History's Greatest Hoaxes

2016•7.0/10

Documentary

Ratings

🎬TMDb

7.0/10(1)

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at some of the most spectacular hoaxes that show that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. It looks at remarkable hoaxes including the Hitler Diaries, the Piltdown Man, the War of the World broadcast, Papillon, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Alien Autopsy film.

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Language

Status

Returning Series

First Aired

October 13, 2016

Last Aired

November 17, 2016

Created By

Bruce Burgess

Where to Watch

Region US · Lang EN

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Seasons & Episodes

Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.

Season

Alien Autopsy

Air date: 2016-10-13

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at how in the 1990s a British music and record promoter presented a black and white film and claimed it was footage of a Roswell-era alien autopsy. While many believed the film at the time, it is now recognized as a hoax with producers of the film going public with their methods for making the film.

The Loch Ness Monster

Air date: 2016-10-20

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at the Loch Ness Monster. According to folklore a large sea monster lurks in depth of Loch Ness in Scotland. Over the years, grainy photographs and inconclusive video footage has emerged to keep the legend alive. Is it a clever hoax or the real thing?

The Hitler Diaries

Air date: 2016-10-27

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at the case of the Hitler Diaries which purported to be sixty-two volumes of Adolph Hitler's personal journals. Convinced of their reality, Rupert Murdoch paid over a half a million dollars to publish them. The hoax turned out to be one of the greatest scam ever done to a newspaper.

War Of The Worlds

Air date: 2016-11-03

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at Orson Welles's Mercury Theater radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel 'The War of the Worlds'. The simulated news broadcast convinced many Americans that an invasion by Martians was underway. Newspapers claimed that it led to a massive panic around the country, but was the original audience actually that large?

Papillon: Fact Or Fiction

Air date: 2016-11-10

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at the story of Papillon one of the most popular books and films of the 1970s. It tells the dramatic story of the prison life of Henri Charriere, a convicted murderer with a large butterfly tattoo on his chest. How much of his story was true? Was he ever imprisoned on Devil's Island? Or was it all fiction?

Piltdown Man

Air date: 2016-11-17

History's Greatest Hoaxes looks at the Piltdown Man. In 1912 the discovery of an unusual skull and jawbone in Sussex, England, led many to believe that a 'missing link' had finally been found. The revelation of a hoax, however, had wide reaching impact on anthropology and science.