The NYT of October 16, 1907 reports a Homer Simpson 'Doh!!' moment:

The semi-official Temps this evening, referring to a dispatch from New York saying that the Wright brothers had sold their aeroplane to an Anglo-American syndicate which is negotiating with European Governments, says.

"We have reason to believe that the information is incorrect and that the attempts of the Wrights at Berlin, Paris, and London to sell their invention failed, as they wished to sell the secret without making a demonstration of its utility.