Question for September 11, 2009

100 years ago this month, Dr. Frederick A. Cook and Robert E. Peary each told his own version of a gripping tale. The first people to believe Cook and Peary had obvious motivations: scooping rival newspapers and increasing circulation. While Cook cabled his tale to The New York Herald, which promptly devoted its entire front page to it, Peary cabled his to the New York Times, his sponsor, several days later. The Times hailed his triumph, reporting that “the world accepts his word without a shadow of hesitation” and quoting Peary’s denunciation of Cook as a fraud who “has simply handed the public a gold brick.” The Times, the National Geographic Society and Peary’s other supporters were so busy denigrating Cook’s claim — “the most astonishing imposture since the human race came on earth,” according to The Times — that they overlooked flaws in their own hero.

A century later, these events may qualify as the most successful fraud in modern science, as well as the longest-running case study of a psychological phenomenon called “motivated reasoning.” Controversy continues to this day, as claims of more "evidence" emerge. Identify the context/central claim of Cook and Peary.

Hint: If you find help necessary, you may use the image at this link, but do say so in your answer!