How scammers tricked Wichita locals into buying anti-comet insurance and cures in 1910 Kansas

Wikimedia Commons/NASA/W. Liller

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The 1910 Halley’s Comet Scams (Kansas)

In 1910, Halley’s Comet crossed American skies. Scientists found poison gas in the comet’s tail, causing nationwide panic.

Kansas newspapers printed scary headlines about possible doom. This fear created perfect conditions for scammers across America and Kansas who sold fake protection against a threat that never came.

Wikimedia Commons/unklar

How French Astronomer Flammarion Started the Panic

Camille Flammarion studied Halley’s Comet in February 1910. He found cyanogen gas in the comet’s tail using light analysis…

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