Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Less than one year
This page lists hoaxes on Wikipedia which were extant for at least one month but less than one year . They were removed from the main page Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia to keep its length manageable.
This page covers only hoaxes which were not covered by reliable, independent sources. For the opposite, see the main list.
For many of the below hoaxes, you can see an archived version of the deleted article by clicking on its title (see also list of archived hoaxes). Any administrator can create an archived version of a hoax upon request by following the instructions on the main page at Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia.
| Hoax | Length | Start Date | End Date | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliquota (CSD) Fictitious reptile, based on the lede of an old revision of Lion |
11½ months | October 19, 2006 | October 11, 2007 | ||
| Oliver Bayley (CSD) Fictitious Ugandan entertainer |
11½ months | January 2, 2005 | December 15, 2005 | ||
| The birthplace and childhood home of swimmer Michael Phelps was anonymously changed from a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, to a Utah location. | 11½ months | October 13, 2009 | September 22, 2010 | Added: 1 2 Removed and corrected: 1 2 | |
| Taurens Fictitious genus of jumping spiders |
11 months | September 8, 2012 | August 24, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Taurens | |
| Egyptian Third Republic Egyptian Fourth Republic Egyptian Fifth Republic |
11 months | July 11, 2013 | June 15, 2014 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egyptian Third Republic, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egyptian Fourth Republic, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egyptian Fifth Republic | |
| Amberlihisar Fictitious Ottoman fortress in Turkey. |
11 months | January 2, 2023 | December 4, 2023 | Speedy deleted as "G3: Blatant hoax". The article was found to have been fully written by ChatGPT, with a slate of fictitious sources. It's not clear if the original author was aware that the subject did not exist, but the article passed AfC. WikiProject AI Cleanup was formed shortly after the article was deleted. | |
| Avlor Landić de Hazelrof Imaginary Croatian who sailed to China as a boy after his parents were murdered, met numerous revolutionary leaders and became a noted Marxist economist, known for his socioeconomic predictive system that was based on Chinese astrology. |
11 months | August 11, 2011 | July 4, 2012 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Avlor Landić de Hazelrof Also made it into the French Wikipedia, where it was likewise deleted. | |
| Tiberius Lowang Fictitious Abo-Teni history And several others |
11 months | June 21, 2005 | May 16, 2006 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tiberius Lowang, Hoax content added to Abo-Teni | |
| In the Night Garden Cameron O'Donovan added as actor for 'Makka Pakka' |
11 months | June 12, 2007 | May 7, 2008 | Talk:In the Night Garden/Archive 1#Lol.2C i fooled everyone | |
| Under Surfing | 10½ months | June 9, 2008 | April 25, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Under Surfing | |
| World Tag Fighting Society | 10½ months | June 9, 2008 | April 24, 2009 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/World Tag Fighting Society | |
| Fermat differentiation (PROD) | 10½ months | February 13, 2009 | January 2, 2010 | ||
| La'kalai language and Aru'kiruna Pacific islanders | 10½ months | March 4, 2009 | January 9, 2010 | ||
| Porchesia (CSD) An island that never existed |
10½ months | November 22, 2005 | September 30, 2006 | Resurrected and refined on Uncyclopedia as the basis for a featured article. | |
| Ox of Boll (AfD) | 10 months | October 28, 2005 | August 29, 2006 | Pun on bollox | |
| Principality of Estland (AfD) | 10 months | January 2, 2007 | November 4, 2007 | Mirror | |
| Stewart Lee "In 1992, Lee was briefly part of the team writing the first Robin Askwith "Confessions of..." movie for 15 years. However due to financial problems the movie was scrapped and his script has never seen light of day". A typo was fixed but this unsourced "fact" was not removed until it was highlighted by the comedy website Chortle |
10 months | April 25, 2011 | February 23, 2012 | [1] | |
| Plano Mall (AfD) | 9½ months | August 20, 2009 | June 2, 2010 | ||
| Omar Q. Beckins (AfD) | 9½ months | April 15, 2005 | February 1, 2006 | ||
| Lukatwi (G3) fictitious music genre |
9½ months | October 4, 2010 | July 13, 2011 | ||
| Rahim Abdul bin Kajaran (AfD) Said to have become President of Brunei after deposing the Sultan |
9½ months | February 14, 2009 | November 17, 2009 | Linked article United Democratic Movement (Brunei) about his political party. | |
| Climbing jack (AfD) Probably an April Fools' joke |
9½ months | April 1, 2005 | January 5, 2006 | ||
| Cayley-Newbirth operation matrix Non-existent mathematical concept |
8½ months | April 4, 2004 | December 22, 2004 | VfD. Pun on birth, operation, matrix | |
| Fungu'lu (CSD) Fictitious span (length) entry |
8½ months | April 7, 2005 | December 15, 2005 | Mirror, discussion | |
| Stephen Thanabalan Brief biography of a Singaporean, apparently with the same name as a real person, but attributed to doing various things that didn't happen via appearances in other articles (listed on the AfD talk page). |
8½ months | April 3, 2006 | December 24, 2006 | AfD. | |
| Napkin Falsely claimed to be invented by a "Madam Rebecca Waltemath"; the perpetrator later admitted that Rebecca Waltemath was the name of his room-mate.[1] |
8 months | March 15, 2010[2] | November 22, 2010[3] | As of 2014, a search for "Madam Rebecca Waltemath" still reveals restaurant supply companies[4] having copied the hoax. | |
| Dav Sorado Fictitious Major League Baseball pitcher with Miami Marlins; some details are name-change plagiarism of Scott McGough. |
1 month | May 12, 2013 | June 14, 2013 | ||
| Łiesand Dunin (AFD) Ficitious Polish author and naturalist |
7½ months | September 2009 | May 7, 2010 | "Lies and done in". | |
| Dugenbed (AfD) | 7½ months | July 30, 2009 | March 20, 2010 | ||
| Vadym Meshkurinho (AfD) | 7½ months | July 28, 2008 | March 13, 2009 | ||
| Quazer Beast (AfD) | 7½ months | October 3, 2005 | May 17, 2006 | WP:BEAST | |
| A1 Steak Sauce Hoax ingredient list, including mango chutney and orange marmalade |
7 months | June 29, 2010 | February 2, 2011 | Removed in this edit | |
| CN English Nonexistant TV channel |
7 months | July 4, 2012 | February 2, 2013 | Program listing included "YouTube Poop" and copy-pasted material from an old draft of Spacetoon Archived version of hoax | |
| Comprehensive Corporate Power (VfD) previously survived a VfD, embarrassingly |
7 months | April 22, 2004 | November 25, 2004 | Userfication | |
| Tuba (mythology) (AfD) Fictitious mythical Mongolian animal |
7 months | May 2006 | December 2006 | ||
| Harrald Impchkin (AfD) Fictitious mayor of Baltimore, also incorporated into List of mayors of Baltimore, Maryland[2] and Template:BaltimoreMayors[3] |
7 months | July 2, 2009 | January 29, 2010 | ||
| Lachlan Crompton syndrome (G3) Fake medical condition |
7 months | August 9, 2009 | March 13, 2010 | ||
| Pretraumatic stress disorder (G1) Fake medical condition |
7 months | October 17, 2007 | May 10, 2008 | ||
| Express Yourself (Madonna song) Reference to fake article: • Rowsdoom, Charlotte (1989-07-23). "Est-ce que Madonna version Express Yourself aux fans français?". Le Parisien. 143. Éditions Philippe Amaury. ISSN 1161-5435. There is no such person as Charlotte Rowsdoom. The supposed article's title isn't even perfect French. Author was blocked for fabricating sources. |
7 months | August 3, 2011 | February 28, 2012 | The hoax version. Also used in: • fr:Express Yourself Discussion of citation problems. | |
| Leibniz differential and Leibniz function | 6½ months | February 5, 2009 | August 17, 2009 | ||
| Death bird (AfD) Fictitious mythical Aztec creature |
6½ months | October 15, 2007 | April 23, 2008 | ||
| Helleneologism (G7) | 6 months | October 2, 2006 | April 1, 2007 | Userfication | |
| McCoy Gibbs as early member of Hot Chelle Rae | 5½ months | July 22, 2012 | January 10, 2013 |
| |
| Rainy Lake in Lolo National Forest is so named because rain has never fallen on it. The lake will dry up by 2013. | 5½ months | January 5, 2012 | June 26, 2012 | http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Lolo_National_Forest&oldid=489531608 | |
| Demomotus (VfD) | 5½ months | May 4, 2004 | October 12, 2004 | ||
| Tuatafa Hori (G4) Fictitious princess of Sigave |
5½ months | April 20, 2006 | October 10, 2006 | ||
| Indochine as household appliance | 5 months | October 29, 2003 | March 30, 2004 | Mirror | |
| Cytaria (G3) | 5 months | January 2009 | June 2009 | ||
| Top of the Klass with Mylene Klass (AfD) Included an account of a fictitious scandal involving a real person; references were added to several other articles [4][5][6][7] |
4½ months | April 28, 2010 | September 18, 2010 | Mirror, Article from UKGameshows.com, Discussion at Bother's Bar | |
| Sailor Toadstool (AfD) Supposedly the name of a Sailor Moon and Super Mario Bros. crossover |
4½ months | January 1, 2005 | May 22, 2005 | [8] | |
| Fictitious Yves Gérard biography | 4½ months | December 31, 2007 | May 19, 2008 | Mirror, discussion | |
| Sean Koo (CSD) | 4½ months | November 8, 2005 | March 27, 2006 | ||
| Establishment of Juba, Sudan, by Greeks | 4½ months | September 30, 2005 | February 16, 2006 | Summary | |
| John Seigenthaler Sr. hoax | 4 months | May 26, 2005 | September 22, 2005 | ||
| Blanchard, North Dakota A claim that the community held a Tommy Wiseau festival, and that during the festival, the residents are only allowed to speak in phrases used in the movie The Room. |
4 months | April 2, 2021 | August 2, 2021 | Addition and removal | |
| Edits by Roylee (RFC) | 4 months | December 2004 | April 2005 | ||
| Kemakmuran | 4 months | September 22, 2012 | January 21, 2013 | Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Kemakmuran | |
| First Order of Ailuros A religious cult, cut-and-pasted from Branch Davidian: "locals of the Philadelphia area describe attacks from Panda-like apparitions" |
4 months | February 4, 2016 | June 7, 2016 | ||
| Raconteur, Pennsylvania (CSD) Fictional town |
4 months | December 24, 2006 | April 28, 2007 | Pun on raconteur | |
| 2 months | May 14, 2007 | July 13, 2007 | |||
| Uqbar A Middle Eastern place in a 1940 short story, fictional even within the story. One of the earliest hoaxes to have been debunked. |
3½ months | November 6, 2003 | February 23, 2004 | Old version showing hoax. See Uqbar for more information. | |
| Hannah Quick Article with fake references by MadameYLion (talk · contribs) about a fictitious female pirate. |
3½ months | July 14, 2010 | October 24, 2010 | ||
| Samantha Wreschner Article with fake references by MadameYLion (talk · contribs) about a fictitious female serial killer. |
3½ months | July 15, 2010 | October 24, 2010 | ||
| Edits by Wonderfool (AN) | 3 months | August 2005 | November 2005 | ||
| Fictitious limelight etymology | 3 months | January 26, 2005 | April 22, 2005 | Mirror | |
| "Oh Father" Reference to fake article: • Zollo, Paul (May 1989). "Madonna on her turbulence". SongTalk. 10 (5). Mortimer Zuckerman: 21. Paul Zollo wrote no such article title, and the volume and issue are not in keeping with the magazine's normal series. Author was blocked for fabricating sources. |
3 months | November 24, 2011 | February 21, 2012 | The hoax version. Also used in: • Keep It Together (Madonna song) • fr:Keep It Together • fr:Oh Father Discussion of citation problems. | |
| Saint Wallace (G3) Name-change plagiarism of Saint Christopher |
3 months | January 28, 2009 | April 24, 2009 | ||
| The Ley of Lothwell and Lupocaan (AfD) Fictitious Old English poem. Two versions of the text were also included. |
3 months | December 7, 2005 | March 3, 2006 | ||
| Gurjit Gill (PROD) Came from Articles for Creation |
2½ months | February 2008 | April 28, 2008 | ||
| Weasel Thomas (PROD) Returned after a pathetic AfD |
2½ months | December 2007 | February 27, 2008 | ||
| Navarro's Original Taco Filling (AfD) Fictitious food and company |
2½ months | August 2, 2006 | October 23, 2006 | ||
| Statement that Italian soccer player Damiano Tommasi was an expert noted for "in-depth knowledge and appreciation" of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard | 2½ months | December 7, 2008 | February 26, 2009 | Added, removed; hoax came to light in an interview with AS Roma club blog laroma24.it, when a reporter asked a very surprised Tommasi about his interest in Kierkegaard. | |
| Township of Asstree, Alabama (AfD) Fictional township |
2½ months | July 25, 2006 | October 12, 2006 | Asstree, Alabama (G1) | |
| Fictitious Llanddewi Rhydderch history Original article lasting 3 months |
2½ months | July 2, 2007 | September 15, 2007 | Mirror | |
| Another David Rockefeller, Jr. Readded 3rd time by "Davidjrrockefeller" |
2½ months | December 28, 2008 | March 17, 2009 | Mirror at Sr. Mirror at Jr. | |
| Wayne Kerr Real rugby player's nickname was listed as "Tosser", supposedly in reference to his throwing ability, but likely in a reference to masturbation (see wanker) |
2½ months | September 20, 2011 | December 12, 2011 | removed | |
| Belton Knapp"The origin of Belton Knapp is lost in mystery" – small wonder, as this hamlet near Cheltenham was a fiction | 2½ months | May 7, 2009 | July 19, 2009 | Mirror | |
| Teothuauci (AfD) | 2½ months | June 9, 2005 | August 18, 2005 | Pun on TEOTWAWKI | |
| Gray McKenzie (AfD) Fraudulent "Global Asset Management" company. |
2 months | May 29, 2010 | August 7, 2010 | This hoax article was created to provide credibility for a serious scam in which people lost money. Also
deleted in :de. See warnings about the scam (in German): 1 (which refers to the WP article) 2 An allied scam article, Hill Philipp & Associates Corp., was deleted within hours. | |
| Empire of Luxembourg (AfD) Fictitious Medieval "empire" that existed for less than one year. |
2 months | April 25, 2014 | June 30, 2014 | ||
| Jonathan L. Langer (AfD) | 2 months | October 19, 2010 | December 26, 2010 | ||
| Office for Entrepreneurs' Relief (AfD) Fictitious British government department |
2 months | February 23, 2009 | May 2, 2009 | ||
| Claim in Legality of cannabis by country (now only Legality of cannabis) that cannabis was fully legal in Bangladesh. It may have been in good faith, but the source provided did not explicitly claim legality. | 2 months | November 29, 2015 | January 31, 2016 | added description and source added removed | |
| Gadget Boy (2013 TV series) Purported 2013 revival of a 1990s Inspector Gadget spinoff |
2 months | October 17, 2012 | December 15, 2012 | References to the series on other Inspector Gadget-related articles also went untouched for 2 months. And another attempted revival occurs here. | |
| Phantom Agents (animated series) (AFD) Another purported revival, this time of an obscure 1960s Japanese live-action show |
2 months | October 18, 2012 | December 17, 2012 | And tries to re-appear here | |
| Battle of Exakameron (AfD) | 2 months | February 14, 2010 | April 11, 2010 | Supposed battle in East Africa | |
| Tom Prescillo Fictitious Scottish actor, with references and picture of other people. |
1½ months | December 21, 2013 | February 19, 2014 | ||
| "Nosh-u-want" as one of multiple synonyms for "potluck", inserted by anon-IP 18 Feb 2012 [9], flagged as suspect on talk page 28 March 2012. A Way with Words unmasked this as a hoax on public radio 12 Jan 2013, claiming to have removed the vandalism. | 1½ months | February 18, 2012 | March 28, 2012 | Dish-to-Pass Supper, A Way with Words, Jan 2013 | |
| Nicktoons: Pacmarangs (PROD) Jetix Le Shorts (PROD) Nicktoons: Dark Snap (PROD) The Puppet and the Hare (PROD) |
1½ months | March 7, 2008 | April 28, 2008 | ||
| Mama Mo Yeah Nonexistent short story, supposedly written by Guy de Maupassant. |
1½ months | December 7, 2012 | February 2, 2013 | ||
| Claim that Margaret Thatcher is fictitious Even while ostensibly labeled as a hoax |
1½ months | May 8, 2008 | June 26, 2008 | Mirror | |
| Wakstbaak Saakkinkrak (G3) | 1½ months | August 29, 2008 | October 15, 2008 | Pun on waxed back, sack, and crack | |
| Senate Document No. 43 (AfD) | 1½ months | May 15, 2006 | June 30, 2006 | ||
| Hannibal Fogg Creation of an article with faked references, as well as methodical insertion of Hannibal Fogg name in other Wikipedia articles by BarnardKnox (talk · contribs) (there is a fake Hannibal Fogg Society online, registered to Jason Webster and Tahir Shah according to Whois) |
1½ months | August 27, 2009 | October 12, 2009 | Discussion on Durova's talk page Article on mirrorsites, archive Hannibal Fogg Watch (case documentation and background) | |
| Claim that William A. Breyer, founder of Breyers ice cream, was the grandfather of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. | 1 month | February 2, 2010 | March 7, 2010 | Mirror | |
| Edward Owens (hoax) A hoax article written by university students as a class project, revealed as a hoax a month later and retained on Wikipedia after two deletion debates with no consensus at to whether is was a notable hoax. A third originally resulted in deletion before being overturned |
1 month | November 18, 2008 | December 18, 2008 | Revived as an article on the hoax itself at Edward Owens hoax | |
| Madonna: Like an Icon Reference to fake article: • Jansen, Christina (2008-01-05). "Meeting the Woman behind She-Bop". People. 581 (50). Time Inc.: 21–22. ISSN 0093-7673. Christina Jansen is a photographer, not a writer. There is no such article title, and the volume and issue are not in keeping with the magazine's normal series. Author was blocked for fabricating sources. |
1 month | January 12, 2012 | February 15, 2012 | The hoax version. Discussion of citation problems. | |
| Fraser (surname) The ancient Scottish clan name of Fraser was listed for five weeks as being of Ashkenazi Jewish origin and most commonly found in Israel and Eastern Europe. |
1 month | January 22, 2019 | February 25, 2019 | ||
| Claim that "chudweed" was a common name for Bidens hyperborea. This hoax caused a small edit war leading to the page becoming protected for one week. |
9 hours, 9 minutes | June 13, 2024 | June 13, 2024 | ||
| Claim that a member of Bilk (band) left after being implicated in a Jamaican corned beef theft | 1 month | April 1, 2024 | April 30, 2024 | added, removed after edit warring Featured on Depths of Wikipedia before being retracted |
|
| Claim that Walter Breen was the author of Clifford the Big Red Dog | 5 hours, 42 minutes | November 13, 2024 | November 13, 2024 | added, removed |
- ^ http://objectivistliving.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14525&page=2
- ^ http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Napkin&diff=next&oldid=345334268
- ^ http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Napkin&diff=398261788&oldid=397141889
- ^ https://www.crs-online.ca/sagro/storefront/store.php?mode=browsecategory&category=231