The Great Moon Hoax

Record summary

The Great Moon Hoax was a series of six New York Sun articles claiming that astronomer John Herschel had discovered lunar animals, vegetation, temples, and other wonders. It is a useful comparison case for studying how sky imagery, sensational print, and purported scientific authority generated modern legend. The extraordinary observations were fabricated by the newspaper, commonly associated with Richard Adams Locke, although authorship and intent have been discussed. The episode is not evidence for lunar life; it documents nineteenth-century media production and circulation of a celestial narrative.