by Oubliette

Up until 65 million years ago, dinosaurs were the rulers of the Earth.  But a combination of cataclysmic events brought about their demise.  Or did it?  Reports of living dinosaurs that have somehow survived the tragic occurrences at the end of the Cretaceous have been filtering in from across the globe.  Destination Truth has previously gone in search of at least one of these supposed survivors deep in Africa.  In addition, DT has conducted several investigations involving lake monsters who are possibly living descendents of these marvelous prehistoric beasts.

This time it is from the Atacama Desert in Chile where reports of a possible dinosaurian survivor have surfaced.  This particular desert is of great interest in itself, as it is considered the driest place on the surface of our planet, although water can be found if one knows where to look for it.  South America has provided us with wonderful fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and Chile is no exception.  But could there be an ancient species that somehow managed to survive extinction and live on in this inhospitable desert?

It seems that reports of possible dinosaurs living in the Atacama Desert have come to light in recent years.  In 2004, several members of the Abett de la Torre Diaz family described a confrontation with four “dog faced kangaroo like” creatures that surrounded their car as they journeyed home to Arica.  But they are not the only ones to have seen something strange.  Other motorists have also reported coming into contact with an animal that looks like it has stepped out of a time capsule.

A composite of the creatures reported by eyewitnesses is fed into the DT software program, and the result shows us an animal not unlike a raptor, with thick leathery skin,  three-toed feet, an upright stance and razor sharp teeth. This animal is said to live in caves near sources of water.  From these accounts, it is certainly a carnivore and seems to resemble members of the therapod family.

With the Orbitz “one stop shopping” promo taking care of their travel needs, the DT team flies to Antofagasta, and from there make their way to the city of Arica near where the sightings were supposed to have taken place.  Josh is certainly not kidding in his description of the Atacama Desert.  I brought up the satellite image on Google Earth and was struck at how very barren and alien this place truly is.   It looks like the traveler is no longer on Earth; both the moon and Mars landscapes come to mind.

After arriving in Arica, Josh speaks with Caodero Santoro, a paleontologist with the University of Tarapaca.  This scientist has been studying reports of people who claim to have seen this unusual animal.  As mentioned above, this Northern Chilean Desert has yielded up some magnificent finds which indicate that dinosaurs had been plentiful in this part of South America.  He feels that a member of the dinosauria would be able to remain relatively undetected as long as there is sufficient vegetation, canyons in which to live and hide and a source of drinking water.  He refers Josh to some of the eyewitnesses who can provide him with greater details as to what they had seen.

As usual, we are given a taste of the “local color”.  In this case, besides a dinosaur postcard and a photo of Joan Crawford (or someone who looks like her) we get to observe a loud fight between two women.  No, not the mud wrestling kind but rather a vocal and physical dispute between a shopkeeper and an alleged thief.  Of course Josh adds his brand of humor, pretending they are fighting over getting his autograph.  As he talks about the crazy temperament of Latin American women, Jael jokingly begins to argue with him in very vehement Spanish just to add to the fun.

Back to business, Josh speaks with retired military officer Hernan Cuevas, who is adamant that he and his family saw some of these creatures approaching their car while driving in the desert.  He claims that there are certainly many places in the Atacama where such animals can live away from human eyes until they venture forth out of the many canyons that dot this desert.  We also meet Carmen Diaz, a member of the aforementioned family who describes how one of the creatures stared at them while they were seated in their car.  Although Ms. Diaz’s mother wanted to run off, she wisely stayed in the car.  Perhaps she too had seen Jurassic Park, as did Josh who makes a very funny remark about the lawyer that provided a snack for a hungry T-Rex in that movie.

Carmen draws the footprints of the animal from memory, and it shows a three-toed foot with claws on the tips of the toes-exactly like a dinosaur.  It is obvious that this investigation is going to be a very interesting one.  The team heads off to the Pampa Ancha region where the sightings have taken place.  Unfortunately, the plane they had hoped to hired prove less than inspiring (jumpstarting a plane from a battery?), as did its pilot, who Josh compares to the near-sighted Mr. Magoo.  They decide to pass on this mode of transportation.

Their only other viable option is quad runners, and they each head off across the dusty and desolate terrain in these ATVs.  It actually was a stroke of luck that they decided to travel by land, as Josh excitedly calls the others to come look at some large fossilized dinosaur tracks in the rock.  It is a great find, even though they were made untold millions of years ago.  At least, it provided some encouragement that maybe other, more recent treasures awaited them.

It is decided to disembark at this spot and make base camp on a convenient plateau.  IR cameras are set up at strategic places.  Josh briefs the crew, telling them to be on the lookout not only for any unusual creatures but also possible nests, eggs and also signs of vegetation and a water source; things necessary for any animal to survive.  They break up into teams and head off.

Josh spots a heat signature on the FLIR and he and Jael look for a way up the steep and treacherous rocks to try and get closer to its source.  That some animal is moving around the canyon seems confirmed by Rex, who notices that small boulders and rocks are falling down from higher up on the canyon ridge. Though he and Gabe try to climb up to get a better look, it is obvious that the terrain is too steep and treacherous for them to venture any higher so that lead has to be abandoned.  If it were daytime, rock climbing equipment could have been used, but at night, even this would prove way too dangerous to attempt such a climb.

Josh and Jael have a bit more luck, as they find a half-eaten paw from some unlucky animal.  It is obvious that it has fallen prey to some predator, though how big could the carnivore have been?  I did find that, among other smaller animals, foxes live in the Atacama, though there is scarce information on other possible predators.  In any case, this find indicates that there is at least a food supply available to a dinosaur-like creature, and the paw is bagged for evidence and the two continue on their quest.

It is now Josh’s turn to take a tumble, and there are some anxious moments as he roughly slides down the side of a ridge.  Thankfully, he is OK.  Jael finds some scat (feces); although it is quite old it is bagged for evidence and Josh presses Jael to carry this little treasure in her pocket.  Since the scat trail seems to lead to a small cave, they decide to investigate further.  They apparently come up empty-handed, as there is no further reference made about this part of their journey.

Everyone meets up at base camp, where Josh informs them that at least it has been established that there is food available to a prospective dinosaur, but they have yet to find the other two criteria: vegetation and water.  The team splits up in hopes of discovering these two necessary components that would allow a large animal to survive in this unforgiving environment.

On their trek, Sharra and Bicha report to Rex who is back in base camp that they are hearing heavy thuds in their vicinity.  These are loud and close enough that they decide to leave the area rather than meet up with whatever is making the noise.  Their accounts to Rex don’t quite agree, as Sharra claims she heard a growl, while Bicha mentions a rustling noise.  In any case, it was loud enough and seemed to be coming towards them, so both made the decision to vacate the area and head back.

Meanwhile, Josh’s team find an old graveyard studded with crosses.  Up ahead, the sound of running water can be heard.  There is also something audible in the rushes ahead of them, and they nervously await whatever might spring out at them from the brush.  Instead, the animal making the noise decided to take off into the woods; the suddenness of the moment elicits a choice word from Josh (there have been plenty of bleeps on this entire season of DT).   As they come upon a swiftly moving stream, they try to follow the source of the noise but have to abandon the effort as the brush is simply too thick.

However, Josh and the team are satisfied that they have enough evidence that might prove that a large creature lives and roams in the canyon surrounding the stream.  Josh takes the scat as well as a cast of the three-toed prints to Dr. Luis Chiappe, the director of the dinosaur institute in Los Angeles and according to Josh a world renowned paleontologist.  He does have some impressive credentials, having identified the fossils of the famous Terror Bird of Argentina, among his other many accomplishments.

Dr. Chiappe identifies the fossilized prints as belonging to an Iguanadon, a herbivorous dinosaur that was a highly successful species, having spanned the eons from the Late Jurassic through the Cretaceous.  It does not bear any resemblance to any raptor type species of predatory dinosaur (and hence, does not fit in with the eyewitness reports) but it is an exciting discovery nonetheless.  In fact I share Josh’s obvious joy at having found and cast this wonderful contribution to South American paleontology.

And what about the Arica Monster–a supposed raptor like remnant still living in the canyons of the Atacama Desert?    I agree totally with Dr. Chiappe, who feels that eyewitnesses are actually coming in contact with a rhea; to be specific, the lesser rhea, a dinosaur like bird that inhabits Chile, Argentina, Peru and Brazil.  It has obvious features that it shares with its dinosaur ancestors such as the three toed prints (only dinosaurs and birds share this type of footprint) and its general appearance as reported by the eyewitnesses.  In fact, ostriches, rheas and emus take us back in time millions of years and give us a glimpse of what the landscape must have looked like, dotted with these fascinating creatures.

I hope readers will bear with me as I praise this episode, as I have been a dinosaur freak from childhood and have never lost my fascination with these awe inspiring animals.  To realize that the extinction of the dinosaurs was really not complete always fills me with a sense of the wonderful history of life on this marvelous planet we inhabit.  And once again, Josh has made a contribution of note (as he did with the cast of possible Yeti footprints) to the scientific community.  Regardless of what viewers think of Josh and the show in general, I have the feeling that this brave explorer will, TV show or not, one day stumble upon a discovery that will prove to be a major find and assure that his name will go down in history as a true adventurer, scientist and searcher after that elusive entity known as the Truth.

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