Hoaxes

Congratulations to balloon boy for being part of a widely known and discredited hoax! Let's look at other winners of this distinction shall we?

My personal favorite is the 1938 broadcast of War of the worlds by Orson Welles. The 2012 apocalypse theories are not proven hoaxes but c'mon people... really?
William H. Mumler took spirit portraits in the 1860's. He was brought to trial for fraud in April, 1969.