Between December of 1968 and October of 1969 in Northern California, five men and women were murdered, and two others were attacked, by a man whose identity has remained a mystery for decades. The killer, who identified himself with a Zodiac sign in a series of cryptic and boastful letters to police, claims to have murdered 37 people altogether. There is little hope at this point that any of the crimes will be solved, but cases remain open in a number of cities throughout California.

Not long after the string of killings began, and a mere 1,300 miles away, a man named Rafael Edward Cruz was born in Alberta, Canada. He would later go on to become a Senator from the state of Texas, and a top 2016 Republican presidential candidate.

While it's technically implausible, a growing number of sleuths, conspiracy theorists, and absurdist comedians online are actively propagating the theory that Ted Cruz is, in fact, the infamous Zodiac Killer. Despite the farcical nature of the claim, this being the Internet, it's something that we must now contend with as a growing chorus of media outlets have all weighed in on the phenomenon. In fact, if you type the words "Is Ted Cruz…" into Google, one of the top results at this point is "the Zodiac Killer?"

How did we get here?

Considering the tenor of this election cycle, almost nothing should come as a surprise by now. I called it the Year of the Viral Election back in July, but that was before we had any indication of just how absurd things would get. I'm pretty sure this isn't the type of virality that Cruz and his colleagues had in mind when they were firing off so many goofy memes and videos at the outset. It seems like just yesterday that he was cooking bacon on a machine gun, or hanging with the Duck Dynasty bros.

But consider what else happened this week. Donald Trump got into a spat with the Pope over whose Christianity papers are in better working order, and Cruz and his fellow Constitution-revering Republicans threatened to blatantly ignore the nomination process of a Supreme Court Justice to fill the place of the recently deceased Antonin Scalia. "Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement," Cruz tweeted last week. This is in reference, mind you, to a Justice whose dogged devotion to the Constitution made him the epitome of Originalists. Black is white, up is down.

Of course, when you're up against a field of candidates who seem to have, at best, a tenuous grasp on reality, like Ben Carson, is it any wonder things have taken a sharp detour into the Land of No Reality? Just today, in fact, Cruz, suggested the aforementioned Duck Dynasty star, Phil Robertson, would be a good pick for U.N. ambassador.

There is literally nothing that won't be said about a candidate at this point and believed by at least some percentage of the opposition. It's a pattern that was well established during President Obama's early years. Not only was he not actually an American, a theory propagated largely by the likes of Trump and Cruz, but Obama was/is secretly a Muslim. And a communist. And a terrorist, hell bent on destroying the country from the inside.

You might say Cruz, who's now getting a taste of his own medicine when it comes to birther-ism, might appreciate the irony, if you thought he had anything resembling a sense of humor. It's also hard not to wonder, considering how much he seems to want to be president, if being called a notorious serial killer is even his biggest problem. It could be worse, after all. He could actually be a "Canadian."

The first instance of the theory popped up in March of 2013, with a Twitter account called @redpillamerica joking about Cruz' secret identity.

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#CPAC Alert: Ted Cruz is speaking!! His speech is titled: 'This Is The Zodiac Speaking' — Steppin’ Razor (@NowWherewasI1) March 14, 2013

But it wasn't until last fall and into recent months that the idea picked up steam, largely on a Facebook page called "Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer" and on Twitter, where users @Lindzeta, @vrunt, @pattymo, and others have gleefully, and jokingly (or are they?), continued to pose the question using the hashtag #zodiacted, which trended in the U.S. on January 20.

This week, another Twitter user, @crulge, commissioned a t-shirt that lends credence to the conspiracy.

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Did you know Ted Cruz is the Zodiac? Do you want to fund abortion in west TX? https://t.co/yHzodLrJQx #ZodiacTed pic.twitter.com/xSkhLOYPG4 — 💀 tbone 💀 (@crulge) February 18, 2016

"Ted Cruz is a terrifying monster," the description of the t-shirt reads (with a disclaimer, of course). "You know who else was a monster? The Zodiac Killer, who claimed to have killed 37 people in the Bay Area. Ted Cruz has never denied being the Zodiac Killer. The conclusion is simple—and Ted Cruz has never publicly refuted it," the description continues. Sales of the shirt will support the West Fund, a group that provides abortion services and support in southwest Texas.

I tracked down some of the people behind the theory and asked them whether or not they actually think Cruz did it, and if not, what's so funny about the idea of Ted Cruz being a serial killer?

"It's completely outlandish, but a very small part of it seems like it could be a little true (if the dates lined up)," @lindzeta, who also assured me she understands it is literally impossible for Cruz to be the killer, explained. "I think that the creep factor almost everybody seems to recognize in Ted Cruz is one part of it. He seems like somebody who could absolutely have some human remains buried under his floorboards. The image of this wholesome Christian family man fighting for family values is almost his entire platform, and portraying him as the furthest thing from that, particularly in a completely outlandish and over the top way, makes it that much more amusing."

@Vrunt offered a similar explanation:

"It makes perfect sense. Maybe not in a 'The evidence lines up' sort of way. But when you first hear that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer you don't think, 'What? How? That's absurd.' You think, 'Haha, yeah, all right. He is.'"

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@pattymo, a comedian in New York, explained more over the phone:

"There are a few facts that are pretty clearly on the record, right? Ted Cruz was born in Canada in 1970. The Zodiac murders I believe started in 1968 in California. And the final authenticated Zodiac letter was sent in 1974, as I understand. I'm just saying we shouldn't rule anything out."

If all the facts are so obviously incongruous, then why won't Cruz deny it?

"The important thing to get across here that's resonating with people is that Senator Cruz has never denied involvement in the Zodiac murders. And I think that speaks to what people think of him," said @pattymo. "I think there's an unconscious feeling a lot of people have that he seems pretty creepy. There was a report from a neurologist about why his face looks weird, which is really strange. Most people running for president, there isn't some push to call for something like that. That speaks to some uncanny valley thing or something going on with him."

Until Cruz sheds some light on the issue, we may never be able to say for sure, @pattymo says.

"Maybe the Zodiac Killer has some pull on him from beyond the grave, or maybe he's sworn allegiance to carry on the work of the Zodiac. I'm just saying these things are out there. There's an easy statement to put out there to put this all to rest."

It's all in good fun, he stresses.

"There's been stuff that's come out that's raised money for charity. It's just something that people are goofing on. To me, it's been funny to see increasingly legitimate news sources aggregate the content and put it out there. As Chris Hooks said on Twitter, I'm just curious how many times someone in the Cruz campaign has said the word 'Zodiac' in the past 24 hours. It's getting more likely."

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"I would honestly love for him to have to address it," @lindzeta says. "I don't think there's ever been any documented case of a presidential candidate having to address a nation to deny being a serial killer."

@vrunt disagrees.

"I hope not. His campaign must have seen it by now. As surreal as it would be to have a presidential candidate deny or admit to being a serial killer, his silence supports my theory that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer. Ideally, he'll suspend his campaign and reappear next election cycle under a new identity."

It's hard to pinpoint just how much of the discussion revolving around Cruz' identity as the Zodiac Killer is sincere. Clearly, much of it is trolling, but people will believe a lot of crazy stuff, as we've seen this election. And is it any different than the other types of lies that are spread by partisans, including Cruz, himself, all the time? Cruz infamously got in hot water for misleading voters in Iowa to think that Ben Carson had suspended his campaign just before the caucuses, to name just one of his recent dalliances with the fungible nature of the truth.

For better or worse, this may not be the campaign we want, but it's the one we deserve.

There is no right and wrong anymore, just varying shades of the truth. Cruz, based on all logical facts and appearances, is not the Zodiac Killer. But if enough people believe it, it becomes its own sort of truth. All he can do at this point is deny it and move on. That is, if it's not true.