Throughout history there have been individuals who chose to impersonate those of infamy, for whatever personal reasons they may have had. Most were solely to draw attention to themselves, in some peculiar way gaining a sort of infamy by osmosis. Not true infamy, but stolen notoriety. I can only shake my head and wonder how any real satisfaction could be gained by the theft of another’s identity.
Then there are those who feed on such individuals and the ensuing confusion they cause, by capitalizing on the ‘Conspiracy’ side of the equation. It never fails that the issue of a conspiracy presents itself. After all, how could two people be the same person without it? Of course one of those two people has to die before the conspiracy can be accommodated, otherwise the impersonator would be immediately refuted by the real person whose identity was being assumed/stolen. Obviously, these Impostors only make their appearance after the famous person has died. Dead Men Tell No Tales.
To complete the triangle, there are those poor souls who buy into the whole Impostor/Conspiracy/Cover Up story. The gullible ones who are easily swayed by snake oil and promises of revelation and enlightenment, and either too lazy or trusting to do their own due diligence. Perhaps they are family members who badly want to believe they are related to someone famous. Or scandal mongers who smell a new story to fire their need for controversy. It might even be someone doing research on the net who mistakes it for fact without checking the source. A whole host of apples ripe for the picking.
It’s a triangle of deceit that is self propagating and self sustaining. I liken it to the lowly Dung Beetle. Even tumblebugs have a natural order and their own hierarchy. Not all Dung Beetles roll balls of manure. Some species live in tunnels dug beneath piles of poop, and are called tunnelers. Others simply live in the poop, and are called dwellers.
The Impostors are the dung rollers, lies building on lies as the ball of poop grows bigger and bigger. Busy little fellows, constantly seeking and gathering more and more poop to build their ball. Those that profit from creating the conspiracies surrounding the Impostors are the tunnelers. They mine the lies, the poop, and turn it into fertilizer which they sell, and the conspiracies spread. And the poor gullible masses are the dwellers. They just accept the poop as their natural habitat. So they buy the fertilizer, and the poop grows, and the rollers now have a self sustaining supply. A closed system.
In forensic investigations there is a very important process known as Chain of Custody. The sequence of custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of physical evidence. It is an integral part of any forensic investigation as it prevents tampering and contamination. When presented with contaminated evidence, it is the Chain of Custody that allows the Investigator to trace back through the various dispositions of the evidence and see at what point it may have become contaminated.
A Qualified History Researcher uses much the same process when presented with flawed research. They trace the various sources and disposition of information back to the original source. In that process they can identify where and when and how the information became contaminated. Historians are frequently faced with this onerous chore. They must first break down the ‘ball’ into it’s various constituents. Then each part must be examined to determine its source. Once a source can be identified for each component then those sources can be researched for authenticity and the source(s) of contamination identified. It’s not an easy task, but it can be done.
The use of forensic methods in History Research is the only way to determine Factual Accounts. Researchers who are operating from a position of Confirmation Bias do not perform this very important process. They merely search for information that confirms their Preconceived Notions, with no regard for the source or accuracy, and in doing so only perpetuate the contamination.
Tumblebugs.
I invite all seekers of True History to examine their own methods, and to incorporate forensic techniques into their research.
Truth cannot enter a closed mind.
Don’t be a Tumblebug.