Minecraft Myths?

For those that don't know, I'm the last to learn anything, so of course I wouldn't learn about Herobrine until Notch posted in his update "removed Herobrine." I did some research and decided about this much was true:

1. Herobrine started as a hoax, and Notch doesn't have a brother.
2. Notch may have added him as a gag during one of his more obscure updates (where he hinted at adding something special).
3. Notch may be having fun trolling his fan base (which wouldn't surprise me given he's the creator of creepers).
4. There is nothing in the game codes (before the update) that suggests Herobrine may exist.

My honest theory is that if he did exist, he was unable to craft objects and could not be approached within a certain range. Given that there was never a code for an NPC or anything hinting Herobrine or any other player, it's possible some kind of mirror could have been made to make it appear you were chasing a ghost if you loaded a certain type of map.

Those are my theories anyway. What do you guys think? Did Herobrine ever exist?
(BTW: Even though I need members, anyone who posts as Herobrine will be banned. Though not deleted. Hell, that would be kind of funny.)