Results tagged “Montauk Monster”

The Montauk Monster reared its deteriorating head way before the official start to summer this year, and now Newsday has a new twist on the raccoon theory. They report that Montauk Monster 1.0 "was part of an elaborate summer celebration complete with a makeshift Viking-themed funeral for the animal," according to a 32-year-old Shelter Island man. He said they found the dead raccoon last 4th of July weekend and made it part of the yearly custom on the island called Nanapaushat, where "you gather all the dead (animals) on your property and surrounding area and you cremate them, to celebrate the cycle of birth and death." He declares, "Sometimes it's just a raccoon. It's not from Plum Island, it's not a monster from space. Sometimes the answer is the easiest." Fine, anonymous pragmatist, how do you explain the fact that the deputy town clerk in town has never even heard of this ritual? And what about all those other Montauk Monsters? And this map from Gawker? And all the time that elapsed before speaking up? Back to the drawing board...

The Hipster Grifter departs and the Montauk Monster returns! It's the ebb and flow, people. Remember that rotting carcass that creeped out and simultaneously intrigued the summering set last year? Consider this the sequel. But what does another unidentifiable animal washing up on the beach mean: are the locals messing with us? Has Plum Island hired a sloppy cleaning crew? Do aliens exist? There's no time for such questions—because the official Montauk Monster website has put the fear in us: "this carcass may be carrying H1N1 influenza (The Swine Flu)...I haven’t ruled out biological warfare on this yet. A diseased carcass floating in waterways around Long Island could be infecting the water, fish, etc. We still need to remember that Plum Island is where Lyme Disease originated, it’s really not too far fetched to believe that this carcass (if from Plum Island) could be carrying bacteria or disease." Not to get all Mulder and Scully, but maybe this would be worth looking into.

Remember before all this financial crisis hullabaloo, we were all worried about things like the Montauk Monster? Those salad days have come and gone, friends...or have they? Step off that ledge and take a gander at the latest unidentifiable, washed up carcass! AnimalNY reports that "new beasts are still washing up." One even came ashore in Connecticut, though an "official from the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration claimed it had to be a raccoon, there's no other explanation." Or is there?! Even though another expert has made the same claim, some say these new deceased beasts are "another experiment gone bad from the shadowy animal disease lab at Plum Island," noting that even the sites where they are found are on "the path of the ferry which just happens to pass right past the island." Cue the X-Files theme.

This week marked the fifth anniversary of the 2003 Blackout. Ten years ago the Yankees were dominating their way through summer en route to one of their best seasons in the franchise's history. But this summer, newsmakers seem to be scratching their heads when trying to figure out just what could be the New York story of the summer of 2008.

Newsday and Gawker, the first sources to publish the two original photos of the Montauk Monster, are now a little suspect of the ongoing "buzz" this creature is maintaining. As such, they did a little digging and end up back at one of the first theories: could it be a viral marketing scheme? Their dissection of the creature results in more confusion--albeit organized, bullet-pointed confusion--and raises points for each case (it's real, and it's fake). In the end, there are some "untied loose ends" in the hoax theory...but there's also this Splinterheads movie site. Oh, and that shifty-eyed girl behind the first photo, who may or may not be related to the filmmaker. UPDATE: The movie site has taken down the photo--see their original posting here.

The Montauk Monster has parlayed his bloated, dead body into a goldmine! At least, those he left behind have. This week, for the serious collectors out there, two pieces of merch have been introduced: the I "Montauk Monster" New York t-shirt, and the Montauk Monster latex replica. The latex version (on sale at eBay!) is based off the more rotted carcass, most likely because if it were based off earlier photos it would look like a dead dog, which it is, and that's just not fun! What's next for the Montauk Monster? Girls Gone Wild says they'll be selling a video of she/he from Spring Break, but the monster claims to have never signed a release form.

The Montauk Monster is still in the news (and on the Colbert Report), with the East Hampton Star now reporting that the mystery carcass is missing! More disturbing than that and the fact that the nation has been staring at a dead, bloated dog for a week, is the fact that the two locals holding the remains were planning to profit from the dead body. The duo were planning on reducing it to bones, creating some sort of artistic piece out of it, and watching the money roll in.

"Someone came and took the carcass. Now I have to hunt for my damn creature," said Eric Olsen, a Montauk real estate agent and surfer who retrieved the rotting animal from the beach.

Continue reading "Montauk Monster's Remains Stolen, Press Tour Continues"

While you were sleeping, the Montauk Monster story kept spinning, this time landing on PlumTV, Newsday and...CNN. In an attempt to reassure a jittery public, the CNN quotes "experts" who say it's either a dog or raccoon; some think it may have washed up from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

Yesterday Gawker posted a photo of what quickly became referred to as "the Montauk Monster." Lizzie Grubman jokes were made, spines shivered, conspiracy theorists pondered (the Montauk Project, anyone?), a new internet superstar was born, and most came to the conclusion that the thing that washed up near the Surfside Inn was a bloated turtle without its shell. Or a monster.