On April Fools' Day, 1957, 'Panorama', a highly regarded BBC Television current affairs program, carried an unusual news item. Narrated by the distinguished broadcaster, Richard Dimbleby, the report told of the annual spaghetti harvest in Ticino, on the border of Italy and Switzerland. Women were seen picking strands of spaghetti from trees and laying them in the sun to dry. Dimbleby assured the viewers that "there is nothing like real, homegrown spaghetti." Many responded favorably to the humor of the spoof; others complained that a serious program like Panorama should not employ absurd jokes. But many viewers wrote to ask for further details so that they, too, could attend the harvest festival.

Go back to the clever hoax's web page
Go to the coincidence web page
Go to 100 strange but true web page
Go to the amazing stories web page
Go back to the strange but true home page