Fact is stranger than fiction

An alliterative version of truth is stranger than fiction.

Facts are stranger than fiction, for things happen sometimes that never entered into the mind of man to imagine or invent.
[1853 T. C. Haliburton Sam Slick's Wise Saws 5]

I have no desire to convince the world that‥in this‥case fact is stranger than fiction. But the following instance of Mr. Chowne's ‘cunning’ may be verified.
[1881 A. Jessopp Arcady for Better or Worse iii.]

Facts may be stranger than fiction,‥but fiction is generally truer than facts.
[1929 E. J. Millward Copper Bottle 64]

Some of the research seems almost eerie to the outsider, covering some genuine fact-is-stranger-than-fiction ground.
[1980 Christian Science Monitor 30 May B3]

Related to: reality and illusion

Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.