Answer: Charles Manson

Visit Snopes.com—the massive fact-checking and debunking website—today and you’ll find lots of current topics related to the present day like fact checks regarding political statements, information about alternative medicine cures, and in-depth looks at topics ripped right from the headlines.

When Snopes started back in 1995, however, they had a fertile backlog—all of history really—to dig into. Among all the topics they would eventually get around to addressing, like whether or not the moon landing was faked or if Napoleon was actually super short, they started with a persistent oddball rumor: that Charles Manson, the notorious criminal and cult leader, had auditioned for The Monkees.

The claim is false, but not entirely without merit. Unlike many rumors and claims that lack even the remotest basis in reality, the Manson-Monkees link at least has a specter of plausibility hanging about it. While Manson never attended said audition, he did hang around with people in the music scene in California at the time, auditioned for the Byrds, and one of his musical compositions even ended up as a Beach Boys b-side single.