(CORRECTION) Hogzilla Story Hoax in Dinosaurs Article

[creationliberty]

In our teaching, Dinosaurs and the Bible, I had previously published a story out of FOX News about an 1100 lbs boar that was shot by an 11-year-old. Someone had recently sent me some corrections about the date on the site, and as I was investigating the discrepancy, I discovered the link was out of date, so while I was looking for the updated link, I found a lot more information about it.

It turns out this was a hoax put on by a guy who owns an enclosed gaming ranch in Alabama. He pushed the story to help get his ranch more popular to increase his business traffic. I didn't keep all the links to post here, but I verified this through multiple sources. Even FOX News took down the original photograph they had on there, even though there was no published retraction that I ever saw. (i.e. They didn't want to confess the fact that they didn't do proper investigation into the story, so they left the story up, and just took down the picture, which was discovered to be a fake.)

I'm sorry I didn't investigate it far enough myself. It's very difficult sometimes for me to get all the information on every reference I have. As I have done this type of work more and more each year (and I am learning more and more each year), I've come to realize that people typically get paid pretty decent salaries to do investigative journalism, and they typically have offices with proper resources for this kind of thing, which I don't get paid and I don't have access to those resources, which limits my time and capability. So I do the best I can with what I have, and when I find errors, I correct them.

In replace of this story, I put in a more recent one from New Zealand about six months ago, in which they found a 26 ft (8m) long sea worm, and this one is legit:


Also added in this long-necked hair sea monster, of which a number of them have washed up on the beaches of the Phillipines:

[Zoologistkid]

That's good, Chris, I wanted to tell you that I had heard it was a hoax but I was unable to find evidence for such a claim. I love how you correct yourself and give better information.

I have also been thinking about a good point: If the majority of dinosaurs were found to be small and people can't know about everything in their area, could some kind of said to be extinct animal have gone through their area without them noticing? Sure, people have found large fossilized creatures but after the flood, even the large one had to get smaller in some way.

The majority of Dinosaurs that have been found average about the size of a sheep or smaller. The smallest ceratopsian (horned dinosaur) has been found to be the size of a rabbit. The smallest raptor was the size of a crow and the smallest tyrannosaur was the size of your dog.

[anvilhauler]

In replace of this story, I put in a more recent one from New Zealand about six months ago, in which they found a 26 ft (8m) long sea worm, and this one is legit:

A tiny one    ....   I guess it might have been a juvenile.


Lineus longissimus
The bootlace worm (Lineus longissimus) is one of the longest known animals, with specimens up to 55 m (180 ft) long being reported. Its mucus is highly toxic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineus_longissimus

Not that I have ever seen one but having heard of them years ago I was amazed at the length they grow to.  That's 5 metres longer than an Olympic size swimming pool.

[Jeanne]

Yep, just one more reason to stay out of the water! LOL

[anvilhauler]

Yep, just one more reason to stay out of the water! LOL

LOL  I never did mention in the past that I used to be a scuba diver.  I dived a lot for about eight years.  Mainly crayfish diving but some dives were just as dives with no other motive.  I always used to wonder where the nearest shark was    ..... although you can't see them you know they are there.  They know exactly where you are due to their Organ of Lorenzini and the lateral lines they have down the sides of their body.  In all the years I dived though I never saw a single shark. 

Not the best of hobbies to take up when one is still in an unsaved condition.

I also used to be a member of the Canterbury Skydiving Club.  Also not a good option for the unsaved.

I do thank God / Christ a lot to think that I might have been killed and eternally doomed but I wasn't.  Amazing grace.

[Jeanne]

From what I understand, sharks don't really bother divers all that much. It's the people splashing around on the surface they tend to go after. I've seen videos of people swimming with sharks just like they do the swimming with dolphins thing! Sharks like to be petted and they go into a sort of hypnotic state when you stroke their noses. (You know, the bit right above all those sharp teeth!)

Anyway, I've never been a good swimmer because my shoulders tend to pop out of the sockets sometimes and I also can't stand having water in my face. I especially hate getting water up my nose. I don't mind going wading at the beach but it's never been exactly my favourite place to go.

[TheChickenWhisperer]

I think this might be getting off topic, but Jeanne is right.  We got to pet sharks in a tank at the aquarium.  They are actually pretty tame.  If you are splashing around and appear from below to be normal prey, they will attack when hungry.  But most of the time, they don't mind people and you can swim with them and touch them. Most attacks on people are few and far between.

[strangersmind]

Tonya, what do they feel like? I was told you can almost put them asleep by turning them upside down

[TheChickenWhisperer]

Their skin is actually very rough.  But it is wet, so there is a sleekness to it.  The fin is very hard cartilage.  You can almost feel the power beneath the surface.

[anvilhauler]

Yes the thread has gone quite a lot off topic, I regret having done that now.  I should have written earlier that I too found it to be very disappointing that the photo of the hog was altered and was therefore a fake.  It is very disappointing when people do that and just so dishonest.  I would and do totally boycott any company or business that falsifies a pic or information like that.

On the shark side of things there are different sharks with different temperaments and although usually you are safe sharks can be inquisitive and having never usually seen man before they can have a chomp to see what one of these things tastes like.  A risky time can be getting in and out of the water or boat.  A problem is that companies have set up doing shark diving and shark feeding from cages and so sharks have come to associate man with food.  I certainly never went spearing fish nor would I ever dive with others who were spear fishing as I see that as just asking for trouble.

Anyway, my apology again for taking the thread off topic, but I guess as a church it has allowed us to have some discussion and to get to know each other more and for me this is the only interaction I get to have with the rest of you.

[Jeanne]

Kevin, some of the most fun I've had on the forum here is during some of our off-topic discussions! I enjoy talking to you about some of the personal and trivial stuff we get into sometimes.