Sunday, March 23, 2003 - On March 31, 1989, motorists outside London spied a glowing flying saucer descending upon their city. As the police surrounded the craft, a door popped open and out walked a small, silver-suited figure. The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon specially built to look like a UFO by Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Records. The stunt combined his passion for ballooning with his love of pranks. His plan was to land the craft in London’s Hyde Park on April 1, but the wind blew him off course, and he was forced to land a day early in the wrong location. (#7, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)
Monday, March 24, 2003 - Discover Magazine announced that wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They hunted penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguin and causing it to plunge into the slush where the hotheads then feasted. Discover received more mail in response to this article than any other article in their history. (#6, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)
Tuesday, March 25, 2003 - April 1, 1992, National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners flooded the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. During the second half of the show, host John Hockenberry revealed the announcement was a joke and comedian Rich Little had impersonated Nixon’s voice. (#5, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)

Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - On April 1, 1996, the Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell from the government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens telephoned the National Historic Park in Philadelphia, prompting Taco Bell, only a few hours later, to announce it was all a joke. White House press secretary, Mike McCurry, when asked about the sale, responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold, though to a different corporation, and would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial. (#4, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)
Thursday, March 27, 2003 - George Plimpton penned an article for the April 1985 edition of Sports Illustrated on Sidd Finch, the new rookie pitcher for the Mets, who could reportedly throw a baseball with startling pinpoint accuracy at 168 mph (65 mph faster than anyone else had ever been able to throw a ball). Moreover, Finch had never played the game before and mastered the “art of the pitch” in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans everywhere celebrated their teams’ astounding luck at having discovered such a gifted player and flooded the Sports Illustrated mailroom with letters. (#3, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)
Friday, March 28, 2003 - On April 1, 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a seven-page supplement to honor the small island republic of San Serriffe; said to consist of only two islands: Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse; its capital was Bodoni; its leader was General Pica. Readers telephoned all day, seeking more information, but few noticed that everything about the island was named after typography fonts. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that then gripped the British tabloids in the following decades. (#2, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)
Saturday, March 29, 2003 - On April 1, 1957, the BBC news show Panorama announced that due to a mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop and they aired footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. A huge number of viewers were taken in, and many called up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically replied that they should “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.” (#1, thanks to Alex Boese & his book The Museum of Hoaxes.)