The power of suggestion is very strong, especially in the paranormal field. If someone were to go on the news and claim they had an unusual encounter at a local McDonald’s, I guarantee you that within days local paranormal groups would be clamoring to investigate. Clamoring. Plus, all sorts of stories about the “haunted history” of the McDonald’s would suddenly come to light, and before long, Ghost Adventures would be there capturing EVPs. Oh and the McDonald’s would start charging $800 a night for investigations. Don’t believe me? Check into any place that’s been featured on a paranormal TV show. But I digress. This story, about a “chupacabra” sighting in Mississippi, is the perfect example of someone having their mind changed to something ridiculous because of what they read about online. And their first instinct, as is usually the case, was the correct one.
Mange E. Coyote
The infamous ‘chupacabra’ may have resurfaced again just in time for Halloween. Mississippi residents caught the hairless monster on camera on a lot near their home.
“If a zombie had a dog, it would look like that,” Jennifer Whitfield who captured the video of the mysterious creature told WLOX.
After posting the video online, Whitfield discovered she wasn’t the only one in her neighborhood to spot the creature.
“I kept looking up ‘hairless coyote,’ and it kept saying ‘chupacabra,'” Amanda Denton who lives a few streets over from Whitfield told the station. “We’ve been running back and forth to our cars because we didn’t want the chupacabra to get us.”
Denton and her husband Jonathan called Animal Control who were unable to capture the animal.
“I didn’t know what it was, but then Animal Control couldn’t find it, so maybe it was a chupacabra,” Jonathan told WLOX.
Whether the animal is the mythical chupacabra who is said to kill animals and then suck their blood, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks warns residents to stay away should they encounter the creature.
“It’s probably sick, weak, and not able to hunt on its own, so it’s going to the nearest food source it can find,” Sgt. Burnette told the station.
This is obviously a sick animal of some kind. I’m not sure if it’s a dog or coyote or some other canine, but this is a far cry from the vampiric alien that we often hear about when someone talks about el chupacabra. But it just goes to show how people can start thinking rationally, but then be swayed in their thinking because of sensationalistic news stories.
