It's curious how some stories catch hold of the popular imagination and continue for centuries. I'm sure they are based on something, though they probably aren't understood or even the same things every time. Whatever people are seeing, they do seem to pop up in the same places, and are documented for many years. Bigfoot, for instance, was apparently seen by the native American Indians and they had many oral stories about it.
I think we really want there to still be mysteries around us. It's like a primal need that we don't actually want to know everything, but to allow the unknown to survive. I love that desire, especially as a writer, because that means people crave new stories and mysteries. Highlighting that desire, the Animal Planet station on television is doing a Monster Week of shows (mainly the guy who fishes for monster freshwater fish, which is much more interesting that it sounds).
If someone were to ask me if I believe in these strange creatures that people see, well, yes and no. I believe they are seeing something, but not necessarily what they describe. Our minds are notoriously unreliable as first-hand witnesses. However, as the old saying goes: "Where there's smoke, there's fire." Consistent witnesses point toward something, and it wasn't that long ago that the famous mountain gorillas were considered a fantasy but later turned out true.
I'm glad there are mysteries still out there, and that we constantly chase them. I pray that chase never ends.
- M
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