urban legend - The Art of the Prank

From About.com: Urban Legends by David Emery:

Netlore Archive: The Bristol Zoo Parking Attendant

p_involved-200 Email tale about a ‘very pleasant attendant’ who, for 25 years running, showed up every day at Bristol Zoo and collected parking fees from visitors, then one day simply disappeared with all the cash. Turns out no one had ever officially hired a car park attendant for the zoo. The man now lives in a villa in Spain.

Description: Email joke / Urban legend
Circulating since: April 2007
Status: False

Email example contributed by Kenneth D., July 6, 2009:

Fw: A well-planned retirement

From The London Times:

Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England, there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses.

It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars 1 pound (about $1.40) and coaches 5 (about $7).

This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then, one day, he just didn’t turn up for work. Continue reading “The Bristol Zoo Parking Attendant”

Mars will be NOT be huge this August
NewsTimes.com
May 29, 2009

c068mars-atmosphere2-200 Can an urban myth be galactic in its silliness?

Meet the story of giant Mars, coming this August to a night sky near you.

The myth appears in an e-mail that is circulating around the Internet like a comet. It promises that on Aug. 27, Mars will be so close to Earth it will look as big as the full moon. It will be the night of two moons — one white and one red.

“Share this with your children and grandchildren,” the e-mail message says. “NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN.”

Astronomers, hearing this or reading this, can only sigh. They’re confronting the celestial version of the story of how Mikey of the Life cereal ads exploded after eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda. It’s an urban legend. Continue reading “Mars or Your Anus — Which is Bigger?”