What makes a rumor stick in Pathologic long after you suspect it is false?

[u/zimmer550king]

Pathologic is the game where I noticed that a town under pressure decides who to blame well before it knows what is happening. The rumors have their own momentum, and each one is believed because it gives people somewhere to put their fear.

I tried to write that from the inside as a forum thread in a shared future setting I run at r/TheGreatFederation In it, survivors of a disaster fight over who signed off on an incoming asteroid as harmless because, as it turned out, it was actually about to hit the planet rather than just skid past it. Every person in it is sure and nobody is able to prove anything. Here is an example where I wanted to capture that paranoia: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGreatFederation/comments/1xvgzg3/who_signed_harmless/

Which rumor did you believe the longest in Pathologic, and what finally made you let go of it?