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主题：a mysterious trail

1. First, one possible explanation was proposed in 1855: when people at that time questioned why such prints would appear on either side of a high wall, it was suggested that the prints could have been made by a kangaroo, an animal that is known for its jumping ability. It may seem unlikely that a kangaroo, an Australian animal, would have been found in England. However, according to one report, kangaroos had escaped from a local zoo that winter.

1. First, A kangaroo could jump over high walls as people observed at the time, and its foot might make a curve shaped print, like some of the prints that were found. But kangaroo feet also have sharp claws. So at least at some point over that one hundred kilometer long trail of prints, we would expect to find deep marks left in the snow from the kangaroo's powerful claws. Even if people in the area were unfamiliar with what a kangaroo footprint would have looked like. The claw marks would have been so distinctive that somebody would have noticed that the footprints had claw marks and reported this, but no one did second the hot air balloon.

2. A second theory concerns a hot air balloon. A local scientist had been conducting research with a hot air balloon that winter. The balloon was connected to the ground by a rope that broke, allowing the wind to carry the balloon across Devon, dragging the rope behind. The rope may have had metal bolts—metal fasteners—attached to it that previously held it down. These bolts could have left impressions in the snow, which were then mistaken for footprints.

2. It's possible that a metal bolt at the end of a rope dragged by a balloon could have left the prince. But the problem for this theory is that the prince appeared in forested areas. A balloon could fly over a forest. That's not the issue. But a balloon dragging a rope behind it would have had a much harder time, since the rope would have quickly become entangled in tree branches. The rope would have got stuck in the trees, and the blue never would have traveled far enough to make all those prints.

3. A third possibility has been proposed by modern historians. According to this theory, the story was simply invented. Although the reporter who wrote the original article claimed he had learned about the mysterious prints from trustworthy and reliable witnesses, that may not have been the case. Newspapers at the time were not always held to the highest standards of accuracy; they sometimes printed misinformation or made-up stories in order to attract readers and increase sales.

3. Finally, it's true that newspaper reporters in that time period sometimes invented stories without using any real sources. But in this case, historians have confirmed there was a real, reliable source for the newspaper story. Historians discovered letters sent to the newspaper by a respected resident of devon. This person, this respected local resident, had personally interviewed eyewitnesses, collected their detailed descriptions of the prince. And included these eyewitness accounts in the letters he sent to the newspaper. So it doesn't seem that some unscrupulous newspaper reporter was just making things up.