In the world of conspiracy theories, even a broken clock can sometimes be telling the right time. So it was that months of unhinged online speculation about Hillary Clinton's health finally intersected with reality on the campaign trail, as the Democratic candidate had a real health episode.
It is crucial to note that those doing the speculating did not employ forensic techniques or a laser focus. Rather, they deployed a trawler, which picked up all sorts of random information in the hope of creating a wall of anti-Clinton noise that no one could gainsay.
However it is also true that Hillary Clinton has at times been her own worst enemy in abetting such speculation, the machine politician in love with information management. The question of her emails was from the beginning as much about her instinct to conceal as it was about the likely contents of the correspondence itself. And so it is that a man with no history in high office can cheerfully contradict himself and yet be contrasted with his opponent as a "straight talker".
Distinguishing between the truth and fables in a world obsessed with security has always been one of the foremost challenges of newsgathering. South Korea has responded to repeated weapons tests by North Korea by trying to win the war of information, and sometimes this has resulted in stories about the execution of leading Pyongyang figures that have seemed deliberately and exaggeratedly sensational. Is the revelation of planning to destroy Pyongyang in the event of a nuclear attack in this category? Could it be bluster that nevertheless makes the very renewal of conflict it is trying to prevent more certain? Or is it simply a bid for transparency - to show everyone what is at stake?
There is no doubt that in the absence of clarity, accusations will flourish. Whether Saudi Arabia's drones flying over this year's Haj pilgrimage will bring greater safety is anyone's guess. But had the kingdom responded to last year's mass deaths in Mecca with an open and transparent investigation, that would certainly have helped everyone.
