Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 55 posts

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

#11

Post by 0xmattf »

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.

This reminds me of a mermaid "documentary"* I watched as a gullible 15 (?) year old. It aired on Animal Planet, if I'm not mistaken. I thought it was absolutely real. _Mermaids are real_. I used to tell everyone to watch it...

Years later, I found out it was completely fake; the end credits even tell you it's fake (I missed that). I had a hard time believing anything after that realization.

* - Mermaids: The Body Found

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

#13

Post by carrychains »

This reminds me of a series of recurring stories from the 2000s. These were decently mainstream stories in the media about the untimely demise of prominent microbiologists hinting at conspiracies involving deep knowledge they held in common that few others shared. I don't know if those stories faded or if I just stopped paying attention.

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

#15

Post by micromacrofoot »

defrost wrote: post #9
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 ti…

this certainly reinforces "waves of naive people"

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

#16

Post by afpx »

defrost wrote: post #9
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 ti…

As far as conspiracies go, the media seems to be working extra to bury this one.

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

#17

Post by arethuza »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #12

You can watch the TV programme here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNR0Q97TtRU

I'm pretty sure I watched this when it was broadcast - when I was 12. It was fairly clear to me at the time it wasn't a real documentary.

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

#18

Post by alberth »

Personal anecdote: I was in college when 9/11 happened. Back then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, radio was still a major part of daily life. iPods, iPhones, and streaming didn’t exist yet.

Morning radio shows often did live prank calls to keep things entertaining. DJs would pretend to be the president or do some other ridiculous bit, and it was usually silly / harmless / funny.

I remember driving to class that morning and hearing the first reports on the radio. My initial thought was, “If this is a prank, it’s not funny.” When I got to class and the professor cancelled because of what was happening, only then did I finally realized it was real.

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

#19

Post by throawayonthe »

afpx wrote: post #16
defrost wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* 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 ti…

As far as conspiracies go, the media seems to be working extra to bury this one.

da dum tss

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

#20

Post by giancarlostoro »

alberth wrote: post #18

Personal anecdote: I was in college when 9/11 happened. Back then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, radio was still a major part of daily life. iPods, iPhones, and streaming didn’t exist yet. Morning radio shows often did live prank calls to keep things entertaining. DJs would pretend to be the president or do some other ridiculous bit, and it was usually silly / harmless / funny. I remember driving to class that m…

You reminded me of one of my favorite radio pranks from back then, slightly less 9/11 tier, moreso funny prank.

There's a radio station in Miami that I guess did pranks over the air (I'm from Orlando so I never heard it) and someone animated one of their prank calls. They kept phoning this painter who was Dominican I think, and every time he would say "yes" to the question "Usted es el Pintor?" (Are you the painter?) they would play a clip from a song titled "Pintame" where the artist sings "PINTAMEEEE" and he would get mad, in one call they pretended to speak English just to trick him:

"are you the painter guy?"

"Yes"

"PINTAMEEEEEE"

He knew who it was immediately and went on a rant about how people all around town are yelling at him calling him "El Pintor" it was great, I bet he even got some customers out of it.

Anyway, someone animated it, and you can kind of find it on YouTube , used to be a flash movie. ;) I can't pull up the YouTube video while at work (its kind of locked down) or I would post it, it's mostly Spanish, but still cracks me up. I was showing it to my Mother In Law sometime back, she was busting out laughing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%ADntame_(song)

Post reply on HN