At 08:08 PM 2/18/99 -0700, Keith M. Elis wrote:
>Conspiracy theories are great self-replicators. And it looks like the
>TWA Flight 800 cover-up theory has had a better-than-average life
>expectancy. CNET rates it one of the 10 best net hoaxes of all time. I
>was hoping they'd give Ian Goddard some credit for keeping it alive...
>
>http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reports/Trends/Nethoaxes/ss07.html
IAN: Keep in mind that just because leaders say X is a hoax does not mean that X is a hoax. To know if X is a hoax requires more than faith in authorities, hard to imagine as that may be.
We can know, for example, that the web page you forwarded commits a hoax because it presented no evidence of a hoax it purports to exist. It even notes that the source of Salinger's document was Richard Russell, a retired United Airlines pilot living in Florida. That is not evidence that it was a hoax. The proof that it was not a hoax is the fact that Richard Russell was not making it up. He acquired the FAA radar tape from the same person connected to the investigation he acquired the intelligence of the Navy activities under FL800.
That the Russell report is a hoax is a proven hoax.