you seem to really forget that history is full of example of crazy things that people would have undoubtedly labeled as "baseless unverifiable brain farts" on t

you seem to really forget that history is full of example of crazy things that people would have undoubtedly labeled as "baseless unverifiable brain farts" on their time. You try to make a black / white distinction between "factual" and "idiotic", but reality is much more diverse (although there are some extreme cases for sure). The things become even more complex when you consider that real scandals often start to be unveiled by thin hints, rather than obvious proofs. My point is that it's a spectrum, not a binary thing.