There's a fun feature up at Smithsonian.com, where they debunk a whole list of spooky legends about the creepy Smithsonian Castle. The big old Gothic/Romanesque red sandstone building certainly looks scary... and the legends are pretty cool.
Sample: The Smithsonian tried to find Noah’s Ark at Mount Ararat.
Another sample: There's a secret underground archive under the National Mall.
My favourite sample: The Smithsonian discovered Egyptian ruins in the Grand Canyon.
Sadly, none of the legends are true. And the whole point of the story is to prove that.
Psht.
Whatever happened to no letting the facts get in the way of a good story?