There is often a meta-hoax which vastly overstates how many people believed a hoax in the first place. For example the myth about the War of the Worlds radio sh

There is often a meta-hoax which vastly overstates how many people believed a hoax in the first place. For example the myth about the War of the Worlds radio show causing mass panic. The article mention "hundreds phoned in the following day to question the authenticity of the story or ask for more information about spaghetti cultivation and how they could grow their own spaghetti trees". Of course it is unclear how many of these "hundreds" called to call bullshit, and how many called to get spaghetti-growing tips. Given Aprils Fools was a well known tradition at the time, it is possible some of the callers was in on the joke. We have no idea how many people actually believed the hoax.