there is something rather comforting about the technological hoaxes, almost clean relief after all the religious and romantic hoaxing - goodness that magical bomb-detecting dowsing rod story was something else, I wouldn't have believed it except for reading about it.

The image of burly security officers centring their minds like any premie on holy name in order to make the dowsing rod work better.  And then they pick on people wearing perfume! - funny from the outside isn't it.  

But possibly the true wonder of it is that the man was prepared to take the risk of conning the security forces of the Middle East.  wasn't he scared?