*UPDATE: Micah wrote this before the Easter break but we were so busy eating chocolate we never got a chance to post it when the story broke. Of course the figure is a fake, apparently a clever molding of chicken skin and old bread no less. ~ Ben
You hear air moving past the camera as the strange scene opens: the lens stares off into an empty sky, followed by the incoherent mumblings of a person nearby who speaks Russian. A layer of snow covers the ground as the speaker comes into view, while the cameraman and his compatriot turn and stroll over to an icy dugout near a wooded area. There, a small, mutilated figure lays on the ground… but whatever it is, it isn’t human.
Thus, described here is the latest alleged “alien body” video to have surfaced on the web (which I’ve linked below for your viewing pleasure). What is it we’re seeing here… the corpse of a strange being from outer space? Maybe the corpse of an indigenous humanoid, as-yet unknown to science? Or could it just be what you’re probably already thinking… another hoax intended to set the world ablaze for a few days, encouraging gagging and giggling alike?
Sadly, by the time videos of this sort appear on the web, most of us are already skeptical at very best. I think I speak for most folks (hey, most, but certainly not all) when I say that the majority of us who take claims of the supernatural with any degree of seriousness are a bit jaded when it comes to videos–or even other evidence–boasting “proof positive” information pertaining to the existence of strange beings and the like.
This is by no means to say that alien creatures, indigenous cryptid “monsters,” ghosts, globs, blobs, specters, witches, manimals, homonculi, and denizens of the goblin realm may not actually exist. Hey, I tend to be a romantic when it comes to “belief”; deep down in my heart of hearts, I want to think that there is more to this world than what we see every day, or than the five senses readily reveal to us. But so often, the “evidence” supporting claims of the uber-weird are just very lacking. And what’s worse, even when what we’re offered is considered to be undeniably valid by so-called “experts,” we still stride on unsteady ground when we accept anything blindly as the genuine article.
A very relevant example I’d like to dish out for you at present dealt with a supposed “creature” that appeared on the popular Monster Quest television program a couple of years ago, dubbed the “Metepec Monster.” I first learned about this critter from photographs that, quite frankly, were sent to me via someone’s cell phone camera as they viewed them, displayed during a presentation at a UFO conference. In the days that followed, I was told that the story of a weird “creature” that had been captured in Mexico… and that the entire fiasco was about to get really, really big.
Soon afterward, my friend and associate, Joshua P. Warren, contacted the owner of the photos, a rather infamous Mexican promoter and ufologist by the name of Jaime Massaun who, in recent years, has been associated with a number of Hispanic UFO hoaxes. When allowed to view the photographs in full resolution, I was convinced that what we were seeing was merely the remains of a small monkey (I initially speculated a Rhesus Macaque, though later examination showed that the “creature” was in fact much smaller than an adult of this species). Thus, I posted my feelings about the “creature” at my site, The Gralien Report, dubbing it the “Screamin’ Demon,” based on initial reports that the creature had been shrieking when it was discovered caught in a trap by its captors (this name was, to my surprise, later used by a number of other researchers in reference to the creature).
What ensued afterward was not only ridiculous, but a lesson well learned in what can transpire when those stricken with “willful ignorance” choose to defend their blind faith. After criticizing the early assumptions about the “Screamin’ Demon,” I was told by one individual that my inference that the creature was not what Massaun and others had claimed could result in “defamation of character,” and that I might be held libel for posting my early analysis online! Furthermore, I was accused of trying to undermine my friend Joshua’s observations (though Joshua, true to form, shared many of my feelings about the case at the time), as well as those of others involved. One individual even told me he had dissected rhesus monkeys while studying biology as an undergraduate, and assured me that the creature Maussan was promoting bore no semblance to these animals.
Still, looking at the creature (which can be seen in the video below) indicated to me not only a monkey of some kind, but also what had likely been an animal that had suffered some kind of mutilation to appear in its present, emaciated and apparently hairless (or skinless) state. Thus, while all the hubbub about an “alien” or “chupacabra” was carrying on elsewhere, my deepest concern had been all along that some small animal had been hurt or abused.
The story was eventually picked up by the television program Monster Quest, and featured an “analysis” by a group of experts (see above) which determined that there were human-like characteristics associated with the creature, lending to this conclusion: it was not some kind of monkey, to the best of their ability to discern, but an unknown species. This information, despite what appeared obvious to me nonetheless, was thrown in my face by a number of folks who wanted badly–perhaps too badly–to believe that what had been recovered was a genuine “unknown.”
Of course, much later, it was made quite evident that the entire fiasco, as some of us had been certain all along, was in fact a rather disgusting hoax. For more details on this story and its revelation as the work of shameless hucksters, see the Forgetomori and Phantoms and Monsters sites, who both provided excellent coverage, along with this confession from Urso Ruíz, who said he sold the “monster” to Maussan for 300 pesos:
“It’s just the corpse of a skinned squirrel-monkey. I took its ears out and involved it with all the hair and fluids of all animals I could find, then I dried it. All samples they take of it will come out as being of different animals.”
I remember going out and having drinks with Joshua around the time, both of us expressing mutual concern over whether an animal might have been unnecessarily harmed in perpetrating the entire mess. Sadly, most stories that seem too good to be true are exactly that… and this one, in view of the harm the animal in question may have suffered during its perpetration, makes it even worse. If I can say that I learned one thing from the entire ordeal, it would be to trust your gut, folks. For me, in cases like this it generally proves to be right nine times out of ten.
And that said… for what it’s worth, right now my gut tells me not to put too much stock in this latest Russian alien mess! After viewing the video linked at the top of the page, what are your thoughts about this supposed “alien?” Is it real? Is it a hoax? Will this turn out to be the one time my gut led me astray? Only time will tell, perhaps…