Yes, it was presented as a fact. Prefixing it with, "this sounds cool but I have no idea if it is true," would have made it honest but reduce its directness. A

Yes, it was presented as a fact. Prefixing it with, "this sounds cool but I have no idea if it is true," would have made it honest but reduce its directness. Also, "postscript", something which comes after the main statement. That it changes the basis of the statement itself, could be called a linguistic hack.