One of my favorite episodes of History’s Mysteries:
I don’t believe in bigfoot. I certainly don’t believe in the Gigantopithecus theory. It makes no sense.
However, I’m an unreconstructed cryptozoology nerd.
My favorite cryptzoology site is the Centre for Fortean Zoology (See Eff Zed). You’ll note that the director of the CFZ is the most skeptical person about the existence of bigfoot in the clip. I’m very, very skeptical about the existence of a bipedal ape in the US.
I know this stuff isn’t well received in scientific circles. That’s fine. It probably shouldn’t be.
But this stuff gets my blood flowing. It blows my hair back.
If you think I’m crazy, just indulge me.
Cryptozoology = grasping at straws as a hobby.
It’s not the worst hobby. It’s better than ghost hunting, but… I personally prefer to leave this stuff to fiction authors.
If you watch that whole thing, the guy who says bigfoot couldn’t exist swears that the chupacabra must.
That drove me crazy!
It turns out that he has a whole theory on the chupacabra. It’s the Indian mongoose, which was introduced to Puerto Rico to control rats.
This show can be addictive.
Plus they welcome people who can be helpfully skeptical.
I liked In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy. I don’t believe any of these “creatures” exist and yet, I’m drawn to watch like a moth to a flame. I guess somewhere in my mind, I’d like to believe it’s possible that we haven’t discovered everything or been everywhere just yet.
For me, it’s very good to train one’s skeptical inquiry skills.
And every once in a while, they do find something interesting!