most influential antisemitic text of the past one hundred years, and it continues to appeal to a variety of antisemitic individuals and groups.

The Protocols Today
According to the U.S. Department of State’s "Report on Global Anti-Semitism" (2004), "The clear purpose of the [Protocols is] to incite hatred of Jews and of Israel."

In the United States and Europe, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Holocaust deniers endorse and circulate the Protocols. Books based on the Protocols are available worldwide, even in countries with hardly any Jews such as Japan.

Many school textbooks throughout the Arab and Islamic world teach the Protocols as fact. Countless political speeches, editorials, and even children’s cartoons are derived from theProtocols. In 2002, Egypt’s government-sponsored television aired a miniseries based on the Protocols, an event condemned by the U.S. State Department. The Palestinian organization Hamas draws in part on the Protocols to justify its terrorism against Israeli civilians.

The Internet has dramatically increased access to the Protocols. Even though many Web sites expose the Protocols as a fraud, the Internet has made it easy to use the Protocols to spread hatred of Jews. Today, a typical Internet search yields several hundred thousand sites that disseminate, sell, or debate theProtocols or expose them as a fraud.

Bernie Madoff comes to mind.  But Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds was one of the all time greats.

The Clifford Irving hoax was one that sticks in my mind as being both entertaining for the general public, and, in the great scheme of things, relatively harmless to the fabric of society. By Madoff standards, the financials of this hoax were miniscule, but there was an element of cool sophsticaton about Irving that made him the perfect suave bad boy. This was probably the last "fun" hoax I recall. Since then, it has been all downhill, as they say. The "reality shows" are a world of hoaxing in and of themselves, and most of it seems designed to make fools of the viewing public, and give sociopathic types a chance to tromp all over their victims in the name of "entertainment". Balloon Boy is merely pathetic, and in terms of the impact upon the three little boys, horribly uncomfortable to see. Mr. Heene stole his childrens’ ability to put their trust and confidence in Mom and Dad - and when a child loses that, they have a long road ahead to try to rebuild it. I fear that there will be many repercussions, especially for little Falcon, and I hope he receives the support he needs far away from the media spotlight so that he can heal and return to being a little boy instead of a prop in Dad’s personal vaudeville act.

I also think that historically, the man who produced the fake Vermeers was another example of a hoax that, in retrospect, was hilarious. Museums and collectors sought his paintings, and when he was finally captured and the public actually saw all his forgeries, they were AWFUL! Next to the glory of a real Vermeer, his looked like flat, paint-by-number versions, yet he hoaxed many of the great art appraisers and collectors of his time. And his trial was fascinating for what it revealed about people’s willingness to be conned - he actually had quite a cheering section!

Joan, I cannot wait to see the YouTube flying penguin video! And how lucky you have been to spend time in Antarctica. It is a dream of mine to one day visit a penguin colony there. I saw many penguins in Latin America on a visit to the Tierra del Fuego region years back, and it was amazing to see them in all their glory. But to be in Antarctica? Heavenly!

My choice for the greatest hoax is "Global Warming" caused by humans.

Several new studies show it is, indeed, all ado about nothing.  One of the most respected is the new MIT study disputing global warming. 

http://masterresource.org/?p=4307

Another interesting bit as reported by the Washington Examiner (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/A-big-chill-on-global-warming-8393618-64452337.html#) is the fact that data used as justification for the last United Nations conclusion has strangely disappeared.  It was thought by many scientists that the data was being manipulated to show a worsening of climate warming, and now that data is gone. (??)

All this just before the President is poised to sign a global agreement on climate change severely restricting carbon emissions, and binding the United States to be the chief funder of third world nations’ so-called climate control actions.  Another hugely expensive undertaking which we can ill afford.

Lord Christopher Monckton, respected adviser to Margaret Thatcher on global climate, says, in effect, the data used to support global warming is contrived.  For instance, the temperature readings taken from "ghost weather stations" like the one at Maine’s Ripogenus Dam. It was officially closed in 1995 but allegedly is still transmitting climate data 14 years later.

Global temperatures have dropped steadily since 1998.  That is fact.  Signing of the treaty in Copenhagen next month will amount to nothing but the transfer of wealth from here to third world countries. 

I think this shows what I have thought all along about the great global warming scare, i.e., that it’s a fraud!
Things like disappearing data, ghost weather stations, the deliberate placing of weather instruments in locations where the temperature will be higher than the true ambient temperature, funding of "scientific" research that only reaches the politically correct conclusions, and the attempt to ram through "climate change" legislation before people can read and understand all undermine the credibility of global warming claims.

It all comes down to this: follow the money! It is all about using the global warming scam to raise our taxes. If the elites get away with this, it will be the greatest ripoff scam in world history.

The hoax I remember the most was in 1995, the Alien Autopsy footage from Roswell.

I remember this one the most because it played on all our emotions. Those who believe there is nothing beyond what we have here on Earth, were tested. And those who believe in aliens, unearthly beings and the like, felt vindicated in their beliefs. A rush of "see we told you" spread like wild fire as more and more of the film was released to the public.

Much like the woman who sees Jesus in the form of her pancake. People travel from near and far to see it, all believing this piece of various baking ingredients have a deep meaning. It is no longer simply a pancake, it must be a sign from above. And so they believe.

The same rang true for millions when the Alien Autopsy film was released. I knew right away it was a fake, not because I am cynical of such things. Afterall, I am not so naive to believe "we" are all that exists in our vast universe. No, I knew it was fake because it looked fake. Nothing about it seemed real, made sense.

And there in lies the one common denominator when it comes to hoaxes. If something just doesn’t make sense, seem real….it’s not. The problem is there will always be large groups of people who see something when there is nothing to be seen. 

Balloon Boy has to be the most annoying it was approximately this time of day and I was watching the portion of Obama’s Speech that had just begun to take questions from the audience and suddenly CNN switched to this shiny balloon floating aimlessly through the air.  I switched to Fox News hoping they hadn’t switched covered but they had the same balloon and reported that a six year old boy was in the balloon!  AAARGHH! I watched for about an hour hoping and praying the little boy would be saved but something inside me was already questioning the merit of the reports. Imagine the angst when Wolf Blitzer uncovered the balloon boy as the we-did-it-for-the show boy hours later.

Not much has been made of the content that was interrupted and never replayed on both major 24 hour networks.

*sigh* other than that Milli Vanilli would have to be the most fun with the least harm

WMD false intel leading to invasion of Iraq tragedy!