I watched the videos on snopes smokes, worth a try. But I like to think of these stories as existent but only never for us to hear about.
....In Search Of is the poo! Nothing better than Mr. Spock posing illogical answers to irrational questions. Pure genius

And the synth work is brilliant as bgm. Loved that show as a kid (it was on every saturday afternoon just before the news). A few years ago I tracked down the entire catalogue and started to rewatch them. Interesting in some ways to note that the late 70's and early 80's seem a scientific back-water compared to now, and also to see the human imagination go wild with scientific discoveries, such as the advances in our understanding of genetics and what some thought it mean, cloning and such.
Snopes is a great site too, sorta the opposite of ...In Search Of. But the thing I have noticed about learning about hoaxes and received consensus is that it only serves in becoming more frustrated. Like when I am told I will blow the petrol station/airport sky-high if I use my mobile phone. I feel like doing it, copping the penalty only to fight it in court and use facts to win and remove the ignorant rule. But I know that in the end it will be won by the big-boys because they will point to the terms and conditions which don't need any basis in reality to be binding....
Not a valid youtube URL
Hate to do it but:

Now look more closely:

It's a new version of an old geometric illusion:

The hypotenuse in both the triangles look straight, but they're not. Get a straight-edge and check. Or use that trigonometry you learnt in school to calculate the angles on each of the two triangles within the larger one and see that they are not the same. Or don't even do that, just note that the vertical side of larger triangle is 1.5 times higher than the smaller, thus the horizontal should also be 1.5 times longer than the small for the angles of the hypotenuses to match, which in this case, given that the smaller is 5 units by 2 units, should be 7.5 units not 8.
BUT lynx not maths.....
http://designflourishes.com/2012/04/cable-ties/