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Lair of the Beasts: Monsters: Should You Tell?
Silence vs Publicity By Nick Redfern
June 02, 2012
Source: Mania.com
If, one day, you happen to be in the position of seeing a strange and unidentified creature – whether a Bigfoot, a Loch Ness Monster, a Chupacabra, or one of the many other bizarre beasts that numerous people believe inhabit the dark and mysterious parts of our world – what you should you do?
Many might say that you should get a photo or several and make a speedy trip to the offices of your local newspaper, radio-station, or TV channel, and get the story into the public domain as soon as possible. Certainly, a lot of people have done exactly that.
And, it’s undeniably important to note that when it comes to the field of Cryptozoology, the most important people are not the researchers, the lecturers, the authors or the investigators, but the witnesses themselves. After all, without the witnesses and their testimony, we have nothing much, at all, to go on.
Saying you have seen a Bigfoot race across an isolated stretch of road in the Pacific Northwest forests, stating you once saw a long-necked creature rear out of the ocean waters of the Atlantic, or claiming to have encountered a Yeti on the frozen peaks of the Himalayas, will generally provoke one of several responses: interest, amazement, a rolling of eyes, a shaking of heads, or questions about how many beers, margaritas and vodka shots you drank on the day or night in question!
Such responses generally do no harm and are to be fully expected until (or if) we ever find a dead body or a live specimen of such claimed entities.
And, in a world where the field of Cryptozoology is viewed variously as (a) a science; (b) a hobby; or (c) the domain of the deluded and misinformed (and there are other suggestions too!), it’s no wonder that debate and comment rages.
Of course, debate and comment are exactly what we need if we are to solve the many and varied cryptozoological controversies that face us, and which face the witnesses when they go public. But, for those of you that may have a story to tell, there’s a dark side to going public with a story of (quite literally!) monstrous proportions.
On more than a few occasions, I have seen people not just roll their eyes at someone who claims to have seen Bigfoot, or assert that the witness was simply mistaken by a bear briefly standing on its hind legs, or some such similar scenario.
Rather, I have seen witnesses victimized, traumatized, derided and accused of being outright evil liars – all for claiming to have had an encounter with an unacknowledged animal and nothing more. I’ve also seen people on the receiving end of anonymous phone calls, threatening letters and more. And, more often than not, the person loudly behind the attack has never even met the witness.
I have even seen eye-witnesses persecuted by religious fundamentalists and fanatics who maintain that all these entities – whether Bigfoot, Nessie and all the rest – have literal demonic origins and that investigating or talking about such matters is only encouraging disaster and menace in a person’s life. And when I say there are people who suggest we’re talking about demons, I really do mean Hell, fire and brimstone, and that guy underground with the horns and forked-tail.
Granted, such situations are not typical, but they have occurred and still do.
I’m fine with people having beliefs – down to earth or wildly controversial – about the nature of the cryptozoological creatures of our world, but ranting and raving at someone about demons and how the witness or investigator is going to burn in Hell for claiming encounters with such “animals” (if that’s what they are), is nothing less than poisonous.
If someone attacks, or questions, my views, theories and beliefs when it comes to Cryptozoology, then I get into a debate with them and forcefully present my side of the story. If someone attacks my character all because they happen to have a different belief system, however, that’s a very different matter.
But, that’s what often happens when someone claims an encounter of the extraordinary kind: it can provoke an over the top and emotional response from those that – in their minds – just have to be right, and the witnesses just have to be wrong.
With that all now said, I actually do encourage people to go public with their stories because, as I noted above, without the eyewitnesses and their accounts, there is very little to go on.
But, if you do decide to reveal all, then be prepared.
Interest, intrigue, skepticism and a few good-humored jokes are fine. But, that may not be all that you find yourself confronted with. Suspicion, spite, fear and distrust are very often waiting in the wings, all courtesy of nuts, loons and freaks with personal agendas.
Nick Redfern’s new book, The Pyramids and the Pentagon, is now available.
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In my experience, those who claim to have seen...something...are largely harmless & occasionally nutty. (These last a minority.)
While my reading has led me to conclude there is no Bigfoot or large sea serpent inhabiting the Loch Ness, I don't begrudge people who have concluded the opposite. (After all, the coelacanth WAS real so who knows.)
I'm a preacher (reasonably educated I like to think) and do not condone the attacks you mentioned in your article. Whatever the difference may be, God never allows us to attack, whether physically or verbally, those with different OPPINIONS.
Having said that, I apologize to you for those who claim to follow Jesus yet have treated you in a way that Jesus himself never would.
So, as long as you avoid taking hallucinogenic substances, continue to see what you can and share it with others.