When the Earth's gravity lessened for a minute, thanks to a rare planetary alignment!

At 9:47, British astronomer Patrick Moore declared, "Jump now!" A minute passed, and then the BBC switchboard lit up with dozens of people calling in to report that they had indeed witnessed weightlessness!

A Dutch woman from Utrecht said that she and her husband had floated around the room together. Another caller claimed she had been seated around a table with eleven friends and that all of them, including the table, had begun to ascend towards the heavens.

But not everyone was happy. One angry caller complained he had risen from the ground so rapidly that he hit his head on the ceiling, and he wanted compensation!

During an interview on BBC Radio 2, on the morning of April 1, 1976, well known television astronomer and national treasure Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that due to an unusual alignment of planets, known as the Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect, Earth would have a temporary reduction in the gravitational pull.

Moore told listeners that they could experience the phenomenon by jumping in the air at the precise moment the alignment occurred. If they did so, he promised, they would experience a strange floating sensation.

Moore's announcement became one of the most celebrated April Fools' Day hoaxes of the late 20th century.

More April Fools' Day and other Hoax Resources:

1. The Museum of Hoaxes - Top 100 April Fools' Hoaxes Ever

2. The Independent - Some of the best April Fools' Hoaxes

3. April Fools' Hoaxes - 2015

Cheers for a great new financial year ahead,

The IREFD Team of Fools.