Texas Town Puzzled By Weird Figure On Security Cam

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Mysterious figure captured on security cam at Amarillo Zoo
twitter | @CityofAmarillo

If there's one thing that we as humans unequivocally love, it's a good cryptid mystery. Whether people are storming Loch Ness to find Nessie, or introducing legislation surrounding a mythical beast that doesn't exist, the appeal of cryptids is enduring.

The latest mystery revolving around a mysterious creature that probably doesn't exist came about after security cameras at a Texas zoo picked up something strange.

Texas is no stranger to this kind of folklore.

Artist's rendition of a chupacabra
Wikimedia Commons | Jeff Carter / HowStuffWorks

From the Chupacabra, a creature that supposedly drinks goat blood, to La Llorona, a creepy weeping banshee monster to La Lechuza, a mythical...uh, barn owl, the southwestern states and Mexico have no shortage of mysterious and terrifying stories.

A tweet from the Amarillo Zoo raised a few eyebrows.

The city of Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle, may have an all-new cryptid on its hands. This chilling image was captured by a security camera at the Amarillo Zoo in the middle of the night. At first glance, it very much appears to be...well, something...standing on its hind legs.

The Twittersphere has a few theories.

This user isn't claiming to know what this thing is (don't worry, we'll share some theories with you soon). But they did helpfully tweak the contrast to give us a better look at this thing.

Honestly, if you look at this long enough, it becomes difficult to even formulate a theory on what it might be.

I don't think it's fake.

This user thinks it's all a hoax, but I'd like to believe that the good folks at the Amarillo Zoo wouldn't play us like that. Besides, evidence of these supposed hard lines from editing is kind of lacking.

Here's a compelling theory.

By 'compelling,' of course, I actually mean 'entirely plausible and realistic, yet somehow disappointing.'

What might look like a creepy alien figure walking along on its hind legs could just as easily be a freeze-frame of an animal doing a regular animal thing, even if it does look a little weird.

Is it just a peeing coyote?

You can go ahead and click on this tweet — it's absolutely safe for work. Once again, we're on the theory that this thing is a coyote. Perspective can play weird tricks on the eyes, but this creepy cryptid that's blowing up the internet may just be a coyote heeding the call of nature.

I mean, it's possible.

I'm not sure I buy this theory, as the angle of the legs just looks too weird — I mean, when have you ever seen a person standing at quite this angle? The depiction here makes an interesting case, but I don't think this is just some guy wearing a weird hat.

Was it just a furry?

Because every conversation on the internet circles back to furries if left unchecked, one user offered a completely plausible explanation: there was a furry convention in Amarillo that night, and some of the attendees may have hit up the zoo to see their furry friends afterward.

Myth: busted.

The furry explanation evidently holds no water. A local furry chimed in to explain that there was no furry convention going on in Amarillo that night. There's also some drama about fursuits getting stolen, but at this point, I'd just like to slowly back away from this angle of the story.

It's a legit unsolved mystery.

At this point, dear readers, we have to conclude the story. There's no official explanation for this image, and every theory offered thus far has been just that: a theory. For all we know, it literally is Rocket Raccoon.

Let us know what you think this mystery figure is in the comments section!