It’s hard to count them when they’re moving
In 1725 a woman named Mary Toft convinced her local doctor, and the king’s own personal physician, and, for good measure, the royal astronomer (!) that she had given birth to 17 rabbits.
Imagine their chagrin when the story turned out not to be true. I mean, who would’ve thought it? Mary went to jail for the hoax–but none of the men of science got fired or demoted from their positions of trust. I guess because Science is always right, even when it’s wrong.