English astronomer Sir Patrick Myr decided to prank the whole country on April 1. In 1976 he broadcast on the BBC and announced that exactly at 9:47 Pluto will pass right behind Jupiter relative to Earth. And this phenomenon will sharply reduce gravity on Earth! Myr said that if people at that moment are slightly lifted – they will feel as if they are floating in the air. They will be overwhelmed by a feeling of weightlessness! “You will experience a strange feeling of swimming,” the astronomer declared. And emphasized that this is the famous “Jupiter‑Pluto effect”.

Of course, it was a joke. I think that even if you have no physical education, you will roughly understand how insignificant this gravitational effect is. Myr wanted not only to amuse but also to attract the public’s attention to the question of the planet’s fall. And, more precisely, to the fact that all this has no significance in the scale of the Solar System and its effect is exaggerated.

But Myr achieved the exact opposite effect. The British actually believed him! For most people this sounded reasonable. Moreover, the famous astronomer also announced it on the BBC! The reliability of the information source was overridden by the absurdity of the claim. The BBC then reported that they received a huge number of calls from people all over the country. All of them rushed to share their unusual gravitational experience! People recounted how they floated and flew in the air. And how they felt such lightness throughout their whole body!