Category: Technological Hoaxes

• The "Mechanical Turk" Global Plot

  This theory held that the Mechanical Turk was more than a chess-playing hoax: it was a coded communications device, espionage cabinet, or secret-society instrument disguised as an automaton. In stronger versions, the hidden human operator was only the lowest level of the secret—the real purpose was secure transmission among elites moving through Europe’s courts and capitals. The documented record clearly shows that the Turk was a real hoax with a concealed human chess player and that it traveled widely among rulers, diplomats, and public audiences. What remains very weakly documented is the claim that it functioned as a secret-society communication device.