Was it a story too good to be true.

TV Anchors across the country told the story about the dying little boy that wanted to meet Santa Claus. His wish came true and he died in Santa's arms.

The story was first reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel and picked up by papers and TV stations across the country. As KTTV Anchor Araksya Karapetyan read the story (above), she started to cry.

It was a very touching story....but it also appears to be fake.

The Knoxville paper says "...because the story does not meet the newspaper's standards of verification, we are no longer standing by the veracity of Schmitt-Matzen's account."

Eric Schmitt-Matzen is the guy that played Santa and the guy that told the story that is now believed to be fake.

So now, not only can you no longer believe in Santa Claus, but you can't believe his stories either.

Good thing the Easter Bunny is still real.