That ancient astronomer Sir Alfred Patrick Caldwell-Moore, aka just Patrick Moore is one of that odd breed of eccentrics Britain seems to throw up from time to time.
One of his ‘funnies’ was a 1976 jape when he announced on BBC Radio that at exactly 9:47 a.m. next morning the planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter producing an increased ‘gravitational pull’ from space. The result would be that if people jumped into the air they would feel a floating sensation as they came back down to earth. He invited people to try it out and call in with their ‘findings’.
Next morning at 9:47 a.m. hundreds of thousands of people could be found merrily jumping up and down ins streets, parks and gardens all around the UK. Many even phoned the Beeb to tell them the ‘experiment’ had worked.
It was several hours before it was noticed that it was April 1st…. April Fools Day!!
No idea what brought that to mind, but it makes you wonder just how gullible people can be! 😀
The Eclectic Interweb 