Goodness, you surely are clever...great, great suggestions...
With all these suggestions, and time to plan my strategy, I am confident I will be successful...
But don't compromise your integrity. Don't lie to them. Just tell them you find their work fascinating, which is true, and you just had to visit to see it all for yourself, which is also true. That kind of thing. It shouldn't take much effort. No need to discuss the flagellum or anything stupid like that. They're all con men, and such people are usually easy to con. They like to think they're making progress with all their flim-flam, so they'll be eager to believe that you're under their spell.