Ultimate Student Prank

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Caltech (California Institute of Technology) have pulled off another amazing prank.

Last year Caltech students went to MIT and handed out MIT-branded shirts to students visiting the campus with "MIT" on the front... on the back it said "because not everyone can go to Caltech"!

This year MIT students got their revenge when 11 MIT students walked into Caltech and stole the 130 year old, 1.7 ton Fleming Cannon which normally sits in front of Caltech's Fleming undergrad house. The prank was perfectly timed as this is the week when prospective students visit college campuses across America.

Security did initially stop the flat-bed lorry carrying the gun but the students had a good story and official/real looking fake documents and so got past security.

Caltech press release: http://pr.caltech.edu/media/Press_Releases/PR12826.html

Official MIT-cannon website:

http://www.mitcannon.com/

The same prank occurred 20 years ago, here is the memorial page:

http://people.bu.edu/fmri/somers/cannon.html

Previous Caltech pranks include changing the Hollywood sign to Caltech (this is just the photo):

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~plavchan/images/tech1.jpg

And finally the summary; Caltech Vs. MIT:

http://www.caltechvsmit.com/