The Great Moon Hoax of 1835: When the New York Sun Sold Life on the Moon

In the modern age, we are used to fighting misinformation online, but the concept of "fake news" is far older than the internet. Long before Photoshop and viral tweets, one of the most spectacular and successful media hoaxes in history captured the imagination of a city - and a nation.

It was the summer of 1835, a time when scientific discovery was booming and the public was hungry for news of exploration. Enter the Great Moon Hoax.

The Birth of a Fantasy

Beginning on August 25, 1835, The Sun, a penny press newspaper in New York City, began publishing a six-part series that promised to reveal groundbreaking secrets. The title of the series was dense and academic: "Great Astronomical Discoveries Lately Made by Sir John Herschel, L.L.D, F.R.S. &c. at the Cape of Good Hope."

The articles claimed that the famous and respected astronomer Sir John Herschel had traveled to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to set up a revolutionary new telescope. According to the paper, this was not just any telescope.

The "Technology" Behind the Discovery

The series described an instrument of impossible proportions. The lens of this telescope was said to be 24 feet (7.3 meters) in diameter - a size that would dwarf even the largest modern telescopes of the era. With this monstrous piece of equipment, Herschel could magnify objects on the Moon with such clarity that he could observe details smaller than 18 inches across from a distance of 240,000 miles.

This was the hook. The scientific detail was just plausible enough to make readers think, "What if?"

Life on the Moon

The "discoveries" reported by The Sun were nothing short of sensational. The articles described a lunar landscape teeming with life. Readers were introduced to a fantastical world featuring:

• Lush Vegetation: Vast forests, green hills, and even a massive, sparkling sapphire-like amethyst crystal.

• Exotic Animals: Herds of bison-like creatures, blue goats, unicorns, and bipedal beavers that walked on two legs and carried their young in their arms.

• The "Man-Bats" (Vespertilio-homo): The most famous part of the hoax. The articles described winged human-like creatures who built temples, flew about, and engaged in social activities. These "man-bats" were the supposed intelligent inhabitants of the Moon, and their discovery became the talk of the town.

Why Did People Believe It?

For a modern reader, it seems absurd that anyone would fall for this. But in the context of 1835, several factors made the hoax believable:

1. The Reputation of Sir John Herschel: Herschel was a real and highly respected astronomer, the son of the famous William Herschel (who discovered Uranus). Associating the story with his name gave it instant credibility.

2. The Pace of Discovery: It was an era of immense scientific progress. New technologies were revealing the secrets of the natural world at a dizzying speed. The idea that a telescope could suddenly reveal life on the Moon didn't seem entirely outside the realm of possibility.

3. The Medium: The Sun was a "penny paper," meaning it was cheap and accessible to the working class. It was also a competitor to more established papers, giving it an incentive to print sensational stories to boost circulation.

4. The Lack of Rapid Fact-Checking: News traveled slowly. There was no transatlantic cable to quickly ask Herschel in South Africa if the story was true. By the time anyone could verify the claims, the story had already run its course.

The Aftermath and Legacy

The Sun’s circulation skyrocketed, making it one of the most-read newspapers in the world. The public was enthralled. Scientific journals began to take notice, and competing papers scrambled to reprint the stories.

Eventually, the hoax began to unravel. Other newspapers, driven by jealousy or a genuine desire for truth, started asking questions. When pressed, The Sun initially dodged the inquiries. Weeks later, they quietly admitted the articles were likely a fabrication, though they never officially labeled them a "hoax" and defended them as a "tall tale."

The identity of the author is widely believed to be Richard Adams Locke, a reporter for The Sun. His goal may have been satirical - to poke fun at the more fantastical and less scientific astronomical theories of the day - but the public took it as fact.

The Great Moon Hoax remains a landmark event in the history of journalism. It serves as a powerful reminder that our desire to believe in the extraordinary can sometimes blind us to the facts, and that the media's power to shape reality is a force that must always be handled with care.

It makes you wonder: if people in 1835 could believe in bat-people on the Moon, what fantastical stories are we too eager to believe today?

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