Bigfoot Pictures, Montauk Monster Pictures, Chupucabra Video: The Visually Unexplained

The Mounting Visual Evidence in the World of Cryptozoology

Searching For Bigfoot, Inc. announced August 13 that it had proof of the existence of the elusive Sasquatch, the legendary Bigfoot, that it had been found dead in the north Georgia woods, and that a press conference complete with DNA findings and photos of the Bigfoot's remains would be held in Palo Alto, California on August 15. SearchingforBigfoot.com posted a picture of the alleged dead Georgia Bigfoot looking rather cramped at the bottom of a freezer. That it looked more like a shrunken and matted ape-man costume more than a once living creature is arguable, but it is the "evidence" presented thus far in a bizarre series of cryptid sightings and findings that have been preserved in a visual format (i.e. a photo or video).

To clarify, a cryptid is the term used in cryptozoology, the study of animals or beings that fall outside the known zoological listings, to denote any animal or being that is reported to exist but which has as yet been unproven to exist. The Bigfoot, Montauk Monster, and chupucabra all fall under the cryptid umbrella, taking their places alongside such notables as the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, and the unicorn.

But cryptids have been rather active of late and people have been capturing visual evidence of the creatures and, sometimes, the creatures themselves.

What began the current run of visual evidence were the pictures of the Montauk Monster first shown on Gawker.com that spread along the internet like a raging firestorm. Speculation as to what the bizarre dog-like beast that washed ashore in New York actually might be was rampant. Was it a new beast, something concocted in the highly secured lab's of the government run facilities on nearby Plum Island? Was it just some animal heretofore never seen before? Or was it something more mundane, like a sea turtle sans its shell? Or even a water-logged and decomposing dog?