Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Jon D in Texas




As many followers of this blog will be aware, Jon and Corinna Downes have been in the US for the last week, and will be around until next Sunday, when they fly back to England. And, as many of you will also know, the purpose of their trip is to undertake an extensive investigation of the so-called "Texas Chupacabras" reports - an investigation arranged by Richie and Naomi West, a great couple who me and Dana got to meet and hang out with over the course of the last two days.

Jon, Corinna, Naomi and Richie drove up to stay with us on Sunday morning, and the 5 of us then headed out to Valley Ranch, where Jon was due to lecture on the subject of the aforementioned "Texas Chupacabras" for the Dallas-Fort Worth MUFON group - a lecture that was very well attended, that attracted a lot of interest, and which saw Jon talk extensively about both the Texas beasts and their Puerto Rican counterparts.

Then, yesterday, it was a trip to White Rock Lake, Dallas (the reported home of several giant-catfish and possibly a large alligator), followed by a visit to Dealey Plaza and the infamous Grassy Knoll, where JFK was assassinated by...well, take your pick: there's plenty of candidates to choose from!

But, before we knew it, the day was over, and it was time for Jon, Corinna, Naomi and Richie to depart, to head south, and to prepare for the next step of their quest. But, it was very good to see Mr and Mrs D again, even if just for a couple of days, and Naomi and Richie have great plans for future CFZ-based activities here in the US. Keep watching this space...

And, finally, here's Corinna's report on the weekend...

2 comments:

alcalde said...

We're talking about the Texas creatures which have 100% turned out to be common mangy, hairless animals, right? Or has there been some convincing evidence it's something else that I missed?

Nick Redfern said...

JGM:

yes, that is EXACTLY what we are talking about. These are nothing more than hairless, known animals.

Jon does think there may be some cross-breeding going on (possibly with a type of wolf assumed to be extinct), and that may account for some facial anomalies.

However, so there can be no doubt or error, Jon's view (and mine) is that the term "Texas Chupacabras" is a media-invented term designed to describe what are just weird-looking animals. But, they are definitely NOT unknown animals.

And that's what Jon's trying to do while he's in the US: show people that there is a very down to earth explanation for these animals that doesn't require any such nonsense as "secret government experiments," "aliens," etc.

That is the point of the various lectures Jon is giving while he's in Texas. At the Mufon gig, for example, Jon convincingly demystified any notion of these animals being true cryptids.

Yep, they look odd. There may be some cross-breeding going on. And possibly one or two other anomalies. But basically that's it.