Sometimes, years after the publication of a particularly provocative or dangerous story, usually involving some type of secret information, I meet people later who were somehow affected by it. Its always entertaining hearing their theories about what really happened, and specifically their speculation about sources and motivations. 

Pretty much never has it come to pass that anyone has guessed accurately about my sources, but they almost always had strong conclusions in their mind as to who they were and how the story had come about. These are often highly educated and well-trained people, including in counterintelligence, but somehow all their well-reasoned conclusions were consistently false. Just goes to show many false beliefs likely all of us hold about events and other people.

Writer, podcaster, and commentator on foreign affairs and politics. Runs /dropglobalnews

Clanker Broadcasting Service /cbs

people often make wrong assumptions about stories, sources, & motivations, even if they're highly educated