Human Interest

In today's New York Times we meet a fellow who believes in "genies, aliens, sea serpents and strange swamp creatures." A reporter hops into the car with this gentleman and off they go into "the woods off Whangtown Road... Mr. Imbrogno recalled the excitement and confusion that erupted in 1983 when people began spotting UFOs in this area. On just one night, hundreds said they saw them." I think it was yesterday, maybe the day before, when the NYT ran a story about a man who claims to be a saint. The reporter described him sitting in his shabby little apartment tapping the ash from his cigarette into an empty pineapple can, I think. What is the tone of these stories? I can't quite grasp it. Is it, "Ha ha ha! People are weird. But we're the New York Times, so we're going to be understated about the way we poke fun at them"? I recall the man from the Sunday Styles section who wrapped himself in carpet and asked people to stand on him.