Case file · Non-fiction & research literature
'Mermaids: The Body Found'
On 27 May 2012 Animal Planet broadcast 'Mermaids: The Body Found', a mock documentary presenting scientists, a stranded body and underwater recordings as evidence that mermaids exist.
2012 CE · 39.00, -77.03 · status: explained
The account
The film built its story on the aquatic ape hypothesis and digitally made footage, with disclaimers that many viewers missed. It drew record audiences and was followed in 2013 by 'Mermaids: The New Evidence'. So many people took it as fact that a US federal agency answered the question publicly. It is a modern example of fiction shaping belief about the sea.
The sceptical view
It is fiction made in documentary style; the actors and evidence were invented.