Urban Myth

Urban myths are stories that are passed quickly via word of mouth and, increasingly, by the internet. Usually they have enough truth in them that they sound plausible. Many people use urban myths to propagate scams on the internet by getting people to forward the story to all of their contacts. Then the names are harvested for other internet scams.

About Urban Myth

Urban Myths are second hand stories that are believed by the teller to be true. They are also called folklore or urban legends. The stories are often ironic, horrific or embarrassing and told as cautionary tales.

They are mostly spread by word of mouth but in today’s world they are also spread through the internet which can cause a new story to travel quickly.

Occasionally an urban myth will prove to be true, but most often they are stories that have been made up for the purpose of scaring someone or to trick someone. Some of the stories are partially based upon fact but are wildly exaggerated.

One of the best places to debunk a supposed urban myth is the website Snopes.com. Snopes was founded by a husband and wife who enjoy researching and debunking urban legends.

Popular Urban Myths
The Kidney Heist – A business travels strikes up a conversation with a traveler, becomes woozy and blacks out. He/she later wakes up in a bathtub of ice with a note telling them to call 911. The person learns that their kidneys have been taken by people who are selling them on the black market.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker – A man picks up a hitchhiking girl on a deserted road. He drives her to her house and lets her out. He turns to say good-bye to her but finds she has vanished into thin air.

Sewer Alliators – Visitors to Florida bring back baby alligators to keep as pets. As the pets grow larger the people realize that they are too big to keep and they release them into the sewers. There, the alligators grew and thrived. Police make trips occasionally down into the sewers to hunt the animals to keep their population under control.

Walt Disney – Walt Disney had his body cryogenically frozen in hopes that in the future technology will be discovered that will bring him back to life.

Bloody Mary – The ghost of Mary Worth will appear into a mirror after the user says Bloody Mary 3 times while standing in front of it.

Mr. Rogers – Mr. Rogers was a Navy Seal who was also a sniper in Vietnam with many confirmed kills. He wore only long sleeved shirts and sweater to cover up the many tattoos he got while in the service.

Tanning to Death – A woman going to a special event wants to look her best, including having a tan. She needs it in a short time and the tanning salons will only permit her to tan 30 min. per day. She achieves her goal by visiting multiple tanning salons in one day, tanning at each the maximum time and then moving on to the next one to tan. She attends the event and a smell begins coming from her, after which she drops dead. Autopsy reveals that she cooked her internal organs by tanning too much in one day.

Good Samaritan – A woman leaves a store to find that she has a flat tire. A man offers to help her change her tire and when he is done he asks her for a ride. The woman becomes wary of him and declines. The man becomes agitated and the woman runs back into store for help. When she comes out with security the man is gone, but he has forgotten his briefcase. Inside the briefcase is duck tape, rope and knives.

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