Blogs, Facts, and "I Saw an Article"

The U.S. Navy carrier Lincoln almost ATTACKED a Newfoundland Lighthouse in 1995!!

And I HAVE PROOF!!!

"Divert your course," a Washington blog post, dated August 1, 2005, reveals the ACTUAL TRANSCRIPT, released by CANADIAN AUTHORITIES!

If you don't believe it, a photocopy of an ACTUAL NEWS STORY is posted HERE!!!

This is how it ends:

"AMERICANS: This is the Aircraft CARRIER US LINCOLN, the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied with three Destroyers, three Cruisers and numerous support vessels. I DEMAND that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that's one-five degrees north, or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of his ship.

"CANADIANS: This is a lighthouse. Your call."

THE PRIDE! THE ARROGANCE! WHAT KIND OF BULLYING FOOLS DO WE HAVE IN THE MILITARY?!!!

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Now, take a deep breath, count to ten, and think happy thoughts.

This post, up to the short gray line, is bogus. Only the links are real.

The "Divert your course" link is to a Washing student's blog. State or D.C., he doesn't say. The student may not believe the story: "Divert your course" is in a "jokes" directory.

The graphic may be a joke, too. I'll let you decide, if you're interested. I'm about as certain that it's a fake as I can be about anything. I know that I could put together a "news story" like that, complete with cut-marks and blurry type. It's still a pretty good fake, though.

Snopes discusses this hoax, at "The Obstinate Lighthouse," and the U.S. Navy, "'The Lighthouse Joke'."

Apparently, the USS Coral Sea, USS Missouri (decommissioned on 31 March 1992), and USS Nimitz have been buzzing that lighthouse, too.

With all that traffic, no wonder they need a lighthouse!

I've run into the bogus news article rather frequently when bumping through StumpbleUpon. And I found it on a page on Digg where it appeared in the comments. To be fair, one of the responses to the comment read, "Stop digging this up you idiots...".

Seriously, this is a good example of why bloggers, or anyone else on the Internet, should think a little before believing what they see.

"Trust, but verify" might be a good principle to apply here. The Internet is a gold mine of information, but there's a lot of iron pyrite lying around, too.

I'd say that it's particularly important to verify information when it perfectly backs up your beliefs and is from a source you don't know, or when the story is too good to be true. It probably is.

I enjoy this story, and think that it's a good fable for illustrating hubris.

I may even re-tell it, someday.

But, when I do, I'll be sure to identify it as fiction.

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