Best April Fools ’draw: American triggers artificial volcano eruption

Perhaps the coolest rally on the first of April was organized by the American welder Oliver Beykar, nicknamed Porky. He worked in tire fitting for the city of Sitka (Alaska). The city is located at the foot of the extinct volcano Edgecom, which was last active in the 19th century. The volcano is very picturesque, and its crater is perfectly visible from afar to all local residents. Porky took advantage of this for the rally.

For four years, Beikar prepared his evil joke: at night, he drove old tires to the crater in a mini-helicopter and dropped them down. He has been doing this for four years. And so, on the early April Fools' Day in the morning of 1974, Porky went to the volcano for the last time to set fire to all this stuff, having first doused it with gasoline.

Imagine what kind of panic began among the inhabitants of Sitka? They believed that the volcano was extinct for a long time, and suddenly it came to life! Black smoke poured from the crater, descending into the streets of the city. People were in a panic, packed in the hope of leaving the city. Volcanologists arrived in a helicopter. And what was their surprise when, flying over the side of the mountain, they saw a congratulation written in paint on snow: April Fool! (Happy Fool's Day!).

Oliver Beykar advertises chainsaws, a 1972 newspaper

By the way, Beikar was not even given a fine for such a cruel joke. Apparently, therefore, he continued to joke. So, the following year, he ordered several hundred plastic flamingos and placed them near a local lake. And Oliver did not spare his friends: once on the lawn of one of his acquaintances, Porky landed twenty young oak trees. According to the laws of Sitka, oaks cannot be cut, for each felled tree you will have to pay a fine of $ 18 thousand. So now, near Oliver’s friend’s house, there’s a whole oak grove.