Claim: A study recently revealed that one out of every three Americans has been implanted with an RFID microchip.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2014]
Is there any truth to this?
"Study Finds 1 in 3 Americans Have Been Implanted With RFID Chips: Most Unaware"
Origins: On 8 June 2014, the National Report published an article positing that a study had revealed that one out of every three Americans has been implanted with microchips, and most of them were unaware of that occurrence:
Scientists at the Wyoming Institute of Technology (WIT) have determined that a shocking 1 in
By the following day links and excerpts referencing this article were
being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered the item mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, the article was just a bit of fiction from the National Report spoofing the persistent but false belief that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as "Obamacare," requires that patients be implanted with microchips. This article was a follow-up to a July 2013 National Report piece on the same subject, one that garnered enough publicity that officials in Hanna, Wyoming, had to deal with calls from concerned citizens about it.
Lest there be any more confusion, we note here that the National Report is a web site that publishes outrageous fake news stories such as "IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next," "Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge," and "New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples." The National Report's (since removed) disclaimer page notes that:
National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.
National Report publisher Allen Montgomery has also stated to the legitimate press that in no way should anyone construe the National Report as real news:
"It is our opinion that if a person is too lazy to check for multiple references [or at least one other source] ... and they spread misinformation around as fact, then they are to blame for their own stupidity, not us," he said.
Last updated: 12 June 2014