The real phenomenon here is not about mountain lions but rather about human willingness to turn intellectual somersaults whenfacts and evidence simply don'tsupportwhat they have chosen to believe. Whether it's mountainl lions in PA, bigfoot, space aliens, crop circles,etc etc etc, conspiracy theories inevitably pop up. They're the necessary last resort response when evidence and logic fail. Rather than accept the logical conclusions the facts lead to, imaginary facts are created in order to enable the person to hold on to the belief. It's a pretty common thing. To the weak minded, there must be a cover up because the belief can't possibly be wrong. Sadly, this kind of nonsense isn't going to stop. Best response is to just smile and nod.