Baby dragon hoax...

...sorry, just found that this was in a thread already. Mods feel free to move this to the other thread if you like.

I was quite fasincated, as most of you probably were, when the photo and story of a baby dragon appeared. The detail of the dragon in the original photo published was quite amazing.
I even took it into photoshop to bring up the contrast, and I could see the black slit pupils on the yellowish eye.

Well, across the world people were excited...and then the discoverer of the dragon, Allistair Mitchell, said it was all a hoax.
Apparently he "had grown frustrated after being rejected by more than 40 publishers and agents, so he devised an elaborate way of creating interest in his book before any pages had been printed." - (telegraph.co.uk)

for those of you who havent read the story or seen the photo, here is the story and the original picture published:
(This version of the photo was not only on rense, but also on the bbc the telegraph etc...however, the photos on those sites have a "modern one" with the "author" and this is what I want to talk about next.)
www.rense.com...

the new updated picture
www.telegraph.co.uk.../news/2004/03/29/ndrag29.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/03/29/ixportal.html

- whats up with the clarity of the water? It was nice an mirky in the original photo...now it looks like spring water. You could argue that they changed it out.
- look at how the wing goes across the waist and up close to the hand (doesnt in original pic)
This is hard as the perspective is different, but it just doesnt line up. I would like to see more pics.
- no close ups...the umbilical cord (which is quite intersting to put on a reptile) looks smoother.
- what is the title of the book? Could not readily find it in the story, which is interesting as the whole point of the hoax was to advertise his book...this is counter intuitive isnt it? (The photo does say Fairy Tale...could be the name, but in the article it said he used the photo on his book Unearthly History, but it was mentioned later in the story, and in a rather in direct manner...could be another book...who knows.)

also interesting about the article...
- at the bottom it states he started his own publishing company.
Then why didnt he do that to begin with? Why create an "elaborate hoax" because of being rejected by "over 40 publishers" if he could start his own publishing business himself?

See, those things claimed to be true are often hoaxes...look at the circus around us in politics.
And those that are true, well shuffled away and none the wiser.

Also, the crawley creatures company that supposedly made the dragon...
They probably made the one you see in the updated picture, based upon the original photo.

I say that because if you take a look at the dinosaurs they made for the BBC - They look fake and like what you would typically think these reptiles would look like.

www.crawley-creatures.com...

But heres the key...
-The whole concept of a dragon with a human body...human like fingers and toes... with a snake head protruding from the shoulders.
- Also an umbilical cord??? Come on...you want people to believe your hoax? Reptiles lay eggs!
The movies even have dragons having dragon eggs...

crawley creatures either got a burst of true creativity, or they copied it from somewhere/something.

The point? It smells of a cover up to me, but who know. I would liked to have seen more photos.

Gods peace

dAlen


[edit on 3-12-2004 by dAlen]

Still .. pretty neat looking.

*Z*

The cover up ideas pretty interesting. Guess copies of his 40 rejection letters might be nice, as would a copy of his book.

I used to have a pic of it as my avatar, hehe...

you know you didn't have to do that

great now i have to look for another pic proving dragons exist d***

Originally posted by dAlen

- what is the title of the book? Could not readily find it in the story, which is interesting as the whole point of the hoax was to advertise his book...this is counter intuitive isnt it? (The photo does say Fairy Tale...could be the name, but in the article it said he used the photo on his book Unearthly History, but it was mentioned later in the story, and in a rather in direct manner...could be another book...who knows.)
[edit on 3-12-2004 by dAlen]

"Meanwhile, Mr Mitchell was using a photograph of it on the cover of copies of his fantasy novel Unearthly History, in a renewed approach to publishers and booksellers. They began to take notice. He has signed a deal with the booksellers Waterstone's, under which they will promote the book, a thriller for adults and children in which humans are helped by dragons in a fight to save the world."

that's from the second link.

and as far as the water goes, he was trying to make it look 100 years old originally.....so of course he would make the water murky. now they have come forward with it being a hoax, so he changed the water out so it could be seen more clearly....

[edit on 16-3-2005 by muzscman]

i remember seeing that on richard and judy AAAGGGEEESSS ago. wow

Interesting this topic should pop up. I own a book (Encyclopedia Horrifica) and it contains information on the very same dragon fetus!