You could make a similar case for Victor Lustig or Ferdinand Waldo Demara. Or, more recently: Lance Armstrong or Donald Trump.

Or for an organization such as the Flat Earth Society (with 'members all around the globe').

> A quite unique and interesting person departed this planet yesterday.

Any decent conspiracy theorist could've introduced you to this idea. In fact, any marketeer could've, too. I was introduced to this idea at the age of five. Yes, five years old. We had these fairytales in class, stories from the bible. All I did was asking questions, and it didn't take long to figure adults were believing in unproven nonsense. I don't remember who it was, but eventually I got convinced the stories were figurally meant, as lessons. I still value them as such these days, but I am convinced many people who call themselves religious do not follow these teachings at a decent level.

The practice from what we call con artists (in the form of conspiracy theories) is rather common these days, I'm afraid. As in: con artists are able to organize cons on massive levels. Before, if the ground got too hot they'd flee law enforcement and try their luck elsewhere. Just have a look at the lives of Victor Lustig and Ferdinand Waldo Demara, for example.

Either way, the whole conspiracy movement is arguably where MAGA stemmed from. That is how large they've become.

Like Trump, von Däniken had a criminal record, btw.

Everything you wrote, could also apply to say L. Ron Hubbard. Because we should factor in cults work similar, too.

The works themselves aren't the problem. The specific issue is that fiction, lies are sold as non-fiction, truth. You can add force, manipulation, terror, financial gains, and other forms of intimidation on top of that. A person like Lance Armstrong destructiveness was that his web of lies was kept intact while everyone around him was a fraud, too. He achieved this with matters of terror and manipulation. A person like Madoff was as destructive as he was because of the sheer volume of the (financial) scam.