What are you thinking of here? I was heavily involved in neural network research in the late 1980's. It was a completely normal instance of a new field springing to life in an academic milieu. At least that is how it looked from the inside. By the 1990's it was completely mainstream. I do recall an early story of someone having trouble getting a PhD because a member of his examination committee thought that his results had minimal importance. But these things happen.
What do you want people to do? Not object to things that they think are low-impact and or possibly wrong? When everyone (academic research) is spending public money?
Back Bruce up here.
Jed - I published in that field at that time (late 1980s) and was not harrassed. I had friends who did the same with equally no detriment to their careers (some still in the same field).
EDIT - I see Jed has retracted timescale and he no longer claims this