History Main / FictionAsCoverup

Subtrope of CassandraGambit. See also PlausibleDeniability, LiteraryAgentHypothesis, DirectLineToTheAuthor, and AllPartOfTheShow. When the "fake fake show" is a direct part of the main plot, it's a ShowWithinAShow.

* This is the entire point of ''Hoax Hunters'' -- they're paranormal investigators with a reality TV show, disproving supernatural phenomena wherever they find it. Naturally, the stuff they're debunking is basically always real; why cover it up when you can decry it?
** In a more straightforward example, ''Hoax Hunters Case Files'' reveals that the Hoax Hunters have at various times released fiction based on their cases, including comic books marketed towards children.
* Zigzagged in ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''. On one hand, the titular league (and its predecessors and successors) are covered up as fiction by biographers, who are then passed off as fiction writers, e.g. Creator/WilliamShakespeare and Creator/HGWells. On the other, many events ([[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds the Martian invasion]]), places ([[Series/TheWestWing the nation of Qumar]]), and people ([[Series/TheThickOfIt British government official Malcolm Tucker]]) are all presented as real to the public, nor is there any attempt to argue otherwise.
* The one-shot "The History of Marvels Comics" portrays the staff of Creator/{{Marvel}} as doing this in an unwitting fashion. For instance, their ComicBook/IronMan comics are based on the in-universe {{Kayfabe}} that Iron Man is Tony Stark's bodyguard. Other comics published under the Marvels Comics name show more examples of this, such as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica being a dark-haired man named [[SdrawkcabName Roger Stevens]], and the X-men are a ComicBook/SuicideSquad-esque team of government agents so as to not offend the Marvel Universe's mutant-phobic public.
* In the original ''ComicBook/MenInBlack'' comic, Kay lets slip that ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' was a documentary about Earth's first treaty with extraterrestrials, and ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' was made as a simulator in the event of interplanetary war. [[note]]This was years after ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'', incidentally.[[/note]]

* The AlternateRealityGame based on the Film/TransformersFilmSeries indicate the franchise is truly one of these, with ''Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne'' being a ruse to hide first contact between our races and the films being a response to increased Decepticon activity. [[ActorAllusion Agent]] [[Creator/HugoWeaving H. Weaving]] was assigned to the films to maintain utmost control.
* Cross it with IShouldWriteABookAboutThis, and the trope is {{Implied}} in Franchise/{{Tron}} with Flynn making the Tron video game in-universe (both timelines) based on his adventures in {{Cyberspace}}, and (in the ''Film/TronLegacy'' timeline), writing books on computer programming and AI ethics to try and prepare humanity for learning that they're accidental deities.

* In ''Literature/ADeepnessInTheSky'', humans are hiding in orbit around a planet with a developing alien society, studying the aliens. At one point, the humans take a ship down to the planet's surface, and need to run their very bright afterburners for several thousand seconds in order to decelerate safely, but they don't want the planetary society to immediately realize a spaceship is landing, so they spam the planetary network with outlandish reports of yetis and nuclear explosions and, indeed, alien spacecraft, to discredit the few legitimate reports from official sources that realize a spacecraft has been sighted. (By the time they are ready to visit the planet, the humans have broken virtually all the aliens' cryptologic communication, and they can send messages over secure networks as well as public, which explains why government facilities can't just communicate on private, trusted networks.)

* Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** {{Inverted|Trope}} by the White Court of vampires, which arranged for the publication of ''{{Literature/Dracula}}'' in order to expose the rival Black Court vampires' secrets and vulnerabilities.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "[[Literature/PateDeFoieGras Paté de foie gras]]": A group of scientists has found a goose who lays golden eggs; after testing every theory they could think of to figure out why, they decided to write about the exploit in hopes of getting advice from outside sources. Due to the need for secrecy, they published it as a fictional short story, safe in the knowledge that no one would believe it...
* In Creator/ABertramChandler's "The Proper Gander", the Aliens, finding that their ships have been spotted by Earth dwellers, proceed to "contact" gullible flying saucer believers, knowing that the rest of the people will not believe THEIR stories. At the end, the one who made the "proper gander" pun is assigned to be a comedian making fun of the contact stories, anticipating that he will "make 'saucer' the dirtiest word in the English language."
* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''{{Literature/Quozl}}'', a human friend of the rabbit-like aliens stranded on Earth produces a kiddie cartoon show about rabbit-like aliens stranded on Earth. Her brother confronts her about it, but she waves him off when she makes him realize that anyone claiming that cartoon characters actually live in a national park would never be taken seriously. As for the real Quozl, they discover the broadcasts and while they are insulted and feel used by her, they realize that trying to interfere with the broadcasts would do far more harm than good and instead insist on being secret creative consultants in order to make the situation more bearable and perhaps use it to their advantage when they [[TheUnmasquedWorld come out of hiding]].

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': The "Jose Chung's ''From Outer Space''" episode features a government conspiracy to fake alien encounters so that people won't take the real alien encounters seriously. To make things even harder to believe, they even employ [[TheMenInBlack Men In Black]] who heavily resemble celebrities, like Creator/AlexTrebek.
** This also happened in one of the tie-in comics produced by Topps. A man going on the talk show circuit claiming to be John Lawrence, one of the pilots of the famous Flight 19 that got lost in TheBermudaTriangle is eventually revealed to be an actor playing an elaborate hoax. However, Mulder correctly deduces that the real reason behind the hoax is that the aliens really have sent Flight 19 back to Earth and The Conspiracy set the whole thing up so if any more of them turned up nobody would believe them.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Illuminati'', the Conspiracy encourages the Magazine/WeeklyWorldNews and similar publications to write up stories about conspiracy so that the Serious Press won't believe them.
** In one of their other games, Black Ops, this is the justification given for why the rulebook has things statted up and advice on running games despite being framed as an in-universe document- if its leaked, it can be passed off as simply an RPG supplement.

* Something similar is hinted at in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. The conspiracy makes artifical life-forms called Grays that resemble the popular idea of aliens (round heads, gray skin) and is implied to let rumours about them circulate as a smokescreen for what they are really up to in the Area 51 facility. Some sources also claim that the Grays are clones grown from genetic material from the Roswell UFO, but nothing conclusive is given.
** This is actually the purpose of the Midnight Sun tabloid. [[spoiler: Joe Greene]], agent of Majestic 12, writes sensational articles about the gray death virus that aren't quite the truth, but just close enough to discredit anyone trying to tell the public the real story.
* Many Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei fans take ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'''s mention of a [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha]] movie as this. It would make it the only indication of any games in the series (beyond the direct sequels and Persona sub-series) to take place in the same ([[{{Multiverse}} exact]]) universe.
** Ironically, the Raidou Kuzunoha reference was [[http://www.atlus.com/forum/showpost.php?p=91741&postcount=16 solely a product of the localization]]; in the original Japanese version, it was actually a reference to both the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosuke_Kindaichi Kosuke Kindaichi]] mystery novels and the ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'' manga/anime/live-action adaptations.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* As well as most of the {{Expy}} science fiction shows the main characters are fans of, in ''{{WebComic/Fans}}!'' even shows like ''Series/SesameStreet'' are apparently constructs funded by the F.I.B to serve this purpose. The Count? Really a vampire.
** The other Muppets are up to something sinister, too. H. Ross Perot was one of them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* Website/CollegeHumor: The conspiracy theory spoof video "Deceptive Deceptions" claims that ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' was made on the orders of Dick Cheney (at the time Congressman of Wyoming, where the movie was filmed) and his co-conspirators to cover up previous UFO landings.
* Inverted in the ''{{WebOriginal/Paradise}}'' setting. In the years leading up to the dawning of TheUnmasquedWorld, when the fact that some people were being transformed into {{Funny Animal}}s stopped being InvisibleToNormals, a greater-than-normal number of shows and stories featuring anthropomorphic animals were featured in popular entertainment--apparently to get the general public acclimated to seeing them around.
* ''Series/WarpZoneProject'' runs with the idea of all fiction not being only cover-up, but the true stories of super-powered individuals. They contribute to an exploited WeirdnessCensor in such a way that if someone actually runs into super-heroes or super-villains doing their usual super-hero and super-villain activities, the memories change into the impression of remembering a scene from a comic book or movie featuring the characters.
* Slightly different take on the subject in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. Famous horror writer Michael Waite's best known book, "Incongruity", was a huge success. Michael Waite died. Sort of. He became 'Carmilla' who is prophesied to evolve into The Kellith and sweep humanity off the planet and replace humanity with its spawn. It turns out that "Incongruity" is really The First Book of The Kellith.
* In a number of Creator/JohnCWright's online short stories, it is stated that all science fiction is records of actual events from the past, present and future, disguised as speculative fiction, and the annual meetings of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America [[http://www.scifiwright.com/2011/10/the-eve-of-all-saints-day/comment-page-1/#comment-67616 is when authors are assigned authentic manuscripts and diaries to turn into publishable stories.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' it turns out that {{Area 51}} really is filled with aliens and captured spacecraft that the government is experimenting on, and the government deliberately leaked all the rumors and conspiracy theories to the public because they knew nobody would really believe it if "the truth" ever got out. Kim and Ron are understandably perturbed that they are being asked to help keep a secret that everybody already knows.

* A {{documentary}} in 2014, titled ''Mirage Men'', alleges that the US government was [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/14/men-in-black-ufo-sightings-mirage-makers-movie actively involved]] in spreading conspiracy theories about extraterrestrials. The logic was that, if people (and hopefully the Soviets too) believed that the strange lights in the Nevada desert were visitors from outer space, then they'd pay less attention to the top-secret experimental aircraft that the Air Force was ''actually'' testing at {{Area 51}}, along with other black projects that the military was engaged in. (The [[AliensStealCattle cattle mutilations]] of the '70s, for instance, were likely connected to an ill-advised experiment in "nuclear fracking".) Of course, this film could be just another layer of the cover-up...

* The AlternateRealityGame based on the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' films indicate the franchise is truly one of these, with Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne being a ruse to hide first contact between our races and the films being a response to increased Decepticon activity. [[ActorAllusion Agent]] [[Creator/HugoWeaving H. Weaving]] was assigned to the films to maintain utmost control.

** Apparently, this was a {{defictionalization}} of [[EpilepticTrees a fan theory]] claiming that the Franchise/StargateVerse itself is an example of this trope, with the shows being used to [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories cover up a real-life Stargate program]]. There was actually a real (and now-declassified) [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project "Stargate" program]], only it involved research into remote viewing, and was ended in 1995 due to a failure to produce results. (Or so they say...) It was the inspiration for the book and film ''Film/TheMenWhoStareAtGoats''.

** For a number of years this is how Karrin Murphy spends the majority of her time as a cop: explaining the wacky hijinks she and Dresden get into on approximately a yearly basis. She has the thankless job of turning vampires, sithe, gods, and rogue wizards into something that isn't magic, like gas leaks or terrorists, and even once offers to call in muggle cavalry on "terrorists with high tech suits" at the airport. Harry comments that she could easily write novels, she gets so much practice with [[InvokedTrope writing fiction]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' it turns out that {{Area 51}} really is filled with aliens and captured spacecraft that the government is experimenting on, and the government deliberately leaked all the rumors and conspiracy theories to the public because they knew nobody would really believe it if "the truth" ever got out. Kim and Ron are understandably perturbed that that they are being asked to help keep a secret that everybody already knows.

** Apparently, this was a {{defictionalization}} of [[EpilepticTrees a fan theory]] claiming that the Franchise/StargateVerse itself is an example of this trope, with the shows being used to [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories cover up a real-life Stargate program]]. There was actually a real (and now-declassified) [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project "Stargate" program]], only it [[NamesTheSame involved research into remote viewing]], and was ended in 1995 due to a failure to produce results. (Or so they say...) It was the inspiration for the book and film ''Film/TheMenWhoStareAtGoats''.

* ''Series/WarpZoneProject'' runs with the idea of all fiction not being only cover-up, but the true stories of super-powered individuals. They conntribute to an exploited WeirdnessCensor in such a way that if someone actually runs into super-heroes or super-villains doing their usual super-hero and super-villain activities, the memories change into the impression of remembering a scene from a comic book or movie featuring the characters.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': The "Jose Chung's ''From Outer Space''" episode features a government conspiracy to fake alien encounters so that people won't take the real alien encounters seriously.

* ''Film/TheFaculty'' provides the page quote, in which two characters speculate on the possibility of AlienInvasion movies serving this purpose. Never confirmed either way, though.

->'''Stokely:''' So they've just been setting us up over the years with their ''[[Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial E.T.]]'''s and their ''Film/MenInBlack'' movies, just so [[CassandraGambit no one would believe it if it ever happened]]?

* The 1988 ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds'' TV series is based on the premise that the invasion depicted in the 1953 [[Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds film]] actually took place, but most people [[LaserGuidedAmnesia don't remember it]] due to a WeirdnessCensor effect. In one episode, the characters visit Grover's Mill, New Jersey, where the 50th anniversary of the 1938 [[Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds radio drama]] by Orson Welles is being celebrated. They learn that the 1938 invasion was also real (although it was defeated by the local militia, not by terrestrial microbes), and the government hired Welles to produce his broadcast as part of a cover-up.

* A particularly sinister one in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': One of Ernesto de la Cruz's films has a villain attempt to poison his character when he wants out of their partnership. [[spoiler:The entire scene plays out exactly the way it did when he killed his former partner Hector, right down to the lines the villain says. If anyone tried to accuse de la Cruz of doing the same to Hector, then it could be reasonably stated they got the idea from fiction.]]

** Incidentally, in real-life, the USSR cottoned on to the existence of a US plan to build atomic weapons when articles on atomic research disappeared from science journals, as noted by Georgy Flyorov, who noted that it had been a popular topic in TheForties but overnight seemed to have disappeared. So most likely, if they had simply continued spinning disinformation in the science-journals and phased out the science-fiction, they might have succeeded for a while longer in hiding the secret.

** In Creator/StevenMoffat's first foray into ''Doctor Who'' lit, ''Literature/ContinuityErrors'', the Doctor himself is said to insert himself into the narratives of the worlds he helps. As a result it is impossible to convince the people of these worlds that a dangerous alien is among them (the guy explaining this has some issues) when they're to busy laughing at how cheap the effects are.
** In the unofficial book ''I am the Doctor'' presented as the Doctor's autobiography, the last chapter is about how Ian and Barbara were involved in hushing up the [[DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Shoreditch Incident]] by helping to make [[Film/DrWhoAndTheDaleks two]] [[Film/DaleksInvasionEarth2150AD films]] about the Daleks, starring Creator/PeterCushing.