September 21, 2012

The Future of Cryptozoology

Well, my other two posts of today are links to articles at Mysterious Universe, so why not my third?

On the 14th of this month I wrote a post for MU on my views on the future of Cryptozoology. I blogged it, Facebooked it, Twittered it, but apparently didn’t link it here, as Craig noted out to me yesterday.

I wish I could say I did post it here, but that it vanished in a situation akin to the Thunderbird photo vanishing from the pages of Argosy or True (or wherever) all those years ago.

Unfortunately, I can’t! I plain and simple forgot.

Anyway, here it is, below. It’s one of those posts that will, I’m sure, provoke responses broadly along the lines of “This is why Nick is wrong.” It may also raise the blood-pressure of a few, and lead others to consider me Public Enemy Number 1.

But, at the end of the day, and no matter how many comments, replies etc are made, it won’t make a single scrap of difference in the slightest. The only thing that can – and will – make a difference to the field of Cryptozoology is the discovery of a body, or living specimen of Bigfoot, Nessie, Champ, Ogopogo, the Yeren, the Yowie, Mothman, the Jersey Devil, the Big Gray Man of Ben Macdui, the Skunk Ape – the list goes on and on. But, as I note in my post, that doesn’t happen. Ever. And maybe there’s a reason why…

And that’s the very crux of my post: the elusiveness of Cryptids and how that impacts on the nature of the cryptozoological field, what it may mean, and how it may have a bearing on the future of the subject.

I begin as follows in my MU post:

“Just recently, I wrote a post here on the subject of the future of Ufology. It was an article with which some agreed, others didn’t, and a few complained about. So it goes! Well, it’s time for another post that will no doubt provoke similar responses. In the same way that I have a deep interest in UFOs, I also have a great passion for cryptozoology – the study of unknown animals, such as Bigfoot, lake-monsters, sea-serpents, the Abominable Snowman, the Chupacabras, Mothman, and werewolves. But, what does the future have in store for those of us that chase what, in simple terms, are termed monsters? Let’s take a look…

“Within cryptozoology, there’s plenty to look for and find, but what actual successes have been made? Have any successes been made, or is just the case that we have a lot of reports? And, yes there is a difference, a big one: a pile of papers, stacks of files, and a tidy number of thumb-drives do not equate to answers or proof.”

And here’s the post in full…

Filed under Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Lair of the Beasts, Lake Monsters, Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, Ogopogo, Sasquatch, Sea Monsters, Sea Serpents, Skeptical Discussions, Skunk Apes, Thunderbirds, Yeren, Yowie