When I was a kid I got this book from a garage sale. It was really neat, the illustrations were fire, and the author presents a theory on how dragons could have existed despite there being no physical evidence for them.
The gist is that dragons were actual creatures that were hunted to extinction in the iron age. But over the years the accounts turned to myth, and the mythological dragon is quite different from an actual dragon: essentially a hydrogen blimp with toxic blood that melts its bones shortly after it dies.
However, even as an eight-year-old I knew this was just a thought exercise. And as much as I think dragons are neat and would have liked to drink the koolaid, I guess I just don’t have what it takes to be a professional crazy.