Thankfully, we had great forensic scientists back then who could piece together that the next plane crash in Rockaway after 9/11 was because the co-pilot was a panicky asshole who didn't know how to fly the plane he was "trained" on, and not because it was terrorism.
Recently thought about 9/11. Sad. Rip. But, the flu... (cringe) Yup, that's similar. There's a book, ,,Thinking Fast & Slow'' ; authors wrote, that human mind, if being unable to rationalize/analyze + emotional reaction, will use the fast thinking, and associate the potential answer with something similar from the past, without question too much. Probably because - >i know< feels much better, than <i don't know>. (again, ,,feels'' , the effect and cause - both emotional) ,,Understanding the cause and effect'' - R.Dalio