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Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 1-2

Publication:
Chicago Tribunei
Location:
Chicago, Illinois
Issue Date:
Page:
1-2
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Chicago Tribune 2 To report errors, call the Reader Help line at 312-222-3348 or e-mail Of all the hoaxes in American his- tory, my favorite involves the first proof of life on the moon: The winged humanoids called Ves- man-bat, written 176 years ago this week in the New York Sun. The Vespertilio-homo had copper- colored hair. They prayed in a sap- phire temple. And when they flying high above the lunar surface, they gorged on fruit that looked like red cucumbers. They shared the moon with other creatures, great white stags with ebony antlers, horned bears, blue unicorns and beavers without tails.

As there were no meat eaters among them, they lived together peacefully. It was all published as scientific fact in a six-part series that began in the Sun on Aug. 25, 1835. And if ever watched TV news during sweeps weeks and had the good fortune to see reports like High then you know what was behind the bat men. And it science.

The amazing findings were pos- sible because of the giant telescope built by the famous and distinguished (and all too real) astronomer Sir John Frederick William Herschel. There was just one thing wrong with the story. It true. Sir John know about it. But that bother the editors of the Sun.

What intrigued me about the series the cool stuff about the creatures and their habits was the religious nature of the bat men. Did they keep records in their temples detailing the collapse of past bat-man civilizations? And could these learned texts help us earthlings predict the future down here? If only the Vespertilio-homoknew we were watching, perhaps look up, wave at the big telescope and, with hopeful smiles and rude sign language, begin to share their secrets. Actually, I read that sign language part in the series. I just made it up. But what the Sun did report: When they praying or flying, great posses of Verspertilio-homo would relax and sit alongside huge piles of the juicy red cucumbers, eating them a rather uncouth voracity, throwing away the And spend their happy hours in collecting various fruits eating, flying, bathing and loitering about the summits of Clearly, there must have been beau- tiful female bat babes, too, but there is precious little mentioned about them.

Ulf Jonas Bjork is a professor of journalism at Indiana University- Purdue University at Indianapolis. studied the New York great moon hoax, so we called him. was obviously very sensa- said professor Bjork. of the other papers bought into this, some said it was The professor noted the public fascination with science in that era, and said the Sun had previously printed a wood carving of creatures found in a drop of water as seen under amicroscope. That stuff fan- tasy, of course, because amoeba and paramecia can be found in pond wa- ter, as any sixth-grader will tell you.

wonder if it was about as believ- able as winged creatures on the said Bjork. were inter- ested in weird things. We know alot. And people were fascinated by odd Most newspapers were entirely devoted to policy (war and economic) and politics. They sold for six cents each.

But the Sun was a penny paper, asort of of the running salacious crime and other stories, like bat men. not a newspaper as we would know it, said Bjork. Sadly, the Sun reported, the amaz- ing telescope was destroyed. The paper never made a formal retraction. There is plenty of speculation that the series was written as satire, by a Cam- bridge-educated reporter fed up with clergy making fanci- ful statements about the number of souls in the universe.

It work as satire, but the read- ers went crazy for it anyway. And had I been around then, have gone crazy for it too. Make no mistake. not advocating journalism hoaxes. But when I was a kid Iwas a sucker for science fiction, from Jules Verneto Robert Heinlein.

So I heard about the New York moon hoax and was fascinated. Of course, it the first tale of moon life. Back in the second century after Christ, a guy named Lucian of Sa- after admitting his work was all lies went on to explain about interplanetary travel, of mush- room men and centaurs made up of clouds. Humans on the moon ate roasted frogs and drink is air squeezed into a cup, which produces akind of Of course it does. Fast forward about 1,600 years, to the early days of the New York Sun.

Cultural change was tearing at Ameri- ca. Cyrus McCormick had invented his famous reaper, industrialization was coming, another religious revival was sweeping across the land. And publicly held Christian beliefs strengthened the abolitionist argu- ment against slavery. my take on things. Professor Bjork believes that the slavery debate swelling across the country made the moon hoax an attractive diversion.

Maybe New Yorkers just needed a break. only said Bjork, maybe it matter to them whether it was a hoax or not, because it was And wrong with taking a break once in awhile? what science fiction is for. Just pass the red cucumbers, will you? John Kass It was only a paper moon a legendary hoax In 1835, the New York Sun published this lithograph in conjunction with the great moon hoax. Anew feature this summer is ting the which can be found Thursdays in the Dining section. We asked restaurant critic Phil Vettelto ex- plain how this was developed as part of enhancements made possible with the additional 44 pages a week in the recent redesign.

He credits design team members Chuck Burke and Catherine Nichols with the idea of visual reviews, which are still subject to the same two- or three-visit review standard and earn star ratings. Readers are, well, eating them up, Phil says. review, by the way, is on Page 3. Another story been following through Megan Watch- dog reporting is how health care workers kept their state licenses despite convictions for sex crimes or violent acts. Our Springfield bureau chief, Ray up with the latest, now that a bill addressing these issues has just taken effect.

And more on Trib Nation, as report- er John Keilman explains how an email Monday morning got him interested in writ- ing about an annual survey on teen atti- tudes toward drinking and drug use. He and Robert McCoppincol- laborated for a Page 1 story Wednesdaythat says teens who regularly use Facebook and Myspaceare much more likely than social network avoiders to drink, smoke and use marijuana. Go to TribNation for more on the stories behind the jour- nalism. Solomon, Cross Media Editor Our special of the day: Detailed menu reviews In some editions column by Mary Schmich misidentified the actor playing a news director who talked to a hard-charging producer played by Holly Hunterin a scene from the movie The actor was Peter Hackes. In Sports, a chart comparing individual records of Johnny Knoxand Roy Williams understated the yards-per-reception figure for Williams in the 2006 season.

He had 64 catches for 1,310 yards, an average of 20.5yards per reception. Also in Chicago Sports, a photo of Northwestern quarterback Dan Persawas misidentified as Kain quarterback on the team. In a story about Allyson Felixin Sports section, Valerie name was misspelled. The Tribune regrets the errors. CORRECTIONS CLARIFICATIONS Press Pass: South Side.

Join us behind the scenes at U.S. Cellular Field with an all-access pass for South Side sports fans. Includes a buffet dinner at the stadium, a panel discussion with Bill Melton, Moose Skowronand the Fred well as stadium tours, in scoreboard photo and an on-field photo opportunity. $45, 4-7 p.m. Aug.

28, U.S. Cellular Field, 333 W. 35th Chicago. For tickets, go to tribnation.com/events TRIB NATION PROGRAMS.

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Years Available:
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