Wild Case Files: Montauk Monster
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 10th, 2011
Ah, the Montauk Monster, and how we determined the scale.
The following two paragraphs are straight from Wikipedia:
The “Montauk Monster” was an unidentified creature that washed ashore dead, on a beach near the business district of Montauk, New York in July 2008. The identity of the creature, and the veracity of stories surrounding it, have been the subject of unresolved controversy and speculation. It is unknown what happened to the carcass.
Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman at Cryptomundo first coined the name the “Montauk Monster” on July 29, 2008. The moniker was disseminated globally on the Internet in the following days. Photographs were widely circulated via email and weblogs, and the national media picked up on it raising speculation about the creature.
Next week, the Montauk Monster will be highlighted on “Wild Case Files” on NatGeo.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I just watched the trailer for this episode and was stunned by the case of the Swedish guy blaming a monster for his wife’s death. I live in Sweden and I’m reading about cryptozoology on American sites every day, as well the Swedish newspapers. I’ve never heard of this story and believe me, this kind of event would be picked up by national media both because not that many people are murdered here every day and we get reports of monster-sighting maybe once in every ten years. I find the whole thing strange and it makes me wonder if the whole story is bogus because there’s no easy way to check on the story’s authenticity since it’s supposed to have happened in a country far from the states.
Does anyone have any additional information about this case?
I don’t know about this particular monster but take a glance at the TETRAPOD ZOOLOGY website for a little more info.
I’m not trying to throw a wrench here as I believe in Cryptids but I do also believe in logical explanations for some things and do not discount the unimaginable but there are many a hoaxer who ply their trade for a few moments in the limelight given today’s readily available computer enhancements.
I want to believe but yes, at the core of these things, there must be proof also.
PS: Yes I think the Patterson/Gimlin film is real!
Yes, Darren Naish gets Wikipedia credit for saying it was a raccoon. But even Darren noted that explanation was mentioned by readers and others on Cryptomundo long before it was noted at Tetrapod Zoology.
Cryptomundo noted raccoon as the source of this carcass on July 30th, and mentioned it furthermore after that. Our friend and colleague Darren’s oft-quoted blog was written on August 4th.
As always Loren you are spot on with the date! If we could offer knighthood in this country, you would get my vote along with the Amazing Randi and a few others contemporary greats!
Uh Oh, Ulysses… now you’ve done it.