Almost too weird to believe: writer Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the KKK in the late 1940s, and learned the powerful organization's secrets — but nobody would publish them. Meanwhile, the Superman radio program needed a villain to replace the Nazis.


According to Mental Floss Magazine, Kennedy managed to work all of the Ku Klux Klan's most secret recruiting and organizational practices into his 1940s radio serial, "Clan Of The Fiery Cross." And as a result, the Man Of Steel dealt a crushing blow to the racist organization:

As the storyline progressed, the shows exposed many of the KKK's most guarded secrets. By revealing everything from code words to rituals, the program completely stripped the Klan of its mystique. Within two weeks of the broadcast, KKK recruitment was down to zero. And by 1948, people were showing up to Klan rallies just to mock them.


Hey Smallville, what powerful real-life racist secret societies have you demystified and weakened lately?

[Mental Floss]