Probably one of our favourite April Fool's jokes of all time:
Back in the early 90's, when the space shuttle was still flying regularly, one particular mission had been in the news because persistently bad weather at both Cape Canaveral and Edwards Air Force Base had prevented the shuttle from landing as scheduled, for a few days running.
On April Fools Day, one of the local Vancouver radio stations led off their morning newscasts with the 'top story' which reported that due to diminishing supplies, the shuttle was being routed to land at Vancouver International Airport instead - supposedly one of the few backup landing sites in North America, to be used only for extreme emergencies.
Apparently more than a few good citizens were unable to put the pieces together between stumbling out of bed, loading the kids in the car, and driving themselves out to the airport.
As a result, the radio station had plenty of irate and disappointed people on their hands. Those who did make it all the way out to YVR to watch the shuttle 'land' were at least given t-shirts and coffee for their trouble.
Brilliant.
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