Civil War Dinos

Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 16th, 2007

Civil War Dinos

Finally, photographic proof positive of Civil War soldiers with a Triceratops?

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: photos of impossible things that appear to have been taken a long, long time ago. Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

Civil War Dinos

For the link, go here.

Now, within our CryptoZoo world here at Cryptomundo, similar photographs have turned up, some showing photoshopping and some not.

Civil War Dinos

Take for instance, what are we to make of the above picture of soldiers wearing Civil War (or War Between the States) uniforms while an apparent pterodactyl is at their feet? Verdict: photoshopping.

Meanwhile, the following photo is not done with any manipulation of the imagery, but merely photographed, as is, and planted with a backstory on the internet, late in the 1990s.

Civil War Dinos

The photograph shown here supposedly demonstrates that a cryptid was captured by a group of Civil War soldiers, circa mid-1860s. It has been circulated as the “mystery Thunderbird photo” and/or by others as 1860s soldiers with the remains of a pterodactyl.

As it turns out this photograph was a promotional tool of Orlando, Florida’s Haxan Production (producers of the movie The Blair Witch Project), to develop interest in their forthcoming sci-fi television program, “Freaky Links.” The series, first broadcast on Fox TV in 2000, involved the character “Derek Barnes,” an investigator of the unknown.

The photograph was a hoax, using Civil War reenactors and a pterodactyl created as a prop exclusively for two episodes of “Freaky Links.”

Photograph used with permission of Gregg Hale, Executive Director, Haxan Productions. Credit Fox TV.

Thanks C and P for this one.

Loren Coleman 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.


17 Responses to “Civil War Dinos”

  1. MattSouth responds:

    A funny picture, but too obviously photoshopped. Those of us who are Jurassic Park lovers recognize the Triceratops as the same model used in the scene where the park veternarian examines the sick Triceratops.

  2. steveg3474 responds:

    Wow! Where did you find those photos? Now we finally have the proof. In your face skeptics! 🙂

  3. Mnynames responds:

    Using lies to present lies…makes perfect sense to me…

  4. Raptorial responds:

    Soon enough we’ll see that trike photo as “evidence.”

  5. sschaper responds:

    Mantis: prove it. No reputable scientist working with a creation model would do such a thing.

  6. Cutch responds:

    Uh… that’s the sick Jurassic Park triceratops PhotoShopped into a preexisting Civil War pic, methinks.

  7. coelacanth1938 responds:

    The Freakylinks pterodactyl was sold on eBay about three or four years ago. I’ll bet it’ll pop up again somewhere.

  8. Raptorial responds:

    We know Cutch. That’s what makes it so funny.

  9. mystery_man responds:

    Amazing how fake some of these doctored photos can look even to an untrained photoshop eye such as mine. I sure do wish I has all the free time some of these people have.

  10. Cutch responds:

    Oh, right. I should read more closely. 🙂

  11. Leto responds:

    That triceratops model looked impressive in Jurrasic Park, but today it just looks too fake.

  12. ladd responds:

    The only authentic period photo is the one with the photoshopped tritop. General Ambrose Burnside(center) in Napolean-like pose with his staff. I’m glad you brought these back especially The Freakylinks pterodactyl. I remember when I first saw it on that defunct site a few years ago thinking, “Who are they trying to fool?” Still, it did fool some people at the time.

  13. YourPTR! responds:

    There is also a 3rd photo that shows a “midget” holding what appears to be a small pterodactyl. Any word on the authenticity of this picture? Probably a hoax…

  14. shumway10973 responds:

    The first two pics I could tell were photoshopped immediately. The first without enlarging. Now I will have to say the last was a stroke of genius. What better way to get past us graphics people, than to just take an old looking picture.

  15. CryptoInformant responds:

    With what paleo-geeks like myself now know, all of those “dinos” look a bit like the old claymation dinos in the old King Kong. If you want a convincing hoax photo, make it a theropod dino in color, with feathers.

  16. mystery_man responds:

    I think the photo that was used as a promotional campaign is interesting because it seems alot of controversy has been stirred up by photos used in advertising campaigns. Awhile back here on Cryptomundo there was the story of the “collosus” pictures that some thought were legitimate photos but turned out to be marketing for a video game. It was called “Age of the Collosus” or something. Can’t remember the title, but it is interesting how these things can start out innocently enough.

  17. Derek Barnes responds:

    Glad to see there’s still discussion of this topic going on. Thought I’d throw my 2 cents worth in and get some details straight. First off it’s a pteranodon not a pterodactyl in photos 2 and 3. Photo 2 was from the TV show on FOX and photo 3 is from the Haxan website. The pteranodon model from photo 3, which was only used exclusively for the website picture, is in Loren Coleman’s museum along with the “Hoop Snake” from the website. A pteranodon was featured in only one episode of the TV series titled “Coelecanth This!“. Check out the website at haxan.com sometime, it’s a good time! Hurdy Gur

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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