There is an e-mail going around detailing a so-called 'reverse Sokal hoax.' I'm not sure if the circumstances it describes are real or not. But here's the text of the e-mail verbatim:

>> Sometime ago Alan Sokol et al wrote a completely meaningless article on
>> quantum gravity which was accepted by a leading, refereed
>> "deconstructionist journal". Physicists laughed because the hoax was at
>> the deconstructionists' expense.
>>
>> But now there is is an inverse Sokol hoax in which, apparently, two
>> reporters interviewd a lot of string theorists, wrote meaningless
>> but "right sounding" papers and even got a Ph.D. Details below. What
>> is
>> particularly sad is that a key paper appeared in CQG:
>>
>> <<Class. Quantum Grav. 18 (7 November 2001) 4341-4372
>>
>> Topological field theory of the initial singularity of spacetime*
>>
>> Grichka Bogdanov and Igor Bogdanov
>> Mathematical Physics Laboratory, CNRS UPRES A 5029, Bourgogne
>> University,
>> France
>> >>
>>
>> The trouble is that the abstract seems indistinguishable from standard
>> stringy papers. I understand that the CQG Editorial Board already
>> discussed this hoax but found that the paper had been refereed by two
>> reputable string theorists.
>>
>> More details:
>> *******************************************************************
>> >From Max Niedemayer to Ted Newman
>>
>> #1.
>> I always thought Sokal's hoax would also work in
>> theoretical high energy physics. Now there is experimental
>> proof.
>>
>> Two brothers, Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff, journalists
>> and science fiction writers, both in their late 40's,
>> decided it is high time to earn a PhD, and that this should
>> be just as easy in `stringy' high energy physics as it
>> alledgedly is in sociology.
>>
>> First they interviewed a number of prominent French string
>> theorists in order to accquire the lingo, then (apparently
>> without help from a trained physicist) spoofed two theses.
>> To prepare the ground for their defense they spread rumors
>> of them being geniuses and their theses being a milestone
>> in theoretical physics. Although the official PhD awarding
>> institution is only the (so far not too renowned) Universite de
>> Bourgogne the members of the thesis committee certainly make
>> up for it: R. Jackiw (MIT), J. Morava (John Hopkins),
>> S. Majid (Cambridge), C. Kounnas (ENS), I. Antoniadis (CERN
>> and Ecole Polytechnique), and others. For the actual defense
>> they rented a hall in the prestigeous Ecole Polytechnique,
>> arranged a big dinner with the president, invited the TV,
>> ... and passed gloriously. The thesis can be found on the
>> offical CNRS server (http://www.ccsd.cnrs.fr/). Already the
>> abstract is a delightfully meaningless combination of buzzwords,
>> that almost beats Sokal's, but which apparently has been taken
>> seriously by the committee!
>>
>> The bad side of the joke is, that it might hurt theoretical
>> physics in general. The CNRS apparently even contemplates to
>> split the present theoretical physics division into a pure
>> mathematics and an experimental physics branch. Theoretical
>> physics, being now more fiction than science, is meant to be
>> entertained by professionals in that area. Hopefully the Bogdanoff
>> ``singularity invariant'' for the ``topological expansion phase''
>> of the universe will provide a way out ...
>>
>> I'll keep you informed. Best regards,
>>
>> -- Max
>>
>> #2.
>> Dear Ted,
>> sure you can show the letter to others. Let me stress
>> however (and maybe you should too) that this is not first
>> hand information. A person who has first hand information
>> is J. Magnen, from the Ecole Polytechnique. He works on
>> constructive QFT and was not personally involved.
>> The issue was apparently discussed in the French National
>> Research Council, where Peter Forgacs is a member, and he
>> is my source.
>>
>> A small correction.
>> In the last minute it seems the theses were not accepted at
>> the Ecole Polytechnique, but only later by the University
>> of Bourgogne. The TV was also not permitted to the actual
>> defense, but several people here saw reports on the Bogdanoff
>> brothers decribing them as outstanding geniuses.
>>
>> The theses and the committee members can be looked up on the
>> web at http://www.ccsd.cnrs.fr/
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> -- Max
>>
>>
>> ********************************************************************
>> HOAX THESIS:
>> Abstract in english:
>>
>> We propose in this research a new solution regarding the
>> existence and the content of the initial spacetime singularity. In the
>> context of topological field theory we consider that the initial
>> singularity of space-time corresponds to a zero size singular
>> gravitational instanton characterized by a Riemannian metric
>> configuration (++++) in dimension D = 4. Connected with some unexpected
>> topological data corresponding to the zero scale of space-time, the
>> initial singularity is thus not considered in terms of divergences of
>> physical fields but can be resolved in the frame of topological field
>> theory. We get this result from the physical observation that the
>> pre-spacetime is in a thermal equilibrium at the Planck scale.
>> Therefore
>> it should be subject to the KMS condition. We consequently consider
>> that
>> this KMS state might correspond to a unification between "physical
>> state" (Planck scale) and "topological state" (zero scale). Then it is
>> suggested that the "zero scale singularity" can be understood in terms
>> of topological invariants, in particular the first Donaldson invariant.
>> Therefore, we here introduce a new topological index, connected with 0
>> scale, of the form Z = Tr (-1)s, which we call "singularity invariant".
>> Interestingly, this invariant corresponds also to the invariant
>> topological current yield by the hyperfinite II* von Neumann algebra
>> describing the zero scale of space-time. In such a context we
>> conjecture
>> that the problem of inertial interaction might be explained in terms of
>> topological amplitude connected with the singular zero size
>> gravitational instanton corresponding to the initial singularity of
>> spacetime.
>> Keywords : KMS State, topological field theory, singularity invariant,
>> initial singularity, zero size instanton PACS : 0420D, 04.65.+e,
>> 02.40.Xx, 04.60.-m, 05.45.-a