The most difficult task of discovering these charades is openmindedness.<p>Imagine, after all of the press releases and discussion around manganese nodule harvesting, saying Howard Hughes wasn&#x27;t interested in mining manganese nodules at all, but sunken Russian ships. You&#x27;d be labeled as crazy. First off, people would be asking where the heck you got the idea that something along the lines of manganese nodules could actually be a cover story for the CIA. Then, you&#x27;d be slammed for saying things counter to the mainstream narrative. Finally, if you were somehow gaining a lot of traction (but how could you! who even cares about recovering sunken Russian ships) you might get a visit asking for your silence.