I think that it's important to remember that Tim is asking the court to believe his interpretation of the video of 2010 as proof Ric and TIGHAR knew that they had found the Electra but still looked to folks like Tim, Jeff and other TIGHAR contributors to fund yet another expedition. Long sentence, sorry.
Those other contributors as well as Ric and others who follow the story, all wanted to believe the 2012 expedition would find either the smoking gun or other more positive evidence. Everyone was disappointed. Only those who do not believe in the TIGHAR hypothesis might have been happy with the outcome. But disappointment was the emotion that most felt. Granted there is always video and photo analysis going on but no smoking gun. Probably no one was more disappointed than Ric, who has put 25 years into this search and been disappointed many many times. But I bet Mr. Mellon was second in line on the disappointment train. He did put $1 million into it so he has the right to be disappointed at the outcome.
I think Ric has learned to pick himself up after these disappointments, brush off and start into it again. Tenacity is a great virtue. But perhaps Mr.Mellon, successful in his own right, isn't as experienced in surmounting the disappointment that others have faced.
But look at some of the other donors as Jeff Neville points out. To some of them their smaller donations paled in comparison to Mr. Mellon's. In dollar amounts. But perhaps their contribution was just as weighty, or more so, in terms of their budget. Or given with the same level of emotion. But no lawsuit from them. Yet, they too suffered the disappointment.
Perhaps we are just not seeing the overall reason for Mr. Mellon's lawsuit. If he was a victim of fraud then weren't we all? I hesitate to say this but should Mr. Mellon have brought a class action suit on behalf of all the other contributors? Or did Mr. Mellon simply not think about anyone else? Or not care? Or couldn't rustle up the interest? etc.
People talk about the distraction this lawsuit causes. It seems to me the work of TIGHAR goes on. Ric and Jeff Glickman have new photos to work from. New video targets from the 2012 expedition to review. A new expedition to assemble and fund. The forum has lots of readers, contributors and well wishers. Let Mr. Mellon have his day in court. Its his right. We need to carry on. He can't stop that. He doesn't have that right.