20 years ago an Idaho radio station's April Fools' prank went wrong

In 2004, the 100.3 the X made an April Fools' Joke about the Lucky Peak Reservoir rupturing. But the prank backfired after listeners became concerned.

[@Tom8201]

There was the April Fools joke where someone in Alaska lit a lot of tires on fire in the crater of a a dormant volcano in the 70's.

[@bkzach]

See now that is actually messed up, especially since that would be a super cool place to see. A small forest inside a dormant volcano's crater, seems like something out of Avatar.

[@ConeRodrigoSwag]

@@bkzach TIRES, not trees.

[@TheBathrobeWizard]

And it was arranged in the words 'April Fools'. And when Mt st hellens erupted he got prank blamed with letters stating 'You've gone too far!'

[@Sebastian_Dinwiddie]

I read 20 years ago and started to thing the 70’s? Man I’m old

[@Monkey_Boy9602]

I'm still coming to terms with the early 90's being 30 years ago!

[@paulperry7091]

All us boomers subtract dates from 2000. I was born in 1947, so that makes me...53??

[@MayimHastings]

I was just going to comment something like that! I was 19 years old 20 years ago, and it makes my brain lurch to think that it was that long ago. It was yesterday! And I'm still that awkward goth-nerd in my head. Now i look like my 8th grade English teacher. Instant disphoria 🤣

[@charlottesmom]

I hear ya!! (turing 58 in a few and the 80’s only seem like 20 years ago)….damn time flies. 😢

[@mysticalmargaret6105]

Same with me, except I start to think the 80s? 😂

[@septembersurprise5178]

April Fools Day. "This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." - Mark Twain

[@GeoffGorman08]

_"Remember that time we gave all our fellow classmates and teachers rabies as an April fools joke?? What a hoot!" 😂_

[@MichaelWilliams-mn7wf]

Speaking of rabies, do an internet search for "rabies, unrelenting sex drive." No, it doesn't pull up porn.

[@user-eg1ph1pu7o]

I was on a small town station when everybody still had land lines. I told people to put bags over their phone because the phone company was going to blow the dust out of the lines. Another year I said the Goodyear Blimp was flying over on the way to cover the Final Four. Sherriff was not pleased when people was parking along the side of the road waiting.

[@davidroddini1512]

Now that’s one dam April Fools joke.

[@alyssont1231]

😂

[@gannas42]

This guy thinks Oreo filling is Crisco? What a nut.

[@MyRadioJourney]

Thank you!

[@moreygloss9248]

What an insult to the sugary chemical synthetic lard that actually is in Oreos.

[@user-gs8nk2zv5f]

“Cream of indeterminate origin” is more like it. 😊

[@toddburgess6792]

In 1989, a Seattle TV station's sketch comedy show April Fooled far too many people saying the Space Needle had collapsed! The program was a taped show, with a studio audience. Still, people bombed 911 with calls. My wife said, "OH MY GOD!!", to which I replied, "This show was taped yesterday, so if it did tip over, we'd have heard about it by now". She wasn't totally convinced until she heard the retractions from the station manager.

[@kingofkingsmoonpie4075]

Remember when the war of the world's was broadcasted? Orson Wells had everyone believing that the Martians was invading? Talk about people being gullible, this wasn't even close to it.

[@gingercat7925]

*were

[@richardlamm4826]

Yea, I remember the family gathered around the radio on halloween 1938.

[@rockyBalboa6699]

@@richardlamm4826 You remember?? You must be 105 year old now!

[@user-pk9qe7qq1n]

That was what immediately came to my mind too. No, I wasn't born yet when it happened, but I think most people who were born before the 80's were aware of it.

[@mysticalmargaret6105]

​@@richardlamm4826😂😂😂

[@apple54345]

I cannot believe the comments here are against the radio hosts. Says a lot about the general public so easily fooled by an obvious joke.

[@mikeslater6246]

If pulling irresponsible actions like this, notice I didn't call it a prank, is defined as the two individuals being "before their time" I pray their time never gets here. I myself remember calling a radio station to complain about one of many incidents where inappropriate content was broadcast as jokes by a new DJ in the area. The radio station's programming manager told me that our city just wasn't ready for this talented individual. And I told the programming manager I really hoped that our city would never be ready for that kind of talent. And to affirm my complaint, the "talent" was gone in less than 2 months.

[@paveltolz6601]

With the terror of the Teton Dam disaster only a little over 20 years past still fresh enough in people's minds...yeah, poor judgement.

[@HuplesCat]

Sue them 😂

[@thefrase7884]

Poor judgment? Yes…….People falling for it? Beyond ridiculous

[@johndavid8815]

These people lack adult supervision 😂

[@jaketschida7016]

That's awesome! That just shows you how gullible people can be! They made water sounds and fish flopping sounds in studio and never sounded serious throughout the joke and people panicked. Never thinking that if the dam broke that civil defense sirens (tornado sirens) would have been going off and Law Enforcement, Fire, Emergency Management, and The US Army Corp Of Engineers would have been making announcements to evacuating! Give these two the credit they deserve!!!

[@brucecarter8296]

i feel like i just got pranked, waiting 2 minutes for that

[@u686st7]

Some things you don't joke about.

[@Zachhatesyoutube]

Nah everything is fair game

[@jtc1947]

Is like some lines of text from a Robert Heinlein SCI-FI novel. "Some jokes can be funny many times. Some jokes can be funny a few times. Some jokes can be funny "once". SOME JOKES NEVER FUNNY!"

[@Ftsydfhdeu5]

The moon is a harsh mistress?

[@jtc1947]

@@Ftsydfhdeu5 YES! You are correct! The lines of text have STUCK in my brain ever since I read those lines! BE WELL & SAFE!

[@SoloPilot6]

"Use once, you're a wit. Use twice, you're a halfwit."

[@lifeteen2]

As an engineer, my first thought is what an opportunity for natural experiment to see how the public might react in a real dam emergency. You practice emergency response all the time, but you rarely get to see the genuine response of members of the public.

[@Crismodin]

US Army Core of Engineers shouldn't call anything a sick joke after they fumbled many times with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

[@gulfmarine8857]

I just can't take the ignorance of "core"😮

[@Crismodin]

@@gulfmarine8857 I think they call it a spelling mistake, so yes I made one of those, thanks for pointing it out. I think most folks used common sense and assumed they knew what I was talking about. I'm not going to change it, just going to leave this comment here with the fact that 20 random people upvoted it with the spelling mistake.

[@gulfmarine8857]

@@Crismodin It's more of a proofreading/ personal representation mistake.

[@Crismodin]

@@gulfmarine8857 If only it were still considered a mistake, continue on...

[@gulfmarine8857]

@@Crismodin You don't care if you are regarded as ignorant by people who know better. It says alot about you.

[@AnimMouse]

Hey US Army Corps of Engineers, do you know what is the real sick joke? Hurricane Katrina.

[@lc3853]

Dont forget 2004 was after 9/11...In the midst of the new Yankee World War on Terror.

[@jerryfrederick6610]

It is called irresponsible reporting. It is always amazing how far radio people will go for ratings.

[@richardlamm4826]

He said they where ahead of their time. They where entertainers not reporters, just like today.

[@lisas7741]

@@richardlamm4826NOT really ahead of their time when Opie and Anthony did their prank in Massachusetts in the late 90’s about Mayor Menino getting into a car accident and dying, and regular tv ran with the story without checking to see if it was true.

[@scotty7132]

Spoken like today’s true beta pu55ies

[@shpidermonky6443]

I find it more disturbing how many people cant tell whats an obvious joke is but still dumb to report that even if its a sketch 🤷‍♂️

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

Here’s a radio joke that ended in tragedy in Australia: Jacintha Saldanha was an Indian nurse who worked at King Edward VII's Hospital in the City of Westminster, London. On 7 December 2012, she was found dead by suicide, three days after falling for a prank phone call as part of a radio stunt. In the prank call, the hosts of the Australian radio programme Hot30 Countdown, broadcast on the 2Day FM in Sydney, called Saldanha's hospital and impersonated the Queen and the then-Prince of Wales enquiring about the health of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who was a patient there at the time. Saldanha fell for the hoax and transferred the call to the nurse looking after the Duchess. Saldanha's suicide led to public outrage, including in Saldanha's home country against those responsible for perpetrating and broadcasting the prank. Despite numerous calls for legal action, no charges were laid.

[@MatecaCorp]

Why would someone off themselves just for that?

[@EmersumBiggins]

I worked on replacing the steel liner in the tunnel under Lucky Peak Dam in 1986.

[@PowerDiva]

20 years ago they said it on air and people called the station, the police and neighbors to find out if it was true. These days, you could pull the same prank, then immediately clarify it was a joke in the same broadcast.... and half the country still wouldn't get it and argue with their neighbors how it was definitely real.

[@S0REN_]

The biggest joke related to "The X" is their radio library. They've been playing largely the same songs since this happened 20 years ago.

[@MatecaCorp]

“The year was 2004” hit me like a freight train Or a wall of water

[@zettysmango]

This sounds *almost* as bad as the year I put Rice Krispies on the blades of the ceiling fan. My wife still holds a grudge for that one.

[@Nirrrina]

I don't blame her if she had to clean it up instead of you. Only thing worse would be glitter. But if you'd used the herpes of crafting you wouldn't still be here. So it's just as well you didn't. Still flying rice crispies is kind of fun. Well until the bugs come in anyway.

[@zettysmango]

@@Nirrrina the dogs and I cleaned up.. I never said ex-wife😉

[@coffeeseven]

Radio, like other people opinions require a certain amount of sceptisicsm. If you believe everything you hear on radio the problem may not be the radio.

[@haworthlowell805]

Speaking of misinformation; these guys were the 'cutting edge' of radio comedy. Ever heard of Bob & Tom out of Indianaplois; they were doing stuff like this 20 years before these two.

[@markmalasics3413]

Really? They were announcing fake tragedies and natural disasters on the air on a regular basis? Highly doubtable.

[@JustWowNick]

Well if you ever find yourself thinking “People are so dumb nowadays”, just remember: They’ve always been this way.

[@HDL_CinC_Dragon]

1:53 is the start of the video.

[@nomusicrc]

Wow this was an amazing news story. No theatrical beginning just straight to the point

[@jamesgizasson]

This was three years after 9/11, just for those who didn't grow up in that era... I would've been cracking up, but I'm a wierdo. XD

[@TheCriminalViolin]

You got to remember the rule of thumb - People are idiots, they'll believe about anything. It doesn't help that nobody stops to think before just impulsively reacting these days. Though because of that this kind of prank would go a lot worse now, I still see nothing wrong with it.

[@veramae4098]

Retired school librarian -- I had a cassette recording of Orson Wells "War of the Worlds". I've played it about 5 times over my career. Classic. Kids believed. One principal would come in solemnly announcing everyone was being evacuated to the country to get away. They'd be matched up with their families. "Don't PANIC!"

[@Joybuzzard]

Someday that dam is actually going to break and people in the flood path will get warnings and go 'oh, another stupid prank...'

[@bkzach]

That's too funny, people falling for this is utterly hilarious, anyone who was concerned deserved it for being so gullible. Flopping fish noises in the studio weren't enough of a giveaway.

[@jtc1947]

Way too many April Fool's jokes are stupid and irresponsible! This could have led to situations like the RADIO BROADCAST about "WAR OF THE WORLDS" that caused a mass panic.

[@wadeadams4263]

I remember when Opie and Anthony were the Kings of radio.

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Would've been good to hear a bit of their broadcast.

[@jameslambert4487]

FM 99 in Norfolk, Va. did an April Fools joke years ago by saying that a large build-up of Methane gas was about to explode in a park called Mt. Trashmore. It caused panic and some nearby residents were evacuating and some even rented moving trucks to vacate the area. They were fined by the FCC.

[@ChonkyCats]

Lol I never heard about this

[@jimmiller5600]

There was a radio DJ that announced the local retired landfill, now a walking park, was erupting. Chaos.

[@BBoxn]

No point going to your website to use the terrible video player on there and ads you can't skip. 1:23

[@timberwolfdtproductions3890]

I’m not sure Idahoans have gotten any smarter in the past two decades.

[@thomasrogers7781]

There was a time when Johnny Carson did a joke about California having a toilet paper shortage and that created a panic run to all the grocery stores.

[@wombattakat]

Wasn’t there one about getting the station name tattooed onto your forehead that people fell for too

[@markmalasics3413]

Although this stunt showed a complete of lack maturity, NOTHING approaches the level of bad, unacceptable and childish behavior of Howard Stern. The day after the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the Potomac River in Washington DC Stern, on the air, and wanting to "have fun" called the Air Florida reservation desk, on the air remember, and asked the woman who answered when was their next flight into the 14 Street Bridge.

[@SoloPilot6]

A lot of their listeners were survivors of the Teton Dam break that killed 11 people and destroyed thousands of homes. This "prank" was about as funny as if they had said that the Minidoka concentration camp was being reopened.

[@Nadstratosfer]

Fast forward to 2:02 for prank description.

[@tammyw6187]

How about the 2013, someone hacked into a Montana TV stations' Emergency Alert Systems and inserted a fake zombie civil emergency alert message with audio.

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

It was just a prank, bro!

[@bforman1300]

Can someone explain the bats tangled in hair concern? I have never understood it.

[@copperbuttons7376]

And it say was only the girls were afraid and not the boys.

[@SparkeyCox]

Allmost live (a local tv fun show) had a mishap when they said the Space Needle fell over. That prank is online. I remember it and it was funny.

[@ericjepson3765]

I love how the intro describes 2004 as a simpler time, then the sheriff from 2004 asserts that there's so much going on, suggesting that times are crazy and dynamic. The brain always remembers the past as "the good Ole days" so 20 years from now this will be thought of as the good Ole days while we currently describe them as chaotic. Anyone that preys on your sense that the past was simpler is merely selling you something... Ironic.

[@scdrescher1]

So THAT’S how covid really started

[@AlanEmmons-qw6bg]

When I was a young pup the newspaper had a story that a rerstruant was going to be moved by blimps and helicopter and it was on 4/1 boy did they get razzed for that!!

[@MattnUska]

Funny. I live there at the time and don’t remember this.

[@markmalasics3413]

Ok, first of all this guy working at the station has zero class. He's all happy and proud that his two deranged co-workers pulled a stunt. And it's another reason why we live in such a dumbed-down society. I'll be willing to bet that he never got any training in the legal aspects of broadcasting. The FCC has rules and regs against this specific activity. ANY dialog that may cause concern, harm or fear in the audience is not allowed. Period. You should know better. Also, he said that the purpose of the stunt was so the "hosts" could "have fun." Again, ANOTHER FCC regulation broken about using the public airwaves for other than specific purposes. The primary responsibility of the stations is to inform the audience, NOT provide a playground for 2 immature "zoo style" radio louts. Maybe the public should remember this incident when the FCC does it's regular evaluation of the station and support of the public trust that maybe they won't renew their broadcasting license. This is up to the PUBLIC to report, and it all has to stay in the files of the station for this review. One can only hope for the proper outcome. The same way two jocks in Connecticut got fired, and their station heavily fined, when they announced that the state's volcano was possibly going to erupt.....even though there is no volcano in Connecticut.

[@johnfroneman1675]

Of course it was believed by the listeners, they're American.

[@bandittelevision]

What a waste of time doing this story

[@timothyexner]

Oreos with Crisco filling? Man, that sounds disgusting. Has this guy ever had an Oreo? They're filled with creme.

[@armageddonready4071]

It’s sugar and fat. It’s not “crème”

[@timothyexner]

@@armageddonready4071 Not according to Oreo themselves. They call it creme filling. Regardless, they certainly aren't filled with Crisco.

[@jonniesantos]

@@timothyexnerCreme is not cream - there is no dairy in the filling. It’s fat and sugar. The recipe for Oreos is not public. When we used to frost cakes in school, the frosting was Crisco and powered sugar (and a little cream* of tartar to stabilize). *there is no dairy in cream of tartar either. It’s also known as tartaric acid. Yum.

[@jerrywood4508]

Yes, there are gullible people. Why is it funny to terrorize them?

[@hotttt28]

Not funny !

[@davidpawson9047]

The real problem here is not so much that they pulled such a prank, but that the state of American infrastructure is so poor that people could easily believe it!

[@xstreamoneya]

All I can say is likely voted for Trump also

[@Justin_80]

Never underestimate the stupidity of people.

[@itchynackers]

then you kinda have to deal with the consequences.