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Michael Jackson Alive! Hoax Video Drives Conspiracy Theories
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by Tina Kells | September 3, 2009 at 01:40 pm
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A video that circulated last month as proof that Michael Jackson is alive has been exposed as a hoax, but conspiracy theorists aren't buying it. The Michael Jackson hoax video appears to show the star walking out of a coroner's van in Los Angeles and even though the hoax creators have stepped forward to claim responsibility, the conspiracy theories won't go away.
The Michael Jackson conspiracy theories, and LosAngelesCot24, are convinced that the person coming out of the van is Michael Jackson, still alive and well. With this video, those that believe Michael Jackson is still alive are jumping for joy.
Since so many people believe Elvis and other famous dead celebrities are still alive, it was obvious that a few people would believe Michael Jackson is alive, and faked his own death. Since Jackson was in mounting debt, one of the theories is that he faked his death to get away from his financial troubles. Or perhaps it was to finally live a solitary life away from the public.
Nevertheless, the Michael Jackson alive rumors have their biggest circulation today, even if the video is probably either fake or misleading. But considering the saga of Jackson, it may not even be that surprising if he really was alive and had faked his death.
The hoax video is convincing to the untrained eye; the person playing Michael Jackson does a great job of mimicking his tell tale posture and walk. However, the people who made the hoax video have come clean and revealed that it wasn't even filmed in the USA.
The goal of the Michael Jackson is alive hoax video was to expose how easy it is to manipulate people on the internet. German TV company RTL created the video and posted it on YouTube as an "anonymous" user. RTL has removed the hoax video from YouTube but before they took it down it had over 800,000 hits.
Ms Schultz said: "Unfortunately, many people believed it was true.
"Even though we tried to create the video in a way that every normal user can see right away that it is a fake."
She said the video was shot near Cologne in Germany and "definitely not in the US".
Some Jackson fans have complained to RTL for using their idol's death as part of an experiment.
Ms Schultz said in response: "We didn't want to dishonour Michael Jackson, but we needed a strong name to get this experiment going.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 13:45 on September 3rd, 2009
MJ still lives, through his music.