As quarantines and self-isolation are now the order of the day, there is a lot of time for binge-watching TV series and movies—and analyzing them, of course. Although some series and movies are purely for entertainment, others try to educate the viewer as the episodes roll by.

On this list are 10 myths about people on the autism spectrum that are continuously debunked by TV and movie character portrayals. Some of those characters can be found in Rain Man, Atypical, and The Good Doctor.

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10 Autistic People Don’t Want Friends

Right off the bat, this is not true. Most people just assume that those with autism have no desire for friends or close bonds because they are unable to express themselves as freely as those who are not autistic. It also takes autistic individuals longer to develop the necessary social skills to interact with other people.

This makes early social engagement very important. As with anyone who has close friendships, those on the autism spectrum benefit from a shared bond, especially if they are subjected to bullying at school or work.^[1]

In the series Atypical, the character of 18-year-old Sam Gardner suffers from autism spectrum disorder. Zahid, another teenage boy who works with Sam at Techtropolis, sees past his oddities, and the two become best friends.

They talk about girls, go shopping for clothes to attract girls, and talk to each other about their individual relationships with girls they like. Although it might sound shallow because of the constant girl talk, the two boys have a strong bond. Each accepts the other for who he is.

9 They Lack Empathy

Fans of The Big Bang Theory have a long-standing theory that Sheldon Cooper is autistic because of his lack of empathy toward other people. In real life, many people also assume that autistic people don’t have any empathy. Some even call autism the “empathy disorder.”^[2]

However, as Sheldon often exclaims in the show, it is simply harder for him to pick up on social cues and react accordingly. This does not necessarily mean that he has no empathy.

In The Good Doctor, Dr. Shaun Murphy has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and savant syndrome. Although he may have trouble expressing his feelings, it is clear that he feels empathy toward his patients when he goes the extra mile to care for them and diagnose their ailments.

A quote from author Kerry Magro, who’s on the autism spectrum, sums up the message that the show is trying to get across: “Shaun and I are not defined by our diagnosis.”

8 They Don’t Feel Emotion

Being diagnosed as a person with autism or being on the autism spectrum doesn’t make a person unable to feel or recognize emotions. Autistic people simply react differently to the emotions expressed by others and express their own emotions differently as well.^[3]

In Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman portrayed an “autistic savant” character with so much heart that the movie is still viewed as the Hollywood shining star of autism depictions more than 30 years later. Hoffman plays Raymond, who has excellent mathematical and memory skills. But he lacks the ability to pick up on social cues and has difficulty with sensory processing.

Hoffman prepared for the role by reading scientific papers about autism and watching hours of footage about savants and the autism spectrum. He also consulted psychiatrists for their personal opinions.

The result was a character who displayed much emotion, though differently than other people usually do. For instance, when Raymond is in distress, he reacts like a child because he has very little understanding of the subject matter even though he has an excellent memory. But the emotion is there, as strong as it would be in anyone else.

7 They Can’t Learn

Persistent misconceptions have given rise to the myth that those on the autism spectrum are unable to learn anything. However, ongoing studies have consistently shown that there is no difference between the learning abilities of those with autism and those without. Individuals on the spectrum simply have a different way of learning.^[4]

In Atypical, Sam Gardner learns how to deal with the real world differently than other kids would, but he learns nonetheless. In the episode “Sam Takes A Walk,” Sam’s mother reminisces about a board game she invented for the family so they could help Sam learn about coping in the real world. These included ordinary situations such as what to do when a dog barks at you or how to board a bus.

6 They Are All Intellectually Disabled

Although all people on the autism spectrum may not be Rain Man and have unbelievable memories and math skills, it is simply not true that they are all intellectually disabled. Around half of those on the spectrum have some form of intellectual disability, but many excel in music or other pursuits and have high IQs.^[5]

Dr. Shaun Murphy is portrayed as highly skilled and capable despite his social awkwardness and “perceived lack of empathy,” which we discussed earlier. This is indicative of real life as well.

Hans Christian Andersen was on the autism spectrum and is still one of the most beloved fairy tale authors in history. Susan Boyle is autistic, yet she made history when auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent. She blew away the judges with her rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream.” Similarly, Tim Burton is a massive success as a film director. But he is also on the autism spectrum.

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5 They Are All Savants

This is the opposite side of the previous myth but also untrue. As mentioned above, many on the autism spectrum are highly intelligent. Yet few are true savants like Raymond in Rain Man.^[6]

In Atypical, Sam Gardner is highly intelligent but he is not a savant. This is true of most intelligent autistic people. They become doctors, lawyers, directors, actors, and more, but they never develop savant characteristics. Once again, not all autistic people are the same. Their abilities vary.

4 They Cannot Be Gainfully Employed

This should not even be a myth in the first place because it shouldn’t take a TV show to debunk something like this. As mentioned above, both Sam from Atypical and Shaun from The Good Doctor are employed.^[7]

What does make employment more difficult for those on the autism spectrum is the fact that they often have to undergo several more tests and evaluations than the average employee. Employment agencies are still learning how to find suitable employment options for their autistic clients and how to prepare them for success.

Steve Jobs was autistic and yet one of the most successful people on the planet. Autism should never be used by employers as a reason to reject an applicant if the job specifications fall within the scope of that person’s talents and abilities.

3 Autism Is Caused By Vaccinations

Another terrible misconception that just won’t disappear is that vaccines cause autism. To date, the cause of autism remains unknown, but researchers believe that genetics, toxic substances, and differences in brain anatomy might contribute to children being diagnosed with the condition.^[8]

The rumor that vaccines may play a role in children developing autism comes largely from a 1998 study that suggested the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine or the measles virus itself might be to blame. Although it was established soon afterward that the research used in the study was falsified—and the doctor who conducted the study lost his medical license—the rumor just won’t die.

The medical journal that published the study retracted the paper, but even this didn’t help. Despite ongoing assurances that vaccines remain safe and that there is no link between vaccinations and autism, some parents still blatantly refuse to have their children immunized.

Rain Man, Atypical, and The Good Doctor do not in any way, shape, or form contain the notion that their autistic characters had vaccinations gone wrong.

2 Bad Parenting Causes Autism

If ever a character could single-handedly bust a myth like this, it would be Elsa from Atypical. Elsa is Sam Gardner’s mom, and she couldn’t be a better parent if she tried.

She is closer to her son than her husband, Doug, is. When Doug and Sam start to get along, this leads to Elsa having an extramarital affair. But it doesn’t affect the bond with her son and the love she has for him.^[9]

After being kicked out of the house by her husband, she restlessly tosses and turns while spending her first night away from Sam since he was born. Among other things, Elsa attends a weekly autism support group and is more accepting and understanding of her son’s diagnosis than anyone else.

Although some children and teenagers on the autism spectrum may have bad parents, it is not the bad parents who caused the diagnosis.

1 Autism Is Rare

Some people refer to autism as outlandish and rare, as though it’s something to be wary of. However, it is estimated that 1 in 54 eight-year-old children are on the autism spectrum. Some children shed their diagnosis and no longer display any symptoms as they grow older. Basically, they outgrow the condition.^[10]

Shows like Atypical and The Good Doctor make a point of informing the public about all aspects of autism, including the fact that it is nowhere near as rare as some believe it to be. People with autism don’t deserve to be stigmatized, and children do not deserve to be bullied because of it.

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The world is, was and seemingly will be full of misinformation. People misunderstand, make mistakes or outright lie about this or that and the next thing you know a rumor or myth gets loose into the wild and everyone hears it. Before long, more people know the fake story than the truth. Once that genie is out of the bottle it can be very hard to put it back in. All we can do is try.

Sometimes this misinformation can be serious stuff and relate to things like disease, war, politics, or finances. And sometimes it’s just silly pop culture things. 

10. Tang Was Not Made For Astronauts

Back in the day, the orange-flavored drink powder known as Tang was inextricably tied to astronauts. This was because of Tang’s heavy marketing which described it as a product used in space but still available to regular folks on the ground. It became associated with space travel and astronauts for years.

Tang was used in space but they did not make it for space. It just coincidentally worked as a beverage for astronauts because it was powdered and easily carried into orbit. 

Tang came on the market in 1959 but it was never popular. Even in space it wasn’t popular, and Buzz Aldrin once went on record to say it sucks. But the problem was that water in space, thanks to how it has to be treated, tastes terrible as well. 

In 1960, someone at NASA determined Tang would work well in space so they began buying it in bulk. They never used the word “Tang,” they just called it orange crystals. But after John Glenn took some into space, General Mills, the company that made Tang, hopped on it as a marketing gimmick and told the world that Tang was an astronaut drink and they were the ones that made it. 

In the minds of many, the marketing implied that NASA made Tang and now it was being sold to everyday people, and General Mills would correct no one on that point.

9. Hobbits Were Never Described as Having Big Feet

In the world of Middle Earth, everything we know about the residents originally came from writer J. R. R. Tolkien. However, his work was subsequently altered by artists drawing images and filmmakers bringing his words to life and somewhere along the lines many people became convinced that Hobbits have giant feet.

Feet were definitely in Tolkien’s mind and he describes them as having hairy feet with leathery soles because they never wear shoes.  But Tolkien never said they had enormous feet, especially not unusually large ones. He also did many illustrations for his work and none of the Hobbits have unusual feet in what he produced. 

Large feet came into play when artists started drawing Hobbits. The Hildebrand Brothers, noted fantasy artists though they were, took liberties in their interpretation and had a habit of giving Hobbits large feet in their drawings from the 1970s. Because this was the first exposure many people had to what a Hobbit might look like, it became ingrained in people that a Hobbit has large feet, something perpetuated through film.

8. Chinese Checkers Has Nothing To Do With China

Games are big business these days, mostly as video games. The board game industry is nothing to sneeze at either, and was worth $15.5 billion in 2019 with projections that it would hit $34 billion by 2030. It’s safe to say many people are playing board games.

There’s no statistics on how many people are playing Chinese Checkers but the game rose to popularity in the US in the 1930s. Despite what the name clearly implies, it’s not a Chinese game at all. It came from Germany and the original version dated back to the late 1800s in America again where it was called Halma. So, if you’re keeping track, it’s called Chinese, but it’s an American game based on a German game based on an American game.

The game became “Chinese” in America, when Pressman Company adopted an “Oriental mystique” by branding it with pseudo-Asian imagery to sell it. 

7. Garfield Was Never Meant to be Funny

This is going to be a hard one for some people to deal with. Have you ever read a Garfield comic and thought “this isn’t very funny?” Don’t feel bad because you’re not alone. At least one other person in the world agrees with you – Garfield creator Jim Davis.

Davis never actually intended for Garfield to be funny at all. So if a joke misses the mark that’s par for the course. And if the joke seems to just be a repeat of how fat Garfield is, how dumb Odie is, or how Garfield hates Mondays, that’s on purpose, too.

In a 1982 interview, Davis said he had seen that characters like Snoopy were hugely popular, especially in terms of licensing, but Charlie Brown was not. He also saw that the comics were loaded with dog characters but not cats. He concluded that there was a market for a cute, memorable cat character that could be licensed to the moon and back.

Davis intentionally created a stable of repetitive jokes and set about making his little cartoon. The entire purpose was to make money, not to be funny. He said he would spend 14 hours per week making the comic but up to 60 hours on promotion and licensing. 

The reason Garfield’s face has been found on T-shirts, coffee mugs, a pizza cafe in Kuala Lumpur and a million other things is, and always was, because Jim Davis wanted money. Seems like it worked out for him.

6. The Star Trek Theme Song Actually Has Lyrics 

The theme song to the original Star Trek series is pretty memorable even if it’s just an instrumental track that starts after William Shatner’s narration. Over the years people have made up lyrics for it and you can probably find more than a few videos on YouTube of people singing along. What fewer people realize is that the song already has lyrics and series creator Gene Roddenberry wrote them.

A man named Alexander Courage composed the instrumental music. As part of the deal for making the music, he would receive royalties every time that song played on TV. So every rerun of Trek would have cut him a check. Not too shabby as deals go. Except it only lasted a year.

Roddenberry and Courage made a deal that gave Roddenberry the right to add lyrics to the song. He waited a year and then did just that. Even though the lyrics were never used, and they’re arguably terrible, he was now the song’s co-writer. That meant it entitled him to half of the royalties for the song and apparently told Courage “Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I’m sure not going to get it out of the profits of Star Trek.”

5. Solo Cup Lines Are Not For Measuring Alcohol

If you ever attended a college party, then there’s a good chance you’ve enjoyed an alcoholic beverage out of a red Solo cup. If you’ve gotten deep into the lore of drinking out of these Solo cups, you may have even heard that there are lines of demarcation inside the cup which show you different measurements for booze. The top line shows 12 ounces for beer, the next down is 5 ounces for wine and the lowest is one ounce for a shot of hard liquor.

The good people at Solo have explained more than once that the lines inside a cup are not measurements. They are part of the manufacturing process and just have a functional purpose rather than a convenient one for booze consumption. 

Also, as has been pointed out, why would anyone drinking out of a plastic cup specifically measure out their wine or beer, anyway? And if you’re so concerned about measuring a shot, why not use an actual shot glass? 

4. Back to the Future Was Never Supposed to Have a Sequel

Back to the Future was one of the most popular movies of the ’80s and spawned two sequels. The first film ends with Doc Brown’s character showing up with a flying Delorean insisting Marty needs to go to the future. It was a clear set up for a sequel except for one important detail – it wasn’t.

The producers never intended to make a sequel. That ending was meant as a joke. When the idea of a sequel became a reality, after part one was so popular, a “to be continued” was added to copies of the original and the sequel had to follow the original setup.

3. Schrodinger’s Cat Metaphor Was Not Meant to Be Serious

Many people are familiar, at least in passing, with Schrodinger’s Cat. It’s a metaphorical thought experiment to help explain quantum mechanics. The gist of it is that you can never know if the cat in this box is alive or dead at any given moment based on the elaborate setup that deals with poison and radioactive decay and the cat has to be both alive and dead for various reasons understood by physics. Only by observing the experiment could it become one or the other.

For many people this idea is absurd because cats cannot be both alive and dead. But what many people miss, especially in the less scientific understanding of this experiment as it gets simplified in modern pop culture, is that Schrodinger fully knew how absurd it was. That was part of the point. He was commenting on the silliness of the experimenter himself being the deciding factor in whether this cat was alive or dead, which was part of a prevailing theory of quantum physics at the time.

2. Seinfeld’s Festivus Was a Real Event in One Writer’s Home

If you’re a fan of Seinfeld, and even if you aren’t, you may know Festivus. It’s the secular stand-in for Christmas created by Frank Costanza on the show that involved decorating an aluminum pole and airing grievances with loved ones. The joke holiday was one of the most memorable parts of the series’ entire run and became so popular that people have Festivus celebrations in real life. 

As fun as it must be for some to celebrate this fake holiday for real, the truth is that it was not actually a fake holiday. It was just never an official holiday. Writer Dan O’Keefe came up with the concept for the show based on the real-life Festivus that was forced upon his family as a child by his own father.

In his telling, Festivus was even more chaotic than what made it on TV, and his father was never clear about why it happened or even when. There was no set date, no set reason, and no set rituals. 

1. Bram Stoker Didn’t Intend for Dracula to Be a Work of Fiction

Remember when The Blair Witch Project came out, and they sold it to audiences as a true story? Or, really, many modern horror movies from The Conjuring to The Strangers which always claim to be based on true events? None of them actually are, but saying that seems to add a layer of mystique to the proceedings. Maybe that’s what Bram Stoker had in mind with Dracula. Or maybe it really was a true story.

Despite what it seems like now, Stoker tried to sell Dracula as a true story after he wrote it. He told his editor that Mina and Jonathan Harker were dear friends of his and had relayed the story to him. 

Stoker’s editor was not having it. Historically, the book was written shortly after Jack the Ripper had terrorized London and was still obviously at large. The editor wanted no part of a so-called true story about a supernatural monster stalking London’s streets.

In order to get the book published, Stoker had to remove several elements including the first 101 pages. The version that we have today starts on what would have been page 102 in the original. 

Some of what Stoker included in his tale is, in fact, real. While he wrote of a boat called the Demeter taking Dracula to England, he researched a real vessel called the Dmitri that had run aground while carrying crates of Earth. Those who went to rescue the boat reported seeing a large black dog that ran to a graveyard. 

Whether or not Stoker was sincere, confused or just trolling is lost to history.

Curses are as old as history, with some fervently believing in their power to generate evil circumstances. The Bible is filled with them, both Old Testament and New. Even Jesus of Nazareth uttered a curse when he encountered a fig tree which, to his disappointment, contained no figs. His curse ensured nobody else would eat from that tree either.

Curses continue to affect people of all cultures, and there are as many ways to protect oneself from them as there are curses themselves. But some of them are little more than nonsense. Here are ten such, which have long been believed and cited, though on closer examination they have little basis in fact.

10. The Curse of Tutankhamun

The curse of Tutankhamun, like the preceding Curse of the Pharaohs, or Mummy’s Curse, was mainly the creation of a media beset with competition, eager to sell newspapers. When Howard Carter’s expedition discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, it set off a media frenzy. When Carter entered the tomb in late November, accompanied by George Herbert, Lord Carnarvon, who financed the expedition, the frenzy hit a peak. More than 5,900 artifacts were eventually excavated from the tomb. They did not find a document or any other item describing a curse promising an early death to any desecrating the tomb, though later events led the press to report they had.

The following spring, Lord Carnarvon cut himself shaving, according to some slicing a mosquito bite which had already become infected. On April 5, 1923 Lord Carnarvon died of sepsis, caused by his infected wound, and though he had been in ill health for over two decades, the media seized upon the curse of King Tut. Several other deaths followed among the excavators, but according to the British Medical Journal The Lancet at a rate which did not exceed that of normal for a population sampling of similar size. Howard Carter lived for another 16 years, dying at the age of 64, of natural causes.

The Curse of King Tut both built upon and expanded on tales of curses enacted by the ancients to protect their final resting places and the items they took with them on their journey to the other world. Since the excavation, Tut’s mummy, and many of the items excavated from his tomb, have toured the world. Whenever the displays reach a new destination the media faithfully reproduces the legend of the Curse of King Tut, titillating their audience with threats of doom. But there is little evidence to support there ever was a curse, and less that the curse was found in writing by Carter and his team.

9. The Curse of Tippecanoe

Tippecanoe refers to William Henry Harrison, an American general who led the forces which defeated those of Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, temporarily ending the power of Tecumseh’s Confederation. According to legend, Tecumseh’s brother, Tenskwatawa, was to blame for the Indian’s defeat, and he responded by placing a curse on the Presidency, though it would be another 29 years before Harrison would be elected President. Others claim the Shawnee leader had nothing to do with the alleged curse on the American Presidency. It came to be known as the Curse of Tippecanoe because 1840, the year it began, saw the election of Harrison, the Hero of Tippecanoe, to the Presidency.

According to the curse, every American President elected to office in a year ending with zero would not survive their term in office. Harrison was the first American President to die in office in 1841. The next elected in the prescribed period, Abraham Lincoln, died in office, but after being inaugurated to his second term in 1865. 1880 saw the election of James Garfield, assassinated in his first term. 1900 saw the same for William McKinley. 1920 brought the election of Warren Harding, who died of heart related problems during his first term. In 1940 FDR was elected (his third term), and though he died in office it was in his fourth term, having served 12 years and one month as President.

1960 and the election of John Kennedy was the last time the “curse” arose, with JFK being assassinated during his third year in office. Since then it has spared Ronald Reagan (1980), George W. Bush (2000) and as of this writing Joe Biden (2020). The Curse has been bandied about by the media every 20 years or so, but it has in truth little power beyond entertainment value. More interesting coincidence than curse, the Curse of Tippecanoe is a strange quirk of American history.

8. The Curse of Rosemary’s Baby

For the uninitiated Rosemary’s Baby was a 1968 American psychological thriller directed by Roman Polanski. It starred Mia Farrow in a role in which she suspects her neighbors are members of a Satanic cult, and covet her soon-to-be-born baby for use in rituals. Originally Polanski wanted his then fiancée, Sharon Tate, to play the lead role, but ultimately decided she did not have the star power to carry the vehicle at that stage in her career. Nonetheless, Tate became a victim of a so-called curse which afflicted the movie and some of its players and workers, at least according to some.

Supporters of the curse include within it the famed Dakota Building in New York, used in the filming, and the site of John Lennon’s murder 12 years later. Tate was murdered by the Manson family, and Polanski fled to France and exile after being held for 42 days on felony charges for drugging and raping a child. Composer Krysztof Komeda, who wrote the soundtrack for the film, died after a fall from a cliff while intoxicated.

The film’s producer, Robert Evans (who also produced The Godfather), got into trouble for trafficking cocaine, earning himself a suspended sentence in exchange for making anti-drug public service announcements. So, while bad things happened to some of the people involved with the film, it hardly appears to be from supernatural causes, and the two main stars, Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, seemed to have gotten away unscathed.

7. The Curse of Macbeth

To utter the name Macbeth, or to read or quote a line within the play, while in a theater where the play is not currently in production, is to bring down a curse upon the transgressor and all others present, according to theater lore. One source for the curse was Shakespeare’s use of the three witches and their incantation in the play. The curse was placed on the play because the Bard used a real incantation in his script, evidently a faux pas among witches and non-witches. At any rate, according to the Royal Shakespeare Company, the curse has affected the play since its first performance circa 1606.

As is well known, during the 2022 Oscars, Chris Rock came onstage, only to be slapped by Will Smith after Rock made comments considered demeaning to Smith’s wife. What is less well-known is that just moments before Rock had congratulated Denzel Washington for his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth, speaking the forbidden word in the process. So maybe the curse led to the viral moment which left audiences stunned and gave Twitter a burst of activity.

There’s actually no way to debunk this curse, because there is nothing to refute. Witches do appear in MacBeth (Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…), and whether they recite a genuine incantation is known only to their fellow witches. The play does have a long history of questionable, violent, and even fatal events occurring during its many productions, including films. Perhaps the best way to debunk the curse is through experimentation. Next time you are in the theater, simply utter the name Macbeth aloud, and await events. Good luck.

6. The Curse of the Bermuda Triangle

A writer by the name of Vincent Gaddis gave birth to the term Bermuda Triangle, in a 1964 article which appeared in Argosy Magazine. Later writers took up the mantle, describing the borders of the triangle, altering them when necessary to fit their theses. By the 1970s the triangle was a major topic in paperback books, documentaries, fiction, and other forms of entertainment, written and on film. The truth is, the Bermuda Triangle is no more prone to strange occurrences and disappearances than any other like-sized area of the ocean in the world. It just had better publicity.

The US Coast Guard does not officially recognize the Bermuda Triangle, though that has no effect on breathless media reports of Coast Guard searches within the triangle when circumstances warrant. The headlines simply draw more attention with the words Bermuda Triangle appear. One of the most famous events within the triangle, the loss of US Navy Flight 19, continues to feature in triangle lore as an unexplained disappearance in clear weather of well-trained Navy pilots on a simulated bombing mission. In fact, though the flight began in clear weather, by the time the pilots radioed they were lost the weather had deteriorated badly, and the Navy has long explained the loss of the flight as pilot error on the part of the flight’s leader.

The Bermuda Triangle is a classic example of an urban myth created by faulty reporting, circular reporting, deliberate falsehoods, and sensationalism. This does not mean there hasn’t been losses of ships and aircraft within the loosely defined and flexible boundaries of the region. Ship’s, boats, and aircraft are lost to the sea in all the waters of the world, virtually every day, and many without a trace to explain what happened. But in the Bermuda Triangle it hasn’t happened any more than it has anywhere else, especially considering the heavy amount of traffic in the area, much of it driven by untrained, amateur boaters.

5. The Curse of King Casimir IV

Fifty years after the opening of the tomb of King Tut in Egypt, another team of archaeologists and excavators planned to open the tomb of Polish King Casimir IV. Casimir IV ruled in the 15th century, and his reign was described as both “successful and peaceful”, though he accomplished relatively little of note during his time on the throne (1447-1492).

Following the opening of the tomb, which had been avidly followed by the media, several members of the excavating team developed lung disorders. This led to speculation in the media of a curse, calling to mind the media frenzy over the Curse of King Tut half a century earlier. According to some sources at least fifteen members of the archaeological party entering the tomb died of mysterious, inexplicable lung diseases, and King Casimir’s curse surpassed that of Tut.

It turned out the tombs of the two kings shared a common denominator, but it wasn’t a curse. At least not a supernatural curse. It was fungi, Aspergillus Flavus, found in both tombs. The fungus led to a condition known as aspergillosis, particularly in those with already compromised lungs or immune systems. Additional fungi which contributed to the diseases suffered by those who entered Casimir’s tomb were also identified. Casimir IV’s “curse” was unknown science, rather than supernatural activity.

4. The Curse of Tamerlane

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was an admirer of the Mongol chieftain and war leader Tamerlane, also known as Timur. Timur was the first ruler of the Timurid Dynasty in the late 14th and early 15th century. At his death he was interred in a mausoleum known as Gur-e-Amir in modern day Uzbekistan. In 1941 Uzbekistan was a Soviet Socialist Republic, subject to the whims of Stalin, who ordered the mausoleum opened in 1941, allegedly to ensure the bodies within were of Tamerlane and his sons and other relatives. Stalin assigned the task to Mikhail Gerasimov, a noted Soviet anthropologist.

Gerasimov, in the presence of local officials, opened the vault containing Timur’s remains on June 20, 1941, despite warnings etched into the walls of the mausoleum against desecrating the grave. Local officials also warned against his doing so. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the first steps in a war which led to the deaths of millions. To many, the curse of Tamerlane led to the carnage visited upon the Soviet Republics and the rest of Eastern Europe, as well as in Germany.

Those attributing the Eastern Front to the curse of Tamerlane ignore the fact that the German High Command began planning what they called Operation Barbarossa in the early summer of 1940, following the fall of France. Hitler committed Germany to the invasion by the end of 1940, six months before the Soviet excavators opened Tamerlane’s tomb. So, the Curse of Tamerlane certainly didn’t trigger the disaster which befell Eastern Europe in the summer of 1941, as many have attested over the years.

3. The Curse of Superman

Numerous actors have played the Man of Steel on television and in feature films. Events which occurred with two of them should give pause to others who consider the role, at least for those who believe in the Curse of Superman. It begins with actor George Reeves, whose film career began with considerable promise when he appeared with Vivien Leigh in the opening scenes of Gone With the Wind, portraying one of the Tarleton twins. By the 1950s Reeves had achieved success, and acclaim, for his role as Superman. Yet he found himself typecast in the role, and sought for ways to escape into others. Unfortunately, his shooting schedule prevented him from accepting other roles. Reeves died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1959, though some have questioned whether it was really a suicide.

The next major actor affected by the so-called curse was Christopher Reeve (no relation) who played Superman/Clark Kent in four films in the 1970s and 1980s. Reeve suffered a horseback riding accident in 1995, paralyzing him from the neck down, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died in 2004, just 52 years of age. Others cited for being affected by the curse include Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve films. In 2002 she told the Daily Telegraph the curse was “newspaper-created rubbish”. Supporters of the curse believe it goes much deeper, affecting even the creators of Superman, Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel.

Despite the urban legend of the curse, it appears to have been limited to just two of the actors who actually portrayed the Man of Steel. Others, including Dean Cain, Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh, and Tom Welling, have thus far been evidently exempt from the curse. Actors who preceded George Reeves, which included Bud Collyer, who voiced Superman on radio, and Kirk Alyn, who played him in serials in the 1940s, also escaped the curse. But Lee Quigley, who appeared as the baby who became Superman in the 1978 Christopher Reeve film, died of solvent abuse in 1991, only 14 years of age.

2. The My Way Curse

One wonders what Sinatra would think of the notion that one of his most popular songs is cursed, bringing death to those with the temerity to sing it in public. But such is the case in the Philippines, where local legend describes the My Way Curse. According to the curse, beginning around 2002, singers of the song in karaoke bars (called videoke in the Philippines) have been shot and killed, and several other incidents of violence have occurred. Often, they are caused by off-key renditions, repetitive performances, and in some cases, evident premeditation. At least one security guard shot and killed a singer after he failed to heed a warning to stop his performance of the song.

The exact number of killings attributed to the My Way Curse varies depending on sources. At least one appeared to be a premeditated assassination of a barangay (roughly a district chairman), who chose to sing the song at a Christmas party. While there have been incidents of karaoke violence triggered by other songs in other countries, the My Way Curse appears to be localized to the Philippines, and has lasted over 20 years. In the 2010s several of the thousands of karaoke bars in the Philippines removed the song from their repertoires, but the killings have continued sporadically since.

There are several possible explanations why the Sinatra classic, which was written by Paul Anka, could be a catalyst for violence. One is the arrogance of the lyrics themselves, delivered while the singer faces “the final curtain”. Sinatra’s version has been called “America’s Anthem of Self-determination”. But the curse seemingly didn’t harm Frank, who released his version of the song in 1969. And there is nothing mysterious or supernatural about the killings, they mostly share the common thread of a disgruntled listener and alcohol. More of a social phenomenon than a curse, the My Way Killings continue, along with karaoke related violence across much of the so-called civilized world.

1. The Conqueror Curse

Of the roughly 220 people who worked on the 1956 John Wayne vehicle The Conqueror in the Utah desert, 91 contracted some form of cancer, and of those 46 died of cancer or its complications. Among them were Wayne, co-star Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Lee Van Cleef, director Dick Powell, and several others, most of them in the 1960s and early 1970s. This led to a belief the film, in which Wayne played Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan, was cursed. Most of the exterior scenes of the film were shot at Escalante, a desert area about 135 miles downwind of the site of the US government’s 1953 Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear weapons tests.

In 1980 a biology professor at the University of Utah cited the high rates of cancers and subsequent deaths following the production as an “epidemic”. This led to the Curse of the Conqueror, in which those who worked on the film were doomed to be stricken. But the numbers don’t add up. Statistically, the odds of contracting cancer for American males is about 40.2%, and the odds of it being fatal about 20.5%, very near the rates suffered by The Conqueror’s crew. In 1956 the odds were higher, treatments were less advanced, and many of those stricken were heavy smokers, including Wayne, Hayward, and Van Cleef (Agnes Moorehead being a notable exception, a teetotaler and non-smoker, she contracted fatal uterine cancer).

The deaths created a reputation for the film which led to its producer, Howard Hughes, purchasing nearly every available print, effectively removing it from distribution for many years. Nor were the critics particularly kind, even before the “Curse” surrounding the film appeared. In 2013, The Guardian revisited the film, with little kind to say about anything surrounding it. Whether or not radiation exposure led to sickness and death among the film’s crew is still argued. But there is little argument over the quality of the film, which is generally regarded as one of John Wayne’s worst.

From WatchMojo.com to preshows in movie theaters to… well, TopTenz, everyone wants to provide small novelty pieces of information about beloved movies. Unfortunately, the high demand means that the product has gotten a bit diluted over time. Misunderstandings or even outright lies now permeate the pop culture landscape. We’re inclined to believe a lot of them if for no other reason than the reputation that people have in show business for being weird, or for crazy things to happen when millions of dollars are spent on make believe.

Here at TopTenz there’s too much respect for the truth to let that stand. Well, at least we want to help our readers put some smug people who think they’re the smartest people in the world because they know some piece of trivia in their place.   

10. Alien’s Gender Flip

Since Ellen Ripley’s status as the main character (and sole survivor, not counting the cat) of the Alien franchise was a surprise in the original film of the series, the part being played by Sigourney Weaver instead of, say, her then-more famous male co-star Tom Skerritt made it a subject of a lot of discussion from 1979 onwards. One of the claims that popped up over the years was that the character was originally intended to be male. This seems to be a carryover from the genderflipped character Ruth Leavitt in the slightly less famous 1971 science fiction classic The Andromeda Strain.

None other than screenwriter Dan O’Bannon refuted the story. He clarified that, intentionally, none of the characters were gender specific in his script so that the casting director could take care of that. He had even included notes about this decision on the last page of his original screenplay. We’ll leave it up to the reader to decide what if anything this says about gender roles in fiction.

9. Johnny Depp/Jackie Earle Haley

It’s a classic story of an audition with a comical twist: Someone who doesn’t even intend to be an actor is just going along with a friend to audition for a job. Turns out the casting director prefers the friend who wasn’t intending to act, and that person goes on to be a big star. Something very similar to that happened to Bob Hoskins, for example. The single most famous example of this would likely be in 1983, when Jackie Earle Haley brought Johnny Depp along with him for a role in A Nightmare on Elm Street and ended up launching his friend’s career. Then for a fun coincidence, Jackie Earle Haley was cast as Freddy Krueger for the 2010 remake.

Except… no. Haley clarified in an interview in Esquire that all this talk of him and Depp at the audition was just a rumor. He doesn’t even know what the origin of the rumor could have been, just that him not bringing Depp there was crystal clear.

8. Daniel Day Lewis’s Insane Method Acting

Daniel Day-Lewis is as much famous for his extreme method acting as he is for winning three Academy Awards for Best Actor. For example, playing the primarily paralyzed Christy Brown in My Left Foot involved him staying in a wheelchair for the duration of the shoot. He supposedly insists on only being referred to by his character’s name. It’s all designed to instill the belief that he spends all day trying to think of himself as the character in some maniacal worship of the acting profession.

On the podcast I Was There Too, Paul F. Tompkins (who worked with him on There Will Be Blood) clarified that Lewis wasn’t so intensely in character at all. Between takes he would discuss the characters as if they were characters, he wouldn’t insist at all on being referred to by his character’s name, and he was fine with dropping the accent once the shoot was done for the day. Indeed, as Tompkins opines, it would be an indication that Lewis isn’t a good actor if he makes others uncomfortable with such unreasonable demands, since part of the nature of being a good actor is to pay attention to the needs of your collaborators.

7. Tricking Alan Rickman

No, this isn’t an assertion that it’s untrue that Alan Rickman was ever tricked. This is referring to a story that, in order to get a better reaction out of Hans Gruber for the shot when he is dropped off Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard, supposedly the director told him that he would be dropped on the count of three. However, to get a genuinely shocked reaction before Rickman had properly braced himself, though, he was dropped on the count of one.

Sorry to ruin everyone’s fun, but Rickman was asked about this very thing during a Q&A event. He unambiguously didn’t remember it happening, which – considering how vividly he remembered the director saying “we’re going to drop the actor” – means that would have been an aspect that would have stuck in his memory. Considering he remembered the fall being higher than the generally reported (40 feet instead of 25) he clearly wasn’t in the mood to downplay anything.   

6. Al Capone’s Tailor

Bringing it back to the subject of method acting, we all know perhaps the second biggest method actor in the world was Robert DeNiro for years and years, starting with becoming a real cab driver for weeks to prepare to play Travis Bickle in 1974’s Taxi Driver. By the time 1987 rolled around, for The Untouchables the news went around that DeNiro was supposedly personally tracking down Al Capone’s tailor so that the pajamas he wore (and even his underwear) matched the crime lord’s.

As was pointed out by others well after this misconception spread, given that there was a 56-year gap between Capone’s incarceration and the production of The Untouchables, Capone’s tailor was very unlikely to be in the right shape to work. For one thing, Capone’s tailor was actually Louis Dinato, an associate of Capone’s whose main noteworthy aspect was being repeatedly questioned by the police even after Capone was imprisoned (to no avail), as if he were some sort of interrogation punching bag. The person who actually did the costume work for DeNiro was Rich Bruno, and given that he was only 52 when The Untouchables was made, it would have been quite a trick for the costumer to be tailoring for Al Capone.

5. Spider-Man’s 156 Takes

This one has been a favorite of trivia sites for years: Somehow Sam Raimi’s 2002 film Spider-Man had enough time in the production schedule to devote hours and hours (if not days) to shoot 156 takes of Tobey Maguire catching a tray full of food. Now granted, in 2002 CGI affordable enough for a throwaway gag wasn’t quite up to scratch, so there’s plenty of reason to do it mechanically instead of with computers. But Maguire didn’t do it alone and the “156 takes” claim is certainly a joke (evidenced by the fact that in its source, a commentary track, the commenter gets a laugh from it).

It explicitly was a combination of using a “mechanical rig” to drop the food and gluing the tray to Maguire’s hand, and using force-absorbing gel on the bottom of said food. In fact, if you go frame-by-frame, you can see a white substance stuck to the bottom of the apple. That at least confirms it wasn’t CGI, since why would a CG artist put that on there? Still, it definitely puts this back in the “SFX” category.   

4. Werner Herzog’s Shoe Bet

Errol Morris and Werner Herzog are two of the most interesting documentary filmmakers working today, and their film careers were connected in a rather befuddling way. Errol Morris began his career in 1978 with the cult documentary Gates of Heaven (particularly beloved by Roger Ebert) at a time when he had little funding and getting distribution for the film would have been extremely difficult. Herzog came up with a bizarre bet to motivate his friend: If the movie were completed, Herzog would eat his shoe at the premiere. It was enough of an event that a short film was made of the preparation of the meal.

Then Morris came along during a Q&A session at the Lincoln Center and revealed that they actually didn’t have a wager – it was just something that Herzog had made up as an excuse to eat a shoe. Not wanting to be comedically upstaged, while telling the truth about this, Morris said he would joke for years that the bet had actually stipulated Herzog’s foot.    

3. The Dark Knight’s Remote Futzing

Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in this 2008 blockbuster was so compelling that much of his manic behavior felt completely natural, leaving audiences open to the notion that even the biggest parts were improvised. A scene where the Joker claps in jail is an example. But the best known example is the scene where the Joker is blowing up Gotham General Hospital, but stops when there seems to be a problem with the detonation. In what was alleged to be improv, Ledger messes with the remote, and then the explosion resumes, leaving him to scramble onto the bus.

As director Christopher Nolan explains in a behind the scenes feature included on The Dark Knight blu-ray, the sudden stop in the explosion and the Joker’s pause was actually planned in advance. In fact, Warner Brothers provided a CGI mockup of how the scene would be staged as evidence. That’s much further than most studios go in debunking a piece of trivia.

2. Citizen Kane’s Non-Plot Hole

Since this 1941 film has for decades been known as arguably the best ever made, it was a delight for film buffs and critics alike to claim that the story has a gigantic plot hole right in the middle of it. The impetus for the story is that the titular Kane’s last word was “Rosebud” and it was supposed to be said to an empty room. Which begs the question of how anyone heard what his final word was if he was alone. There was a story circulated that this was pointed out to auteur Orson Welles by a member of the crew, and Welles responded some variation on “don’t you ever tell anyone this.”

The problem with the plausibility of that little story is that it’s not consistent with the content of the movie. While the opening scene has been watched by cinefiles and parodied many times by shows such as The Simpsons, the scene’s person who heard the words doesn’t appear until much later. Very near the end, the reporter that’s been spending the movie trying to learn from Kane’s intimates what Rosebud could mean has a brief chat with the butler Raymond, who explicitly says he’s the one who heard it. Raymond’s other main contribution to the movie is telling the reporter about the famous scene where Kane wrecks his room until he sees a snow globe and says Rosebud the first time. So if someone had asked Orson Welles about who heard the words, Welles would just have said Raymond instead of acting as if his entire movie were in jeopardy.    

1. Being John Malkovich’s Beer Can

A lot of this trivia took a concerted effort to debunk or a celebrity to wanted to set the record straight. In this case, the thing that disproved it was completely unintentional. Indeed, the performer in question might not even have ever heard of the false story.

In Being John Malkovich, there’s a scene where the titular actor is walking by a road while he’s in a rut. An extra in a passing vehicle yelled “Hey Malkovich, think fast!” and threw a beer can at his head. Supposedly the scene was completely unscripted and instead of being rebuked for potentially ruining a take, the actor got a raise (some versions say he got a Screen Actors Guild card) because the line of dialogue was used.

The truth didn’t come out until Malkovich was doing a question and answer session known as a “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) on the popular website Reddit. One of his fans asked about that particular scene without mentioning it was supposedly completely spontaneous. The actor said that he was especially fond of that scene, and had been looking forward to it… as soon as he read it in the script. In fact, director Spike Jonze wasn’t even sure if any of the actors would be able to hit Malkovich in an acceptably low number of takes. In hindsight, it would have been a pretty bad idea to actively encourage extras to do things that might harm actors and ruin takes, so everyone should have found the story dubious even before Malkovich accidentally corrected them.    

Fun Fact: Dustin and Adam Koski also wrote a hilarious and exciting fantasy novel.

Out-of-place artifacts, called OOPARTS for short, are a popular source of evidence among those who support theories of ancient aliens’ visitation, creationists, paranormal activities believers, and other forms of pseudoscience and fringe science. What are they? They can be evidence of technological achievements centuries before such ability was known to exist. Or they can present “evidence” of human habitation prior to the accepted emergence of humanity. Or they can present evidence of human emigration centuries earlier than believed.

An important part of an OOPART is its ability to baffle experts, seemingly unable to explain the evidence before their eyes. According to Act for Libraries.org the term is “rarely used by historians and scientists”, and OOPARTS are instead cited, often erroneously and sometimes fraudulently, as evidence supporting fringe theories. Here are 10 such OOPARTS which have been debunked by mainstream science, though they still have their supporters.

10. The Tamil Bell

In 1836 a Christian missionary to New Zealand named William Colenso discovered Maori women boiling potatoes in a bronze vessel, which he recognized as a damaged bell. Further examination by Colenso, who was also botanist and explorer of note, revealed the bell was manufactured of bronze, and bore an inscription in ancient Tamil, using characters which had long before fallen out of use. The inscription identified the Maori cooking pot as a ship’s bell.

Since its discovery by Colenso, numerous theories developed as to how a Tamil bell arrived in New Zealand from Asia, when no previous evidence of Tamil contact with the Maori had been unearthed, as well as none since. The bell is an OOPART because of its inscription linking it to a Tamil ship, though that in itself does not mean the Tamil made contact with the Maori several centuries before its discovery. The waters of the region were plied with numerous vessels, including the Portuguese, French, English, and Spanish. Pirates roamed the area as well. Any number of plausible explanations for the bell’s presence are thus available.

It could have been recovered from a derelict vessel which washed ashore in New Zealand. It could have been taken as a prize by sailors from one ship or another, and traded to the Maori. Before the New Zealand coast and adjacent waters were charted by Captain James Cook in the late 18th century, the unknown shoals and currents of the region claimed many an unwary ship. How the Tamil Bell arrived in New Zealand remains undetermined, but it was likely more due to accident than exploration.

9. The Shroud of Turin

Few Christian relics are more controversial than the Shroud of Turin, claimed by believers to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth, marked with a negative photographic image of His body by unknown, but miraculous means. To others it is a deliberate hoax, created by an unknown artist or artists during the Medieval period. Carbon dating supports the latter theory, despite claims by believers which state the carbon dating is inaccurate, and other means of measuring its age dates it to the time of Christ.

The Shroud did not appear in any documented record until 1353 AD, which corresponds to the window established by carbon dating as to the time of its creation, more than 1300 years after the events some believe it proves. Subsequent legends and folklore placed the Shroud in the hands of Byzantine invaders and others during the period when its existence, at least the existence of the Shroud of Turin known today, was hidden. Since the 14th century appearance of the Shroud, the Catholic Church has carefully noted its existence, but has never confirmed its authenticity.

Recently DNA testing has been conducted on the cloth, with inconclusive results, as would be expected from an artifact which has passed through so many hands, tests, examinations, and studies for over six centuries. To the faithful, the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. To those who follow science, it’s a carefully created forgery, so skillfully done the means of doing so remain hidden. To them, it is an OOPART, formed in the 14th century, and not an ancient relic of Biblical times.

8. The Dendera Lamps of Ancient Egypt

The Dendera Lamps stem from a collection of motifs in the temple at Dendera, Egypt. Supporters of ancient alien visitation theories claim the motifs depict the use of projecting electric lights a la cathode ray tubes, or arc lamps. Influential support of the theory came from Erich von Daniken, author of numerous books citing alien visitations among the ancients, including Chariots of the Gods? Science widely disregards his theories, yet his books continue to sell and have spawned a growing number of believers that the Ancient Egyptians, as well as the Hindu, Tamil, Incan, and Mayan civilizations, benefited from alien technology.

The theories of Daniken and his supporters make the Dendera Lamps, also called the Dendera Lights, an OOPART since they clearly show the use of technology previously believed to have been unknown by the Egyptians of the day. To them, anyway. Mainstream science and archaeology disagree. To them, the portions of the motif which ufologists claim represents light beams are actually depictions of the rising sun emerging from a lotus flower, in accordance with Egyptian legend.

The Dendera Lamps remain controversial among pseudoscientists and ufologists, some of whom cite them as irrefutable proof of alien intervention in Ancient Egypt. They ignore the inscriptions which appear along with the motif, which describe each panel. The inscriptions link each panel of the motif with a corresponding scene from the Ancient Egyptian creation myth, rather than depicting the use of electric light, as all too many believe.

7. Piltdown Man

In a 1912 meeting of the Geological Society of London, Charles Dawson claimed he had received a portion of a skull discovered four years earlier in a gravel pit at Piltdown. Dawson informed the meeting he had visited the site several times, and discovered several pieces of fossilized bone in the spoil pits surrounding the gravel pit. Arthur Smith Woodward of the reputable British Museum joined Dawson on some of his diggings. In 1915 portions of additional bone fragments were discovered at a similar site in Sheffield.

Piltdown Man, as the bones came to be called, was claimed by its discoverers to be a previously unknown hominid, the so-called missing link of evolution from ape to man. Almost from the beginning, scientists and anthropologists disputed the findings, and the subject became one of dispute for several decades. In 1953 a group of scientists and researchers provided TIME Magazine with information which established Piltdown Man as a forgery from the outset, a composite of fossils from at least three different hominids. The discussions over Piltdown Man shifted to speculation over who perpetrated the hoax.

That has never been determined with certainty, though Charles Dawson remains a prime suspect, as do many others. Among them was Arthur Conan Doyle. Named as the hoaxer in 1997, more recent scholarship exonerates him. Piltdown Man was an OOPART which has been clearly debunked. There has never been a final determination of who created Piltdown Man, nor why, but there is general consensus the entire scheme was a fraud.

6. The Iron Pillar of Delhi

It’s difficult to determine just how out of place the artifact known as the Iron Pillar of Delhi actually is, since it has been moved numerous times. Its origin is debated, as is the authenticity of various inscriptions on the pillar, as least as far as its chronological history is concerned. Conflicts between Muslims and Hindi led to the artifact being relocated several times, with aspects of its history etched into the metal of which it is made. It is the metal itself which qualifies it as an OOPART, at least to some. To others it stands (literally) as a 1,600 year old monument to ancient knowledge and craftsmanship.

The pillar is of wrought iron, forge-welded, and unusually resistant to corrosion. The protection from rust appears to have been deliberately achieved by its creators, and represents a knowledge of metallurgy which far exceeds that accomplished in the 4th century, when it appears to have been made. This advanced knowledge has led to speculation that the ancients who created the pillar had the assistance of alien intelligence and skills when creating the artifact. In truth, the pillar is not completely rust-free, as proponents of ancient intervention suggest. Yet its origin remains uncertain, its purpose unknown.

Recent scholarship has speculated the column reflects known metallurgical skills of the time, albeit practiced by highly advanced artisans, and is thus no mystery at all. At least as regards its manufacture. Yet ancient alien intervention proponents continue to cite it as “evidence” of ancient man interacting with advanced beings from other worlds. Their interpretation of some of the inscriptions on the artifact support their thesis. The chemical and mineral composition of the artifact, and the means of its manufacture, do not.

5. The Decalogue Stone

About 35 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a large boulder with a flat face, bearing an inscription in Hebrew. It is known as the Decalogue Stone, as well as the Commandment Stone and other names (Decalogue is a reference to the 10 Commandments). First reported to the public in 1933, the stone bears the abridged inscriptions of the Commandments, though in modern Hebrew. The stone is cited by some as proof of Semitic contact with North America prior to the arrival of Columbus in the New World.

Researchers have discovered numerous flaws which raise questions over the stone’s authenticity as an ancient artifact. There are grammatical errors, and the use of Hebrew letters which are inappropriate to the message. There have also never been unearthed other artifacts in the region which support the presence of Semitic peoples, which would certainly have been left behind given the length of time necessary to inscribe the stone.

There are also Greek letters interspersed within the Hebrew inscription. And finally, though all of these flaws are explained away by proponents of the stone’s ancient authenticity, it appears to be signed. An inscription on the bedrock of the stone reads, “Eva and Hobe 3-13-30”. The debate about the authenticity of the Decalogue Stone near Los Lunas continues between believers and the scientific community who generally regards it as a hoax.

4. The New Hampshire mystery stone

In 1872 a mysterious stone was reported to have been found near Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. It is described as egg-shaped, with a hole running through its center from top to bottom. It appears to have been bored from both ends, since the diameter of the bore is different at the top than bottom (3.2 mm at the top, 9.5 mm at the bottom).

Several carvings appear on the stone, on opposite sides, which include an ear of corn, arrows, a lunar phase, and others. An 1872 report in The American Naturalist described the stone as, “…of a higher grade of art than usual in Indian workmanship”. It also presented the stone as an artifact which “…commemorates a treaty between two tribes”. The stone changed hands several times over the years, and is today held by the New Hampshire Historical Society.

The 1872 article also speculated the bore through the stone appeared to have been cut with the precision of power tools, not available to the Native tribes which created it. But that was mere speculation. In 1994 New Hampshire officials had the stone examined by archaeologists, who determined the stone’s bore was created with modern power tools of the late 19th or early 20th century.

3. Minnesota runestone

Also known as the Kensington Runestone, it first appeared in 1898, when Olof Ohman claimed he found the stone covered with Norse runes while clearing land of brush and trees. The inscriptions recorded in runes in the stone are alleged to date from the 14th century, implying the stone was left behind by Norse explorers from that period. By 1910, scientific examinations had led to the stone being labeled a hoax by American scholars at the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, and Swedish and Norwegian experts who received a copy of the transcription.

All determined the inscription to be a fake, and of fairly recent origin. Further frauds followed. Several writers published articles claiming the stone to be a legitimate artifact, and public interest in the stone, with its repercussions of the Vikings, grew. The runes have even been linked, by those prone to such things, with the Knights Templar of Malta, and other longstanding conspiracy theories.

Though the stone was almost universally rejected as a fake by the mainstream scientific community, it continues to generate supporters of its authenticity. To them, the runes stand as proof of the early Norse settlements in the central region of today’s United States, though their arguments bear little weight within the scientific and scholarly community.

2. The Holy Stones of Newark, Ohio

The Hopewell culture of Ohio are known to posterity as the Moundbuilders. They built earthworks and mounds for religious purposes, defenses around their villages, and for burials. Among their greatest is the Serpent Mound near Ft. Ancient, and the Great Mound in Miamisburg, both in Ohio. Among their burial mounds near Newark, Ohio, about a half an hour’s drive east of Columbus, was found what are known as the Holy Stones of Newark. They have been called “…one of the most infamous frauds in Ohio archaeology” by the Ohio Archaeological Council.

Like the massive inscribed rock near Los Lunas, their supporters offer them as “proof” of the Semitic occupation of the Ohio country during the Pre-Columbian era. The stones began turning up just as the United States was about to devolve into Civil War, largely over the issue of slavery. They purported to be evidence of all humanity descending from Adam and Eve and the Biblical creation story related in Genesis. Thus, to the abolitionists in America, slavery was evil as Genesis clearly stated all humans were descended from the same parents. The stones included Hebrew letters; one stone contained the Decalogue, and they also contain carvings of various symbols associated with Freemasonry.

Regardless of being almost universally rejected as fakes, the five Newark stones remain a source of debate over their authenticity. In 2019, the Center for the Future of Museums, through its annual publication TrendsWatch Report, described the stones, “Fraudulent artifacts, bearing Hebrew inscriptions planted in Ohio mounds in the 1800s to promote a combined political, scientific, and religious agenda”. Despite being thoroughly debunked, there are those who continue to use the stones for similar reasons.

1. The Face on Mars

In 1976 NASA’s Viking 1 explorer mission sent back photographs of the surface of Mars. Viking’s primary mission was to obtain photographs to help NASA mission planners determine a suitable location for the landing of the subsequent Viking 2 mission. In July Viking 1 transmitted the photograph which appeared to be of a human face, in the midst of a rocky field, clearly (to some) fashioned by something other than natural conditions. The Face of the Man on Mars became a widely referenced topic in books, magazine articles, television programs, and even films. Those were the pre-internet days, and social media did not exist to make it go viral. But it became famous.

Officially NASA claimed the resemblance to a face was a mere illusion, caused by lighting anomalies, or obstructions. In 1998 a more sophisticated orbiter took further photographs of the area where the face was seen, and additional photographs have been taken since. The face does not appear in any of them, substantiating NASA’s contention the face was an illusion in the first photograph. Light and shadow created the face, which from other angles simply does not exist. It was a mirage, of sorts.

Debunked? Not according to some. At least one intrepid seeker of truth insisted NASA covered up evidence of life on Mars, including the Face on Mars. Some claim at least one more alien face has been uncovered by robotic explorers of the Red Planet. No matter how thoroughly some “facts” are debunked, there will still be people to support their existence, claiming they have “proof” governments are covering up the truth from the public they serve.