Maybe the dragon-claimant fears the public ridicule that they imagine will result if they publicly confess they were wrong (although, in fact, a rationalist would congratulate them, and others are more likely to ridicule the claimant if they go on claiming there’s a dragon in their garage). Maybe the dragon-claimant flinches away from the prospect of admitting to themselves that there is no dragon, because it conflicts with their self-image as the glorious discoverer of the dragon, who saw in their garage what all others had failed to see.
