Hoax Museum Blog: Cryptozoology

Mokele-Mbembe — The Arizona Republic has a short piece on Mokele-Mbembe, the African Loch Ness Monster.

The Sasquatch Militia — The Republic of Cascadia is recruiting for the Sasquatch Militia. Help defend the Sasquatch homeland against invading cryptozoologists, Canadians, and others. Militia activities include boulder throwing, stomping, and delimbing.

Bigfoot Movie — The actor Judge Reinhold is set to produce a movie based on the life of Ray Wallace, the man whose prank led to the name 'Bigfoot' being coined. Of course, i still haven't seen Shattered Glass, the movie based on the career of media hoaxer Stephen Glass. I want to, but it doesn't appear to be playing in San Diego.

Across Loch Ness — Lloyd Scott plans to walk across Loch Ness... beneath the water. Everyone is hoping he'll bump into Nessie.

The Truth About the Abominable Snowman — The Abominable Snowman, or Yeti, is really just a legend derived from stories about the Himalayan Brown Bear, says this Japanese researcher. He found that 'meti' means brown bear in the language of the indigenous people around the Himalayas. But in one region they say 'yeti' instead of 'meti.' Thus the tales about the Yeti.

Museum of Cryptozoology — Buck Wolf reports that Loren Coleman has opened a Museum of Cryptozoology in his home. Included is a Feejee Mermaid. Of course, it can't be THE Feejee Mermaid displayed by Barnum. No one knows what happened to it (though some claim that the mermaid now owned by Harvard University is the authentic one).

Bigfoot Symposium — Two interesting links via BoingBoing. First, the website of the International Bigfoot Symposium that will be held September 12-14 in Willow Creek, CA (very close to where the famous Patterson-Gimlin film of a Bigfoot creature was shot). Second, the somewhat surprising news that Jane Goodall, the famous primate researcher, is a Bigfoot believer. You can listen to her discuss her beliefs in a segment recorded from NPR's Science Friday.

Nessie News — I believe it's now officially confirmed that I'm an idiot. I run a website called the Museum of Hoaxes, and yet I fall for an obvious hoax. Back on July 17 I trumpeted the news that a fossil of a sea serpent had been found on the shores of Loch Ness, and that it wasn't a hoax. What was I thinking? Of course it was a hoax. I believed it because I thought it was perfectly reasonable for someone to find a plesiosaur skeleton. But to find one on the shores of Loch Ness should have raised all kinds of alarm bells. Now researchers who have had a chance to examine the fossil say that it was likely planted there. Thankfully visitors to this site are much more intelligent than I am, and one of them named Cal pointed out to me a few days ago that the fossil probably was bogus.
In other Nessie News, a team from the BBC has done sonar tests to officially determine that there is no monster in Loch Ness, which, of course, will not convince any of the believers.

Nessie Fossil — Loch Ness Monster fossil found. And it's not a hoax.

Hunt for the Yeti — A Japanese mountaineer has put together an expedition to hunt for the Yeti in the Himalayas. Good luck to them.

The Lake Tianchi Monster — Apparently China has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster called the Lake Tianchi Monster (I never knew). Its legend stretches back over 100 years, but unlike the creature in Loch Ness, there appears to be more than one of whatever is in Lake Tianchi (which is up by the border with North Korea). Sightings of the Lake Tianchi monsters have increased dramatically in recent weeks.

Mysterious Blobs — Two days ago a giant blob-like creature washed up on a beach in Chile. Chilean scientists were baffled. They had no clue what the creature was. Based on the emails I've received, a lot of people immediately suspected it was some kind of elaborate hoax. But I don't think this was a hoax. Scientists now say that they believe the blobby thing was either the body of a giant octopus or discarded whale blubber.
I assume the Chilean blob bears no kinship to another blob which surfaced on the internet about two years ago. To this day I have no clue what this earlier mystery blob was. A real person? A photoshop trick? A fat suit? I've often seen it given the caption 'Splat.'

Bigfoot Fingerprints — A respected fingerprint technician was scheduled to present evidence during Saturday's Crypto Conference suggesting that maybe there really is an unknown Bigfoot-like primate on the loose somewhere in North America.

Sea Serpent Sighting — Sea serpent spotted by Cape Breton fisherman.

Loch Ness Monster and the Witch — A white witch plans to cast a spell that will coax the Loch Ness Monster into making an appearance again.

Bigfoot Conference — It's time for the Annual Bigfoot conference.

Should Nessie Be Exploited? — The Independent explores the controversy brewing around Loch Ness over whether the local community should exploit their famous fishy monster.

Return of the Monkey Man — The Monkey Man has returned in India, after an absence of about a year. Reports are that a "monkey-like machine" is attacking people as they sleep on rooftops and in open places.