MORE ON MERBEINGS @ CRYPTOMUNDO

I have never seen a mermaid. Lord knows I always wanted to. Blame it on SPLASH. I thought it was possible to fall off a ferry and have a mermaid rescue you. But then I grew up. And even though I was still fascinated, I kept it on the downlow...because, well...people look at you funny when you talk about mermaids. They look at you funny when you talk about Ufo's, Aliens, Bigfoot and Sea Serpents too. But they really, really look at you, cock their head to one side...make a whirling-like finger signal near their temple and roll their eyes. They automatically classify you as 'one of those'.

So...even though one of my childhood fantasies was to PROVE the existence of such cryptids, I didn't discuss this 'dream' with everyone. And now, over at Cryptomundo, it seems a lot of people are delving into the topic. Mostly their just stating their opinions or provoking discussion. It's all good. We need to talk about it. We need to peel off the stigma attached to it. After all, our ancestors talked about mermaids like we talk about celebrities in tabloids.

Same diff.

I grew up hearing tales of mermaids from my grandmother and a host of other people. They never laughed it off as some trick of the eye. They never suggested it was a manatee or any other sea creature easily mistaken for a humanoid with a fish tail. No. Instead they embraced the fact that they saw something extraordinary. That's how it used to be.

But now, you can't believe in mermaids. Why? Because science says they are impossible. Well excuse me, but I seem to remember this thing called evolution that states quite unnervingly (if ya ask me) that land mammals strolled on out of the waters some time ago. Yup. They scampered out of the sea, and their fins turned into legs and they went on their merry way.

Soooo...there seems to be NO contest with this theory. And yet, no one can accept that maybe some mammals just didn't come out of the water and sprout landfaring appendages. Maybe some of them (think aquatic apes), evolved differently. We got accustomed to oxygen this way...and they got accustomed to pulling oxygen out of water. We grew legs to walk on this dry earth with. But they, being of oceanic origins, grew fins. We have aposeable thumbs and they have crab claws, or hooky talons.

I could be more scientific about it, but why should I be? Why should I throw in all of these biological facts just to say one simple thing: If you believe in humanoids in space, then how the frak can you NOT believe in humanoids in the ocean?

We haven't even explored the entirety of the earths seas. And yet, here we are too sure of ourselves, saying what is and isn't there. FOr all we know Megalodons could be chilling down their...or sea serpents that elude us every day because they just really don't like us.

Who knows what is here and what isn't. Far be it for me to argue with anyone on the matter. Especially if I don't have first hand knowledge to back it up. But I will say this: When people see something extraordinary, they talk about it. That's how all these stories evolve. Just because you don't believe it, that doesn't make it any less likely. Or any less fantastic.

Mermaids. Fact or fiction? I'll let you know when I see one.