Top 10 Net Hoaxes/Urban Legends of 2001
2001 roster of the most popular, most infamous and most annoying hoaxes and legends of the year
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THOSE WHO predicted doom and gloom for the start of the new millennium weren't far off, as it turned out, though for the most part, because of an arithmetical error (calculating the beginning of the millennium at 2000 instead of 2001), they had the year wrong. In any case, 2001 won't be soon forgotten, mainly due to the lingering horror of what are now euphemistically referred to as "the events of September 11."
Along with the horror came new folklore - rumors, urban legends and hoaxes, so many and so widespread in such a short space of time that were we to compile a Top 10 list based on circulation alone it would consist entirely of items related to the terrorist attacks.
This list is not scientific, then, nor definitive. It is largely based on popularity, but tempered subjectively to arrive at a reasonable sampling of the whole range of topics deemed folklore-worthy over the course of one very long year.
Here, for your edification and pleasure, is our adjusted-for-terrorism list of the Top 10 Net Hoaxes, Rumors and Urban Legends of 2001:
1. Nostradamus Prophesied the World Trade Center Attack
Circulating within 24 hours of the terror attacks of September 11, this "prophecy" attributed to 16th-century seer Nostradamus was soon to become the most-forwarded email of 2001. It was spooky because it seemed - properly "interpreted" - to predict not only the WTC tragedy, but the advent of World War III. Trouble was, Nostradamus didn't write it. A college student did.
2. The Tourist Guy
His was one of the most recognizable faces of 2001, right up there with G.W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. The nerdy "Tourist Guy," posing obliviously for a snapshot on the observation deck of one of the World Trade Center towers as a wayward jetliner loomed in the background, popped up on computer screens in every corner of the world in the weeks following the terrorist attacks. The photo was quickly debunked as a product of Photoshop wizardry, but all the skepticism in the world couldn't dent the popularity of this timely sick joke and its many parodies.
3. Warning: Halloween Terror Attacks on Shopping Malls
If Phase One of September 11 folklore was largely about explaining and coping with the tragedy, Phase Two was about fear: What would happen next? Authorities warned of further attacks but could provide no specifics, creating an information vacuum soon to be filled by rumors. Among the earliest and most widespread was the claim that someone's boyfriend of Arab descent had mysteriously disappeared before the terror attacks, leaving behind a letter with this chilling warning: "Don't fly on airplanes on September 11 and don't go to any shopping malls on Halloween." The FBI said the warning lacked credibility, but it squelched the Halloween plans of many families and businesses across the U.S. just the same.
4. The Klingerman Virus (and Variants)
This 2000-vintage email hoax alleging that fatal viruses or other "deadly substances" are being sent to random households via packages in the mail seemed laughable before September 11; not so afterward, when real cases of anthrax were found to be caused by spores sent in anonymous letters to government offices. Though still a hoax, the recycled "Klingerman Virus" warnings both reflected and compounded public fears surrounding terrorism and the safety of the mail, making it one of the most virulent rumors of 2001.
5. Snowball, the Giant Mutant Cat of Ontario
Strange that a hoax should be remembered fondly, but the photostory of Roger Dedagne and his 87-pound housecat, the progeny of kittens retrieved from an abandoned nuclear facility, hearkens back to a more innocent time - only a few months ago. This one was just for laughs - no dire warnings, no doom and gloom, just a sweet, preposterous tale of a man and his beloved mutant pet.
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