The WWI Plot That Failed

Chances are, this man's face is totally unfamiliar to you. And yet he came within a hairsbreadth of altering the course of global history in the aftermath of World War I.

Take your best guess as to his claim to fame, then find out his story after the jump.

You can read a long detailed account of the exploit here.

Who We Are
Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Comments

Great story. One of those where truth is stranger than fiction.

And I thought the name of Leland McPhail was familiar. Not until the baseball connection was mentioned could I place the name.

Posted by KDP on 04/12/12 at 11:13 AM

So many things that almost were. Who knows what could have happened differently. Maybe better ,maybe worse we will never know.

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 04/12/12 at 09:11 PM

Weird story! I'd never heard it before. Too bad they didn't succeed. They might have robbed Hitler of punishing reparations Germany was saddled with after WWI. He skilfully used the resulting grievances to take control of Germany, and usher in WWII.

Posted by Harvey on 04/12/12 at 11:21 PM

@Patty: That's why I like alternate history stories so much. What if I'd've won that MegaMillions lottery and gotten to wear a Sweet Swine Pork Rind hat.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 04/12/12 at 11:35 PM

Well you couldn't win a Greek lottery, they could not afford to pay the prize. 😉

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 04/13/12 at 12:08 AM

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