Unicorns are real.
The myth of the unicorn stems from an actual type of goat with a single horn that was once bred in Persia, said Dallas Tanner, a 55-year-old cryptozoologist from South Carolina.
Today, unicorns, along with Big Foot and thunderbirds, are a myth. But Tanner makes a living researching these animals to prove that they once existed.
"I talk about animals rumored to exist and find species to explain it," Tanner said.
The Reitz Union Board Entertainment is bringing Tanner to speak to UF students at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Orange & Brew to discuss his career as a cyrptozoologist and author.
Cryptozoology is the study of hidden animals.
The event is free and open to the public. RUB Entertainment is paying him $250 for travel and board, said Ellie Carpo, the co-director of lecturers and comedians committee.
"I got the idea to bring a cryptozoologist after watching really, really bad monster movies," Carpo said.
The director last year recommended someone else, but Carpo said she wanted to bring someone different and cater to a different crowd.
At the event, Tanner will talk about how the science and histories of previous eras have become the myths and legends of today.
Tanner said he started his career as a cryptozoologist to prove a point. After writing his first novel, "Shadow of the Thunderbird," Tanner was told that there was nothing dealing with cryptozoology in the southeastern United States. He attempted to prove everyone wrong, and he said he believes to have succeeded.
"Shadow of the Thunderbird," along with his other four books, is fiction but backed by facts. His novels are based on real experiences that other people have shared with him, along with his own research. He considers himself to be a researcher first and an author second.
Although Tanner has never actually seen a cryptid, animals that are out of place or out of time, he is OK with it. Because to him, "believing is seeing."
