Joke

Presenting some of the best all-time hoaxes (at least according to the Museum of Hoaxes), guaranteed to be completely phony, except that they really happened, only they didn't:

Edison Food Machine - In 1878 THE NEW YORK GRAPHIC announced that Thomas Edison had invented a machine that could transform soil into cereal and water into wine, thus ending hunger worldwide. Newspapers across the country reported on the discovery, heaping praises on Edison. THE GRAPHIC later printed one particularly effusive editorial, with the headline, "They Bite!"

English UFO - On March 31, 1989, a glowing flying saucer landed in a field outside London to the horror of residents, who called the police. A small figure in a silver suit emerged from the craft, scaring off at least one policeman.
It turned out that the UFO was a hot-air balloon, intended as an April Fools' joke by Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson, but winds forced him to land a day early.

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest - A 1957 British TV show featured a family of rural Swiss spaghetti farmers, who grew their pasta on trees, a very fertile crop now that the spaghetti weevil had disappeared. British viewers wrote in for tips on how to grow their own spaghetti trees. The BBC replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce."