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Cryptozoology

Tuesday 05/17/2005 1:50 AM

When I was a child I discovered the intriguing of world of phenomena. Bigfoot. UFO's. The Loch Ness Monster. Atlantis. I was obsessed with the thought that, having escaped the discovery of the world of adults, these things might actually exist. That just one of them could be real filled my little mind with glee.

In second grade, after I finished my regular work, Mrs. Kerns would give me projects to do. There was a trip to the library to study Pompeii. There were book reports. There was my masterpiece.

Working in my own little cubby space in the back of the class, near the window, I surrounded myself with books as I absorbed it all, convinced there was a common thread here, if only I could see it. Day after day, I reviewed my arguments. Day after day, I scribbled on my widely lined paper as I created the incontrovertible document. My dissertation. My life's work.

I saw what others couldn't and I wrote it all out.

Bigfoot and The Loch Ness Monster were both from Atlantis. And everyone else who lived in Atlantis had escaped in UFO's, but they came back to visit Bigfoot and The Lock Ness Monster from time to time.

I would be famous. Newspapers would carry stories about me. I would be on the telvision and my mom and dad would be so proud of me.


Well, things worked out a little differently than I thought they might at the time. Irrational exuberance indeed.

Flash-forward thirty years and I am firmly in the Fox Mulder camp: I want to believe. I still love to watch documentaries on strange phenomena, but while I listen to every case and argument and persuasion, I reside in that unusual space of steadfast skeptic who listens with very open ears to every strange little story.

But there have been some vindications along the way.

Cryptozoology is the study of animals thought to exist. While the likes of Bigfoot and The Loch Ness Monster are still in the realm of "thought to exist", some others have migrated to the world of acceptability. The most well-known is the giant squid. Though still never observed in the wild, any doubts of their present day existence were eradicated when Steve O'Shea caught live giant squid larvae a few years ago. Unfortunately, they all died in captivity.

There are many new species discovered each year and, while most of them small, from time to time, there have been some surprises. One of the recurring themes on my blog will be such discoveries.

Getting back to bigfoot. Did you know the mountain gorilla of Central Africa was not known to exist until 1902? Of course, that doesn't prove that Bigfoot exists, but it does provide a compelling possibility that a large primate could be living undetected in the North American wilderness.

Ever the skeptic, while I am intrigued by the footprints, the blurry photos, the recordings of unnatural screams in the forest, I need something more compelling.

More to come.

File Under: Cryptozoology
Music: Nine Inch Nails "With Teeth"

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