Ya know, as much as we all laugh at this, it's kinda sad we're wired to love the outrageous over the truth. Maybe we haven't evolved all that much since 1835 in that regard. Fake news is just age-old human appetite for the incredible, preying on that desire.

Honestly, as a writer, this kind of stuff is GOLD. Bipedal beavers on the Moon write themselves into a story. The blend of myth, misunderstanding of science, and pure imagination is a fertile breeding ground for wacky sci-fi.

Just joined this subreddit and man, what a story to start with! 😮 I mean, how did people even start to believe this, didn't they have telescopes?

Pfft... and you all think this hoax is over? Who's to say those human-bat creatures didn't just get good at hiding? Checkmate, non-believers 😜

I always crack up at old-timey hoaxes like this. It's a mix of clever and completely bonkers. Just shows that sensationalism sells, no matter what century you're in.

People back then were just as gullible as they are now, maybe even more so cuz of less education. But let's give 'em a break, most didn't have access to the kind of info we do now. And it's not like they could Google 'moon creatures' to fact-check 😅

This hoax actually led to a considerable uptick in the Sun's circulation. What's fascinating is that it had a domino effect – scientists were forced to take a stand on the issue, which inadvertently led to public discussions and better engagement with astronomy. Sometimes I wonder if the journalists knew they'd have such an impact on science literacy!

lol unicorns on the moon, why not add some space dragons to the mix? Imagine if this happened today, it'd be all over Twitter with #MoonGate trending 😂