8 Bonkers Hoaxes That Actually Fooled People

7. The Accidental Time Traveller

In June 1950 a man suddenly materialised in the center of New York City’s Times Square. He was dressed in old fashioned clothes and was sporting a set of Victorian style mutton chops that would make the hippest hipster weep. He appeared not to know where he was, looking around in panicked amazement, before running into the road and being fatally struck down by a car.

In his pockets, amongst other things, were found old currency from the 1800s, a bill for the care of a horse and the washing of a carriage, business cards declaring him as Rudolph Fentz and, weirdly, a medal for coming 3rd in a three legged race. Officials were unable to locate his details until the widow of his son came forwards and told the story of her father-in-law who went missing without a trace in 1876.

The story of Rudolph Fentz was generally accepted as a genuine mystery and possible evidence of time travel for many decades.

Was this a Victorian who had fallen through a hole in time? No, probably not. As it turns out, the saga of Rudolph Fentz began life as a short story by Jack Finney published in 1951. A few years later, it was reproduced without permission and without indication that it was fictional, in a booklet to promote the existence of a ‘fourth dimension and, thus, the legend of the accidental time traveller was born.

It wasn't until 2005 that the true source was rediscovered.