The psychology of someone like JMK is that he could ALLOW himself to believe all that because since he didn't actually do it, he had plenty of time to reverse-engineer it in his head.
I don't think you quite understand, Master voynich. I'm not aware of anyone, RDI, IDI or FS, who has said that this mindset does not exist.
But that's why I mentioned Occam's Razor in response to the dueling claims you and Ames made. Occam's Razor states that when two hypotheses claim to explain the same event, the simplest one is most likely to be true. And in that regard, Ames has the big advantage: the Rs were home. There's no argument about that. Conversely, it's one thing to believe that such a creature exists. It's another thing altogether to place him there!
Secondly, I wasn't sure what you meant when you used the term "phantom menace." Now that you have spelled it out, I find it odd how parallel our thoughts sometimes run. Last week I told you that it's common for dissembling criminals to create alibis by playing on popular fears, in effect, creating a phantom menace. You did not challenge me at that time. My assertion was not that such things do not exist, but rather that society's fear of such things, fed by a sensationalist media, is heavily disproportionate to the actual occurence.
In other words, a bright light, cast from the right direction, can cause even the smallest thing to cast a giant shadow. And shadows are like phantoms: they look frightening, but there's far less to them than appears.
I wouldn't even hazard a guess. But I would imagine that the fear of such a creature is greater than the actual threat.
Keep in mind, you present your arguments admirably.