The hoax was the brainchild of BBC cameraman Charles de Jaeger, inspired by a childhood memory of Austrian teachers joking that their students were gullible enough to believe spaghetti grew on trees. He filmed the segment in March 1957 near Lake Lugano, Switzerland, using real uncooked spaghetti hung from the branches of laurel trees and hiring local women in traditional dress to act as harvesters. The report was narrated by the trusted, heavyweight broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, whose serious to

In 1971, publishers were fooled by one of the biggest hoaxes in literary history – a fake autobiography of the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes by conman Clifford Irving. Witness History | Listen on BBC Sounds #howardhughes | BBC Radio 4