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墨書 Inktalez
In early August 2015, a woman from Sumter County, Sarah Bella, submitted a report to ABC News stating that she had seen a strange humanoid creature while leaving a church in Bishopville on Sunday, and she captured a photograph of it.
Earlier in May of the same year, a hunter named Jim Wilson recorded a video claiming he saw a tall, dark-skinned creature crossing the swamp while driving on South Carolina Highway 34.
He described it as resembling a short-nosed, bipedal alligator with scales and a long tail. However, overall, the creature depicted in the footage appeared to be someone wearing a poorly made monster costume, which I personally find hard to believe.
These are all the significant events related to the Skapeore Swamp Lizardman up to this point. Over the past few decades, its name has spread worldwide, yet no one knows for sure if the Lizard Man truly exists.
Mainstream media and academia have proposed several theories regarding this creature. The first is the theory of convergent evolution. John Rods, a researcher of supernatural phenomena and an authority on terrestrial reptiles, humanoid creatures, and reptilian aliens, believes that the so-called Lizard Man, along with half-snake and half-fish beings from various human civilizations, myths, and folklore, may have originated from the convergent evolution of surviving Theropods after the Late Cretaceous period.
This theory is based on a hypothetical species proposed by paleontologist Dale Russell in 1982, also known as Dinosaur Man or Dinosaur Man Theory.
The premise of this theory assumes that the environmental catastrophe 65 million years ago was not as severe as imagined, allowing some small sauropod dinosaurs to survive. Compared to other species of similar weight, Theropods had larger brain sizes.
As time passed, they eventually evolved into bipedal beings with brain capacities similar to humans and considerable intelligence—essentially resembling the form we now associate with the Lizard Man.
Although this theory has faced criticism and skepticism from many scholars, it has garnered some support among certain individuals.
Professor John Rods mentioned that if this conclusion holds true, it could indicate the existence of a species sharing an ecological niche with humans, living in remote underground areas of Earth. Their civilization might be beyond our imagination.
Of course, this conclusion is merely speculative since we have never discovered skeletal samples of such animals. Dr. Shannon Malabard, a biologist at Guzhol Ocean Research Institute, believes that the Lizard Man could be animals that have undergone genetic mutations due to harsh environmental changes or human factors.
Remote areas often become dumping grounds for industrial waste and effluents. Some chemicals or pharmaceutical products may act as mutagens, leading to genetic mutations or chromosomal aberrations in organisms, resulting in uncontrollable morphological changes.
Notably, there is indeed a waste disposal area near Bishopville, which lends some credibility to this theory among certain online communities.
Professor Richard Freeman, a mysterious zoologist, holds a vastly different opinion. He does not believe that dinosaurs would undergo convergent evolution like primates. According to current theories, biological evolution is more about adapting to the environment rather than becoming more intelligent.
He argues that the so-called Lizard Man likely stems from people's imaginations, possibly mixed with some human deception or media fabrication. Of course, it could also be a genuine supernatural phenomenon. American skeptic Benjamin Radford believes that the entire Lizard Man incident does not hold up under scrutiny.
From the initial sensational sighting by Christopher to later reports from high-ranking military officials, the descriptions of the creature seem to have evolved and improved over time. However, none of the witnesses have definitively claimed to have seen the Lizard Man; they merely reported strange creatures in the area.
The very name "Lizard Man" originates from media exaggeration, which ultimately led locals to habitually attribute inexplicable events to this so-called creature. Freeman believes that the true driving force behind the Lizard Man phenomenon is money.
I personally find this conclusion quite reasonable. Undoubtedly, the emergence of the Lizard Man has had a significant impact on the region, directly contributing to local economic prosperity.
Products related to the Lizard Man began appearing almost simultaneously with the incident's rise in popularity: T-shirts, hats, masks, small souvenirs, and even derivative songs. The summer of 1988 was dubbed by the media as the "Lizard Man Frenzy," with news coverage spreading worldwide and tourists flocking to the streets for interviews.
According to interview records with Professor Blackburn, some local officials even resigned from their positions to sell Lizard Man memorabilia and made substantial profits. Newspapers, magazines, and advertisements frequently borrowed from the Lizard Man imagery.
Later on, television and online news, along with mystery documentaries such as "Monster Mystery," "The Final Truth: Fact or Fabrication," and "American Monsters and Mysterious Events," further entrenched public perception. Now, whenever someone mentions or searches for Skepore Swamp online, it is invariably accompanied by information about the Lizard Man.
Professor Radford conducted experiments using various tools and believes that reports of vehicle damage were man-made—perhaps caused by a screwdriver or air gun—simply because people instinctively think of the Lizard Man.
Similar experiments were featured in the documentary "Fact or Fabrication." The tests demonstrated that power tools could easily create marks resembling bite or claw marks.
At the end of the program, they conducted a sociological lie experiment where one team member donned a Lizard Man costume and filmed videos in a dark forest before posting them online. It was found that while some comments expressed skepticism, most indicated a willingness to believe in the existence of the Lizard Man.
Regarding Christopher's lie detector test claims, Professor Radford stated he spent considerable time searching for this lie detector but ultimately found nothing, making it impossible to verify its authenticity.
However, there is an inconspicuous detail about this incident that might provide a reasonable explanation: what Christopher saw could have been another resident. This theory has not been reported but has circulated among local residents.
It is said that a local farmer named Al Moore built a small Bean Shed about half a mile from the swamp to store dried beans. To keep it cool during summer, he installed several air conditioning units. However, since it was unguarded at night, it became a target for thieves.
To prevent the new air conditioner from being stolen, he decided to stay overnight at the Bean Shed. The next evening, he heard a car stop on the road in Brown Town and suspected it might be the thief. Wrapping himself in coarse burlap, he rushed out of the shed.
He saw a car parked by the roadside with someone next to it. As he approached to chase after them, the sight of him wrapped in burlap was so terrifying that the person screamed and quickly fled into the car, speeding away.
The key point is that the location of the Bean Shed is not far from the area where Chris reported a flat tire, yet the protagonist, Al Moore, had never given any interviews.
This information comes from an interview conducted by Professor Lyle Blackburn with a friend of Al Moore. He mentioned that after a few days following the incident, Al Moore saw a bizarre story in the newspaper and began to suspect that the person he chased that day might have been Chris, as it seemed too coincidental.
Sheriff Truesdale stated that he had also questioned Al Moore alone back then, but his answers were inconsistent. When it came to details, he denied everything that happened that day, leading the sheriff to believe his statements lacked credibility.
Despite this, I think these speculations can only partially explain some eyewitness accounts and leftover evidence. Whether the Lizard Man truly exists remains a mystery to this day.
We cannot deny that figures similar to the Lizard Man are indeed recorded in myths and legends around the world, such as Sobek from ancient Egyptian mythology, Moksha Raga from Buddhist mythology, and Nuwa and Fu Xi from Chinese folklore.
In South Carolina, there was once an indigenous tribe called Inquig Nanning whose residents claimed their ancestors told them about a human-like creature with a tail that interacted with them.
Their tails were as thick as an adult's arm and about one meter long. Unlike tails of quadrupeds that can move freely, these tails were closely attached to their bodies like those of crocodiles.
When they wanted to sit down, they needed a recessed area to accommodate their tails. Their fingers were long and wide with rough, scaly skin, and they only ate raw fish. However, after consuming fish, they would die without leaving any descendants. Though strange, this is their legend.
Ultimately, whether or not the Lizard Man truly exists, its story has become a cultural phenomenon that sparks imagination and exploration. Although scientific evidence is lacking, it has undeniably influenced local culture and economy as a modern urban legend.
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