I get a daily news email, with brief summaries of the latest in business, politics, entertainment, and the like. One of the parts I enjoy most is at the end, where it lists significant things that happened on this day in history; things like famous birthdays, or dates someone died, important battles, scientific breakthroughs, etc. Today’s list included Amelia Earhart’s solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932. That factoid reminded me of something that happened a couple months ago.
While looking up a topic that was entirely unrelated, I happened along a YouTube video. The internet is funny that way. It’s as if it was designed to bring out the hidden ADHD in everyone. You begin by looking up the ingredients for a homemade guacamole recipe, and after 45 minutes of tangents and non sequiturs, you’re reading a research paper on the origin of burnt sienna oil paint.
It is in that spirit that I wound up watching a video about Amelia Earhart. In July of 1937, she (with the assistance of her navigator Fred Noonan) were in the process of completing the first woman-piloted aircraft to journey around the world.
Her route, in fact, was to follow the Equator, making it the longest flight of its kind. During what would sadly become the final leg of her journey, her plane lost contact, and began one of the biggest mysteries in modern history.
The video I happened across had a very believable report of the plane’s discovery. These kind of claims need to be taken with a grain of salt; there are hundreds of videos and articles that provide ‘definitive proof’ as to what actually happened for any particular unsolved mystery. Unfortunately, the internet is one of the most convincing platforms for well researched, thoroughly convincing falsehoods.
With that caveat in mind, I found this particular report to be both well researched, and thoroughly convincing. Hmm. Along with tons of great background info and historical documentation, it includes both mainstream media and scholarly articles supporting the author’s claims. I dug right in, and was hooked. What can I say? By this point it was 3am, and I couldn’t sleep. Why not do some pointless, unnecessary research of my own?
The video has high production values and is meticulously sourced. Just for the hell of it, I started looking up those sources. All was looking good. This really is a well-done documentary – right up to about 25 minutes into the 30-minute video.
Then, it all came crashing down. The story cited a press conference with 2 of the principal researchers. While every other piece of data was accurate, factual, and compelling, there is one piece of information that isn’t. The author changed one thing. And he flawlessly wove that change into the story. The results that the researchers found were, in their own words, “disappointing.” The video omitted that conclusion, and in its place, claimed the findings confirmed their theory. The entire video was a well-executed hoax. And the video had over 50,000 “Likes” and “Shares.” In fact, their YouTube page currently has over a million subscribers. They offer dozens of equally attention-grabbing headlines.
I had been so excited to share this fascinating, National Geographic-style program. With that revelation, my plans of sharing this amazing discovery took a nosedive, just like…well, you know. I can state with certainty that the world’s greatest maritime mystery is still out there – alive, and available for anyone to solve.
But while I have your attention, I have some really big news to report – I actually discovered the real identity of Jack the Ripper!
Stay tuned – film at 11:00.
-Toph
