
Everyone is watching American and America is watching TV. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
You know what they say: Everyone is watching America and America is watching Temptation Island.
Reality shows seem to be on the rise in American households whether it’s a TV series involving a husband/wife raising twenty kids, a guy trying to find a girl, or a girl trying to find guy, or a guy trying to find a guy, or a girl trying to find a girl, or the amish just trying to find. Or. Or. The list goes on. You’ve seen them.
I recently received a FaceBook post: Reality shows are for those who can’t handle Science Fiction. I agree, myself not being a big fan of anything realistic. I get real everyday. So when I want to escape through a good book, or TV, or with a movie; reality is the last thing I want to see.
I might assume you feel the same, since you are visiting and/or following a science fiction blog site.
However, to teeter on the reality bandwagon, did you know diseases caused by ticks are on the rise. And that those in the know, like the Center for Disease Control (CDC), are not sure what to do about it.

A real ET?? Image by Nicooografie from Pixabay
Reality
Lyme disease is estimated to invade 300,000 individuals each year with only about 30,000 cases reported. In 2004, tick related cases were reported to the CDC in the amount of 22,527. The number of reported cases rose to 59,349 in 2017.
In August 2013, a young person died from the tick borne Powassan virus, which caused encephalitis—an inflammation of the brain. No vaccine or antiviral drugs exists to fight this deadly virus. Recently, there have been reports of a new Lyme-like disease which causes flu-like symptoms.
Science Fiction
Now, if the above tick isn’t alien looking then I don’t know what Body Snatchers are. On their climb up the evolutionary ladder, these nasty blood suckers have changed little and adapted less. Other than to harvest deadly diseases to invade and body snatch man and animal kind alike.
Forget about UFOs, abductions, and alien invasions. The invasion is here and on the rise. What a perfect guise for ETs. Makes me wonder where our current coronavirus—which is causing havoc throughout the world—really originated.

Theatrical poster for the 1978 movie: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a remake of the 1956 film by the same name. (I love this movie, both versions. Needs another remake.)
Author’s note
As I mentioned in December, I am updating and revising old blog posts to which my readers seem particularly drawn. Although the topic of ticks is not one of them, in light of our current coronavirus chaos, I thought the reality of invading viruses and insects seemed apropos.
I love hearing from you. What do you think? The coronavirus. Ticks. Where did they come from, really?
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This is The Probe. Probing the unknown in science fiction, science, paranormal, fiction, ghosts, monsters, aliens, space, UFOs, the strange, and the weird. And anything else you want me to probe.
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