Aja Romano writes about pop culture, media, and ethics. Before joining Vox in 2016, they were a staff reporter at the Daily Dot. A 2019 fellow of the National Critics Institute, they’re considered an authority on fandom, the internet, and the culture wars.
The internet artist Zardulu — creator of Pizza Rat — has claimed that “the creation and perpetuation of myths is art of the highest form.”
Humans create such grand fakes, Zardulu argues, as a way of keeping the world weird and wondrous. But what happens when such pursuits of wonder collide with shameless opportunism and a willingness to exploit an era of misinformation — even if it means disrespecting and distorting the past?
These are the questions we’re driven to ask in light of two recently unboxed 1,000-year-old aliens, revealed to the world by a crew of conspiracists with a history of trying (and failing) to make 1,000-year-old aliens happen.
The Mexican Congress was holding a hearing on the existence of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), on Wednesday, September 13, when the alleged Peruvian aliens were hand-delivered in a dramatic coffin-like box. The box contained a pair of dusty figures with elongated skulls on hose-like necks. They had three fingers instead of the usual five, and bore a faint resemblance to Spielberg’s E.T.
Alas for truthers: These skeletons are not alien life forms. Instead, they are most likely a composite of pre-Columbian human remains and animal bones, all pieced together with some...
Professional rivalry and office politics were the driving forces behind the "false" sexual harassment and conversion allegations levelled against Tata Consulting Services (TCS) employee Raza Rafiq...