RSS Feed (xml)
| Summary of the eRumor: The story says that the Boeing Company is developing a radical new passenger jetliner that will carry 1,000 passengers. It's designated the 797 and is a "blended wing" design looking a lot like the old flying wing experiments of the 50's. |
| The Truth: TruthOrFiction.com went straight to the source, the Boeing Company. A spokesperson said that it is not true that Boeing is developing a commercial blended wing aircraft. He asked that we help stop the perpetuation of the story. What is true, according to Boeing, is that Boeing Phantom Works, the company's advanced research and development organization, is doing research on the blended wing body design as a potential military aircraft. Boeing has built a scale model to test its low-speed flying characteristics in a wind tunnel. There are also plans (as of 7/13/07) to flight test a scale model. Updated 7/14/06 |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: |
Subject:: Boeing 797
Boeing to take on Airbus with (1000 seat) giant 797 Blended Wing plane High body rigidity is another key factor in blended wing aircraft, It reduces turbu lence and creates less stress on the air frame which adds to efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 8800 nautical mile
|
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
New Boeing 797 Giant "Blended Wing" Passenger Airliner-Fiction!
Help Find Ashley Flores-Fiction!
| Summary of the eRumor: The eRumor includes a picture and says it is of a 13-year old girl named Ashley Fores who has been missing for two weeks. She is said to be the daughter of a deli manager for Acme markets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. |
| The Truth: TrtuthOrFiction.com has not been able to find any evidence of a missing 13-year old named Ashley Flores. The Philadelphia police department says it knows nothing of her. A spokesperson for Acme Markets in Philadelphia says people have been contacting them to offer help, but they know nothing of a missing Ashley Flores either. This eRumor not only has all the ingredients of a hoax but even uses some of the wording from two other widely circulated eRumors about missing children that are also hoaxes. We're looking into reports that Ashley Flores is real and that this may have originated as a joke. Last updated 5/22/06 |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: |
please look at the picture, read what her mother says, then forward his message on. Maybe if everyone passes this on, someone will see this child. Please pass this to everyone in your address book. We have a Deli manager (Acme Markets) from "I am asking you all, begging you to please It is still not too late. Please help us. If anyone any It only takes 2 seconds If it was your child, you would want all the help you could get. |
Monday, 12 November 2007
Enter your ATM Pin Number Backwards to Summon Police-Fiction!
| Summary of the eRumor: An alert that if you ever find yourself in a scary situation at a banking ATM machine, such as a thief forcing you to withdraw cash, just enter your personal identification number (PIN) backwards. That will automatically send a message to the police that you are in trouble and they will respond to the machine. The eRumor says that most people don't know about this. |
| The Truth: The eRumor is false because there isn't anywhere that we could find where this emergency procedure at ATM machines is actually being used. There is a seed of truth to it, however, in that the idea has been floating around for a while. One of the biggest proponents has been in Illinois attorney named Joseph Zingher. He says the notion came to him when he was a law student at the University of Illinois and one evening was withdrawing money from an ATM in a scary part of town. He patented his concept in 1998 and has been trying to talk banks into using it ever since. Under Zingher's system, every ATM account would have two PIN numbers---the normal PIN used to withdraw money and what he calls the "ATM SafetyPIN" to alert police that something bad was happening at the ATM. It has also come to be popularly called the "Panic PIN." The SafetyPIN would typically be the reverse of the normal PIN number or some other variation that would be easy to remember. Legislation was passed in Illinois that would allow banks to adopt the system, but did not mandate it. So far, no banks or financial institutions have done so. Zingher has offered to let Illinois-based banks to use it for free but some of them have said they think it would be too expensive and that ATM crime is not frequent enough. Zingher says that ATM crime is much higher than believed because not all crime reporting reflects whether it has taken place in connection with an ATM or forced withdrawal of cash. Updated 10/26/06 |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: |
FYI- If you are ever forced to withdraw monies from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse. The machine will still give you the monies you requested, but unknown to the robber, etc, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you. just in case you hadn't heard of it. Please pass it along to everyone possible.
|
Forward an Email for Polish Burn Victim Alexandra-Fiction!
| Summary of the eRumor: A picture of a burned infant girl with the story that her name is Alexandra and she was injured in a house fire in Poland. She's being cared for in Cracow but her care is expensive and her parents are not able to keep paying. You are asked to forward the email and they will receive 3 cents for each forwarded email to apply to Alexandra's care. |
| The Truth: This is a hoax. There is no system being used on the Internet that traces the pathways of forwarded emails to compensate anybody. Additionally, if this is a patient from Poland she is probably receiving treatment through the government's National Health Fund. We don't know where the picture came from or who the girl is in the picture, but whoever decided to fabricate this eRumor apparently doesn't care that she is being dishonored and put on display for sake of a joke. If anybody knows who is in this picture, let us know so we can give her the dignity of a name and correct information about who she is and what happened to her. Updated 12/12/06 |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: |
Dear All,  Alexandra came out of a rigging fire alive, but now has to fight for her life and a normal future. She is 14 months old and she has burnt skin all over her body, damage facial bones (as a result of very high temperature). She does not have half of her face. She is in hospital in Therefore we are asking for your help. For each forwarded email her parents will get 3 cents. Please help them and forward that email to as many people as you can. |
Friday, 9 November 2007
Injuries on Children Caused by ScotchBrite Easy Eraser or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser-Truth! & Fiction!
| Summary of the eRumor: There are apparently different versions of this but they all warn that children can experience injuries on the skin from the ScotchBrite Easy Eraser or the Mr Clean Magic Eraser. One of the eRumors says that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is being removed from store shelves because of containing formaldehyde. |
| The Truth: The bottom line is that there is a first-hand story of a child who experienced skin irritation from a ScotchBrite Easy Eraser but there is dispute about whether it was from chemicals or the abrasive action of the product from being rubbed on the skin. The story about Mr. Clean Magic Eraser being removed from the market is not true. Procter & Gamble Mr Clean Magic Eraser The eRumor claims that the Magic Eraser contains formaldehyde. If you review the government-required Material Safety Data Sheet, you see that one of the ingredients is "Formaldehyde-Melamine-Sodium Bisulfite Copolymer." That's the name of the entire ingredient and it's different than if the product had formaldehyde alone, according to Procter & Gamble. A company release said that "...the word 'formaldehyde' is in its chemical name. However, this ingredient is not formaldehyde and poses no health or safety risks. (Think of this name like 'sodium chloride', which is table salt. Sodium by itself can be dangerous, but sodium chloride - salt - is safe.)." The company said that any formaldehyde found on its product would be in tiny amounts and a result of the manufacturing process and would be "actually less than what is found in indoor air." The 3M company's Material Safety Data Sheet shows that the product is made of polyurethane foam and melamine foam. No other chemicals are listed. |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: |
eRumor #1 IF YOU ARE USING MR. CLEAN MAGIC ERASERS....STOP! eRumor #2 Chemical Burns to Children One of my five year old's favorite chores around the house is cleaning scuff marks off the walls, doors, and baseboards with either an Easy Eraser pad, or the real deal, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I purchased a package of Magic Erasers ages ago when they first came out. I remember reading the box, wondering what the "Magic" component was that cleaned crayon off my walls with ease. No ingredients were listed and absolutely no warnings were on the box, other than "Do not ingest." My package of the Scotchbrite Easy Erasers didn't have a warning either and since my child knew not to eat the sponges and keep them out of reach of his little brother and sister, it was a chore I happily let him do. If I had known that both brands (and others like them) contain a harmful alkaline or "base" chemical (opposite of acid on the pH scale) that can burn your skin, I never would have let my little boy handle them. As you can see from the picture, when the Scotchbrite Easy Eraser was rubbed against his face and chin, he received severe chemical burns. At first, I thought he was being dramatic. I picked him up, put him on the counter top and washed his face with soap and water. He was screaming in pain. I put some lotion on his face - more agony. I had used a Magic Eraser to remove magic marker from my own knuckles a while back and I couldn't understand why he was suddenly in pain. Then, almost immediately, the large, shiny, blistering red marks started to spread across his cheeks and chin. I quickly searched Google.com for "Magic Eraser Burn" and turned up several results. I was shocked. These completely innocent looking white foam sponges can burn you? I called our pediatrician, and of course got sent to voice mail. I hung up and called the Hospital and spoke to an Emergency Room nurse. She told me to call Poison Control. The woman at Poison Control said she was surprised nobody had sued these companies yet and walked me through the process of neutralizing the alkaline to stop my son's face from continually burning more every second. I had already, during my frantic phone calling, tried patting some numbing antibiotic cream on his cheeks, and later some Aloe Vera gel - both resulted in screams of pain. The Poison Control tech had me fill a bathtub with warm water, lay my son into it, cover him with a towel to keep him warm and then use a soft washcloth to rinse his face and chin with cool water for a continuous 20 minutes. My son calmed down immediately. He told me how good it felt. I gave him a dose of Tylenol and after the twenty minutes was up, he got dressed in his Emergency Room doctor Halloween costume and off we went to the Hospital. They needed to make sure the chemical burn had stopped burning, and examine his face to determine if the burn would need to be debrided (from my fuzzy recollection of hospital work, this means removing loose tissue from a burn location). My son was pretty happy at the hospital, they were very nice and called him "Doctor" and let him examine some of their equipment. The water had successfully stopped the burning and helped soothe a lot of the pain. I'm sure Tylenol was helping too. They sent us home with more Aloe Vera gel, Polysporin antibiotic cream, and some other numbing burn creams. By the time we got home, my son was crying again. I tried applying some of the creams but he cried out in pain. Water seemed to be what worked the best. After a rough night, I took the above photo in the morning. He was swollen and wouldn't move his lips very much to avoid moving the skin on his taut cheeks. I was fighting back the tears, and I said, "Oh honey, I wish I could take it away from you. I wish I could take it off your face and put it on mine." He was so shocked, he started to tear up a little and said, "Mom, no. You don't want this on your face, it hurts so much. You would be hurting. Last night was terrible, I couldn't sleep, and you wouldn't be able to sleep either." It just broke my heart into five trillion pieces - as much as he is hurting, he wouldn't want me to be hurting in his place. Today he is doing much better. The burns have started to scab over, and in place of red, raw, angry, skin we have a deeper red, rough healing layer. I can touch his skin now, without it stinging, and this morning he went back to Pre-School with Polysporin rubbed all over his face. He announced to the class, "I brought my face for Show and Tell!" -- Note - he was doing fine as of Friday. Kudos to this diligent parent for informing us all.
|
Young Girl with Serious Health Problems from Drinking Milk From Wal-Mart-Unproven!
| Summary of the eRumor: The story of an 11-year-old girl who has had menstrual bleeding since she was 8 and has also started lactating. The eRumor says it is because she's been drinking milk injected with rBST, a hormone given to cows to increase their milk production. The eRumor focuses on Wal-Mart Great Value milk as a source of the rBST and recommends against feeding it to your family. |
| The Truth: There is controversy over rBST, which stands for recombinant bovine somatotropin. It is an artificial growth hormone used in cows. We've not found the family of Marissa, the 11-year old girl referenced in the eRumor. If she is real her family's suspicions are worthy of consideration but do not constitute proof that what they describe has been caused by ingesting milk from Wal-Mart. There are other conditions that can cause early menstruation such as hypothyroidism. Also, although there are fears there is not scientific agreement about whether rBST is harmful to humans. RBST is a synthetic version of bST or BGH, a natural growth hormone in cows which, among other things, affects the amount of milk produced by a dairy cow. Use of bST to increase milk production has been around since the 1930's then along then the synthetic version came into popularity. Critics of the use of rBST say that it is banned for use in cattle in virtually every major country in the world except the United States. They point out that there is an increase in health problems in cattle that produce the most milk so the use of rBST should be avoided on that ground. Supporters say rBST helps dairy farmers with better milk yield and that there has not been any proof that the hormone causes problems in humans. It is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Updated 9/26/07 |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: |
| Health Warning - rBST in Great Value [Wal-Mart] Milk Please read this and pass along to as many people....Mitzi Lyons, her husband is Kyle, live here in Gainesville , TX . Their 11 yr old daughter, Marissa, for THREE years (since she was 8) has incurred menstrual problems (bleeding several more days than a regular menstrual cycle each month) and within the last year she started producing milk. Her doctors have performed every test, many surgeries, put her on birth control and the last straw was a hysterectomy in January. Mitzi's dad started research on the internet of his granddaughter's problem and found out about rBST in milk (injecting cows with steroidal hormones so they will produce more milk). Doctor's were skeptical if this could be "why" this little girl was experiencing these problems as it was approved by the FDA. Wal-Mart Great Value milk is the kind that the Lyon 's family has always drank. Borden milk and many other brands does not have rBST in it. Her doctor's in Houston are going to write a medical journal discovery on her, because FDA says that rBST is safe for humans. Her doctor's have also discovered that there a handful more girls around her age out there, in other states, that are experiencing the same issues and have reason to believe it is also from the rBST injections in some cows. So far, there aren't any cases in boys. One girl in Michigan was at the point to go through a hysterectomy as well; but they decided to completely take her off Great Value milk (after discovering the rBST) for three months to see if there would be any changes; she quit bleeding and lactating. Mitzi asked me to please share this with everyone I could think of to hopefully save someone the pain and suffering that Marissa has endured. We're hoping soon this will be in the news around the nation and that Wal-mart will take the rBST out of their milk. I have pulled my family from Wal-Mart Great Value Milk and bought Borden and Borden has a label on their milk that says rBST not used on their cows. We're doing everything we can to alert people of what's been going on and to be sure to read milk labels before you buy it no matter what brand it is, as we are unsure at this time if Wal-mart is the only company doing this or if there may be more. Children in today's society already experience puberty at a younger age than we did as adolescence. Please pass this on......just in case!
|
The Seagull That Steals Doritos-Truth!
| Summary of the eRumor: An animated file that shows a seagull walking through the open door of a market and stealing a bag of Dorito chips. It is said to happen at a store in Scotland and that the gull does it on a regular basis. | |
| The Truth: The pictures are authentic and the story is true. According to the BBC the gull has been walking through the door of RS McColl newsagents in Aberdeen, Scotland since the beginning of July, 2007. When the coast looks clear and the shopkeeper is looking the other way, the seagull walks over to a display of snack foods and always takes the same thing--a small personal sized bag of cheese Doritos chips. He's been nicknamed Sam and has become a local celebrity. Customers who are entertained by the bird have even started paying the store for the bags that have been stolen. Once the bird takes the Doritos, he goes outside near the store, opens the bag, and shares it with other birds that join him in the feast. Updated 9/25/07 | |
| A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: | |
|
Free Traffic
