Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity

[amstrad]

Just saw this on Museum of Hoaxes' Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time

#14: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

It just goes to show that people that want to be fooled will be fooled.

[Wingnut Ninja]

One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

I'll never doubt the placebo effect again.

[kilopi]

It just goes to show that people that want to be fooled will be fooled.

And you took them seriously?

[captain swoop]

BBC news and documentary progs have a history of good April Fools jokes. Wat back in the black and white days a very serious current affairs prog featured an artical on the Italian 'Spaghetti harvest' which fooled a lot of folks and back in the 80s there was a spoof 'Live Ghostwatch' one haloween from a supposed haunted house that had a lot of people going.

In fact there is a series just starting all about TV hoaxes, will have to look up channel and time

[snowcelt]

During the 70's the Canadian gov started a graduated switch from Imperial to Metric. So every year they would start the new measure on the first of April. On the 31 of March you were going 60 mph, next day 100 kph. One year the local radio station announced that from that day forward we would be going to Metric Time? I had a heck of a time trying to track down the place to order a new clock. ops:

[captain swoop]

During the 70's the Canadian gov started a graduated switch from Imperial to Metric. So every year they would start the new measure on the first of April. On the 31 of March you were going 60 mph, next day 100 kph. One year the local radio station announced that from that day forward we would be going to Metric Time? I had a heck of a time trying to track down the place to order a new clock. ops:

There have been lots of hoaxes like that over the years in the UK, before Email they were usualy done as 'Office memo' type things like this...

http://www.getodd.com/news/hamhock/9199h/9199h.html

http://northonline.sccd.ctc.edu/tfur...ar/sample.html


BUT...

http://www.decimaltime.org/

http://northonline.sccd.ctc.edu/tfur.../calendar.html

http://zapatopi.net/metrictime/link.html