Over the years, NMSR has pulled off some wild pranks to promote critical thinking and skepticism.A couple of these pranks have gone on to receive international fame and recognition.
Alabama Pi
In 1998, physicist and NMSR member Mark Boslough composed a satirical parody of New Mexico’s creationists, who had managed to get the very word “evolution” stricken from New Mexico’s science standards for schools. The parody was by way of an article explaining how the Alabama legislature had just legislated the value of Pi to be exactly 3.0. The promoters of this imagined legislation were modeled after New Mexicans who had supported the attack on evolution, The story was released on Talk.Origins on the morning of April 1, 1998, and a full explanation was posted later that afternoon. However, that post came too late – the story of Alabama Pi had already gone viral, and reporters were contacting rhe Alabama legislature to verify that the outrageous law had been passed. This prank has made several “Top Internet Pranks” compendiums, and has been featured on Jeopardy!, twice!
Onyate Man
In 1999, NMSR members acquired the website DarwinDisproved.com, and posted an article ostensibly written by a German graduate student, Stefan, who, along with his boss, Professor Heinschvagel, had discovered fossils of an Allosaurus eating a human, thus disproving Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. The purpose of the prank was to see how many creationists would fall for it, and several did, including “Dr. Dino” Kent Hovind himself, who gave an impassioned endorsement of DarwinDisproved.com at at crowded Pennsylvania seminar on creationism..
Stefan’s Story – the Original Prank
Onyate Man Explained – why we did it, who fell for it, and more!