The Thing About Imaginary Threats

 The more that imaginary threats linger and persist....the more likely you believe some element of the threat.

At some point in the late 1700s...in Germany, there was this story which started up about a nun who was biting people.  The story always led off about such-and-such convent, where a nun was going crazy, and anyone entering the place....was likely to be bitten (suggesting demons of course).  The story got around...into various areas of Germany and Italy.  No one can say there was a single nun who bit people....but this got repeated enough to scare up folks to avoid nuns for a while.

In the SW part of England in the 1688 period....this story started up that Irish 'fighting-men' had arrived and were attacking/killing Welsh folks in various towns along the coast.  The problem was....there was not a single report that could be substantiated.  As weeks passed, the belief intensified, with Welsh folks arming themselves and discussing panic throughout most of their daily affairs.

In Wurzburg, German in 1749....locals started to have panic attacks and high anxiety episodes....showing trance-like behavior.  This went on for several weeks, and the central theme was a Catholic Church nun 'home'.  Accusations of demons and witchcraft started up, and eventually (like you'd expect)....the locals had to exercise some nun (to death) in order to halt the uncivilized behavior shown.

Back in 1976....in Mount Pleasant, Mississippi....the local school had some event where around fifteen kids fell to the ground....in a 'twitch'.  School looked for drugs, and could not find any.  Hysteria started up, with some belief that if there were no drugs....it'd have to be demons.  Around 300 students stayed home (one-third of the kids in the school) the next couple of days....as parents felt the school was temporarily 'hexed' (possessed).  

The problem here....all it takes is a suggestion, and people start to believe things which simply aren't real.  It could be some honest mistake....it could be some organized effort by a political party.  It could even be a fake creation that the FBI devises....to create a narrative.