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| publisher= Alternet |
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| publisher= Alternet |
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| accessdate = 2010-09-01}}</ref> The idea of reptilians on Earth was popularized by ], a conspiracy theorist who claims shape-shifting reptilian aliens control Earth by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate our societies. Icke has claimed on multiple occasions that many of the world leaders are, or are possessed by, reptilians ruling the world. |
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| accessdate = 2010-09-01}}</ref> The idea of reptilians on Earth was popularized by ], a conspiracy theorist who claims shape-shifting reptilian aliens control Earth by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate our societies. Icke has claimed on multiple occasions that many of the world leaders are, or are possessed by, reptilians ruling the world. |
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==Origins== |
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The first appearance of "]" in literature was in ]'s story, "]", published in '']'' in August 1929. This story drew on the ] ideas of the "lost worlds" of ] and ], particularly ]'s '']'', with its reference to "'dragon-men' who once had a mighty civilization on a Lemurian continent".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Trompf|first1=Garry W.|last2=Bernauer|first2=Lauren|editor1-last=Cusack|editor1-first=Carole|editor2-last=Norman|editor2-first=Alex|title=Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production|date=2012|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9004221875|pages=113-4|url=http://books.google.ie/books?id=5aRyJ-vbrJsC&pg=PA113#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=3 September 2014|chapter=Producing Lost Civilisations: Theosophical Concepts in Literature, Visual Media and Popular Culture}}</ref> Howard's "serpent men" were described as humanoid with human bodies but snake heads, being able to imitate real humans at will. Having been defeated eons ago by the predecessors of King Kull, they remained hiding in underground passages, using their shapechanging and mind control abilities to infiltrate Kull's court.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barkun|first1=Michael|authorlink1=Michael Barkun|title=A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America|date=2003|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles|isbn=0520238052|page=121|url=http://books.google.ie/books?id=-0wFZRWKdfoC&dq=Culture+of+Conspiracy%3A+Apocalyptic+Visions+in+Contemporary+America&q=%22the+shadow+kingdom%22#v=snippet&q=%22the%20shadow%20kingdom%22&f=false|accessdate=3 September 2014}}</ref> ] used Howard's "serpent men" in his stories, as well as themes from ], and he, Howard and Lovecraft together laid the basis for the ].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mott|first1=William Michael|title=Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures: A Study of Subterranean Mysteries in History, Folklore, and Myth|date=2011|publisher=Grave Distractions Publications|isbn=0982912870|page=27|url=http://books.google.ie/books?id=d0l7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=3 September 2014}}</ref> In the 1940s, a non-fiction writer, Maurice Doreal, wrote a pamphlet entitled "Mysteries Of The Gobi" which described a "serpent race" that had "bodies like man but...heads...like a great snake" and an ability to take true human form.<ref>Barkun (2003), </ref> These creatures also appeared in Doreal's poem, "The Emerald Tablets", in which he claimed the ] were written by "Toth, an Atlantean Priest king". Doreal's ideas almost certainly came from "The Shadow Kingdom", and in turn, "The Emerald Tablets" formed the basis for ]'s book, ''Children of the Matrix''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barkun|title=A Culture of Conspiracy|date=2003|pages=120-1|quote=Doreal's 'translation' of the tablets was used extensively by David Icke in his book on the reptilians, ''Children of the Matrix''...Although Doreal and the others spoke of the serpent race as a confirmable historic reality, the idea almost certainly came from pulp fiction...In all likelihood, the notion of a shape-changing serpent race first came from the imagination of an obscure pulp fiction author, Robert E. Howard.}}</ref> |
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The earliest known news media reference to an underground reptilian race is a 1934 '']'' article which reported that a ] ] named G.W.Shufelt claimed to have discovered subterranean labyrinths beneath ] to an ] by means of a "radio x-ray" device (which ] says was little more than a dowsing pendulum).<ref name=Dunning>{{cite web|url=http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4046|title=''Support Your Local Reptoid: What started the conspiracy theory that reptilian beings control our governments?'' |author=] |publisher=]|date=2007-05-21 |accessdate=2014-08-03}}</ref> Shufelt was reportedly told by a certain L. Macklin aka "Chief Little Greenleaf" that, according to a ] legend, the city had been built by an advanced race of "Lizard People" to escape surface catastrophes some 5,000 years ago. Schufelt failed to excavate any passages. Dunning notes that the "Lizard People", if they existed, would have been human, not reptilian, but he suggests that the story may have been a "kickoff" for later reptilian theories.<ref name=Dunning/> |
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==Alien abduction== |
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==Alien abduction== |
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On March 4, 2013, a video depicting a security agent with unusual features guarding a speech by U.S. President ] was spotlighted in a '']'' report about shapeshifting reptilian humanoids, leading to a tongue-in-cheek response from chief ] spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden that "any alleged program to guard the president with aliens or robots would likely have to be scaled back or eliminated in ]."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03/secret-service-reptile-aliens/ |title= White House Can’t Afford Its Shapeshifting Alien Reptile Guards |last1= Beckhusen |first1= Robert |date= March 26, 2013 |website= Wired |publisher= |accessdate=October 15, 2013}}</ref> |
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On March 4, 2013, a video depicting a security agent with unusual features guarding a speech by U.S. President ] was spotlighted in a '']'' report about shapeshifting reptilian humanoids, leading to a tongue-in-cheek response from chief ] spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden that "any alleged program to guard the president with aliens or robots would likely have to be scaled back or eliminated in ]."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03/secret-service-reptile-aliens/ |title= White House Can’t Afford Its Shapeshifting Alien Reptile Guards |last1= Beckhusen |first1= Robert |date= March 26, 2013 |website= Wired |publisher= |accessdate=October 15, 2013}}</ref> |
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==Skeptical interpretations== |
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Skeptics who adhere to the ] of ]s argue that the "Reptilians" ] originates from '']'', a series of ] movies, miniseries and series which first aired in 1983. In ''V'', supposedly peaceful alien "Visitors", who appear human, arrive on Earth in giant ]s and initiate ]. In fact, the Visitors wear masks concealing their true shapes. In their natural form, they resemble humanoid reptiles and eat living mammals. The Visitors commence a stealth ] in which they set out subtly undermining the human, and, specifically, the American way of life. The creators of the series intended this as an ] of ].<ref name="Barkun 2003">{{cite book| author = Barkun, Michael | title = ] | publisher = ]|edition = First| year = 2003 | isbn = 0-520-23805-2}}</ref> |
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A 1934 '']'' article may have been the origin of such beliefs. The article reported that a ] ] claimed to have discovered subterranean labyrinths beneath ] to an ] built by an advanced race of "Lizard People" to escape surface catastrophes some 5,000 years ago. This article, however, had remained obscure in the intervening years, even among consumers of conspiracy theories.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4046|title=''Support Your Local Reptoid: What started the conspiracy theory that reptilian beings control our governments?'' |author=] |publisher=]|date=2007-05-21 |accessdate=2014-08-03}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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==See also== |
On March 4, 2013, a video depicting a security agent with unusual features guarding a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama was spotlighted in a Wired report about shapeshifting reptilian humanoids, leading to a tongue-in-cheek response from chief National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden that "any alleged program to guard the president with aliens or robots would likely have to be scaled back or eliminated in the sequester."
