The well-known researcher of anomalous phenomena, Andrei Perepelitsyn, managed to communicate with the Kaluga residents who saw them
- Andrey, from time immemorial there have been myths and legends about dragons. Science later discovered dinosaurs. There are versions that some of them survived their era and gave rise to these legends. Have you personally seen dragons?
- Personally, I have not seen them, but I communicated with people who met unusual living creatures that resemble, albeit small, dragons or crocodiles - whatever you want. These, of course, are not some relict dinosaurs, but species of animals unknown to science, which, apparently, escaped the inquisitive eyes of scientists. By the way, they can be quite young species, not so long ago formed. In general, rare sightings of different specimens were available throughout Eastern Europe, from Poland to the Urals. We went on expeditions to the Leningrad region, Belarus, interviewed the people. Local residents told us about various unusual phenomena: about snakes with scallops, snow people, but no one ever mentioned crocodile-like creatures. Apparently, they are not there - they became extinct, although there are quite clear references in the annals. But what is interesting isthat in our region and in neighboring regions, people have encountered similar specimens more than once! That is, the lands of the Vyatichi became a refuge for dragons. And this is quite understandable - the Vyatichi were baptized much later, peacefully, and nature has no clear boundaries.
- And in what areas are the "dragons" found?
- Practically throughout the territory of our region and in the Tula region. Over the past ten years, I have heard four striking cases of observation of crocodile-like animals. In the Ferzikovsky district, a former rural teacher - an educated, literate person - on the bank of a pond near her village, she observed on a heap of brushwood, as she outlined, a fat snake with legs, horns and growths. Moreover, after a year and a half, she saw this dragon again. In the Iznoskovsky district, two female friends went into the forest for mushrooms and not far from the reservoir, right in front of them, a path crawled, according to them, either a crocodile or a monitor lizard. Three years later, practically at the same place, one of them once again "face to face" collided with exactly the same animal. By the way, this woman is a fish farmer by profession, has a specialized education. One search engine and local historian near the Zhizdra River literally stumbled upon a piece of a fallen tree trunk on the side of the road - although there were no trees nearby. He decided to take a good look at it, came closer, but the "tree" suddenly moved and crawled away. The descriptions of these creatures correspond exactly to the chronicles.
- And yet, in your opinion, who are they - today's dragons?
“I think dragons are an unknown species of reptiles. Analysis of the collected materials suggests that several dozen species of animals still unknown to science live on the territory of Russia and in the Kaluga region in particular. Among them are both animals and reptiles - for example, snakes. As for the "crocodiles" of the Russian chronicles, or rather, crocodile-like animals, they may turn out to be an unknown "northern" species of real crocodiles. Perhaps we are talking about some kind of "northern" monitor lizards, or perhaps they are not even reptiles, but amphibians - relatives of newts. It is known, for example, that a giant salamander was found in Europe a million years ago - a kind of newt up to two meters long. It still lives in Japan and China. Perhaps the "Russian crocodiles" are just them. It will be possible to establish the exact species of our "dragons" after they have been caught and prepared. But what they definitely cannot be is relic dinosaurs. No chances.
- Why can't professional biologists catch "dragons"?
- The answer is simple: biologists are not looking for them - they have enough more urgent tasks. Although sometimes they meet - as casual eyewitnesses. But in order to get a specimen of "crocodile", it is necessary first of all to more accurately establish their habitat - after all, this species is very rare and unevenly settled. So far we have very little information about this, so it is too early to prepare an expedition. However, readers can help if they share their observations or simply village stories and legends they know. By the way, we are interested not only in "crocodiles".