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For Real Things I Know: The ridiculousness of anecdotal evidence

For Real Things I Know

Fine-art digital photography, liberal hard left-leaning politics, and personal mindspace of Solomon

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Friday, April 01, 2005

The ridiculousness of anecdotal evidence

Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time:
#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

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