Does anyone know if this has actually started or if this whole thing was a hoax? According to the OP, the test should have started ~20 minutes ago. Blockchain.info is showing ~5300 unconfirmed transactions (which may not be an all inclusive figure), and this is up from ~4000 unconfirmed transactions maybe between 10 and 20 minutes ago, although the fact that no blocks have been found in 30+ minutes is going to cause this number to be somewhat inflated.

Edit: as of 1:39~ two blocks have been found and unconfirmed transactions per bc.i are at ~6,600 and total fees are at 50+ BTC (someone probably made a mistake in generating a transaction).