AUDIO

This is another part in our series on great jokes and hoaxes. Find out the truth behind a best-selling novel, and about a primitive tribe that hadn’t been touched by civilisation.

The Volcano

In 1980, a news channel in Boston ended with a special announcement: a 200 metre hill in Massachusetts had erupted. In a dramatic voice, the newsreader told listeners that lava was running down on nearby homes. An out-of-date audio tape was played of President Carter and the Governor of Massachusetts declaring it a “serious situation”.

At the end of the news report, the presenter actually held up a sign that read “It’s only a joke” but it was too late. People all over the state made frantic phone calls to the local authorities. One man, believing that his house would soon be destroyed, had carried his sick wife outside in order to escape. The Milton police continued to receive phone calls well into the night. Channel 7 was so embarrassed by the reaction that they apologised the next day for the confusion; and the executive producer responsible for the prank was fired.