The events that occurred in the Ural Mountains at the beginning of February 1959, what would become known as the Dyatlov Pass incident, remain one of the 20th century’s most mysterious encounters—not least because we still don’t have a satisfactory or widely accepted explanation for why nine experienced hikers lost their lives in brutal ways.

Their tent was found in ruins, cut from the inside. Several of the hikers were discovered barefoot and almost naked near the original campsite around a month after their disappearance. What is interesting is that a trail of footprints—some barefoot—led from the tent and then simply stopped. The rest were discovered almost three months later, buried under snow in a ravine.

Just what happened to them? Why did they leave their tent, some barefoot, in the middle of the night in brutally cold temperatures, an act that would certainly guarantee their deaths? Here are ten theories as to just what happened.

10 It Was An Avalanche, Right?

The most obvious explanation would be that the group, for all their experience, were the unfortunate victims of a freak avalanche. Case solved, right? Well, not quite. First of all, the area has absolutely no history of avalanches, certainly none that would cause outright death.^[1] Secondly, even if this was a freak occurrence that just happened to hit on the night when hikers just happened to be on that part of the mountainside, there was simply no evidence of an avalanche when searchers eventually combed the area in search of the missing hikers.

Aside from there being no evidence of an avalanche, the injuries eventually discovered on the recovered bodies didn’t line up with such an incident. Although this explanation was very much promoted at one time—and even now, some people insist this is what happened—it simply does not add up. Furthermore, such insistence, against the obvious facts, could be argued to suggest a cover-up of sorts.

9 It Was A UFO

Okay, let’s get this one out of way. It was a UFO! That is certainly the theory of some researchers.^[2] And while there is no evidence to suggest they are correct, there are some interesting details to examine that might suggest involvement of a highly advanced craft from another world.

For example, where two of the hikers were discovered, next to the burned-out remains of a campfire, there was substantial damage to the trees that overlooked their makeshift base. The damage was around 4.6 meters (15 ft) high. Some researchers have theorized that this was the result of a UFO hovering just above the treetops.

Furthermore, some of the group who would be discovered months after they disappeared were found with pieces of skin, lips, and eyes apparently surgically removed. While some claim these “injuries” were merely the result of decomposition, others say the seemingly precise cuts suggest intelligent action.

8 The Yeti Claims

Perhaps one of the most interesting claims is that the group met their grisly end at the hands—or should that be claws—of a Yeti or Bigfoot-like creature that inhabits the remote regions of the Ural Mountains.^[3] The local Mansi tribe has legends of a Yeti-like creature called the Menk, and furthermore, it is said to roam the area of the incident.

There is a famous picture recovered from the belongings of the group on Nikolai Thibeaux-Brignolle’s camera. On a shot known as “Frame 17,” there is a strange picture that seems to show a figure that bears a resemblance to a Bigfoot-type creature.

Some people believe that this “figure” was actually one of the hikers returning from a raised piece of land, probably looking to get their bearings. The fact that it was the last picture Thibeaux-Brignolle took, though, leads to some people perhaps reading more into what there actually is. Or perhaps it wasn’t a Bigfoot or one of the group? Perhaps, as our next entry looks at, it was something potentially more menacing.

7 Escaped Prisoners

Less talked-about is the claim that the hikers were the unfortunate victims of escaped prisoners from the gulags in the region.^[4] Many such prisoners, who very well may have been incarcerated since World War II and wouldn’t be at all up to speed with world events, would have been imprisoned in these facilities. To them, the conflict could very much have still been taking place unless they had other, inside knowledge.

Furthermore, being spotted by strangers could result in an attack from these desperate people—themselves potentially hardened from the war and untold time behind bars with no freedom whatsoever. They would, one would imagine, weigh up the options of attacking a (relatively) small group against the risk of being reported to the Soviet authorities, which would lead to many years back in the brutal gulags.

6 The Gulag Authorities Killed Them By Mistake

In addition to the potential threats from escaped gulag prisoners, the gulag authorities themselves were likely to shoot first and ask questions later, particularly in the region the hikers were.^[5] We should bear in mind that they were off-course and somewhere they had not planned to be.

Might the gulag authorities, perhaps conducting a standard patrol of the area or maybe looking for an escaped prisoner, have been a little eager for a potential apprehension and killed the hikers in error? Imagine the anger from the local population if this was to become known. Perhaps, then, a cover-up was decided upon? Note, however, that a potential hole in this theory and the one above is that the nearest gulag was reportedly about 100 kilometers (60 mi) from where the incident took place.

While there is no proof that gulag guards killed the hikers and covered it up, there is certainly enough murkiness around the incident for people to be suspicious. Also, it was the Cold War, a time when distrust, even among a country’s citizens, ran deep. In fact, the notion that the Cold War played a major part in this mysterious incident carries over into our next entry.

5 American Intelligence Involvement

There are some claims that the incident was a result of a CIA/KGB meeting involving the handing over of radioactive materials which ultimately resulted in the deaths of nine Soviet citizens.^[6] There is no real proof to these claims, and they rely heavily on the simple fact that the Cold War was in its heyday at the time. And, if there was any chance at all that the United States could have been placed in a negative light, the Soviets would have taken it.

However, there is reason to believe there could have been a type of “entrapment” scenario unfolding. For example, there were considerable indications of radiation, both in the area itself and on some of the dead hikers.

Rumors would surface that the incident was an attempt to plant radioactive materials on CIA agents “caught” behind Soviet lines. Somehow, the operation went wrong, and the hikers were killed. If this theory was true, then that would mean that at least one of the hikers was a KGB operative. And that is the subject of our next entry. What’s more, there is sufficient reason to believe that there really could have been a KGB presence in the Ural Mountains.

4 A KGB Plant?

There are several theories that the “hike” into the mountains was secretly, and against the majority of the hikers’ knowledge, a KGB operation.^[7] Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of these claims is the fact that the oldest member of the group, 37-year-old Semyon (aka Alexander) Zolotaryov (second from right above), was not only a last-minute addition but also reportedly had extensive military and combat training. Why, exactly, was he there?

Perhaps the tattoo on his body is worth paying more attention to by researchers into this most mysterious case? The tattoo read “DAERMMUAZUAYA.” According to those who have researched the word, there is no translation in any known language. Many assume it to be either a secret military tag or some kind of secret society moniker.

If there is any truth to Zolotaryov, or any of the Dyatlov crew, being KGB agents, what their mission might have been is still anyone’s guess.

3 Local Tribes

Some theories would persist that the deaths were the result of attacks from local tribes in the area, most notably the Mansi tribe.^[8] There is no real evidence of this; the Mansi were largely peaceful and uninterested in the outside world.

Furthermore, much like the details already mentioned when examining the apparent “escape” from their tent, there was no evidence in the surrounding snow—which was largely undisturbed—of such an approach by a tribe, who wouldn’t have been thinking at all of covering their tracks, certainly not after an attack. And for an attack to happen at night in the middle of an apparent blizzard is even more unlikely.

While they certainly make a convenient scapegoat, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the Mansi, or any other tribe in the area, were responsible for these most sudden and strange deaths. It perhaps should be noted, tough, that the local tribes did refer to the mountain where the incident took place as the “Mountain of the Dead.”

2 The Gravity Fluctuation Theory

Perhaps one of the most bizarre theories, albeit one that is grounded in scientific thought, is the gravity fluctuation theory.^[9] What this theory essentially argues is that there was a sudden drop in gravity in a “corridor” that the hikers were unfortunately camped in. This is a little-known (and unproven) phenomenon, but it does, at least in theory, explain the eventual location of the campers’ bodies.

For example, it is argued that those who first rushed outside the camp were essentially placed into a non-gravitational situation where they died instantly—as if they were in a vacuum. The others were dragged from the tent, which would explain the “tears from the inside.” They were literally ripped from the tent due to the sudden and dramatic drop in gravity. It is argued that this unusual phenomenon occurs more than people realize but rarely results in such a drastic situation, as people aren’t usually caught in the event. Some researchers even claim that if the hikers had simply kept their tent shut, they would have survived the rare incident.

1 Secret Weapon Tests

This theory could explain the mysterious deaths, reports of strange lights, and the air of secrecy with which the Soviet authorities handled the incident.

Many rumors persisted in the area that the Soviets would regularly test secret weapons. Some have even claimed that “neutron weapons” were in use.^[10] The injuries of some of the campers—who had severe internal trauma but little external damage—would certainly suggest some sort of advanced and secretive technology.

Might it be possible that the Soviet military were testing weapons designed to “scare” the United States, for example, only to kill nine of its own citizens? Much like the gulag theories, this scenario would result in an instant and deep cover-up.

+ The One That Got Away

Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the whole dire and terrible situation is that of Yuri Yudin.^[11] Only 24 hours into the ill-fated excursion, Yudin (pictured above being hugged) would come down with an illness, severe enough that he had to return to their set-off point. Knowing what we now know of the group’s situation, it was perhaps the most well-timed illness in the entirety of the 20th century.

Whatever the sickness was, it ultimately saved his life. Indeed, it perhaps makes one ponder the precariousness of our existence, where one circumstance seemingly as innocent and trivial as being too ill to participate can ultimately result in saving one’s life. Regardless, the decision would allow Yudin to live to old age, which he did, although he never had anything of significance to add to the investigations into the deaths of his colleagues.

First proposed by computer scientist, mathematician, logician, and all-around genius Alan Turing back in 1950, the Turing test has penetrated pop culture unlike pretty much any other method or concept of philosophical inquiry. Also known as the imitation game (the namesake for the 2014 film on Turing’s life), the Turing test is designed to assess a machine’s ability to reason and interact like a human being.

The test is traditionally conducted blind between an interrogator, a person, and a machine. The interrogator deploys a series of questions on his subjects’ habits, interests, likes, and dislikes to try and determine which of their subjects is the machine and which is the person. At the same time, the machine aims to persuade the interrogator of its personhood.

While Turing was right that we would have advanced systems with massive storage capacities by the new millennium, we are nonetheless still years away from a walking, talking A.I. that might pass as a real person. But that hasn’t stopped science-fiction filmmakers, who have used increasingly sophisticated advances in practical and digital technology to bring free-thinking machines to our screens, playing with the boundaries of what artificial intelligence can be. So here are ten movie robots who would pass the Turing test.

Related: 10 Futuristic Things AI And Robots Are Already Doing

10 T-3000: Terminator Genisys (2015)

Everyone loves the original films the best, but neither Terminator’s T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) nor T2’s T-1000 (Robert Patrick) would pass any kind of serious test, whether Turing, driving, or basic sociology. These Terminators are the ultimate killing machine, designed to infiltrate and, well, terminate. But as the universe has developed, Skynet (the series’ villainous artificial superintelligence) has had to innovate to remain ahead of the killing curve.

Enter the T-3000 (Jason Clarke). Unlike most other robots seen in cinema, the T-3000, in some senses, used to be human. Infecting a body and replacing all of its cells with nanomachines, it can imitate every aspect of human behavior, possessing the psychological landscape native to its original host.

Though the T-3000 may easily pass the Turing test, it raises another tricky philosophical problem, known as the Ship of Theseus. This questions whether the identity of an individual or object holds up as every part of it is changed, even if it outwardly appears to be the same. We are left asking whether the host is the T-3000 or if there is even a difference?^[1]

9 Chappie: CHAPPiE (2015)

Neill Blomkamp’s CHAPPiE may not have received the attention or critical acclaim of the director’s earlier Johannesburg sci-fi, District 9, but the deep, enduring humanity of its main character is what redeems it. It just so happens that the character is a robot named Chappie.

Voiced by long-time Blomkamp collaborator Sharlto Copley, Chappie is a police bot whose body is a test pilot for a piece of software its creator Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) believes to be the first true A.I. While Chappie’s boxy frame and metal coverings mean he may not pass any visual tests, there is no denying his personality, charm, and distinctly human character.

Unlike many other movies featuring near-human robot characters, we actually get to witness Chappie’s entire development, from being inserted as a piece of software to full personhood. Along the way, he learns how to speak ghetto from Die Antwoord and acclimatizes to his surroundings and a cruel world that repeatedly tries to crush him. He has a conscience, learns forgiveness, and discovers a penchant for wearing “blings”—with 5,500 individual links of chain painstakingly rendered by the visual effects team.^[2]

8 Morpheus: The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

The Wachowskis’ Matrix series has offered up a cornucopia of Turing candidates, from the rogue computer program Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) to the evil machines’ horrifying leader, the Deus Ex Machina.

But it is Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s version of Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections who comes up trumps, managing as he does to exist as a convincingly human mind in both the virtual and real worlds. Resurrections introduces paramagnetic oscillation to the series, which allows the program version of Morpheus created by Neo (Keanu Reeves) to take on a humanoid form. In this form, Morpheus is brought to life outside of the Matrix via a collection of nanobots—an amalgamation of many smaller constituent parts, not unlike the T-3000.

However, while this Morpheus would indubitably pass the Turing test, his existence touches on the philosophy of mind problem of functionalism—exemplified in Ned Block’s China Brain. This raises the question of how Morpheus’s mind can exist, or if it is a mind at all if it is only made up of these small, purely functional nanobots.^[3]

7 Sonny: I, Robot (2004)

It is from science-fiction godfather Isaac Asimov’s short stories that the sci-fi actioner I, Robot draws its material. Thus it is replete with deep questions and concerns regarding the intersection of technology, humanity, and philosophy. Most notably, this includes Asimov’s ethically grounded Three Laws of Robotics: a robot must not harm a human, it must obey orders, and it must protect its own existence.

The film takes place in a technologically advanced near-future, where police detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) comes to believe an NS-5 robot called Sonny (Alan Tudyk) murdered the founder of U.S. Robotics and staged it as a suicide. Hijinks ensue.

Akin to many of the other robots on this list, Sonny is the first of his kind, custom-built with different programming from other NS-5s that allows him to disregard the Three Laws. While this alone doesn’t make Sonny particularly special, it is his development of human-like mental features—namely, emotions and dreams—which are indicative of true intelligence and an independent mind.^[4]

6 C-3PO: Star Wars (1977– )

Though a far cry from the deep and noble robots movies often thrown our way today, Star Wars’ iconic gold protocol droid C-3PO embodies certain distinctively human traits that aren’t often found in artificial lifeforms, namely sarcasm, spite, and cowardice.

One of the few robots which is neither distinguished by his morality nor his desire for freedom, C-3PO has both regardless. With more individuality and sass than most of the human characters in the saga, his personality cannot really be explained by conventional logic, as it is neither a product of his creator’s programming nor his social environment. So, although he is technically not an imitation of humanity, he plays the part to perfection.

Phantom Menace dropped the bomb that C-3PO was built by Darth Vader, although this was a surprise George Lucas had in store from the very first film. While this might seem cause for concern, protocol droids are almost exclusively neutral figures in the galaxy far, far away. Threepio has been exposed to evil and comes away with no greater agenda than service, companionship, and self-preservation.^[5]

5 David: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Godfather of the family-friendly heart-warmer, Steven Spielberg tore audiences into pieces with his devastating 2001 feature A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Based on Brian Aldiss’s story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” and highlighting the emotional and material wastefulness of humanity, A.I. follows orphaned child robot David (Haley Joel Osment) as he embarks on an existential journey, longing to be loved and searching for meaning.

It is David’s heart, emotion, and determination that set him apart from the other robots—many of whom are capable of complex thought and reasoning but without the necessary emotions to pass as human. Unique in his capacity to love, David is more human than human and seeks out an understanding and meaning of life most of us never even dream of.

Such heavy themes highlight Stanley Kubrick’s involvement in the project. While Kubrick died before the film was ever released, it was Spielberg’s foray into the other end of history, with 1993’s Jurassic Park, that convinced the auteur that cinematic technology was finally ready for his vision.^[6]

4 Bishop: Aliens (1986)

While they are rarely at the center of the action, artificial lifeforms nonetheless find their way into every entry of the Alien saga. Prometheus’s David (Michael Fassbender) may be the most memorable, devoid of all conscience as he is, but he is not the films’ best candidate for passing the Turing test with flying colors.

Arguably the most autonomous of the franchise’s automatons, Aliens’ Bishop (Lance Henriksen) is the Sulaco spaceship’s artificial crewmate during Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) second encounter with the xenomorphs. He walks like a man, talks like a man, prioritizes his human companions’ safety in the face of the alien threat, and even volunteers for dangerous jobs, overcoming his desire not to. It is this desire that is the most convincing component of Bishop’s programming.

Some of Bishop’s machinations, however—like his notorious knife trick—wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. And, though the character’s compassionate nature has him place his hand over Private Hudson’s (Bill Paxton) in the film, this didn’t prevent Paxton, who moved his pinkie finger at the last second, from getting hurt.^[7]

3 Ava: Ex Machina (2015)

Alex Garland, director of 2022’s creepy countryside horror Men, had his first big outing with Ex Machina, in which programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) wins a week at the private estate of his firm’s CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac).

Unbeknown to him, Caleb has quite literally been brought in to perform the interrogator’s role in a private Turing test designed to determine the intelligence and consciousness of Ava (Alicia Vikander). She is Nathan’s robotic creation, with the face and figure of a woman, created via the clever use of skin-tight mesh bodysuits and CGI. Via daily, face-to-face engagements, Caleb is not only fooled by Ava’s ability to imitate the expressions, emotions, and intellect of a human being, but he actually begins to doubt his own humanity.

Though Ava manipulates Caleb using claims of objectification, trauma, and fears for her safety, it is undeniable that she authentically desires freedom and kills Nathan in order to obtain it.^[8]

2 Roy Batty: Blade Runner (1982)

Much like Ex Machina, we see characters administering the Voight-Kampff test—basically Turing on steroids—in Ridley Scott’s classic philosophical sci-fi Blade Runner.

Harrison Ford stars as Deckard, a blade runner brought out of retirement to hunt four Replicants from off-world colonies who have returned to Earth in search of their creator. Adapted from Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the film plays with some weighty themes best exemplified in the rogue Replicant leader Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), whose philosophical musings and lucid understanding of mortality, morality, and freedom stand him apart from other engineered lifeforms. So well designed are his physique, intellect, and social comprehension that Batty would have no trouble trouncing a Turing test.

Ford’s Deckard would have been a shoo-in for this slot if it weren’t for the film’s ambiguity as to whether he is a Replicant or not, contrary to whatever Ridley Scott says. But if films have taught us anything, it’s that it is better to err on the side of caution when dealing with robots.^[9]

1 Marvin: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Douglas Adams completes the triptych of science-fiction gods (alongside Asimov and Dick). However, his fiction is geared less toward meaningful advances in the philosophy of technology and more toward highlighting the absurdity of the human condition. Nowhere is this more apparent than in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, adapted into a gem of British cinema four years after Adams’s death in 2001.

When it comes to imitating humanity, perfection might lie in the flaws, something Adams demonstrated in one of his finest creations: the clinically depressed Marvin the Paranoid Android, voiced in the film by Alan Rickman but with a body custom-built around Warwick Davis.

To be human is to suffer, beset by psychological difficulties and an overwhelming ennui for life and all the things we can’t control. Marvin recognizes this to his core, regularly lamenting the meaninglessness of it all. Thus, though he is considered a failed prototype by his makers, Marvin serves as the most convincing of all Turing candidates because he understands the futility inherent in human existence.^[10]

There’s a saying that goes “fake it till you make it” which basically means if you can’t do something or don’t know something, you can still have success by at least lying about it convincingly. It’s oddly optimistic and pessimistic at the same time. And there are real world examples of it apparently working out. But just as often there are cases of people faking it and not making it at all because they really forgot that “convincingly” part. Let’s take a look at some of the worst examples.

10. There Was Once an Attempt to Pass Of Molasses in Haiti as Crude Oil

The world still runs on fossil fuels, despite how bad they are for the environment and the fact the supply is finite. The world uses over 90 million barrels of crude oil every day. Some predictions suggest we have enough crude oil to meet demands until 2050 and then things start getting tight. So it makes sense that we’d want to make use of any new sources we could find, right?

Back in the 1960s, Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed had managed to convince some British business associates, and those in Haiti, that he was a sheik from Kuwait. He had been contracted by Haitian President Papa Doc to help rebuild Port-au-Prince and, as part of that effort, he tried to convince the British that Haiti had oil reserves.

The British, before willingly investing in Haiti or its oil, needed it analyzed, so they asked Al-Fayed for a sample. The oil they received was not crude of usable quality or even pool quality because it wasn’t crude at all. They tried to pass off low-grade molasses from French plantations as crude oil. The only thing more remarkable than that weak attempt at fraud was the fact it happened in the 60s and Al-Fayed still went on to have a long and prominent career. His current fortune is estimated at just shy of $2 billion.

9. Zoos Have a Bad Habit of Poorly Faking Animals

Many zoos in the world operate on the idea that they can help educate the public about animals and also engage in conservation and protection. Many species would be far worse off than they are if not for zoo-backed breeding programs. So there’s something to temper the ire of things who feel zoos are exploitative and that the animals should be free in the wild. If not for zoos, many of those animals would no longer exist. But that doesn’t mean every zoo is noble all the time. 

In 2013, a Chinese zoo made headlines when a lion was easily identified as having a serious issue. Namely, it wasn’t a lion at all, but a dog. The fake lion was a Tibetan mastiff with a furry mane-like haircut. Apparently it was one of several dogs in the park being passed off as other animals. The zoo itself said that the real animals were removed for breeding programs and they just put in the substitutes temporarily, as one does.

This is far from the only case of animal swap fraud, too. An Italian circus that claimed to have pandas was caught out with a pair of chow chow dogs that were dyed black and white. 

In Egypt, another zoo was caught trying to pass off a donkey painted black and white as a zebra. Despite the fact that there are pictures of the color smudging on the animal’s face, the director of the zoo refused to admit it was fake.

8. Chinese Media Tried to Pass Off Top Gun as Real Military Footage

The sad truth of the world is that every country needs a military to defend itself because war is a reality and always has been. So many countries take pride in their military might and that includes innovations. New technologies and new weapons to ensure their dominance on the battlefield. 

Oftentimes the military will show off new tech as part of propaganda programs meant to either boost morale at home or maybe even subtly intimidate potential enemies. But it only works if it’s legit. Otherwise, it backfires badly, like it did for China in 2011.

Chinese state media aired footage supposedly of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in an air combat exercise. In reality, they were scenes from Tom Cruise’s Top Gun (the original from 1986). In fairness, decades later those scenes are still amazing. But they’re also not Chinese combat exercises. One source claimed that this happens sometimes if an editor is being lazy or if the footage is just too good not to use, but the channel never made any statement that the footage was taken from a movie and not real. 

7. Russia Has Called Video Game Footage Real More Than Once

You can decide for yourself if this is better or worse than trying to use footage from a movie as combat footage. In 2018, Russia was called out for reporting on the war in Syria using footage not from the actual war and not even from movie war but from virtual war. In covering the story they included a scene from first-person shooter Arma 3.

More embarrassing for Russia is that this was not the first time it happened. In 2017, they posted an image from AC-130 Gunship Simulator: Special Ops Squadron claiming it was proof that the US was aiding the Islamic State in Syria. In both instances, Russia claimed it was simply a mistake that the footage was included. 

6. A Woman Tried to Use a $1 Million Bill to Shop at Walmart.

There probably aren’t too many people who couldn’t find a good use for a million dollars. Whether you use it to help others or help yourself, there’s always a way to make money do some good. The key to this is making sure it’s real money.

In 2004, a woman in Georgia tried to go shopping at Walmart with a $1,000,000 bill. She attempted to purchase just under $2,000 worth of stuff and fully expected her $998,000 in change. She had two more of the bills on her when police picked her up. 

The woman said her estranged husband, who collects coins, gave her the bills and that you “can’t keep up with the US Treasury,” in regards to why she may have thought they were real. She said she never tried to pass it off as real at all, despite the cashier saying the woman asked for change. She ended up being charged with forgery.

5. A New Hampshire Drive Tried to Pass Off a Cigarette Box as a State Inspection Sticker

In New Hampshire your vehicle needs to pass a state safety and emissions inspection to be legal on the road. You get a sticker to put in your window that proves you’ve been inspected. However, some people either forget to do this or maybe they just don’t pass inspection. It’s unclear which was the case with a driver who tried to pass off a fraud as the real deal back in 2019.

Making a fake sticker may not be that hard to do if you put in some effort but this driver did not. Instead, he wrote some numbers on a box of Camel cigarettes and put that on the car, maybe hoping no one would notice the whole Camel background. 

Regardless of their expectations, police did notice, and the driver was cited for it.

4. Would-Be Pot Dealers Tried to Pretend Vegetables Were Marijuana

Now that marijuana is legal in a number of places you don’t hear quite as much about crimes related to sale and use of it, but they do still happen. It’s unlikely many like this story from 2016 will happen again, but you never know.

In this case, a pair of men selling pot were involved in an assault after their would-be customer realized he wasn’t buying weed from them at all. They were trying to pass off shredded vegetables as marijuana. When the cat, or maybe cabbage, was out of the bag they hit the buyer with a BB gun and stole his money. 

3. Scammers Tried to Commit Insurance Fraud with iPad Made of Ice

Fraud is a dicey game to play and there are many systems in place to detect it at pretty much every level. Committing postal fraud, for instance, is not an easy task at all. And if you were to pull it off, you’d have to do a much better job than the guy who tried to defraud the UK Postal Service in an iPad scam.

The plan was simple and not very good. The scammer filled a box with ice that weighed as much as an iPad. They’d take it to the post office and have it insured as an iPad with the weight of the packaging backing up the claim. Then the ice would melt, and when the empty package was received later, they could claim it was stolen in transit and claim the $4,000 the packages had been insured for.

There were several issues with this scam. First, the guy showed up wet from the already melting ice. He said it was rain, but it wasn’t raining. Then he claimed he couldn’t remember his return address. An hour later, postal employees noticed water pooling around the package and investigated, discovering it was just a box of ice. 

The package was delivered knowing full well what was going on and as soon as an insurance claim was filed, the man and an accomplice were charged with fraud.

2. Chinese Media Posted a Story About Aircraft Carriers That Included Battlestar Galactica Imagery

We already saw Chinese state media play with Top Gun footage claiming it was real, but things didn’t end there. And give that earlier one credit for at least using footage from a highly regarded film that used real pilots and real jets to make convincing action sequences. This story has less going for it.

In 2013, the Japanese language version of a Chinese media site ran a story about trends in the design of aircraft carriers showing off what the future had in store. While the article covered a variety of aspects on technology and advances, the images that were included made use of a design schematic from Battlestar Galactica. Another image was just a concept piece for a floating city by a Dutch designer. There was no reason given this time around or whether or not this was also just chalked up to a mistake.

1. A Man Sold Crack to An Undercover Cop That Turned Out to Be Crushed Pop Tarts

Dealing drugs is a risky business at the best of times, but especially when you get caught up by undercover cops who can use the evidence of the deal to get you prosecuted. So what happens if the evidence isn’t technically of a drug deal?

A North Carolina man was arrested in 2014 after arranging to sell crack to an undercover officer. Instead, he smashed a Pop Tart in a bag and sold that to the cop. The cop tested it and found no traces of drugs but they did arrest him two months after the deal.

Turns out selling fake crack, even if it’s tasty, is still illegal and he was charged with both selling and creating a counterfeit controlled substance.