New York, August 25, 1835. The New York Sun posted an impressive headline on its front page: “Sir John Herschel has made outstanding astronomical discoveries.” According to the article signed by Richard Adams, editor of the newspaper Locke (1800-1871), thanks to a new telescope the British astronomer was able to see the surface of the Moon in detail and discover the presence of living beings on it.

In the articles of August 26 and 27, Locke described the nine new species of animals found on our natural satellite, including the blue unicorns and oniscides and large ball-bugs, which were translated differently from the terrestrial species.

But he left the most remarkable discovery for the August 28 issue: the strange human species also appeared on the Herschel telescope. Locke named a vespertilio-homo or man-bat in the article, which is a man-bat. It is said that these humans with bat wings and small legs gathered around a temple made of blue sapphires.

The following day, no articles were published about the living beings on the Moon. Instead, a warning was issued that the telescope had been damaged.

Until Herschel refuted all these questions, most readers believed in the surprising news. And some believed them to be true even later. For example, Francisco de Carrión translated the article into Spanish and published it in Spain in 1936.

Although Herschel complained that his name had been used, The New York Sun never admitted that it was a lie or a joke. Locke never gave an explanation either. The representatives of the rest of the city's newspapers thought wrongly: That Locke's intention was to sell more newspapers. Today, however, another opinion reigns: Locke had previously criticized the blind faith and strict mentality of New Yorkers, and that would be the purpose of the series of articles.

If so, readers didn’t notice Locke’s irony, perhaps because the editor was right: the citizens were closed.