Why Cryptozoology Don't Get No Respect

I like cryptozoologists, at least in general. I like their un-killable optimism, even when it becomes unreasonable. Folks who strap on backpacks and hike into the forests in hopes of meeting sasquatch are, at the least, looking for something first-hand. That sasquatch-hunters (I don't mean to focus solely on the big guy, but he dominates the topic like a Gigantopithecus in a field of pygmy marmosets) haven't contributed to zoology so far doesn't keep me from cheering them on. I always hope they might, despite overwhelming odds against a huge North American mammal being undiscovered, find some hard  evidence. 

I've argued before that cryptozoology is scientific in theory, if not in practice. "Animal X lives here" is a falsifiable hypothesis.  And it's too easily forgotten that cryptozoology, despite a justly-criticized overemphasis on large animals, used to get broader scientific respect. Nessie and sasquatch were once serious topics, especially in the 60s and 70s. Today, despite more people than ever believing in the existence of the "star cryptids," very few working scientists want to deal with it. The field is sunk in sensationalized or outright faked TV shows, endless repetition of the same cases on the internet, and so many reports of sasquatch that no one can take them all seriously. 

I'm not a scientist or a field researcher. I offer my opinions based on a good 45 years of interest, reading, discussion, etc. that's produced two very-well-respected books and an eternally-delayed third.  I think cryptozoology as a whole needs to turn a much more skeptical eye on fuzzy photos, old newspapers, allegedly lost or confiscated evidence (it's not evidence unless you have it), etc. 

To my main point: the item that troubles me most as a cryptozoology-sympathizer is the allegedly paranormal/psychic/parapsychological factor proposed for some cases.  I'm well aware that sane human beings have reported apparitions, including animal-like ones, creatures that make psychic contact, etc. But while I’ve no particular insight into what mix of causes is behind that phenomenon, I hold this truth to be self-evident: there’s no faster way to make ANY zoologist stop listening to you than to suggest this topic has any place in their field. 

My position is that, if a case does not concern a physical animal,  it no longer pertains to cryptozoology or any kind of zoology.  If someone believes they saw a sabretooth tiger that disappeared into thin air, for example (this report is chronicled in Nick Redfern’s book Monster Diary), then the fact the apparition was in the form of an animal doesn't put the event under the heading of cryptozoology. It can be parapsychology or any other field one may think appropriate, but if it's not zoology, it's not cryptozoology.  People who think sasquatch is not a material creature are welcome to that opinion, but that’s part of the whole business of apparitions and spirits and the paranormal. It also, critically, is not a falsifiable hypothesis: you can never prove such a belief to be wrong.  If a thorough search fails to find an animal in the place it's been reported, the animal either did not exist there or has moved on.  

There's a nice example in Vietnam.  There are intriguing reports of unknown primates, sometimes called "rock apes." That's cryptozoology. Martin Caidin's book Natural or Supernatural includes a report of apelike primates in Vietnam that were unaffected by mass automatic weapons fire at point-blank range. That's not cryptozoology. (People have no doubt had real encounters with animals they dressed up with supernatural details, but as long as those details are attached, there's nothing zoology can do with such reports.) 

I don't dismiss the possibility of a nonmaterial reality: since I believe in God, I don’t think the material universe is all that exists.  But an apparition is not an animal.  It may be reported to look like one, or even act or sound like one, but that's not the same thing.  Cryptozoology will never regain any of its respect with zoology if paranormal entities are part of it.  People’s experiences of such “zooform” entities are simply part of another field of study.