The Mystery of the Montauk Monster

by Chris Fago, cryptozoology correspondent

Walking along the beach usually brings to mind peaceful imagery, the calming sound of the waves rolling in, some birds in the background, maybe even a nice sunset just to top things off.   Walking on the beaches of Montauk, New York is just like walking on any other beach except your chances of running into blubbery, decomposed monster exponentially increases.       

On July 13, 2008, Jenna Hewit and a few friends had such an experience when they found and photographed a corpse of a strange animal that has since been dubbed "The Montauk Monster." The monster came equipped with off colored skin, elongated claws, what appeared to be a beak, and was clearly male. But what exactly is The Montauk Monster? Skeptics say it's just a decomposed animal such as a dog or raccoon, some cryptozoologists say say some kind of undiscovered sea creature, and more elaborate theories point to genetic modification at the nearby Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

Unfortunately, the evidence for the genetic modification/Plum Island conspiracy is limited to just two points. First, it is weird looking. Second, it was discovered close to a research center. But that doesn't rule out any kind of undiscovered animals, and cryptozoologists had a field day with this one for sure, and with good reason. By far the most interesting feature is the beak, giving it  face reminiscent of a gargoyle. According to the cryptology website Cryptomundo.com, other people had actually seen the hairless, beaked creature near the sand dunes. One such witness described it as such, "It looked about the size of an average fox, gray in color, eyes like a mole, hairless and was breathing quite heavily." The witness has no other evidence besides his words to justify his claims. 

When it comes to cryptozoology, skeptics can be just as passionate as the believers and the case of the Montauk Monster is no different. Their biggest argument goes right for the beak. As can be seen in most of the monster pictures, the skin has been removed from the "beak," making it look significantly less like a beak, and more like a skinless snout. Looking at pictures from Darren Naish's article on Scienceblogs.com, comparing the "beak to a raccoon's skull makes it fairly clear that this is a snout. Skeptics also have an explanation for the gray color and bald condition of the skin: Taphonomy. For those of you are much like I was and have no clue what that word means, it's the same thing that happens when you chill in the bathtub for too long and your skin turns pale and wrinkly, except this time it's for multiple days or weeks, coupled with natural decomposition. 

As for me, I can't help but agree with skeptics on this one. Naish's article shut the door here. Really, the only argument for the believers was the beak, which was easily explainable once you check out the comparisons between the skull and the creature. Also, the images of the Montauk Monster are incredibly misleading, at least in my book. They all suffer from the same error as the infamous Camel Spider images of recent years; there are no other objects in frame to offer any kind of size comparison. When I first saw the images of the Montauk Monster, I thought it was huge! It looks the size of a pig!

Then I read the reports from the supposed witnesses and those in possession of the remains, all claiming it's the size of a small mammal, about two and a half to three feet in length. Oh yeah, don't forget the fact that the people who took the original pictures still have the corpse but won't let anyone see it because they want to have an expert look at it. Luckily, an expert by the name of Jeff Corwin (who is no Steve Irwin, but the best we have right now) got in on the action and looked at the pictures. His verdict? A dead raccoon. 

Honestly, part of me wishes there was more evidence for it being a new species. Unfortunately, there's just too much evidence suggesting it is simply the aforementioned raccoon. It's a shame no one will be able to claim Venom's bounty of energy drinks for life if one is ever captured alive!