Editing Soyuz 2 (section)

== "Crew" hoax ==
[[Conceptual artist]] [[Joan Fontcuberta]] claimed in 1997 that Soyuz 2 was crewed by Ivan Istochnikov and a dog named Kloka, who disappeared on 26 October 1968, with signs of having been hit by a meteorite. According to Fontcuberta, Soviet officials deleted Istochnikov from official [[History of the Soviet Union|Soviet history]] to avoid embarrassment; however, the "Sputnik Foundation" discovered Istochnikov's "voice transcriptions, videos, original annotations, some of his personal effects, and photographs taken throughout his lifetime". The exhibition of artifacts (e.g., photographs) related to "Soyuz 2" was shown in many countries, including [[Spain]], [[France]], [[Portugal]], [[Italy]], [[Mexico]], [[Japan]], and the [[United States]].<ref name=ElMundo>Pérez de Albéniz, Javier, [http://www.el-mundo.es/magazine/num84/textos/cosmo.html El cosmonauta fantasma] ''El Mundo'' magazine, 25 May 1997, Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref><ref>Curtis, Mary Jo, [http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2000-01/00-070.html Artists mix fact and fantasy in False Witness exhibition at Bell Gallery] Providence, Rhode Island: Brown University, 17 January 2001, Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref> Among other reactions to the exhibition, a Russian ambassador "got extremely angry because [Fontcuberta] was insulting the glorious Russian past and threatened to present a diplomatic complaint".

Several lines of evidence available since the first exhibition of "Sputnik" in 1997 in [[Madrid]] suggested that the story and artifacts form an elaborate hoax:

* The name "Ivan Istochnikov" is a Russian translation of Joan Fontcuberta's name; in specific, "Joan" and "Ivan" both translate to "John"<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050422092748/http://www.diccionaris.net/ English Catalan Dictionary.]}} Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Ivan Online Etymology Dictionary: Ivan] Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref> and "Fontcuberta" and "Istochnikov" both mean "hidden fountain".
* The photographs of Istochnikov show Fontcuberta's face.
* Pages of the official website of the Madrid exhibition contain the words "PURE FICTION" toward the top of each page in light red text on a dark red background <ref>[http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik.html Sputnik Foundation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605182703/http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik.html|date=5 June 2008}} "From May 21st to July 20th, 1997" Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref> or light pink text on a white background.<ref>[http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik1.html Texts from the SPUTNIK catalog.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821200355/http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/at/esputnik1.html|date=21 August 2008}} Retrieved 1 July 2008</ref>
* The front and rear endpapers of the catalog accompanying the Madrid exhibition have the words "it's all fiction" in Russian and Spanish printed on them using [[Phosphorescence|glow-in-the-dark]] ink.<ref>Kondakova, Olga, et al., ''Sputnik'', Madrid: Fundación Arte y Tecnologia, 1997 {{ISBN|84-89884-00-5}}</ref>
* At the website of Spanish newspaper ''El Mundo'', the third of three pages concerning the Madrid exhibition states that "the report which we published on the previous pages is a product of his [Fontcuberta's] imagination".<ref name=ElMundo/>