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Sometime last year, the news that "Elon Must has built a hotel on Mars and that one has to pay about a million dollars to lodge there by night" was trending on Twitter in my country. A lot of people were talking about it and reposting it on different social media. I came online to see this, and I was immediately shocked at how people would believe this kind of fake news. Some of my friends also fell for the fake news, and I had to take my time to explain why the news was fake.
I told them, "No human has landed on Mars before. The only things that have touched the Mars surface are Rovers sent by space agencies like NASA and ESA.
Many people don't know about space or the solar system, so it was easy to fool them. But this incident made me remember a truly comedic incident that happened on April fools' day "Mars." Every April 1 is regarded as April Fools' Day, and it is an annual event where people make practical jokes or make hoaxes to deceive people. Most times I get to celebrate April Fool's Day at school, and we students tend to prank each other on that day.
But on April Fool's Day 2017, I was already out of high school, and I was at home waiting to get admitted to the university. So I was alone in the house except for my dad. I was thinking of marking April Fool's Day, and there was no other person I played a practical joke on apart from my dad. So I resolved to prank my dad, but the hardest part was what I could prank him with. He is wiser than me, and he was an engineer, so making science tricks won't fool him either.
Then I struck on something: "Lie about Mars." Growing up, I learned a lot of things about science from my dad, and that included space and the solar system. My dad was the first person to tell me about the moon landing in 1969 by Neil Armstrong. But at present, thanks to my mobile device, I have been able to read more about science and get to know some current happenings that my dad doesn't have access to. So I was more current than him on space exploration and science innovations.
So I went to my dad, who was sitting in his reading room, and excitedly said, "Dad, you won't believe the latest news!"
My dad asked, "What is it?"
"Russia has landed humans on the surface of the moon." I sounded as convincingly as I could.
My dad was amazed and began asking, "When, how, and what about the United States of America?"
You know, since the end of the Cold War, the USA has been viewed as the country with the most advanced space technology, so tell me, Dad, that it was Russia that landed man on Mars, which makes the story more interesting.
I started telling my dad the backup story of the Mars landing I had created in my head. And he totally believed it. He was visibly excited throughout the day. I was so happy that I was able to fool him into believing in my hoax. Then, when evening came, I went to meet my dad and told him that I had a confession to make. He was confused, then I spilt the words out.
"Sir, there was no Mars landing; I only wanted to prank you as today is April Fool's Day."
My dad was angry, and he was shocked thatI had made a fool of him. But later, he calmed down and laughed it off. Anytime I still remember that day, I always tell myself that no one on earth that can't be fooled.
Thanks for reading!
