February 17, 2026
Beam me up, hot takes!
I swear the UFO is coming any minute
UFOs, busted psych myths, and a comments cage match
TLDR: A viral post says several famous psychology stories—from a UFO cult to witness memory—may be shakier than we thought. Readers split between calling it rambling hype or necessary myth-busting, with heated debates over tainted studies, courtroom stakes, and whether memory is one-size-fits-all.
A beloved science blogger just poked at three “classics,” and the crowd went wild. First, he says the famous UFO-cult tale from When Prophecy Fails may have been warped by undercover researchers nudging the drama paper. Then he highlights claims that neurologist Oliver Sacks “half-imagined” characters in his bestsellers story. Finally, a blogger re-ran the classic car-crash “smashed vs. hit” memory test—this time with 10x more people—and didn’t find the effect post. Cue the comment-section fireworks.
The hottest take? “Why is this rambling blog getting upvoted?” fumes one skeptic, hinting at secret Discord upvote cabals. Fans clap back—“I read Experimental History religiously”—turning a links post into a loyalty trial. Another commenter blames the rot on studies stuffed with other researchers and students who already know the tricks, making “science about science” feel like a self-own. A zen voice warns that scandals don’t unravel on your schedule—truth sometimes just… doesn’t arrive.
The memory fight gets personal. One commenter waves savants with near-perfect recall like a flag, arguing there isn’t one memory to rule them all—so stop making courtrooms hinge on a single lab effect. Meanwhile, jokers meme the title into, “I swear the replication is coming any minute!” and riff that Sacks “mistook a case study for a fairy tale.” It’s part debunk, part fan club, part cage match—and 100% comment gold.
Key Points
- •An archival analysis of Leon Festinger’s materials on When Prophecy Fails reports heavy researcher presence in the studied cult, with one undercover researcher allegedly steering statements.
- •Post-failure, some cult members reportedly retracted or left rather than doubling down, challenging the classic cognitive dissonance narrative.
- •The post notes prior concerns about impossible numbers in an original cognitive dissonance lab study and cites a recent failed replication of a basic dissonance effect.
- •Reporting alleges Oliver Sacks embellished or invented elements of his famous case studies, including a letter describing his book as partly imagined.
- •A large-sample (n=446) re-run by Croissanthology did not replicate the 1974 car-crash wording effect (Loftus and Palmer), despite the study’s extensive citation and courtroom relevance.