I thought I’d heard them all, and then when talking to an otherwise intelligent guy (an analyst at Fidelity Investments) …
The Japanese had sent a big armada of planes to attack Pearl Harbour, but then they changed their minds during the mission, decided not to attack, and signed a truce with the USA.
But the USA wanted to enter World War 2 so they sent fighters to attack the Japanese planes, which then turned round and attacked Pearl Harbour. But the USA didn’t warn their battlefleet that they had attacked the Japanese so that the US public would see a defeat and want avenge it…
I cringed. I couldn’t decide whether to actually explain the absurdity to him or just walk away and cry. The guy adamantly insited that Japan and the USA were already at war before the attack mission was launched…
This guy also tried to suggest that airliners cannot fly anywhere without a control tower guiding them. Trying to explain the inertial and satellite navigation systems that airliners use to get around was like talking to a brick wall…