History's Greatest Hoaxes

Ray Santilli's fake footage of a Roswell-era alien autopsy convinced many people in the 1990s that it was real. Hear how this hoax took hold and was ultimately exposed.

Ancient plesiosaur, natural phenomena or hoax? Find out as the grainy image taken in 1934 of what appears to be a huge creature in Loch Ness is scrutinised.

The apparent discovery of Hitler's diaries in 1983 caused a sensation - but they were in fact the work of forger Konrad Kujau. This sophisticated hoax is revisited.

Hear how Orson Welles' infamous radio adaptation of the HG Wells classic convinced millions of Americans that Earth really was being invaded by aliens from Mars.

Hear how a best-selling book written by Henri Charrierre, which told of his life on a penal colony island in French Guiana, was exposed as mostly fiction.

The discovery of a skull and jawbone in 1912 fooled many people into thinking the 'missing link' between ape and man had been found. Hear how this devious hoax unfolded.