14 DAY TRIAL // Discovery is now in very hot waters (pun intended) for airing a sci-fi docufilm on Animal Planet called “Mermaids: The New Evidence” because many people actually believed it was a documentary proving these sea creatures do exist.
Of course, the mermaid “hoax” isn’t the only one that people are eager to believe, as the video above will confirm.
Mental Floss comprised a list of 49 biggest hoaxes of all times that people fell for (hard!), with explanations included for many of them.
They range from the first mermaid body found (which was actually half monkey half fish) to the (in)famous alien crop circles, the alien bodies, viral hoaxes (Balloon Boy and LonelyGirl15, to name just a couple) and pranks that took a life of their own when they got out in the press.
The bottom line: some people are so eager to believe there’s more to life than we see first-hand that they would buy into anything, especially if it’s presented in a manner that’s even remotely close to scientific.
And this is precisely how Discovery got a ratings winner with the aforementioned mermaids “documentary.”