Strange idea though,,,,”shaheed, this scroll is worn out (or completely wrong) carry it FAR into the desert, miles and miles,, then find a cave where it can be safely stored”.
Strange behavior to do with their discards.
Not necessarily - think of the culture. The Jews in that day were very reverential towards any manuscript with the name of God on it. They would "retire" the mss. where they wouldn't be destroyed by human hands, yet also be unavailable to introduce further corruption. This is much the same reason why many medieval synagogues had a genizah for retiring mss., rather than just burning them or trashing them in a trash pile.
My thoughts exactly. If the scrolls were no good, they would have trashed them, not hauled them off to some God-forsaken cave.
Also, Josephus was recognized for his accurate writings. If he fabricated the Essenes, then others from that time would have questioned his writings. None did. End of story.