Page Content (OCR)
i 107 jUFO hoaxes On July 2, 1950, a young couple was fishing at Steep Rock Lake in Ontario, Canada, when they noticed a “large shiny object” floating on the far shoreline. Several 4-foot-tall figures stood on top of the craft. One of the figures pulled out a strange green hose and began to suck water out of the lake and into the craft. After several minutes, the figures returned into the craft, and the object took off. An amaz-ing case, by any standards. In fact, the account was a sensation, and later made it into several popular UFO books. The only problem is, it never happened. It turns out that the entire story was made up as a joke. Like many hoaxes, events escalated and quickly got out of control before the hoax could be revealed. 44 As the “Steep Rock Hoax” case shows, UFO investigation can be a tricky business. Anybody can claim to have encountered a UFO. But how do investigators know who is telling the truth? Is it possible that some UFO reports are the results of hoaxes? Of course, some UFO reports are generated by pranksters. What many people don’t realize is that UFO hoaxes can be very damaging to the field of UFO research for several reasons. First, they waste the valuable time of UFO researchers as they are forced to track down the truth. Second, they pollute the field with false information and divert attention away from genuine cases. Finally, they result in the public 7