[jjk166]

> WHAT should have tipped the journalists off? If this was some elaborate puzzle what were the actual clues? or are they just supposed to dismiss anything that "sounds" unusual.

Their inability to verify the claims. The proper approach to journalism is to neither dismiss nor accept claims, but to investigate them. If the investigation yields a story, you publish the evidence collected; if it's a dead end then nothing gets published. In this case, the journalists clearly never did any actual investigation.

[shephardjhon]

>Their inability to verify the claims This is circular logic.