The Psychology of Hoaxing

We see it all the time. Or at least we suspect it. And many times we can prove it. Hoaxes are found in a variety of areas and is particular concern in ufology. Whenever we see clear pictures and video the believer side rests easier as they have once again seen pure truth. And the skeptical side shouts "Hoax!" sometimes for no other reason than the pictures are too clear or the video is just too good to be true.

As a trend for further scrutiny of these apparent hoaxes we need to systematically diagnose and analyze what we can. No easy task. This takes time, man or woman hours, and careful consideration in many aspects.

But one thing has been bothering me about the aspect of hoaxing. Many times the pro-ufo side or at least the gullible pro-ufo side often rationalizes there apparent authenticity of sightings by asking why someone would hoax this. Why would someone take all this time and apparently money to hoax a UFO sighting?? I hear things like " This would have taken considerable amounts of time, intricacy, money, people, equiptment, etcetera" It seems to be a way of building a case into higher credibility by dismantling the scaffolding of apparent hoaxing procedures.

But that projects to the serious ufo community that we know the reasons for hoaxing AND we know where to draw the line that hoaxers will cross. This seems to be false logic when we try to enter the mind of a hoaxer. We have seen in several different plights where people become part of their own reality that they themselves have constructed. It has been noted that serial killers become a different version of themself. They live out fantasies or terror driven plots that are not neccessarily objective reality but percieved reality. Actors have been seen to have problems when they act the part so much that the part becomes them. And at times this percieved reality becomes an obsessive characteristic of their hidden life. Why should ufo hoaxers be any different??

By no means am I comparing the ultimate negative consequences of a serial killer and a ufo hoaxer. But it is interesting that they can be coaxed into percieved realities in a similar manner. We don't know why serial killers become what they are. Certainly there may be life-changing environmental conditions that mold such a killer. Similarly so is hoaxing cases, at least this is my thought.

Now, of course, we need to separate the gag hoaxes from the more involved ones. People may hoax for a variety of reasons and certainly do. But the ones that go to a deeper level are the ones in the light for this post. Perhaps as the ufo hoax is unveiled it may take on various veneers and may go a number of directions. And the stability of the person or persons involved may be questionable and indeed perhaps psychotic and obsessive. At that point the hoax may take on life of it's own in the hoaxers mind and become their alter reality. They may actually believe that what they are doing is, in fact, true.

I'm guessing this may be a plausible reason we see hundreds of pages of fake documents. Renderings of photos that may have taken hundreds of hours for completion. Thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct models, shoot videos, and all sorts of the likes of hoaxing. I think of the Caret documents and the unending story of the drones. Of Billy Meier (how long can we drag this one out for??) Of Serpa and the alien autopsy. If these were pulled off, which they were, imagine if Sir Branson became a ufo nut. What would he be able to come up with??

I guess the bottom line is that hoaxes are numerable. Hoaxes are not limited in any way except by the laws of physics. If there is a will to believe and convince, the results can be striking. This distinguishes the good ones from the bad. But we should note that when someone tries to build a case up by dismissing a hoax, then we have a flag that should go up. If a hoax CAN be done then we should give every effort into investigating it as such. Because we don't know the resources and the determination of someone doing this and we shouldn't pretend that we do know. And while we can accurately guess the underlying reasons for most hoaxes we can not underestimate the veracity, gaul, diligence, and perhaps mental stability of such people.