The dark art of hoax aircraft pictures
I’m writing this as I read with dismay some of the theorizing going on in relation to the latest hoax picture of a PLAAF stealth-deadly.
I’ve previously made a small number of hoaxes. Never as widely publicized or as convincing as some, but got a few people going along the way.
The main reason I started doing them is purely egotistical; because I can. I was also motivated by sheer bewilderment at the gullible, unworldly and conspiracy theory hatching forumites which afflict most military discussion boards. And a healthy but devious sense of humour too.
Let me next say that I think such hoaxes serve some useful purposes. They split the wheat from the chaff of forums. They also amuse.
But I am only too aware of the negative aspects. Hoaxes are a form of deceit; they play on peoples gullibility and sometimes feed off a genuine desire to learn and so impeding that learning. And they tend to fuel the foolhardy nationalism and/or conspiracy theories which infest our communities.
My last point is because of this; the hoaxer’s audience varies greatly depending on nationality alleged in the hoax picture (/article). A new fighter plane in PLAAF colours gets much more interest than retouching a photo of a Flanker into Latvian colours. Successful hoaxes surround sexy stealthy fighters not un-sexy transport aircraft etc. I learnt all this the hard way.
My main mistake, aside from not really spreading my hoaxes, was that I chose the wrong country. I chose Iran because I figured many Americans see Iran as their next enemy and because Iran has a secretive and inventive indigenous aircraft programme. But I misjudged because the Iran watchers of this world are mostly well informed and balanced, substanceless pictures are candy and easily rejected by objective people. And the Iranian boards are presumably written in whatever language Iran speaks -I need English speaking communities.
Had I picked to make a hoax Chinese, Indian or Pakistani aircraft(s) I’d have got more coverage.
The inspirational hoax, if you can call it that, was the alleged Russian nuclear-powered bomber of the 50s. It appeared in a respected US aviation magazine just when the American public was ripe for cold war intrigue. The key trick to this hoax (although it may have been more a genuine mistake?) was that the aircraft depicted was indeed a Russian bomber, albeit never to reach production (?). So the picture wasn’t a fake. But it was not nuclear powered. Whether the US military fell for the article, or whether they merely saw the hysteria it created as beneficial and so didn’t correct the public misconception is open to debate.
So I’m a reformed hoaxer. This link is to my first hoax design: http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/6052/hoaxplanetrainer7an.jpg
And here’s how I constructed it: http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/3904/hoaxplane9nh.jpg
(not as attachments as the attachment memory of my account is painfully inadequate, hint)
That drawing is rather unambitious; it has a plain background. I made it with MS paint. My hope was that people might start theorizing how it was a new Iranian advanced trainer. I forgot that trainers aren’t sexy and aside from some ludicrous suggestions on strategy pages, not much interest –lesson learnt.
So next I moved on to better hoaxes.
To be continued, provided people want to hear.
I’m writing this as I read with dismay some of the theorizing going on in relation to the latest hoax picture of a PLAAF stealth-deadly.
I’ve previously made a small number of hoaxes. Never as widely publicized or as convincing as some, but got a few people going along the way.
The main reason I started doing them is purely egotistical; because I can. I was also motivated by sheer bewilderment at the gullible, unworldly and conspiracy theory hatching forumites which afflict most military discussion boards. And a healthy but devious sense of humour too.
Let me next say that I think such hoaxes serve some useful purposes. They split the wheat from the chaff of forums. They also amuse.
But I am only too aware of the negative aspects. Hoaxes are a form of deceit; they play on peoples gullibility and sometimes feed off a genuine desire to learn and so impeding that learning. And they tend to fuel the foolhardy nationalism and/or conspiracy theories which infest our communities.
My last point is because of this; the hoaxer’s audience varies greatly depending on nationality alleged in the hoax picture (/article). A new fighter plane in PLAAF colours gets much more interest than retouching a photo of a Flanker into Latvian colours. Successful hoaxes surround sexy stealthy fighters not un-sexy transport aircraft etc. I learnt all this the hard way.
My main mistake, aside from not really spreading my hoaxes, was that I chose the wrong country. I chose Iran because I figured many Americans see Iran as their next enemy and because Iran has a secretive and inventive indigenous aircraft programme. But I misjudged because the Iran watchers of this world are mostly well informed and balanced, substanceless pictures are candy and easily rejected by objective people. And the Iranian boards are presumably written in whatever language Iran speaks -I need English speaking communities.
Had I picked to make a hoax Chinese, Indian or Pakistani aircraft(s) I’d have got more coverage.
The inspirational hoax, if you can call it that, was the alleged Russian nuclear-powered bomber of the 50s. It appeared in a respected US aviation magazine just when the American public was ripe for cold war intrigue. The key trick to this hoax (although it may have been more a genuine mistake?) was that the aircraft depicted was indeed a Russian bomber, albeit never to reach production (?). So the picture wasn’t a fake. But it was not nuclear powered. Whether the US military fell for the article, or whether they merely saw the hysteria it created as beneficial and so didn’t correct the public misconception is open to debate.
So I’m a reformed hoaxer. This link is to my first hoax design: http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/6052/hoaxplanetrainer7an.jpg
And here’s how I constructed it: http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/3904/hoaxplane9nh.jpg
(not as attachments as the attachment memory of my account is painfully inadequate, hint)
That drawing is rather unambitious; it has a plain background. I made it with MS paint. My hope was that people might start theorizing how it was a new Iranian advanced trainer. I forgot that trainers aren’t sexy and aside from some ludicrous suggestions on strategy pages, not much interest –lesson learnt.
So next I moved on to better hoaxes.
To be continued, provided people want to hear.
: , I don't mind cause sometimes it is fun. There's a finite line in creating hoaxes on how far should it go. I guess if the hoaxe clearly shows that you intension is to make fun of other people, then the situation will get worse rapidly.
