“Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

In the folklore of Lee County, South Carolina, the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp (also known as the Lizard Man of Lee County) is an entity said to inhabit the swampland of the region. First mentioned in the late 1980s by a local 17-year-old, the purported sighting yielded a significant amount of newspaper, radio and television publicity. According to Lee County authorities, another local man admitted fabricating a story about encountering and shooting the creature "because he wanted to keep the legend of the Lizard Man alive" .^[1]

History

In 1988, 17-year-old local Christopher Davis claimed his car was damaged by a creature he described as "green, wetlike, about 7 feet tall and had three fingers, red eyes, skin like a lizard, snakelike scales". Coverage by newspapers and media resulted in increased attention for his claims. According to Davis, he was driving home from working the night shift at a fast food restaurant when his car got a flat tire. After fixing it, he saw the creature walking toward him. Davis got in his car and began to drive, but the creature was soon on top of the car. He applied his brakes, causing the creature to roll off the car, giving Davis enough time to escape. Local businesses began selling "Lizard Man" T-shirts, and the local chamber of commerce encouraged the media attention as "good for the community".^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

The increase in newspaper and media publicity prompted further reports of sightings, and the area soon became a tourist attraction for visitors and hunters. Local radio station WCOS offered a $1 million reward to anybody who could capture the creature alive.^[2] On August 5, Kenneth Orr, an airman stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, filed a police report alleging that he had encountered the Lizard Man on highway 15, and he had shot and wounded it. He presented several scales and a small quantity of blood as evidence. Orr recanted this account two days later when he was arraigned for unlawfully carrying a pistol and the misdemeanor offense of filing a false police report. According to Orr, he had hoaxed the sighting in order to keep stories about the Lizard Man in circulation.^[1]^[9] Reports of the creature gradually declined at the end of the summer. Local law enforcement officials speculated that the sightings were likely to have been caused by a bear.^[7]

In 2008, CNN mentioned the Lizard Man legend in a story about a couple in Bishopville, South Carolina who reported damage to their vehicle, including blood traces.^[8] The blood traces were subsequently found to be from a domestic dog, most likely a coyote or wolf.^[9] In 2010, the TV program Destination Truth featured the legendary creature.^[10] In 2015, local television station WCIV featured photos and videos claimed to be Lizard Man, allegedly taken by unidentified individuals.^[11]

See also

References

1. ^¹The Washington Post (1988-08-14) "'Lizard Man' Claims a Casualty", The Washington Post
2. ^¹Horswell, Cindy (1989-07-1989) "'Lizard Man' legend, kicking", Houston Chronicle
3. ^Milligan, Stephen (1988-08-07) "Sightings of a monster lizard from the swamp has struck terror into a small community in South Carolina", The Sunday Times.
4. ^{{cite news|title=Sumter man killed; 'discovered' Lizard Man |url=http://www.thestate.com/local/story/838478.html |work=The State |date=2009-06-24 |accessdate=2009-06-26 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627075523/http://www.thestate.com/local/story/838478.html |archivedate=June 27, 2009 }}
5. ^{{cite news|date=1988-08-02|title=Youth Who Saw 'Lizard Man' Gets an Agent|work=San Francisco Chronicle}}
6. ^Horswell, Cindy (1989-07-30) "Lizard man leaves mark/Tale still told in sleepy S.C. town", Houston Chronicle
7. ^¹Houston Chronicle (1988-08-13) "To keep a monstrous legend alive/Man admits lying about Lizard Man", Houston Chronicle
8. ^{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2008/03/01/sc.lizard.man.update.wis | work=CNN | title=CNN.com Video | accessdate=2010-05-11}}
9. ^{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_fe_st/odd_lizard_man;_ylt=ApTlKyvI7pr6TMB3TLbJ82ssQE4F |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2017-02-09 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529175918/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_fe_st/odd_lizard_man |archivedate=2008-05-29 |df= }}
10. ^{{Cite episode |last=Gates |first=Josh |title=Ghost of Petra/The Lizard Man |series=Destination Truth |network= |station= |date=April 14, 2010 |season= }}
11. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.abcnews4.com/story/29690324/has-bishopvilles-lizard-man-returned-photo-apparently-shows-fabled-sc-creature |title=Has Bishopville's 'lizard man' returned? New video surfaces in case |author= |date=3 August 2015|website=ABC News 4 |publisher= |access-date= |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803151232/http://www.abcnews4.com/story/29690324/has-bishopvilles-lizard-man-returned-photo-apparently-shows-fabled-sc-creature|archivedate=3 August 2015|quote=}}