So this guy tries his best to convince everyone around him that he is in fact a decorated war hero – when he is not at his menial day job as a call centre operator. Maybe gets a bit carried away, acquires uniforms, medals, fakes letters from the queen of England etc. Probably looses grip on the difference between his reality and his fantasy, and by the look of it he started pulling it of quite well.

He goes that one step too far and creates a page on Wikipedia gushing about this fictional or alter ego. Wikipedia deletes it – but not before it is spotted by his local press who turns it into a bit of a fiasco. So now Wikipedia instead of just deleting his public vanities, acknowledges the hoax-news value of the situation and creates a page about it under his name in stead of his original vanity articles, plus access to archived versions of his original posting.

So the con is pretty much over for him. It’s impossible not to appreciate the ironies in the story. But I can’t help feeling sorry for the guy – he’s obviously been in need of good counselling for quite some time – and considering the kind of psychology that must be behind something like this – my guess is a reaction against experiences of inadequacy, weakness and the experience of ridicule – he’s probably inadvertently invoked all those demons he fears most on a whole new level of intensity.

I imagine his career is ruined, can’t imagine how his fiancée is going to cope with it – hope he gets some kind of help and maybe through this acquires some of the valour and courage he obviously aspires to.