You're looking at the Internet Bird Man, who captivated the web's attention for dozens of hours and divided us between skeptics and the faithful. It was a hoax! It turns out he even made up his name.



Jarno Smeets—actually a Dutch CGI artist named Floris Kaayk—fessed up to the hoax on De Wereld Draait Door, a Dutch TV show. Surprise! He "graduated cum laude at the animation department of the St. Joost Academy and received his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Sandberg Institute." No word if those schools are real or just CGI.

According to this other Netherlander who watched the show, Kaayk said the bird man foolery was all part of a documentary he's working on. About tricking the internet? Excellent work, Floris—how about someone at a big CGI firm give this guy a job? But first, let him put out another video warning gullible people against jumping off their roofs with kites strapped to their backs. [Michael van Poppel]