My brief editorial in the wake of this year’s April Fool’s Day is that there was entirely too much fooling around.

None of the jokes were overly interesting or even intelligent. Most of the ones I read were downright stupid. Perhaps, a random few (e.g. the “Happy Valley Horror”?) were marginally funny.

By the end of the day, I was getting a pit in my stomach as I saw the tidal wave of bad jokes and lame attempts to truly try to fool people come ashore. I was sorry I posted any April Fool’s stories.

Most reporters actually wrote their news in all seriousness.

Take, for example, this photograph published on April 1st, in Louisiana. The accompanying story, first highlighted by The Anomalist, is written as fact, without any hint of fakery.

The above photo is nothing more than a Patterson-Gimlin frame cropped and reversed.