We've all been there—a random animal runs down the street or through the yard and it's impossible to identify what it is. So you cycle through the options—could be a dog or maybe a giant raccoon unless it was a tiny deer?
But if you're a woman named Cristina Ryan, there's only one answer that makes sense: a "baby dinosaur." Yes, that's a direct quote and yes, she's from Florida, because of course she is.
Palm Coast, Florida to be exact and after previously releasing the security footage, seen below, Ryan is back to double-down on her insistence baby versions of extinct giant lizards are running amok in her cul de sac.
Now to be fair to Ryan, what on earth is that thing running through her yard?
Why does it have some sort of reflective panel on its back? Is it running a mystery animal marathon?
And why is Florida like this?
These are all valid questions, but sadly they have no answers. Several people in Ryan's community have suggested that it's some other kind of giant reptile—you know, like one that hasn't been extinct for millions of years, like an alligator or even a Komodo dragon or monitor.
But Ryan is undeterred.
She told local news station Fox 35 that since no one has been able to tell her what the animal is, she's sticking with her first instinct.
"Any animal we can come up with that would be 'walking' at 3:40 in the morning, wouldn't walk this way. Maybe I've watched Jurassic Park too many times, but I see a raptor or other small dinosaur."
We can safely assume by "raptor" she means the velociraptor dinosaur from the aforementioned Jurassic Park and not, say, an actual raptor like a falcon, because she is adamant the animal is not a bird.
"Some say a large bird, but that makes no sense..."
Said the woman convinced a dinosaur is living in her flower beds.
"...since whatever it is appears to have front legs. So not sure? I'm sticking with raptor myself."
On Twitter, people could not help but shake their heads and laugh at the Florida of it all.
Florida raising the bar of Floridaness.https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1403017669767569417\u00a0\u2026— Sam The Party Eagle (@Sam The Party Eagle) 1623343022
Well thank for ruining it. There\u2019s now no point of me reading the article if I know how it ends.— Sultan Skinny (@Sultan Skinny) 1623383450
Florida being florida againhttps://twitter.com/fox10phoenix/status/1402717153590194180\u00a0\u2026— Dante Julio (@Dante Julio) 1623268992
Florida woman dropped two tabs of acid and was sure it was Advil.— AcadiaGal (@AcadiaGal) 1623291293
Florida is the only state I know of that desperately needs a PR firm in it's employ...https://twitter.com/MiamiHerald/status/1402760939238301697\u00a0\u2026— Bill Ward's Rhythmic Big Toe (@Bill Ward's Rhythmic Big Toe) 1623284579
And of course there were plenty of alternate theories about what the animal might have been.
It looks like a large male iguana chasing or being chased. They run fast.— El-O-die \u30c4 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6 (@El-O-die \u30c4 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6) 1623383573
Crocodile— \ud83c\udf1f71\ud83c\udf1f (@\ud83c\udf1f71\ud83c\udf1f) 1623342705
Its an alien..they are everywhere and our eyes just cant pick them up...some cameras do— PhillyJoel (@PhillyJoel) 1623279968
And at least one guy came (jokingly) to Ryan's defense.
I guess technically, she is correct. \n\nhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-dinosaurs-shrank-and-became-birds/\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/5JTZXTHBhK— rgrokett (@rgrokett) 1623279557
We wish Ms. Ryan the best of luck in her dinosaur hunting endeavors, but ask she please not clone it and breed it and build a dinosaur-themed amusement park.
