Originally Posted by
Justin026
With respect, 110pgl, I think the reason people have commented about this is because you were the first person to raise the question about whether this incident really happened -- and you gave your message a separate title -- "Hoax?" in bold letters.
My observation, at least on this board, has been that skepticism has a place. But if we have a poster saying that he/she actually observed something, then we seem to defer to that post. Ask a clarifying question or two, but it the OP still says it happened, we either keep reading politely or we ignore the thread and wait for it scroll away.
Thank you for your POV.
Some facts...
- The word Hoax (bolded) was the title - no way to not bold it.
- I did ask clarifying questions.
- There were no news reports or verification 8+ hours after this story started. That is when I questioned OP for more information.
- 24+ hours later there was no conformation and MSY said no comment.
Perhaps I have read more on FT than some on this thread. Threads with unsubstantiated outlandish stories are presented daily on FT. Most of the time, these crazy stories are proven false and the entire thread either deleted, closed or the topic moves on. Maybe it is the scientist in me, but, we should always question stories out of the norm first. It is certainly not rude to question people and ask for details. It is certainly well within all our rights to determine, based on the facts at hand, whether we believe something that has been told.
Respectfully, I reject your notion/rule...
Originally Posted by
Justin026
...Ask a clarifying question or two, but it the OP still says it happened, we either keep reading politely or we ignore the thread and wait for it scroll away.
We should always question outlandish stories. It is the best way to get to the truth, as we did here. If your definition of "rude" or "unkind" is to question an outlandish story (that, unlike the norm, turned out to be true), so be it. We just disagree.