It's just ignorance, my dear fellow. These people are simple, one might say. Narrow in their outlook.
6 seconds sound clip from the Fiend Without a Face (1958) movie soundboard.
You can hear this line at 00:32:25.477 in the Blu-ray version of the movie.
Quote context
[...]
- I came to see you about this business with the mayor.
- Oh, terrible tragedy. Really terrible.
- I need your help, professor.
- Anything you say. Just name it.
- What gave you that idea, sir?
- There was a piece in the Atom Journal about your work on reactors.
- It wasn't a year ago I read somewhere about the new radar patents.
[...]