za3k > archive > lexicon1 > Blinking Cow Rumor

In RODs 45599a, 3 cycles after the founding of Research Station 6, rumors started circulating there about a blinking cow (local equivalent), which only existed some days of the month, and whose milk turned into cheese. The rumors had all the telltale signs of an urban legend--disagreement on basic facts like who had seen the cow, when and where the cow disappeared, or in some cases even the species of animal. Reports appeared over the course of decades and were generally attributed to unnamed sources. Presumably the joke was to trick new station crew into believing into Extratemporal Anomalies or avoiding dairy products.

Unfortunately the efforts of administration to supress the information, led to even stronger belief in the existence of Aldebaranian foreknowlege (see Aldebaranians, The), the History Paradox, and support for anti-historiographic efforts in the vein of Elector-Prince Rzesutko in the nearby Principality of Ionzh. This gave fuel as locals and off-planet efforts to actively destroy research data intensified, and led to the Second Destruction of the Golgari Library

Excerpt from "Arguments For and Against Free Speech", Mizar-5 Subcommittee on Open Research Access