>chasing the White rabbit
I find this particularly interesting and know that it is true in large part. This is particularly prevalent in "research communities" a la 911 "truthers" and many other issues. Many who have done research decades ago, wrote about what they found became very popular. Their books became the basis for many others, and once the internet was made available to all, their research was used in a constellation of other researchers - who all took that research at face value, and as absolutely true. They became somewhat sainted, therefore immune from criticism both personally and their output, and this has been especially pernicious because all those subsequent researchers have based their positions on those initial few, so to admit that the base assumptions were incorrect would be to devalue their own marketability and value as a learned person on this or that topic.
In short, cascading misinformation, spread by well-meaning people, multiplied weekly. All of these good people, who want to know the truth, believe they do know the truth, and believe they are sharing the truth with others, are actively spreading misinformation, though unwittingly.
Those who are dogged, dedicated to the truth at all costs, has been researching for more than a few years will hopefully be able to identify the subjects and initial researchers, as well as 2nd, 3rd, generations of researchers/authors/lecturers/youtubers etc.