I get a kick out of so called cryptozoology. I don't know if any of it is true or not, but its fun to watch "experts" talk about stuff that they are specialists in that doesn't actually exist, at least not that they can prove.
Google is in on the act now too.
What if Google did find the Loch Ness Monster? I mean actually discover that there is a reptilian creature living in the lake? What if that creature was some variant of dinosaur, nearly extinct, but still living?
I think it would be great fun to watch the scientific community go nuts over a discovery like that.
I have the impression that well over 99% of all cryptozoology "evidence" is fake. The frozen "Bigfoot", the "chupacabra" carcass, and the Nessie photos are all proof of the fact. I remember in the late 70's, there was a Bigfoot documentary that profiled a guy who made oversized Bigfoot-print shoes that he would wear while running around in the snow, to leave fake footprints and fool people into thinking they saw real tracks.
ReplyDeleteThis is nothing new, either. An interesting case from 1917 -- The Cottingley Fairies -- shows that people have always believed what they want to believe, and will grasp at anything remotely convincing to justify it.
I'm willing to accept the possibility of species we thought extinct that could still be living. Every once in while we stubble across an example. Normally, the examples are either small mammals, live in the ocean, or in remote locations.
DeleteI'm more accepting of the idea that limited examples of now extinct animals may have survived into the 1700 and possibly 1800's. The reason I can go along with that is because humans were not as abundant and there was more wilderness area available as habitat.
I agree with you about the fakers. There are always pranksters and conmen.
I find a story of hunting wooly mammoths in the 1500's by native Americans more creditable than big foot living in Cincinnati today.
There was that fish that was found several years ago in South America IIRC. The name started with a C but I can't spell it. It had previously been assumed that ugly little dude was extinct at least a million years ago.
DeleteThen yesterday, there was the photo of a new species of frog that looked just like Kermit. It was called a glass frog because its skin was sheer enough that you could see its organs.
I think that while there are always going to be the fakers and conmen, there are also going to be species that will cross out paths that have never been seen before. Or haven't been seen for maybe thousands of years. I will believe that Nessie is real before I will ever fall for the Big Foot critter.