Do you have green eyes? Low blood pressure? Red hair? Do you have a love for space and science? If you answered yes to any of those, I’m sorry to tell you, but you’re not human. You’re actually part lizard-person, or Reptilian. To be specific, you’re descended from a shape-shifting lizard person from space who can appear as human, and plots to overthrow humanity. It sounds pretty crazy, but according to polls about 12 million Americans seriously believe that our society is secretly ruled by these shape-shifting lizard people.

This outlandish conspiracy theory began when David Icke wrote The Biggest Secret, a book describing how the bloodlines of these Reptilians have secretly controlled humanity for millennia. He wrote this book after interviewing two people who believed the royal family of England were all lizard people, not humans. From there, the theory has expanded more and more until there are full documentaries offering proof and support for it.

Who are they? The Reptilians are said to come from the constellation Draco, and came to Earth thousands of years ago. They began breeding with humans by altering our DNA, which is why we have several reptile genes in our DNA. They did this to limit humankind’s abilities and make it easier for them to control us, and also to gain a foothold on Earth. Many rich or powerful people are believed to be Reptilian, such as George Bush, Bill Clinton, and the English royal family, and they are all involved in a plot to overthrow humanity and gain world domination.

Although there is certainly no conclusive evidence for the existence of lizard people, that hasn’t stopped believers from trying. One of their main arguments is the presence of so many lizard-like gods and goddesses in ancient religions, such as the Aztec reptile serpent god Quetzalcoatl and the Nagas of India, a mythical serpent race who could take human form. Conspiracists assert that gods like these are due to ancient humans communicating with the Reptilians.

How can you identify one today? The most common tells for being Reptilian are having green or piercing eyes, a smile where your bottom teeth show, red hair, or unexplained scars on your body. Other signs include having keen sight or hearing, or a sense of not belonging to the human race.

Although it seems like there’s no good reason to choose to believe in this theory, one of the main reasons is that people want to feel special. As Harvard Post-Doctoral Fellow Susan Clancy put it, believing you are part Reptilian gives you a sense of “higher purpose, being special, and larger meaning.” People often search for a way to feel powerful, and this may be it. After all, why would you go back to boring reality when you could be an insider in a secret conspiracy? I’m sure all of you at some point have gone against reason to hope you had some special ability. Maybe it was the ability to guess heads or tails correctly more than anyone else. Maybe you thought you could predict the future, and focused on the one instance you were right. Either way, we all do things like this from time to time. So don’t think less of anyone just because they choose to be a part in a conspiracy theory like this, even if it is crazy.