Where do I start on this one? It was totally unexpected. What began as a weekend getaway to a corn roast party took a U turn down a strange road that forced me to stongly consider becoming a Cryptozoologist. Let me chronicle the events as they happened beginning on Friday night September 17, 2006. The host of the annual roast, Don Austin, shared a crazy story of a wild beast, captured by his son’s friends. A local University was in the process of examining these mysterious bones. As you can imagine Don had my full attention.

Justin who is Don’s 21 yr. old son, told his Dad that 15 yr. old Geordie Decker and 16 yr. old Josh Underwood were traveling the “back 40″ with Geordie’s Dad George in their pick up. Peering over the dash all saw what appeared to be a doglike creature no bigger than a fox. Each mind was trying to register what they were seeing and would have thought nothing about the creature until they saw the way it moved slowly across the road…it hopped. Immediately the boys knew it was a chupacabra. One of the boy’s sister had shown them previously on the Internet what a Chupacabra looked like. Dad slammed on the breaks and the boys took off running after it with Josh grabbing a large blanket. 30 minutes of observing, tracking, and chasing tired the beast enough so they threw the blanket over and bagged it!

Eating pizza on the way home both boys beamed as Josh held the bundle out the window. The D.E.C. was first contacted. Excitedly they described what they saw and the Government man responded, “What you have there is a Chupacabra.” And then added, “They’re a myth.” and hung up. For most of the same day the animal was kept in the Becker’s horse trailer. Not knowing what to do next and seeing that there was no interest in their capture one of the brothers shot and killed the beast.

A week passes and the remains setting on horse manure quickly decay. Enter Justin Austin, my corn roast host’s son. He knew from his extensive hunting experience and knowledge of the area that what his friends possessed was no ordinary mammal. Scooping the remains into a plastic bin he traveled to Cornell University. Science would be given a chance to clear up this mystery.

To be continued…

At the end of November 2005 we decided to go public. We wanted to start the public relations machinery to let everyone know that the Lost World Museum was coming. The press was contacted and a power point presentation was planned at our sleepy country church. The day before the presentation, the local television station videoed the dusty interior of the museum as I revealed a few of the amazing fossils that would find their future home here. The newsgirl was dumbfounded with our basketball sized giant beaver skull from a 450 lbs pre-flood beaver.

November 26, 2005, the headlines read Phoenix Antediluvian Museum Planned. Unknowingly the Post Standard was fulfilling the mission of the museum, which is to communicate fascinating Biblical facts to the general public through secular publications.

Why communicate our mission and message through the secular press? Well from my earliest exposure to the secular media, without knowing it, I was aching to hear something interesting, fresh and uplifting. As you probably know 70% of what we see or hear on the news is negative and most of all movies and TV are devoid of God. I believe there are others in a similar situation. There’s a spiritual famine in the land and that’s one reason why I’m building this museum. It’s for you. It’s for your brother, your sister, your Dad & Mom, your friend, your spouse, your neighbor – anyone who has not been exposed to the good news of Genesis and the Bible.

Now back to the sleepy church. The people assembled and filled the church to capacity as I chronicled the birth of the Lost World museum. Folks who have not set foot in a church except for funerals and weddings attended. Over all I believe it went well. The reception that followed allowed us to mingle and answer questions. And from that moment on the most frequently asked question has been, “When does the museum opening?”

Next up: Treasure in the basement