Most recently a phenona in WWII, cargo cults arose as local inhabitants of pacific islands copied the actions of occupying or visiting forces after they had left believing this would bring gifts from the heavens. In these cults natives might make airstrips, wooden huts complete with bamboo radio and headsets and attempt to call in food drops from the skys. Wikipedia has a lot more info about the cargo cults here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult