Episode 294 - The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 - How the New York Sun Flummoxed the Public

Episode 294 - The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 - How the New York Sun Flummoxed the Public

From Family Plot by Family Plot Podcast

April 2, 2026 · 49 min · Episode 294

About this episode

This episode explores the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 and its impact on public perception and media.

In this episode we set the Elevator of History back to 1835 where we witness the ;'penny paperss' papers sold for one cent instead of six that featured stories people WANTED to read, rather than news by and for a political party. These papers brought us separate sections on news, finance, sports and featured on the scene reporting and lurid true crime details. But it was the New York Sun that launched into a six day report of what a famous mathematician, chemist and learned individual was looking at the moon through a legendary telescope and reporting the discovery of the most amazing things including: albino moon-bison, miniature zebras, one horned goats, unicorns and the fascinating bat people of the moon who dwelt in massive temples carved from giant rubies. The public was fascinated by this series of articles until the report, six days later that the telescope had caught a stray sunbeam, magnified it's intensity and set the observatory alight causing it to burn to the ground. In the days and weeks that followed it slowly came out that none of this was true, however, the Sun never printed a retraction and their readership had grown significantly despite the scandal, most new…

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Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Great Moon Hoax of 1835, the Blue Fugates, the Adventures of Baron Munchausen, the Family Plot Podcast

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