Is This Barometer Height Question a Hoax?

[Delzac]

But anyway, if a student were to really write such interesting answer, will he be awarded full credit?

 

[Danger]

Yes, but the marks will be hidden and he'll be required to discern their location using a bowling ball and an eyedropper.

 

[Aether]

This is supposedly a "message" from a physics professor...I believe that this is a hoax and something someone made up...My conclusion: whoever wrote the article made up this story and that this scenario never happened. I'm waiting for enough people to read this as witnesses before I write an e-mail to whoever runs this thing.

The author of the article doesn't claim to be a physics professor, but rather he appears to identify himself as "A Washington-based Economist". The entire column is in quotations and it is presented as "A message from a Physics Prof". The author may have actually received this from a "Physics Prof", or he may have some other good faith basis to believe that this is a message from a person of this description. I would ask for a clarification of exactly what the author is claiming before making an accusation that he could easily explain away in any number of ways.