Many people, although not enough, have had similar experiences. I feel fortunate that it happened to me when I was still a kid. The local newspaper reported a story about the adventures me and some neighbor kids had during a flood in our little town. It was exaggerated and bogus. That made an impression on me. Several times later in life I saw the same thing happen. My assumption these days is that most news stories range from being somewhat inaccurate to totally bogus.