Wednesday, May 8, 2019

The Himamaylan Aswang Sighting


Back in 2008, I described in detail how misinterpretation of certain phenomena can give rise to perceptions of Aswang/Manananggal sightings:

https://themoonlitwindow.blogspot.com/2008/10/thoughts-on-myth-and-reality.html?m=1

It would be easy to say that the Himamaylan aswang video runs along the same lines. The video was blurry and you can barely make out the wings of the 'aswang' which would most likely be an innocent Kabog or Flying Fox / Fruit Bat.

I don't think the people of Himamaylan are crazy or ignorant though. It's just that they connected the dots and the sight of the poor animal coincided with the alleged sighting of the aswang itself which was witnessed by several people of Aguisan. The urge to believe in the existence of the aswang is so strong and compelling that people would readily associate any seemingly out of place object or animal with the alleged 'Aswang' terrorizing the sleepy village.

Which brings us to the strongest reason why most people there believe it's legit: they allegedly SAW it in human form and man, it scared the shit out of them.

And then there was the blood inside and outside people's houses.

Finally, the roof/tree video.

If these events were taken alone and did not occur in clusters, it would be fairly easy to dismiss each phenomenon in perfectly logical terms:

Blood - big rat or injured cat

Aswang on the roof video - Kabog or Fruit bat / Flying Fox

Aswang in Human form - Over Active imagination/mass hysteria.

But the fact that they occurred almost in sync with each other makes it difficult for some people to say that these events are NOT connected.

Was there a common cause:  e.g. Aswang.
Or was it mere coincidence?

The place is Kabog territory. Big Rats and Cats are almost everywhere in this country. People with fertile imaginations can see things that aren't there.

Eyewitness accounts are fun but not always reliable. That leaves us with the other two factors: which have a high probability of occurring, both involving animals as well.

Plausibility wise, I'd give this a 3/10.


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