• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Stolen Organs: Urban Legends / Folklore

Bizarre case.
 
A 2000 Fortean Times overview article on organ snatching ULs was once presented on the now-defunct FT online articles archive. The MIA article can still be accessed via the Wayback Machine.
Kidney Devils
Many urban legends, such as stories of microwaved poodles and giant alligators lurking in sewers, are harmless. Others can have serious consequences. Benjamin Radford investigates organ-snatching urban legends which, when taken seriously, have stirred up lynch-mobs.

September 2000 FT 138

The 1978 film Coma, starring Michael Douglas, told a story of unethical doctors taking organs from the comatose. An episode of the television show Law and Order, aired on 2 April 1991 and entitled ‘Sonata for Solo Organ’, featured the theft of a kidney. Joe Morgenstern, who wrote the episode, said in a New York Times article that it was suggested by a colleague, who was sure he had read it in a newspaper somewhere. ... More recently, a 1992 film titled The Harvest involved a screenwriter in Central America who uncovers a black market in kidneys. There is even a rock band named the Kidney Thieves.

The world wide web helps spread such rumours and legends at an unprecedented rate. With the touch of a few keys, lies, rumour, conjecture, truth and fabrication – or any mix thereof – can be sent to millions of people (see, for example, Wallich 1998). The ability to correctly identify urban legends extends beyond the realm of folklorists; a sophistication has developed, and stories of old ladies microwaving their poodles are frequently identified as the tall tales they undoubtedly are. But at one time, well-known urban legends were taken seriously and believed… and many still are by some people. It is within this perspective that the organ-snatching legend ... must be examined. Many people really believe that organ-snatching – like organised Satanic conspiracy – actually occurs. ...

https://web.archive.org/web/2006031...rteantimes.com/articles/138_fatstealers.shtml
 
Back
Top