10 Greatest April Fools Day Hoaxes Of All Time
2. Contra-Polar Energy (1 April 1955)
Contra-polar energy was developed during World War II but the technology had been classified. In 1955 the decision was made to declassify contra-polar energy due to its potential use to the general public.
Contra-polar energy had a very simple, but very interesting property. It used negative energy. This meant that any electronic device that had contra-polar energy applied to it would do the opposite of what it usually did. For example; a table lamp would emit darkness instead of light, or a hot plate would cool food down instead of heating it up.
The hoax appeared as an article in Popular Electronics magazine. Over the years people continued to contact the magazine about the amazing technology and Popular Electronics had to state in print several times that it was an April Fools’ Joke and no such technology existed.