6 ms·

I had a strategy for getting people to tell me things that they wouldn't normally have volunteered. This anecdote was mentioned in passing, and I would not have

I had a strategy for getting people to tell me things that they wouldn't normally have volunteered. This anecdote was mentioned in passing, and I would not have caught the significance if I'd not remembered Oliver North's notoriety.

oh_sigh 10y ago
Share your strategy please.
- taxicabjesus 10y ago
  I asked a lot of questions. Some were oddly-specific, and usually (but not always) answered in the negative. If the answer was probably already supplied by context the question would be rather general, so as to avoid putting my foot in my mouth like that one time I made an assumption about where the passenger was going... This is something I intend to flesh out some day on my site (url in profile).
dragonwriter 10y ago
Wait, your reference to "General North" was about Oliver North? He was never a general...
- taxicabjesus 10y ago
  This was several years ago now, and I don't remember that passenger's quip about 'North' verbatim.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Sorry but GP is correct, if someone tells you they were in the special forces, even in passing, there's a 98%+ chance they are lying through their teeth no matter how good you believe you are at "getting people to tell [you] things that they wouldn't normally have volunteered." You wouldn't imagine the things these people do to keep up this facade. Basically, just ignore anyone who tells you they were in the special forces.
- taxicabjesus 10y ago
  Thanks for your comments. There was a lot of bitterness about the fallout from Iran-Contra... There was more context to the passenger's quip - my oddly-specific question struck a nerve, I guess. http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    Yeah, still not buying it. "Shipley noted that simple math make it likely that anyone who claims to be a SEAL is probably lying about it. There are fewer than 18,000 men who were ever SEALs, and many of them served during World War II. "We estimate there's probably fewer than 10,000 men alive today who have ever been a SEAL. The FBI did a study a few years ago estimating that each of us has 300 imposters. I put the number closer to 1,000 based on the fraud cases I've seen.""[0] These people go as far as obtaining tattoos and fake uniforms and memorabilia[1], using their fake "experience" to train police[2], fake Reddit AMAs[3], lying to their own spouse[4], and even using their fake "credentials" to initiate hostage negotiations[5]. Fake experience in special ops is such a part of their fake persona they'd surely say something in passing that sounds reasonable to a lay person even if they weren't looking for attention at that very moment, especially if you are leading them on. There's a zero percent chance that whatever they told you was true. I'm not gonna believe anyone is/was in the special forces unless I see their service record/DD-214. HINT: A huge indication they aren't special ops is they are talking about special ops. (The only time I've ever heard anyone say anything about the special forces and I sorta believed them was the jr sailor who was making fun of himself for trying out for the Navy SEALs and failed spectacularly.) [0] http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/navy-seals-imposters-coming-woodwork-seal/story?id=13564587 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/navy-seals-imposters-coming-wo... [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140085/Man-claimed-Navy-SEAL-sniper-exposed-fake-woman-tried-woo-military-boasts-online.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140085/Man-claimed-... [2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032025/Special-forces-fake-paid-teach-police-given-21-months-jail.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032025/Special-forc... [3] https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_special_forces_operator_ama/cfmoiw7/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_s... https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_special_forces_operator_ama/cfmeyfw/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_s... https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_special_forces_operator_ama/cfm2xqy/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_s... [4] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fake-sas-hero-lorry-driver-6764545 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fake-sas-hero-lorry-dri... [5] http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/20/fake-navy-seal-slapped-with-three-years-in-prison-after-scamming-charity/ http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/20/fake-navy-seal-slapped-wit...

oh_sigh 10y ago

Share your strategy please.

taxicabjesus 10y ago
I asked a lot of questions. Some were oddly-specific, and usually (but not always) answered in the negative. If the answer was probably already supplied by context the question would be rather general, so as to avoid putting my foot in my mouth like that one time I made an assumption about where the passenger was going... This is something I intend to flesh out some day on my site (url in profile).

dragonwriter 10y ago

Wait, your reference to "General North" was about Oliver North? He was never a general...

taxicabjesus 10y ago
This was several years ago now, and I don't remember that passenger's quip about 'North' verbatim.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

Sorry but GP is correct, if someone tells you they were in the special forces, even in passing, there's a 98%+ chance they are lying through their teeth no matter how good you believe you are at "getting people to tell [you] things that they wouldn't normally have volunteered." You wouldn't imagine the things these people do to keep up this facade. Basically, just ignore anyone who tells you they were in the special forces.

taxicabjesus 10y ago
Thanks for your comments. There was a lot of bitterness about the fallout from Iran-Contra... There was more context to the passenger's quip - my oddly-specific question struck a nerve, I guess. http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Yeah, still not buying it. "Shipley noted that simple math make it likely that anyone who claims to be a SEAL is probably lying about it. There are fewer than 18,000 men who were ever SEALs, and many of them served during World War II. "We estimate there's probably fewer than 10,000 men alive today who have ever been a SEAL. The FBI did a study a few years ago estimating that each of us has 300 imposters. I put the number closer to 1,000 based on the fraud cases I've seen.""[0] These people go as far as obtaining tattoos and fake uniforms and memorabilia[1], using their fake "experience" to train police[2], fake Reddit AMAs[3], lying to their own spouse[4], and even using their fake "credentials" to initiate hostage negotiations[5]. Fake experience in special ops is such a part of their fake persona they'd surely say something in passing that sounds reasonable to a lay person even if they weren't looking for attention at that very moment, especially if you are leading them on. There's a zero percent chance that whatever they told you was true. I'm not gonna believe anyone is/was in the special forces unless I see their service record/DD-214. HINT: A huge indication they aren't special ops is they are talking about special ops. (The only time I've ever heard anyone say anything about the special forces and I sorta believed them was the jr sailor who was making fun of himself for trying out for the Navy SEALs and failed spectacularly.) [0] http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/navy-seals-imposters-coming-woodwork-seal/story?id=13564587 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/navy-seals-imposters-coming-wo... [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140085/Man-claimed-Navy-SEAL-sniper-exposed-fake-woman-tried-woo-military-boasts-online.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140085/Man-claimed-... [2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032025/Special-forces-fake-paid-teach-police-given-21-months-jail.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032025/Special-forc... [3] https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_special_forces_operator_ama/cfmoiw7/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_s... https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_special_forces_operator_ama/cfmeyfw/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_s... https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_special_forces_operator_ama/cfm2xqy/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1ymsr4/i_am_an_ex_us_s... [4] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fake-sas-hero-lorry-driver-6764545 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fake-sas-hero-lorry-dri... [5] http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/20/fake-navy-seal-slapped-with-three-years-in-prison-after-scamming-charity/ http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/20/fake-navy-seal-slapped-wit...