The dangers of conf(abu)lation

I am serving you yet another P.S.
But if you are interested in the "dead again - alive again" phenomenon (whatever it is), it may be worth the few seconds of your time that it's going to take.

There is another thread discussing "dead celebrities who are now alive" over on ATS. (See the link in the post above, in the section regarding Karen Carpenter. I am not giving it here simply because I think the entire thread, save for two or three messages, is - to be blunt - unworthy of your attention, or mine. I mean, seriously: now there are people "explaining" this apparent anomaly as being the consequence of - take a deep breath now... ... - cloning.)

Amidst all the "chaff" there is a single interesting - albeit not the least surprising - indication of what is going on in many, perhaps most, cases:

A person thought s/he had heard that Joanne Woodward, a fantastic actress and wife of the late Paul Newman, had died many years ago - drowned, to be precise.

Another person pointed out that it was Natalie Wood - wife of Robert Wagner - who drowned, back in 1981, during a yachting trip that included Christopher Walken.

Have you noticed anything particular about the names of the people involved in these two accounts?

That's right: they all start with W, or include this visually very prominent letter.

So, what we have here is a classic case of conflation (which, of course, is NOT the same as confabulation, a far more annoying, and potentially dangerous, phenomenon that only harms the endeavours - and the reputation - of those who are striving to explore genuine mysteries).


Oh, BTW: you may be glad to read that - amazingly! - the person who thought it was Woodward who had drowned (only to be "alive again" in recent times) conceded that was what happened.

I know I am.

The truth of the world is mysterious enough as it is.
We don't need more "chaff" to confound it.
Intellectual honesty is the way to go... wherever it is that we are going.