History Main / UnbelievableSourcePlot

* [[PlayingWithATrope Zig-zagged]] in ''{{Series/NCIS}}''/''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' crossover [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9018850/6/When-Worlds-Collide "When Worlds Collide"]]. When Sam and Dean Winchester are set up for kidnapping Tony [=DiNozzo=], the [=NCIS=] team take the Winchester case (the brothers are wanted by the [=FBI=] for all sorts of horrific crimes). At first, the team doesn't believe in the stories of powerful supernatural monsters and concocts a complicated theory about the Winchesters' beliefs being a psuedo-religious delusion which happened to coincide with a secret international terrorist crime syndicate's plans. Eventually though, [=NCIS=] figures out that the so-called delusions are reality and manage to convince and mobilize every higher-up in the government that they inform about this. However, they and these newly-informed officials opt to go with the original story about the delusions that coincided with and foiled the terrorist syndicate's plot as the official story because it sounds less crazy.

# ''the need for secrecy complicates Part 2'': Because the source of information is so unbelievable, the main character is at risk of [[TheCassandra not being believed]], [[IRejectYourReality getting sent for psychiatric care]], or captured [[TheyWouldCutYouUp for experimentation]] or [[ForcedIntoEvil exploitation]] should the source of their knowledge become known.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': The protagonist, having been de-aged to a child, ends up having to use a tranquilizer dart on someone and use a voice modulator to mimic them in order to convict the perpetrator.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''[='s=] Investigation Team uses a supernatural television program called the Midnight Channel to identify who the next murder victim is going to be, then travels into another world inside the television to rescue them by beating up the embodiment of their negative qualities before said embodiment murders them and hangs their corpse upside-down from a telephone pole in the real world. The protagonist has a number of opportunities to explain all of this to his uncle, a police detective, but is never believed. [[KidDetective Naoto]], too, refuses to believe them [[spoiler:until she herself is captured and brought inside the TV. Then it turns out that, apparently being a complete idiot, she was kidnapped on ''purpose'' as part of a BatmanGambit, for which the rest of the team excoriates her]].

* In the novel ''Cold Fire'' by DeanKoontz, Jim Ironheart has psychic premonitions of upcoming disasters. Knowing that there's no way he could explain to authorities how he knows about them, he travels to the scenes of the upcoming disasters to save as many people as he can.

* ''{{Ghostwriter}}'': the main cast is a bunch of teen [[AmateurSleuth Amateur Detectives]] who are helped by a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost who can cannot see anything but words and can only interact with the world by reading said words and then rearranging letters and words elsewhere to show what he read]]. The team uses the information from Ghostwriter to solve crimes but they also have to collect conventional evidence [[AdultsAreUseless to get adults to believe them]] since telling them that [[YouHaveToBelieveMe a ghost gave them the clue]] is not gonna help the kids or the victim.

* ''NewAmsterdam'': The main character is [[Really700YearsOld an immortal early American colonist]] that works as a police detective. He uses his hundreds of years of experience to solve homicides in present day New York. Everyone assumes he's a BunnyEarsLawyer since he does get the job done, they just don't know how.

* Detective Gotou in ''PsychicDetectiveYakumo'' tends to keep the fact he's using a teenage boy who sees ghosts to help solve cases well under wraps. Yakumo himself, not so much, although in the beginning he does hide his ability to see ghosts... by using some tricks to make people think he's plain psychic.

** She eventually does try and tell him midway through Season 2, but isn't believed...at least not until he sees her undeniably futuristic gun, at which point he's willing to listen to what she has to say. She still keeps it a secret from her superior though, and consequently [[NiceJobBreakingItHero ends up being accused of being]] [[TheMole a mole for]] [[WellIntentionedExtremists Liber8]].

# ''an unbelievable source of information'': It could be psychic powers, time travel from the future, super-powered senses, or a secret nation-wide spyware AI in a world where those sorts of things are widely believed impossible.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/FrancisTheTalkingMule'' shows what happens when somebody with this type of information source is honest about it. Francis' information is always good (because, quite frankly, who'd believe the mule standing over there understood English?), but Lt. Sterling repeatedly ends up in the psych ward after revealing his source for (for example) a Japanese bomber attack on the base.

* ''Series/EarlyEdition''. The protagonist, Gary Hobbeson, gets tomorrow's newspaper today. He frequently asks for help from a detective on the police force, who eventually learns to trust his "intuition." Frustrating, because Gary would be so much more effective if someone on the police force just knew his secret, so he wouldn't have to persuade them from scratch to help out. They could just consider him a golden tip — but he never tells anyone, and each episode where he needs police help, he has to convince someone all over again. The detective, when he is around, usually reluctantly agrees to help based on years of experience with Gary.

* ''[[{{Persona4}} Persona 4's]]'' Investigation Team uses a supernatural television program called the Midnight Channel to identify who the next murder victim is going to be, then travels into another world inside the television to rescue them by beating up the embodiment of their negative qualities before said embodiment murders them and hangs their corpse upside-down from a telephone pole in the real world. The protagonist has a number of opportunities to explain all of this to his uncle, a police detective, but is never believed. [[KidDetective Naoto]], too, refuses to believe them [[spoiler:until she herself is captured and brought inside the TV. Then it turns out that, apparently being a complete idiot, she was kidnapped on ''purpose'' as part of a BatmanGambit, for which the rest of the team excoriates her]].

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Lt. Karrin Murphy's job running [=COPD=]'s Special Investigations entails not only battling supernatural threats to Chicago, but concocting stories to account for the damage that ''won't'' get her, her fellow detectives, and all the witnesses tossed into the Psych ward. The skepticism and outright denialism of other police caused her plenty of headaches throughout her tenure running the department, and ultimately got her canned because she couldn't exactly tell her bosses that she'd been rescuing a kidnapped girl from Fairyland when she suddenly went [=AWOL=] in mid-manhunt.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Lt. Karrin Murphy's job running [=COPD=]'s Special Investigations entails not only battling supernatural threats to Chicago, but concocting stories to account for the damage that ''won't'' get her, her fellow detectives, and all the witnesses tossed into the Psych ward. She once called in a bomb scare to get O'Hare Airport evacuated, because warning Homeland Security that a gang of demon-possessed psycho killers were about to unleash a plague-curse there wouldn't have gone over well.

* In ''{{Series/Grimm}}''/''CriminalMinds'' {{Crossover}} fic, [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/853734 Sobek Drowning]], Detective Nick Burkhardt is working a serial killer case when the ''CriminalMinds'' profilers arrive to aid the investigation. Burkhardt is [[YouCanSeeMe "a Grimm"]] with the ability to see that someone is [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent "wesen"]] even when they're hiding it which often leads to important information that can help him solve his cases but he usually has the luxury of working with a partner, several expert civilian friends, and a superior officer who are in-the-know. When the [=FBI=] arrives, this is no longer the case and he and his allies have to get creative in order to present their leads without revealing that [[CassandraTruth they all believe]] [[InvisibleToNormals Creatures Hide Among Us]].

* This trope is [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] in ''{{Series/Sherlock}}'' where Sherlock is a civilian consultant for Scotland Yard who uses his observation and reasoning skills to solve difficult crimes. He is given an unusual amount of leeway with evidence and crime scenes which Lestrade has to continually fight for with his colleagues and downplay to his superiors. Sherlock's skills aren't supernatural and he never lies about them, but many who dislike him don't believe skills like his are possible and want to believe he is lying and only revealing information he learned through other means (including possibly committing the crimes himself). His criminal counterpart, Moriarity, [[ExploitedTrope exploits]] this as part of a plan he hopes will bring about Sherlock's demise.
* Averted in ''{{Series/Warehouse13}}'' with Agent Steve Jinks, formerly of the ATF, who has an unexplainable ability to always know when he's being lied to. But rather than keep this a secret because it can't be explained, he openly uses it, even on cases, and everyone who knows him for any length of time is aware of it. If a new acquaintance is skeptical, he demonstrates by letting them test him until they believe him.

* ''ThinkBeforeYouThink'' is about Brian, a psychic who can read everybody's surface thoughts with ease. Fortunately, he has a cop best friend, Isaac, who knows his secret, so this trope is often averted. However, this trope is also played straight much of the time, for example, when Isaac isn't around, or when Isaac has to explain to ''his'' superiors where he's gotten his information.

* ''[[{{Persona4}} Persona 4's]]'' Investigation Team uses a supernatural television program called the Midnight Channel to identify who the next murder victim is going to be, then travels into another world inside the television to rescue them by beating up the embodiment of their negative qualities before said embodiment murders them and hangs their corpse upside-down from a telephone pole in the real world. The protagonist has a number of opportunities to explain all of this to his uncle, a police detective, but is never believed. [[KidDetective Naoto]], too, refuses to believe them [[spoiler:until she herself is captured and brought inside the TV]].

* In ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'', PC Grant's first encounter with the supernatural is when he interviews a murder witness who turns out to be a ghost.

* ''{{Series/Sentinel}}'': Jim's super-senses.

* Parodied in ''Series/{{Psych}}'' where the civilian protagonist is gifted with excellent non-supernatural observational skills but when he tries to cash in on them, is not believed and opts to convince the police he is psychic [[note]]instead of simply proving he's that good, or providing an alibi, or getting his decorated former cop dad to vouch for hi - oh, right, Shaun Spencer, IdiotHero[[/note]]. Only one of the cops doubts his powers are really psychic and is ridiculed by his colleagues for not believing.

* Parodied in ''Series/{{Psych}}'' where the civilian protagonist is gifted with excellent non-supernatural observational skills but rather than demonstrate these skills, opts to convince the police he is psychic. Only one of the cops doubts his powers are really psychic and is ridiculed by his colleagues for not believing.

* ''FrancisTheTalkingMule'' shows what happens when somebody with this type of information source is honest about it. Francis' information is always good (because, quite frankly, who'd believe the mule standing over there understood English?), but Lt. Sterling repeatedly ends up in the psych ward after revealing his source for (for example) a Japanese bomber attack on the base.

* Literature/RiversOfLondon starts with Police Constable Peter Grant interviewing a witness to a murder, who happens to be a ghost. This testimony, however, will hardly stand in a courtroom, and Grant has to use it as a springboard to find evidence that will. Similar problems with magical evidence come up elsewhere in the series, but don't drive as much of the plot.