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This guy claims that he is 179 years old. Is this true?

Sources:

Avery
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Jan Vladimir Mostert
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    From their [disclaimer](http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/disclaimer/) page: "World News Daily Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within worldnewsdailyreport.com are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction." – Jamiec Apr 29 '14 at 12:53
  • Or, to put it another way; this is not a notable claim. It's fiction for entertainment. – Jamiec Apr 29 '14 at 12:55
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    It has been copied around enough and re-stated as fact that I would consider it notable. – Ladadadada Apr 29 '14 at 14:21

1 Answers1

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No.

The source is apparently the World News Daily Report, which, as @Jamiec has pointed out, is a fake news site, by their own disclaimer, with stories like ferocius 3-metre-tall squirrels in Australia.

Their article claims (my emphasis):

A retired cobbler from northern India, Mahashta Mûrasi, claims he was born in January 1835, making him not only the oldest man on earth, but the oldest to have ever lived, according to the Guiness (sic) World Records.

So, their reference for their claim is Guinness World Records. But, Guinness does not recognise him as the oldest male. Their site explains:

Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand 'Christian' Mortensen (Denmark/USA, b. 16 August 18­82, d. 25 April 1998) died aged 115 years 252 days. He is the only Nordic person to live beyond the age of 113.

New evidence has come to light that casts doubt on the long-standing longevity record held by Shigechiyo Izumi (Japan). The birth certificate submitted as evidence might actually belong to his older brother, who died at a young age; if the family used Izumi as a 'necronym'­ that is, gave him his dead brother's name, as the new research suggests ­ this means his final age was 105 years old, not 120. The title of oldest man ever, then, passes to Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand 'Christian' Mortensen.

Note that when Mortenson was alive, the claim would have Mûrasi as being living and older than Mortensen.

Their Twitter account confirms this.

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Oddthinking
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  • Wikipedia mentions a woman who died at age 122 which makes Guinness out of date: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_people – Jan Vladimir Mostert Apr 29 '14 at 15:49
  • The Guinness record cited is "Oldest person (male)" but your point stands that Jiroemon Kimura is thought to be older. I used Guinness because the original claim said Guinness recognised him as the oldest person to ever live. – Oddthinking Apr 29 '14 at 16:14
  • Could Guinness just be wrong? –  Apr 29 '14 at 17:17
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    @Articuno: Guinness *could* be wrong. Anyone we cite *could* be wrong. But Guinness was the only authority cited in the story; once we remove that leg, the whole story falls over. I've edited to make that clearer. – Oddthinking Apr 30 '14 at 01:25
  • Squirrels in Australia sounds implausible, but it turns out that placental mammals are [native to Australia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammals_of_Australia#Placental_mammals). Oh wait, was it an Australian animal being ferocious and 3 metres tall that you found implausible? – Andrew Grimm Apr 30 '14 at 04:25
  • @Oddthinking That's clearer now. I didn't realize it was the story that brought up Guinness. –  Apr 30 '14 at 04:59
  • How long does it take Guinness before they publish new records and what would the reason be for them not publishing Jiroemon Kimura as the oldest male? Maybe Wikipedia is wrong or it could simply be that the new record(s) has not been published yet ... I'll accept as the correct answer, if Guinness doesn't know about it, then we have nothing else to go on. – Jan Vladimir Mostert Apr 30 '14 at 08:40
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    Guinness are certaily aware of the [life](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/10/worlds-oldest-living-man-welcomes-guinness-world-records-editor-to-his-home-45453/) and [death](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/3/happy-birthday-misao-okawa!-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-living-person-is-116-years-old-today-55656/) of Jiroemon Kimura. My point, however, isn't which of Kimura and Mortensen lived longer, but that, unlike the original claim, Mahashta Mûrasi is *not* recognised by Guinness, confirming the idea that the story is fictional. – Oddthinking Apr 30 '14 at 12:55