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Birds Aren't Real
Sources, historical context and interpretations within documented parodies.
Explore the recordDocumented Parodies and Hoaxes
Documented hoaxes, deliberate inventions and social experiments: identify who made the story and how it spread.
This subject connects several collections. Begin with an individual record, follow the questions it raises, and compare the accounts that use it.
I follow the original record. Dates, names and documents come before reputation or official assurances. Read the files, compare the accounts and examine the connections for yourself.
Research & writing
All research topicsDossier in preparation
Finland conspiracy
Sources, historical context and interpretations within documented parodies.
Explore the recordDossier in preparation
Australia does not exist
Sources, historical context and interpretations within documented parodies.
Explore the recordTopics in this collection
Denied existence
Parodic cosmologies
Satirical Religions and Movements
- Flying Spaghetti Monster pastafarian origin
- Invisible Pink Unicorn atheist satire
- Church of the SubGenius Bob Dobbs
- Discordianism Principia Discordia text
- Dudeism Big Lebowski ordination
- Jediism census-movement phenomenon
- Kopimism file-sharing sacred act
- Temple of the True Inner Light
Social-Experiment Hoaxes
- Sokal Affair physics journal hoax
- Grievance Studies replication scandal
- Balloon Boy Heene family stunt
- War of the Worlds broadcast panic
- Spaghetti Harvest BBC April Fool
- San Serriffe Guardian island spoof
- Dihydrogen monoxide petition experiment
- Ern Malley poetry hoax Australia
Conspiracy Self-Parodies
- Birds Aren't Real satirical movement
- Finland does not exist Reddit origin
- Australia does not exist flat-earth spin
- Bielefeld does not exist German meme
- Wyoming does not exist variant
- Mattress Firm money-laundering meme
- Stevie Wonder is not blind joke
- Ted Cruz Zodiac Killer meme
Media Fabrication Cases
- Janet Cooke Jimmy's World fabrication
- Stephen Glass New Republic scandal
- Jayson Blair New York Times fraud
- Claas Relotius Der Spiegel fabrication
- Jack Kelley USA Today invention
- Jonah Lehrer self-plagiarism fabrication
- Brian Williams helicopter embellishment
- Dan Rather Killian documents
Sources & further reading
All source recordsThe Skeptic's Dictionary
Critical reference resource
The Conspiratory
Editorial resource / source material
Conspiracy Wiki: Finland Does Not Exist
Encyclopedia / topic reference
U.S. National Archives — Research Our Records
Official archival research portal
Library of Congress — Digital Collections
Library catalogue / discovery collection
Europeana — Digital Cultural Heritage
Cultural heritage discovery collection
Gallica — Bibliothèque nationale de France
National-library digital collection
Trove — National Library of Australia
National-library newspaper and archive discovery collection
Collections include research leads. An individual source record describes its role and access status.