Flappin' Forth from History
While flipping around cable the other day, I happened upon one of the "religious" channels. The fellow there was talking about pterodactyls -- enough to get my attention.
It seems there have been reports from New Guinea of large flying critters, descriptions of which sound very similar to a pterosaur. The presenter said that he had personally led several expeditions to N.G. to get evidence on the creature. The first trip was primarily to interview the locals; later trips were to seek the creature itself.
He said that the main reason "mainstream scientists" had been unable to discover the ptero was because it was nocturnal. (I guess "mainstream scientists" don't go out at night.) He also claimed that under certain conditions the cryptid critter was phosphorescent and, best of all, would spatter the ground below with glowing poop! He said that a member of their expedition was even bespattered with the luminous loosenings from the creature's bowels.
I was beginning to think that it was all a shaggy dog story, a modern version of the Fabled Foo Bird ("If the Foo shits, wear it!"). But he was earnest, and very serious.
Why would this come up on a "religious" show, a show often devoted to anti-evolutionary diatribe?
It is in fact a desperate, sad attempt to co-opt the fossil record to support creationism. If they can show that dinosaurs are alive today, they can argue that fossils are much more recent remains, only thousands of years old rather than millions. Sad too, that these religiosos see themselves as the valiant "true scientists" gathering information where "mainstream" scientists have failed. (Of course, what "mainstream" scientist wouldn't give his left arm to study a pterosaur...)
Really a shame though -- like so many reports of crypto-critters, I would like to believe in it because it is such a wonderfully resonant tale. And what a business opportunity! What cryptozoologist wouldn't like some glowin' pterodactyl dung for their birthday? Perhaps sealed in a little vial, to act as a talisman as they grope their way through the dark mists of folklore to the promised land where previously unknown (or perhaps just rumored) animals frolic and play and pose for photos.
If I really thought that he could take me on an expedition where I could get lightsticked by a dinosaur, I would be in the first pew at that church!
It seems there have been reports from New Guinea of large flying critters, descriptions of which sound very similar to a pterosaur. The presenter said that he had personally led several expeditions to N.G. to get evidence on the creature. The first trip was primarily to interview the locals; later trips were to seek the creature itself.
He said that the main reason "mainstream scientists" had been unable to discover the ptero was because it was nocturnal. (I guess "mainstream scientists" don't go out at night.) He also claimed that under certain conditions the cryptid critter was phosphorescent and, best of all, would spatter the ground below with glowing poop! He said that a member of their expedition was even bespattered with the luminous loosenings from the creature's bowels.
I was beginning to think that it was all a shaggy dog story, a modern version of the Fabled Foo Bird ("If the Foo shits, wear it!"). But he was earnest, and very serious.
Why would this come up on a "religious" show, a show often devoted to anti-evolutionary diatribe?
It is in fact a desperate, sad attempt to co-opt the fossil record to support creationism. If they can show that dinosaurs are alive today, they can argue that fossils are much more recent remains, only thousands of years old rather than millions. Sad too, that these religiosos see themselves as the valiant "true scientists" gathering information where "mainstream" scientists have failed. (Of course, what "mainstream" scientist wouldn't give his left arm to study a pterosaur...)
Really a shame though -- like so many reports of crypto-critters, I would like to believe in it because it is such a wonderfully resonant tale. And what a business opportunity! What cryptozoologist wouldn't like some glowin' pterodactyl dung for their birthday? Perhaps sealed in a little vial, to act as a talisman as they grope their way through the dark mists of folklore to the promised land where previously unknown (or perhaps just rumored) animals frolic and play and pose for photos.
If I really thought that he could take me on an expedition where I could get lightsticked by a dinosaur, I would be in the first pew at that church!
Labels: creationism, cryptids, cryptozoology, folklore
posted by InsightStraight @ 11:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home