Flying W Things

I hate to be a curmudgeon and all, but "news sites posting April Fool's stories" has been done to death.

A good April Fool's joke needs to fool you - draw you in at least a little bit. Especially an online one. Reskinning slashdot.org with pink and changing the slogan to "OMG Ponies!!!" is not an April Fool's joke. It's just lazy.

The best April Fool's joke I have had pulled on me involved the stealth bomber. I used to work at a building that backed up to the runways at Burbank Airport. I was down on the shop floor and a couple of the guys told me that a stealth bomber had just landed at the airport. It seemed plausible enough, at the time they flew out of Edwards AFB, about 50 miles from Burbank.

They told me you could see it if you climbed up on some boxes in the back of the building. I scrambled up to the top as quickly as I could.

"I don't see it!"
"It's a little to the left."
"Nope, not seeing it."
"Over that way - they may have moved it behind that hanger."

So there I am, perched on a wobbly pile of wooden crates, up on tiptoes and craning my neck. They let me look around for a bit, while the knowing crowd gathered...

"April Fools!"

I had to hand it to them. They got me hook, line, and sinker. And that's the truth.