'Wow, it really worked ': 70s TV show causing worldwide panic today

Originally meant to be aired on April Fool's day, this hoax documentary's broadcast had be moved to a different date, and, as a consequence, many naive viewers thought it was real.

Now, the hoax has taken a life of its own on the Web, with waves of naive people believing its silly made-up claims about scientists working in certain fields mysteriously disappearing.

The hoax has even made the HN front page.

Sigh.

Re: 'Wow, it really worked ': 70s TV show causing worldwide panic today

#6

Post by monooso » Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 1:57 PM UTC

cs702 wrote: post #5

Originally meant to be aired on April Fool's day, this hoax documentary's broadcast had be moved to a different date, and, as a consequence, many naive viewers thought it was real. Now, the hoax has taken a life of its own on the Web, with waves of naive people believing its silly made-up claims about scientists working in certain fields mysteriously disappearing. The hoax has even made the HN front page. Sigh.

In fairness to HN, the debunking made the front page.

Re: 'Wow, it really worked ': 70s TV show causing worldwide panic today

#7

Post by dwa3592 » Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 2:03 PM UTC

I saw the actual news and the TV correspondent sounded very serious about people going missing. I wonder if they do this on purpose.

Re: 'Wow, it really worked ': 70s TV show causing worldwide panic today

#8

Post by ingvay7 » Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 2:03 PM UTC

It’s like the conspiracy theorist version of one of the Three-Body problem storylines with those scientists vanishing. I expect theres an entire subreddit for this.

Re: 'Wow, it really worked ': 70s TV show causing worldwide panic today

#9

Post by defrost » Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

cs702 wrote: post #5

Originally meant to be aired on April Fool's day, this hoax documentary's broadcast had be moved to a different date, and, as a consequence, many naive viewers thought it was real. Now, the hoax has taken a life of its own on the Web, with waves of naive people believing its silly made-up claims about scientists working in certain fields mysteriously disappearing. The hoax has even made the HN front page. Sigh.

* At least 10 people tied to sensitive US research have died or disappeared https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47909942

* Conspiracy about missing/dead scientists from online forums to the White House https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47898228

* Comer and Burlison Seek Information on Missing Nuclear and Rocket Scientists https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877825

* FBI looks into dead or missing scientists tied to NASA, Blue Origin, SpaceX https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47858246

Re: 'Wow, it really worked ': 70s TV show causing worldwide panic today

#10

Post by freediddy » Tue, Jun 16, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

Investigating the disappearances or suspicious deaths of scientists with close ties to nuclear secrets isn't wrong.

The problem is that there are real mysteries that are connected to a bunch of social media bullshit and more than half of the purported "mysterious disappearances" of people are people that aren't even connected to nuclear research. And then people who hate Trump like the media want to make it seem like Trump himself is being duped and is personally directing the investigators. The multiple layers of indirection here is the real problem, let the investigators do their jobs because at least a few of them need to be investigated properly.