While reading an article about Frank Luntz (who we learned about from the Persuaders) I noticed an icon for a news story about 'El Chupacabra' being sighted. I immediately clicked it wanting to read about this urban legend / mythical creature being spotted (and even killed for DNA testing!) Then, after reading the article and discovering that the 5 or 6 reports of the creature since the original sighting in 1995, have actually turned out to be coyotes and raccoons with severe mange disease, I felt disappointed.
Why is it, that people all over the world want to believe in creatures that, like this blood-sucking goat killer, could be dangerous? Benjamin Radford, the managing editor of the journal The Skeptical Inquirer and LiveScience columnist, has a theory:
"The thing about myths is that people want to believe in things," he said. "I suppose that, in a perverse way, there's something comforting in that there's this vampiric monster that doesn't attack humans."
To read Radford's article, click here.
Also, check out this site full of other mythical creatures we humans believe in!
Photo courtesy of: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/lost-tapes/sea-monsters/loch-ness-monster/
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