Hoax
From RationalWiki
A hoax is an intentionally perpetrated fraud, as opposed to a misunderstanding, mistake, or even exaggeration over time. In the context of science, hoaxes are intended to either bring fame to otherwise unknown scientists, to discredit another scientist or theory, or to provide "proof" of something that "we just know is right". Science loathes hoaxes, and spends significant resources disproving them, even if the hoax adds weight to a desired argument. Some hoaxes perpetrated within the scientific community include the Piltdown Man and the Tesaday Tribe.
Fundamentalists like to deny everything about scientific authority, so they are adamant about emphasizing all scientific hoaxes of the above kind, even after "science" itself has disproven the hoax. Using the fact that hoaxes have been perpetrated, fundamentalists like to "suggest" that many fully accepted archeological, biological, and other scientific finds are also hoaxes, causing so-called "normal" people to doubt scientific authority.
On the other hand, the opinion that all fundamental religious thought (oxymoron?) is a hoax is a widely held belief in some places.
Urban mythology, New Age studies, cryptozoology, and extraterrestrial obsessions struggle to exist on the fringes of science, and hoaxes are often employed to bring more people into the fold.
