Panic thrives when information is scarce. All last summer and fall in Horry County, South Carolina, the easternmost county in the state and home to countless sunbirds and retirees in communities such as Myrtle Beach, scattered sightings of gargantuan brown members of an avian species roiled and disturbed the public’s peace of mind. These birds — the size of full-grown deer, some said — were spotted on the ground, in fields and wetlands, and sometimes were seen to be running at high speeds estimated by observers as approaching thirty miles per hour. People were baffled. Were the creatures birds at all? Were they even creatures? Or might they be advanced machines of some kind — military robots perhaps, engaged in a highly classified mission — cleverly fashioned to resemble birds? 

Until mid-November, the rumors spread unchecked, possibly fueled by the diminished eyesight of Horry County’s large …