At the time, I was a single mother and sole proprietor doing my graduate work at night, so I did not follow every jot and tittle of the proceedings. But I do vividly remember her testimony. It's also worth noting that the system acquitted O.J. Simpson, William Kennedy Smith and Michael Jackson. People do lie. Even in Washington! :->
My personal opinion is that it was a moderately good acting job. But, if you prefer, an alternative explanation is that by that time she had convinced herself that it really happened. She had been cosseted and stroked by so many people, and encouraged so much, that I think that is really possible. I've seen some very deluded people convince themselves that they were seriously hurt in minor automobile accidents, even though there was no physical evidence of injury, no doctor or E.R. visits, and no complaints of pain until they lawyered up . . . but they weren't really lying, they had just talked themselves into it.
Anita Hill followed Thomas to the EEOC from the DOE where she was a tenured employee. Hill claimed that thomas sexually harassed her while both were at DOE. Following the harasser to EEOC simply destroyed her credibility.