Ian Jackson wrote:
In message
,

.

Gee, the date on that story was April 1, 2008. Could that be a clue?

I'm sure that everyone DID realise what the date was, and were simply
going along with the joke to see how many more of the gullible could be
drawn in before the myth imploded. However, these days, you can never
REALLY be sure that these things aren't in fact true.

For humor to work, it must be based on some level of truth.