On August 25th in 1835 a New York newspaper published the first of a six-part series titled; “GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES” by Sir John Herschel. The New York Sun report went into incredible detail, describing a dramatic discovery of alien life on the Moon.

Using some mysteriously advanced equipment (“an immense telescope of an entirely new principle”) Herschel was able to see details of alien life from the Moon’s surface. He described a diverse and complex landscape of unicorns, goats, bison, tail-less walking beavers and bat-winged humanoids that flew around moth-winged moon maidens and strange temple structures. The articles were written by one “Dr. Andrew Grant” a traveling companion to Herschel who documented the discoveries.

The Moon Hoax Heard Round the World

This shocking discovery spread quickly through New York City and over the next few months was reported across the globe. Eventually, the story reached Sir John Herschel himself… a very real, renowned British astronomer who was unwittingly the central figure of the false reporting. Even more confusing was that Herschel had no traveling companion named “Grant” and had no possession of this mythical telescope. The original author was a mystery and report a hoax.

It took several months for the public to learn that Herschel himself refuted the report. The newspaper that had run the articles was enjoying a boon in new readership and had never recounted the story or offered any sort of apology to its readers… Instead, the newspaper reported that the rare telescope able to see this lunar habitat had been destroyed. Apparently, the powerful telescope lens was accidentally pointed toward the Sun and in turn caught the observatory on fire.

The mysterious author - “Grant” provided rich lunar descriptions that were interpreted across the globe using maps and illustrations. Here are just a few:

Above, illustration of moonscape with moon creatures. Source

Illustrations depicting Lunar landscapes and traditional hunting, moth-woman courting practices of the bat-humanoids. Source

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Dr. Andrew Grant (Herschel’s associate) had proposed an exhibition to the Moon using ships powered by hydrogen balloons. Here are a few illustrations depicting an exploration party and the proposed scientific recordings that could take place on the Moon.

Hydrogen balloon machines were proposed by Grant as part of the article series. These machines were said to be able to reach the Moon and return to Earth safely. They could be used for scientific expeditions and for tourism. Source

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A few years later… a writer at The Sun admitted to being the author and fabricator of the story. Richard Adams Locke admitted to sensationalizing the alien tale as a way to boost sales and readership. Several other authors were rumored to have taken part in the hoax, and it was never fully clear how the story began or what inspired such a strange tale.

Images : Source

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Fellow Steemians, I hope you enjoyed this story! I came across “The Great Moon Hoax” completely by chance. It started with a map, seen below. The map is actually a survey that I was using for an art project (a collage that I’ll post soon!) After working and looking at it for a while I got curious about the name “J. HERSCHEL” that was inscribed on the page... this prompted a quick google search. After a couple clicks I stumbled on this incredible story about a well known astronomer who unwittingly got wrapped up in a crazy alien-hoax over 150 years ago. I thought it would be fun to re-tell the tale here on Steemit. Hopefully it can live on! Maybe even fool a few in the process…

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