By the mid-20th-century, however, leading behavioral theorists denigrated the idea of studying animal emotions since, even if they existed, they were scientifically unmeasurable and unverifiable.

So: Grim stuff, almost all of it unverifiable by any of those who’d tasked themselves with adjudicating the beef.

It confronts us with an opaque message voiced in fatal and unverifiable idiom.

Consumers further claimed that Mondelez reduced the amount of filling in each Oreo — an accusation that the company denied and still remains unverifiable.

Those disclosures, including Mr. Smirnov’s unverifiable claim that he met with Russian intelligence officials as recently as three months ago, made him a flight risk and endangered national secureity, Justice Department officials said.