An 1835 illustration shows the lunar animals supposedly discovered by John Herschel from his observatory in South Africa.

Credit: Wikimedia

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1975-1996
EL CHUPACABRA

Between February and March 1975, reports circulated around Moca, Puerto Rico, of a mysterious creature attacking farm animals, draining their blood and scooping out chunks of their flesh, and residents reported hearing loud screeches or flapping wings coinciding with the attacks. Academics and police examined the carcasses, and put the attacks down to everything from humans to snakes and vampire bats; it was dubbed 'el vampiro de Moca'.

In November 1995, similar attacks were reported in the area, by then attributed to chupacabras or 'goatsuckers', a mythical animal of Spanish lore. They were described as a "bristly, bulge-eyed rat with the hind legs of a kangaroo, capable of escaping after its crimes in high speed sprints" and exuding a sulphur-like stench. At its height, one emergency services officer in a small city in the area reported spending "half his time responding to chupacabras calls".

A specialist chupacabras website spread the story, and by May 1996, the site was ranked in the top 5% of all sites. Attacks were reported across the Caribbean, as far south as Argentina and Chile and as far north as the United States. The chupacabras flap ended abruptly in mid-1996, and almost nothing has been reported on it since.

1990
VANISHING GENITALS

During 1990, an episode of 'vanishing' genitalia caused widespread fear across Nigeria. Accusations were usually triggered by incidental body contact with a stranger in a public place, after which the male 'victim' would feel strange scrotum sensations and grab their genitals to confirm that they were still there. Then they would confront the person as a crowd would gather, accusing them of being a 'genital thief', before stripping naked to convince bystanders that their penis was really missing.

Many 'victims' claimed that their penis had been returned once the alarm had been raised or that, although the penis was now back, "it was shrunken and so probably a 'wrong' one or just the ghost of a penis".The accused were often threatened or beaten until the penis had been "fully restored", and in some instances, the accused was beaten to death.

Psychiatrist Sunny Ilechukwu described the scene in one city: "Men could be seen in the streets of Lagos holding on to their genitalia either openly or discreetly with their hands in their pockets. Women were also seen holding on to their breasts directly or discreetly by crossing the hands across the chest. It was thought that inattention and a weak will facilitated the 'taking' of the penis or breasts. Vigilance and anticipatory aggression were thought to be good prophylaxis."

The belief in vanishing genitalia was not only plausible but also institutionalised; many influential Nigerians expressed outrage when police released suspected genital thieves. A Christian priest even claimed that a Bible passage where Jesus asked "Who touched me?" because the "power had gone out of him," referred to genital theft.

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