Have you ever known a congenital liar?

[Hunter-Habib]

You see the “Great” Donald Anderson with all these Asian sloth bears ?

The owner of the now defunct Van Ingen Taxidermy told my us that all these were actually shot by Donald Anderson’s clients.

 

[K E Johnson]

My favorite uncle introduced me to a man who collected antique tractors years ago. Before we met my uncle told me, “you can tell when he is lying, because his lips are moving”.
He was correct.

 

[CBH Australia]

In my early years of working one manager on the floor was a compulsive liar. Still is I believe.
If you had done something he had done it twice and beat everyone at it. He made up things as he went along and I am convinced he believed it.
Lies, tall stories and claims that were never substantiated.
There were some questionable insurance claims and property loss. Compensation claims, lies and deceit.

He moved one town over and I got to talking to someone who knew him well n the area. It came out this person had a shed burn down and claimed substantial losses to which I suggested there was a questionable fire in another old home he had owned. Then he adds this bloke claimed to have rolled a business truck full of product from the company we worked for. I couldn’t help but say that had never ever happened, I used to do that run between towns on occasion and to my knowledge no company trucks were ever rolled but the same bloke had rolled a personal vehicle on that same road and in fact I think there was a near miss and the same vehicle was rolled and claimed on insurance on the same road a short time later.

Probably the biggest Bull Sh!t artist I have ever known.

 

[Red Leg]

The stolen valor characters are the ones that anger me the most. We had traveled to Austria a couple of years ago for one of our combination hunting (FN Hunting) and travel expeditions. Martin, the owner/outfitter/PH, who knows my background, was excited for me to meet a pair of American clients who would be departing the next morning. He stated one of the gentlemen was a Texan quite a hero, a Vietnam aviation veteran with multiple purple hearts, etc. We had drinks and dinner in Martin's lovely 18th century home. Both men are very successful and currently live in the Hill Country. I liked the gentleman without a military background immediately, but the alarm bells went off after about five minutes trying the chat with our hero. A successful Texas oil executive, he supposedly was also a retired Colonel in the reserves and was a WO officer and pilot in Vietnam where he saw extensive combat. But the necessary timelines were way off. As the evening progressed, he became more evasive.

When we returned to our room, I cleaned up and set out my clothes for the next morning's very early start for a hunt to take a capercaillie. Nancy was already propped up in bed working her iPad. I started to say something about how I was uncomfortable with the hero, when she stopped me and handed me the iPad. Her instincts are far better attuned than mine - I have always said she would know I was having an affair long before I did. Displayed was a Kerrville newspaper article of a few years before with a photo of our hero lecturing soldiers at Fort Hood wearing a Cav hat. He was being sued by another party for lying about his military service. He was never commissioned, never deployed to Vietnam, and had no long service in the reserves following the war. In short, he had made up a whole military biography about himself.

There were a couple of more stories about the suit and then apparently some sort of settlement was reached because all coverage stopped, as apparently did his appearances at Fort Hood. I won't provide his name, I rather suspect several folks here are acquainted with him. What was amazing to me, even after that sort of public exposure, he still felt compelled to live the lie among a new audience. His friend clearly believed him. I hope he had indigestion the remainder of the evening when Martin told him he would be dining with a retired Army officer.

 

[Speedster]

Two people and they both involved sports. One was a guy who had trouble tying his shoes but he told the most outrageous stories of what a great basketball player he was. Second is a close family member who was wildly unsuccsessful playing and then coaching football. Talking to him you would think he is a cross between Gayle Sayers and Vince Lombardi.

 

[uplander01]

Sadly, I think modern culture and the internet has contributed greatly to this human plague of deceit and acting a part. We live in a world of "your own perception is reality".....when it's in fact NOT. As far as untruthful people are concerned.....the group that I have uniformly had the worst experiences with are the modern day pharisees.

 

[Kevin375]

I have met many of them !

Speaking about the hunting and gun world, one is still in my mind.
He is a so-called gunsmith, even if I think it's an insult for real gunsmiths.
He always says he is the best in his category and he has shot over 400 boars in his life while in real, I don't even think he shot 40 of them.
He doesn't work well, he is a bad shot, he doesn't know the history of calibers but he pretends to be an expert in ballistic and a marksman.

His favourite subject is the .300 Winchester magnum. For him, it's a very dangerous caliber because of the bullet nutation and it is obvious this caliber will be forbidden in a near future by the Europe. But I have been hearing such talk for almost 15 years and this caliber remains one of the most popular caliber in the country. But he keeps spreading this fake idea.

He told us the bullet was not stabilized because of all the gaz generated at the muzzle, and to see it, he told us he did some tests on watermelons and the entrance hole was like a keyhole, proving what he used to say about the lack of stability.
I still need to see a watermelon that doesn't burst at the impact of a .300 Winchester magnum bullet but he told me, it also works with plastic.
Even If I knew what will be the result, I did the test with a thick plastic as a target and using cutting edge bullets to make a perfect hole. I used RWS Tug 180 gr with my 2 rifles in .300 Winchester magnum (one with a short barrel and the other with a long barrel) and each time I had perfect holes.

But I was still a clueless hunter and to show me I was wrong again, he even sent me the photo of a man corpse....
It was very disgusting to send me such photo but once again, it was the damage of the .300 Winchester magnum and because of the bullet nutation ! I'm not a medical examiner, but it was obvious the gunsmith was lying again because the photo was clear for someone who is used the effect of ammunitions. The poor man was shot point blank with a shotshell in the chest, but definitely not with a rifle bullet. But once again, I was wrong despite the big exit wound in the ribs showing the pattern of the ammunition.
Some liars might be funny to listen but this one is awful and very pretentious.

 

[RichD]

I was once told that African safari hunters are pretty good at stretching the truth. Shots on plains game are told as much longer than actually were and shots on dangerous game much closer than actual.

 

[MD Driver]

It’s a narcissistic trait as well. Not stolen valor but annoying are the vets who let you know about it 24/7. A Navy guy in camp last week had vehicle stickers and wore t shirts that included “Vietnam veteran”, “Gulf war veteran” in every conceivable way. At dinners, story after story, on and on. He was 80, I think, so maybe some age issues there, who knows. But what an annoying man. Civilians will ask if they’re interested in something, they don’t need the advertising and promotion. Funny thing, they never know about the military backgrounds of others present. I just kept my mouth shut and let him make a spectacle of himself.

 

[fourfive8]

Like everyone, I’ve run into a few habitual liars over the years. I grew up in a household where it was strictly a no-no. My folks had zero tolerance for it. Later I learned to recognize it. I think it starts in people at an early age and evolves. Some get really good at it and do it so much they start believing it themselves. I believe that is why so many with the affliction are so convincing. Politicians get really good at it. News media personalities also learn to do it as a matter of expected professional policy.

I know a real pro. He even said he grew up in a family where fibbing, tale tales (aka lying) was acceptable and expected for enhancing the telling of stories around the dinner table. I’ve noticed the technique for lying convincingly usually involves adding nuggets of truth with small believable, common knowledge details. But, at some point of aging, dementia can set in which, understandably, masks sure enough willful habitual lying. The two conditions can become indistinguishable from one another.

 

[Rimbaud]

Unfortunately, yes. I think the people who cannot prevent themselves from lying are psychologically broken. In the office, my view is that I’m not Sigmund Freud and I try to move on bad cultural fits. Depending on the industry, I think many of these people develop a reputation that keeps them out of the big show. Earlier in my career, however, I reported to a miserable human being and one of the few truly bad people I have encountered in life. He lied to everyone around him, including himself. He manipulated. He stripped credit from those doing the work and pushed his failures onto others. He was expert at stroking the CEO and COO, who were blinded by the pomp and circumstance of their positions and entrepreneurial wealth. If you couldn’t standup for yourself, or if the bad guy thought he could bully you, you were roadkill. One poor woman has never recovered, professionally and perhaps personally, from her time working with him. Ultimately, the bad guy was fired and exposed for what he was. By then, I had left the company, but I still take satisfaction seeing good conquer evil - even if it takes a long time. Most regrettably, I have a brother who cannot operate in a straight line. He is so used to playing angles, ginning up pity for himself and his bad decisions, that one must always assume his reality is fragmented and thus false. As for those people who temporarily enter my social life, I used to say that I didn’t care if it was a lie, as long as it was a good story. I still feel the same way, mostly, but I am more appreciative of those I meet, and know, who are authentic, who have a sense of honor. I think it was Shakespeare who wrote “to thine own self be true, and thou therefore canst be false to any other man.” I believe those are good words to live by.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

What an interesting thread! I have been accused of being a fabricator and it irks me to no end. Just because I have chosen to live a very full and incredible life, it must not be true. Well, it is true. I shouldn't be judged by other's lack of accomplishment or experiences.

As to the stolen valor clowns, they are the lowest level of shit. I am a 20% disabled American Vietnam ERA veteran but I did not go to Vietnam or see combat and have NEVER claimed to. It was a high speed patrol car accident. I was offered discharge but continued to serve out the last year and a half of my enlistment (yes, enlisted to avoid being drafted ... so go ahead and call me a Canadian draft dodger ).

 

[bashaw]

When I was in grade school Eddie was one of those guys when his lips were moving he was lying, one of his best stories, about 3rd grade he missed 3-4 weeks of school, when he came back we asked him where he had been, Eddie said he hunted & killed a Bear that had killed all there Cattle. he lived in an area where there were no Cattle or Bears LOL. 20 years later my best friend ran into him at a nightclub, Eddie told him he was working for President Reagan on a anti terrorism team

 

[Dirtdart]

“I shot 500-600-700 shots in one day.”

This post prompted me to check some old notes. A team of TWO with both shooting and sometimes spotting for the other we confirmed 470 dogs in one day.

The one day each year the Wyoming wind drops below gale force we hit a thriving virgin dog town. Never took the time to clean a rifle as it is easier to grab another. No minimum distance and any that make it into the hole do not get counted. I don't know how many shots fired but that was a full days work for a couple of wholesale killers.

 

[John the Electrician]

Not exactly a liar, but I have a family member who I fully believe is a psychopath. Not the stab you in the shower kind, but the medical definition kind.

He will say or do anything to get what he wants. Doesn’t matter who or how bad it hurts other people, including his children, he does what he wants to do.

He is a master at persuasion and at getting people to feel bad for him, at the same time he is very likable. It’s crazy. He is the best I have ever seen at the long game of persuasion.

He will start 4-5 weeks in advance, planting seeds of influence, guilt, kindness, weakness; expressing or twisting people’s emotions to get to his end game.

He will start by telling a family member #1 how proud he is of them. Then he will tell them how family member #2 has money troubles. He wants to help but shouldn’t be involved and can’t help financially any way. Family member #3 is called and told that #1 knows of the money problems of #2.

Then he gives a small amount of money to #2 because “he loves them and just wants to help.” This allows him to go back to members #1 and #3 and ask for multiple favors or money to pay for the several things he cannot pay for now.

If members #1 or #3 don’t pay, sometimes both do, he can leverage this against the other because now he is in a bad spot. “You know I would do the same for you if you needed help.” If no one pays, then friends and neighbors can hear the story and they can pay. Of course, this is embarrassing to the family, motivating them to pay next time so the neighborhood does think we are awful people.

That takes 2-5 weeks to come to fruition. It’s just one of the many versions he uses. Sometimes he does it for the power trip, not even for money; does it just because he can.

He should have been a grifter, I really do think he is a psychopath.

 

[dchum]

Yes I have

There are catfish on here in the mix with us.

Most people just eat out of their hand. It’s easy to lie on the internet and on this very forum is no exception.

 

[CBH Australia]

I was once told that African safari hunters are pretty good at stretching the truth. Shots on plains game are told as much longer than actually were and shots on dangerous game much closer than actual.

Would those people also be fishermen by chance?

 

[steve white]

Hadn't considered the catfish....nor the politicians for that matter.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[cwpayton]

The stolen valor characters are the ones that anger me the most. We had traveled to Austria a couple of years ago for one of our combination hunting (FN Hunting) and travel expeditions. Martin, the owner/outfitter/PH, who knows my background, was excited for me to meet a pair of American clients who would be departing the next morning. He stated one of the gentlemen was a Texan quite a hero, a Vietnam aviation veteran with multiple purple hearts, etc. We had drinks and dinner in Martin's lovely 18th century home. Both men are very successful and currently live in the Hill Country. I liked the gentleman without a military background immediately, but the alarm bells went off after about five minutes trying the chat with our hero. A successful Texas oil executive, he supposedly was also a retired Colonel in the reserves and was a WO officer and pilot in Vietnam where he saw extensive combat. But the necessary timelines were way off. As the evening progressed, he became more evasive.

When we returned to our room, I cleaned up and set out my clothes for the next morning's very early start for a hunt to take a capercaillie. Nancy was already propped up in bed working her iPad. I started to say something about how I was uncomfortable with the hero, when she stopped me and handed me the iPad. Her instincts are far better attuned than mine - I have always said she would know I was having an affair long before I did. Displayed was a Kerrville newspaper article of a few years before with a photo of our hero lecturing soldiers at Fort Hood wearing a Cav hat. He was being sued by another party for lying about his military service. He was never commissioned, never deployed to Vietnam, and had no long service in the reserves following the war. In short, he had made up a whole military biography about himself.

There were a couple of more stories about the suit and then apparently some sort of settlement was reached because all coverage stopped, as apparently did his appearances at Fort Hood. I won't provide his name, I rather suspect several folks here are acquainted with him. What was amazing to me, even after that sort of public exposure, he still felt compelled to live the lie among a new audience. His friend clearly believed him. I hope he had indigestion the remainder of the evening when Martin told him he would be dining with a retired Army officer.

Unfortunately the character assination and accusations in the real S F community is going wild right now and is being bloviated on the various podcast. Jacko ,[seal] is being accused of murder, Tim Kennedy of total stolen valor, Rob ONIEL of osama killer fame is accused of not being the shooter and is Sueing , and others, Really a shame , maybe its some form of PTS -D.