The Great Spaghetti Tree Hoax

The great spaghetti tree hoax of April Fools' Day 1957 was broadcast on the BBC news on that day and fooled thousands of people worldwide.

The 3 minute clip was the brainchild of Panorama cameraman Charles de Jaeger and the voice-over was done by respected and totally trusted BBC broadcaster Richard Dimbleby who was like Americas' Walter Cronkite and had given straight and accurate news reports his entire career.

When this famous 3-minute hoax report was broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 Dimblebys' faithful audience was astounded to learn that spaghetti actually grew on trees.

See that famous report here........... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ugSKW4-QQ

I was only a child when the BBC broadcast that, but I remember it well. It caused quite a fuss.

Remind me of a Charity Fund raiser we did in the 70s - Save the Skeet Campaign. We either told them we had permission to capture a wild skeet, so that they could see one at the Fund rasing Dinner.

All moneys went to a childrens charity, whose main Fund Raiser these days is one of teh whackiest Car rallies you'll ever see. It has one rule - "Don't Get Caught Cheating".

That must have been the original days of the Bash. Still going strong

Like their other catchphrase "Heaps of fun you'll never remember, with mates you'll never forget".

Most likely. I used to run as radio base for them, adn even helped one car cheat all during the event. A London Taxi crew paid us to make sure his times were just quicker than the real quickest car. Of course the money went back to the Charity, and he admitted to what he had done wyhen b eing presented with the trophey.

That year, one cop was even fining the entrants for "Not Speeding" - as arranged with the organizers.

I miss doing that, there were fun events.