Hoax theory
Claim that a reported event or piece of evidence was a staged hoax
A hoax theory is the claim that a specific reported event, recording, document, or item of testimony — though presented as genuine — was in fact a deliberately staged hoax. In ufology and exopolitics, hoax theories are advanced both sincerely, where fabrication can be demonstrated, and — disclosure proponents argue — as a reflexive debunking or disinformation device applied to authentic non-human-intelligence evidence in order to discredit it without engaging the underlying evidence.[citation needed] As a positive claim, a hoax theory is itself subject to the same sincere-witness test and tier rating as the account it disputes: a source shown to fail that test is removed, while a merely contested account remains citable with the hoax-theory caveat noted inline.