German TV station explains live MJ hoax

BERLIN, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A German TV station has admitted it produced footage that seemed to show the late pop star Michael Jackson getting out of a coroner's van.

Jackson died June 25 at the age of 50. His death has been declared a homicide due to lethal levels of the anesthetic propofol and other drugs found in his system. His personal physician and other doctors are under investigation for their treatment of Jackson leading up to his death.

Heike Schultz, a spokeswoman for RTL, told CNN Monday the clip that seemed to show Jackson alive was created as an experiment intended to prove how easy it is to spread rumors on the Internet.

"We sent out a press release before we did the video to alert everyone that it was fake, but once posted, it spread really fast," Schultz said. "This was so obviously fake, in the case of Michael Jackson, it just was not possible."

More than 900,000 people have viewed the most popular version of the clip on YouTube since it was posted Aug. 25.