The Great Pretenders Trivia Quiz

Answer: Taking a fake photo of the Loch Ness monster

Colonel Robert Wilson fooled much of the world for over 50 years with his photo that he purported was the Loch Ness Monster. Studied by experts in the fields of paleontology, cryptozoology, and marine biology, numerous theories came about because of this photo. Photography experts debated over the validity of the photo for decades.

In 1994 90 year old Christian Spurling confessed his involvment in the making of this photo. This photo was of a submarine to which they had attached a sea serpent head. Colonel Wilson had not even taken the photo, which was actually taken by Spurlings step-father, Marmaduke Wetherall. Spurling made the creation, Wetherall took the photo and Wilson served as the 'reliable source' above reproach.

Answer: They gave an award to a restaurant that did not exist

"The Wine Spectator" allows a restaurant to submit their wine list with a $250 entry fee for a chance to receive an "Award of Excellence". In 2008 it came out that Robin Goldstein, author of "The Wine Trials" sent the $250 entrance fee along with the name of a fake restaurant and a fake wine list and was awarded an "Award of Excellence". Goldstein had also made a fake website complete with reviews from fake clientele.

The wine list included several of "The Wine Spectator's" lowest rated wines! He added he got the award as did 3/4 of the "restaurants" who applied.

He admitted that he hoaxed the magazine who regularly hoaxed the public into thinking that their award actually meant something other than that the restaurant had paid $250 for it.

Answer: Howard Hughes

Clifford Irving served 17 months in prison after he sold a manuscript to the publishing company McGraw-Hill that purported to be an authentic autobiography of Howard Hughes. The release of the book was highly publicized. Finally, Howard Hughes contacted the media from his self-imposed seclusion, and insisted that he had never met Clifford Irving and that the whole thing was a scam. Irving, his wife and another cohort in crime were given federal prison sentences.

The reclusive Howard Hughes had always been an enigma and the general population was eager for any scrap of news about him. Had the book actually been published it might have been a bestseller.

Answer: False

C'mon now, think about it. If the Rosetta Stone had been a hoax how would we have been able to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics? Until it was found we had very little understanding of what the ancient Egyptians had to say. It opened a whole new world for archeologists and led to a greater understanding of a great culture. This statement is false.

Answer: A man

Deborah Samson Gannett pretended to be a man and successfully served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under the name of Robert Shurtlieff. Wounded during the war, she refused medical treatment by a doctor and removed the bullet herself so that her secret would not be discovered.

When she was wounded a second time the physician discovered her secret. She was honorably discharged at West Point in 1783. She is one of a very few women documented to have served in battle in this war.

Answer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

When looking at these photographs today it may seem odd to someone that these photos were ever believed to be real. There are a total of five photos that show a young girl with what appear to be small fairies. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an ardent spiritualist, saw these photographs he firmly believed they were real.

The author was such a firm believer that he even wrote a book "The Coming of the Fairies" (1921) which was inspired by the photos. It was not until the 1970's that the photos were firmly proven to be hoax.

The fairies were paper cut-outs from a children's book called "Princess Mary's Gift Book". In 1981, one of the children, by then an elderly woman, confessed that she had traced the fairies from the book and then used hat pins to hold them up while her cousin took the photos.

Answer: Piltdown Man

While all options are hoaxes, Piltdown Man is the correct answer for this question. In 1912 Englishman Charles Dawson claimed to have discovered fragments of a skull and jawbone belonging to an ancient hominid at a gravel pit in Piltdown, East Sussex, England.

The remains, after being scrutinized by local scientists was given the name Eoanthropus dawsoni in honor of the finder Charles Dawson. It was not until 1953 that it was discovered to be a fraud. Dawson had used the jawbone of an orangutan and a modern skull to make the Piltdown Man.

It was one of history's most prominent archeological hoaxes ever.

Answer: Instant sterilization

As unlikely as all these answers sound, Progesterex was reported to have the same effects as Rohypnol and would also cause instant irreversible sterilization. The stories spread all over Great Britain and caused British MP Lynne Featherstone, who believed the stories, to ask a question about the fake drug in Parliament.

The story about the drug was spread via e-mail and versions of the story were also spread around parts of South America and Northern Europe. This drug does not, and has never, existed.

Answer: Hebrew

David Wyrick claimed to have found what have become known as the Newark Holy Stones. These artifacts consist of a stone bowl, a Decalogue with a sandstone box and a keystone. What was so unusual about these ancient Native American artifacts was that they had Hebrew inscriptions.

Some of these carvings referred to the Ten Commandments. The Newark Holy Stones have been viewed with great skepticism ever since they were "found". Many believe this was an attempt to prove that Jewish settlers were in the Americas long before Columbus made his voyage - or that possibly Native Americans were a "lost tribe" of Israel.

These very questionable artifacts can be viewed at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Roscoe Village, Ohio.

Answer: True

Anna Anderson claimed for decades that she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia and had escaped the murder of her family. She may have believed this to be the truth as she exhibited behaviors that may have indicated mental illness throughout her lifetime. DNA testing eliminated Anna Andersen as being related in any manner to the Romanov dynasty.

She still received much media attention and there were many who firmly believed her story. In the end, it is difficult to tell if this was a deliberate hoax or a simple delusion.