Hoax

April Fool's Day was one week ago — but an elaborate hoax targeting Pastor Joel Osteen gained wide attention Monday, after those behind the hoax used Twitter, YouTube, and other social media to spread spurious claims that the pastor had renounced his faith and would close his huge Texas church.

Back in July of 2011 Morning Edition noted that a Colorado man had paid $2,500 for the infamous balloon from the Balloon Boy hoax at auction. That…

A letter to the editor is getting buzz for its call to replace the buckeye as Ohio's honored tree. The satirist who wrote it is enjoying the attention.

Montana authorities say Ray Dolin made up his widely reported story about being attacked by another man. Germany's "forest boy" was the first hoaxer exposed today. Who's next?

It turns out he's not a 17-year-old boy who was living in the woods with his father until dad died — the story he told German police. He's a 20-year-old Dutch man with personal problems.

In 2009, a couple claimed that a 6-year-old boy had gone up with a weather balloon, prompting frantic rescue efforts. Turns out it was a hoax. But a Colorado man paid $2,500 dollars for that balloon at auction. In a few months, he'll chop it up and sell off the pieces.