An hour-long Swiss Radio broadcast in 1967 announced that U.S. astronauts had just landed on the moon ... more than two years before it really happened:
The broadcast (which aired on all German-language Swiss radio stations) began with a news flash interrupting the regularly scheduled show. Listeners heard reports from Swiss radio correspondents in cities around the world, as well as interviews with experts and men in the street. The broadcast also included (prestaged) "technical faults," such as slamming doors and the sound of newscasters running in with late-breaking bulletins.
The announcement generated enormous excitement. Telephone exchanges became jammed as people tried to phone friends to share the news. Even U.S. authorities in Switzerland initially weren't sure if the news was true or false. Americans vacationing in the resort of Klosters staged a huge celebration.
It included some unusual advice, which thousands of listeners dutifully followed. Hoaxes.org fills in the details, as does this contemporary report:
