Precambrian Dragons? For Real?

A few weeks ago I was linked to a page about a guy who claimed to have found Precambrian dragons. What was meant by this I did not know, I was thinking the term dragon might have been hyperbolic, but no, this man fanatically reports his finding of actual dragons. Here is the site I was shown, but sadly it looks like it will be removed and many of the images are not loading.

The above image shows what Hallett calls Terrybinski Seazoria

The Discovery

Back in November 2003 (nearly 8 years ago according to Hallett's calculations) in northern Utah, USA, Mike Hallett (1967~ ) made the greatest discovery of his life. Since then he has dedicated 14,000 hours to uncovering its secrets. Hallett claims to have found the remains of prehistoric sea dragons! These were the biggest, most advanced organisms to ever roam the planet and they have completely changed the face of science, according to Mike.

The implications of this are astonishing! According to Mike's website these finds show that the Precambrian contained a highly advanced marine ecosystem, with highly evolved animals which went extinct 540 million years ago.

The Animals


These things were enormous. In Mike's words, "The most striking example of working on a prehistoric Hallettestoneion Seazoria Dragon occurs when you are standing in the mouth surrounded by highly specialized, instruments of death, 3 foot long Seazoria Dragon teeth. Compare 30 inch Seazoria Dragon teeth with a much earlier 150 million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex with 8 or 10 inch teeth." Let's ignore for a second that Tyrannosaurus rex was not 150 million years old, clearly these "Hallettestoneion Seazoria Dragons" were enormous. Apparently they ranged from 100 to 300 feet and there were many species.


The Implications for Science


As Hallett likes to point out, they completely change our understanding of the history of life, palaeontologists are espousing an "obsolete and incomplete" view. According to Hallett this has kickstarted a new area of science called Hallettestoneology and apparently sits between geology and biology (I wonder what's wrong with palaeontology). The timeline of life has to be rewritten. Mike points out that the Cambrian starts right after a major cataclysm (or caticysum on one of his sites) but this is news to me. He also likes to discuss our current "obsolete" knowledge:

Alright lets [sic] address the very basis of your of your [sic] primary concern. How could we possibly have advanced marine life that [sic] older then [sic] your textbook says life could be. [sic] How closely have you looked at and examined the current fossil record that all paleontologists and other life sciences specialists adhere to so animatedly. [sic] 220 million years ago for the first land Dinosaurs [sic]. 267 million years first vertebrae [sic] backbone life. Science says that there is no advanced life beyond 220 Dinosaur and 267 million year barriers.

Well, I do enjoy looking closely at the fossil record and the claims of palaeontologists, what budding palaeontologist doesn't?  I have no idea why he thinks vertebrates only evolved 267 Ma ago, as they date back to the Cambrian explosion. He also says:

No scientist has ever even contenplated [sic] any type of advanced large scale life in the Precambrian time era ending 540 million years ago. Now science is beggening [sic] to understand that the precambrian era once thought to only have invertabrate [sic] life the size of a fingernail, actually contained the largest and most advanced forms of life.

Again, as anyone who reads my blog will know, invertebrate life before the Cambrian is not merely the size of a fingernail, as many of the Ediacaran forms are actually quite large. 

Zoria Repeats

If you take even a brief look at any of his sites you will find constant mention of something called a Zoria repeat. It is claimed that all the "teeth" found follow specific patterns, established whilst they grew. Apparently the "Zoria repeat shape is basicaly a five sided triangular wedge with an attatchment base at one end growing to a specialized reinforced tip at the other end." There are 117 repeating structures in the Zoria repeats. Below is my favourite image of the teeth, as they have managed to identify replacement teeth too:

I know what you're thinking, those are just rocks right? That's what I thought too. That's what I still think. Hallett claims that his research proves they are biological because they grew from the inside out (something he has not actually shown, he simply claims it). The sites claim that these are exact and follow consistent, inherent and predictable "mathimatical [sic]" equations. So, compare the following images of facial spikes:

Do you see how they match exactly and follow the exact same pattern? No? Really? Neither do I, they are clearly just rocks. 

Is Mike Hallett Alone on This?

Sadly he is not. Here are some of his colleagues:

He also likes to repeat the claim that he has consulted many experts and name drops a couple of geologists and palaeontologists here and there. This is true, he does seem to have consulted them. They have confirmed that the rocks in the area date to 540 Ma, but Hallett has not asked for any consultation on his purported fossil specimens. How odd, considering he is not an expert but yet he has access to the minds of scientists caught somewhere between geology and biology. Perhaps deep down he knows that they will likely laugh and say, "Mike, that's nothing but a rock". 

Conclusion

I cannot decide what the ideal word here would be. Lunacy? Madness? Insanity? Either way, this guy seems to be off his rocker, a certifiable wackaloon, but he hasn't half provided me with some entertainment. Check it out for yourself, there is a great description on his Seazoria Hub Page. There is also the HALLETTESTONEIAN SEAZORIA DRAGONS DISCOVERY ORGANIZATION Facebook page (with 18 fans nonetheless). You can also add Mike Hallett on Facebook if you want to know more. There is also the official Seazoria website.

Finally, I leave you with a video full of images of the "discovery":