OP’s situation: There is a plausible bad thing, and there’s a rumor that the bad thing is happening, and the rumor may or may not be true.
Comic situation: There is a plausible bad thing, and there’s evidence of the bad thing and oops turns out the evidence is false.
Like, if you’re concerned about something and you get weak positive evidence, that’s not the same as being concerned about something and then getting strong negative evidence.
I think this is not analogous:
OP’s situation: There is a plausible bad thing, and there’s a rumor that the bad thing is happening, and the rumor may or may not be true.
Comic situation: There is a plausible bad thing, and there’s evidence of the bad thing and oops turns out the evidence is false.
Like, if you’re concerned about something and you get weak positive evidence, that’s not the same as being concerned about something and then getting strong negative evidence.