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Teach The Controversy: Mermaids Edition

May 31, 2013 / Klint Finley

I don't know; therefore, mermaids

Jim Vorel on Animal Planet‘s bizarre Mermaids hoax:

‘Mermaids: The New Evidence’ is the worst thing I’ve ever seen on TV

There’s absolutely no hyperbole in that title. Last night on Animal Planet I caught the replay of “Mermaids: The New Evidence,” the follow-up to Discovery Channel’s abysmally bad, misleading and rage-inducing “docufiction” from last year, “Mermaids: The Body Found.” It’s the worst TV I’ve ever seen. Nothing else comes even close.

Last night’s special was even further from reality from the first documentary, which at least went through more trouble to appear legitimate-looking. Instead of being comprised of talking head interviews, it was done almost in the style of an extended round-table on a 24-hour news network, which I suppose is fitting in an odd way. A shill of a host acted as the “moderator,” asking canned questions to our returning star and conquering hero from the past program, “Dr. Paul Robertson,” a man touted as being “a former researcher for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” Other guests were brought forward to share their own mermaid revelations and screen poor CGI footage of supposed mermaid encounters.

I’ll start out by simply pointing out the stuff that anyone with access to Google can discover immediately — “Dr. Paul Robertson” is not an actual person, but an actor. His name is Andre Weideman. Here’s his IMDB page. It’s safe to assume that all the other supposed researchers and government officials on the special were also actors, or they wouldn’t be there.

Full Story: Herald Review: ‘Mermaids: The New Evidence’ is the worst thing I’ve ever seen on TV

Did Prehistoric Giant Squid Make Art From Bones?

October 28, 2011 / Klint Finley

Kraken

For decades, paleontologists have puzzled over a fossil collection of nine Triassic icthyosaurs (Shonisaurus popularis) discovered in Nevada’s Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. Researchers initially thought that this strange grouping of 45-foot-long marine reptiles had either died en masse from a poisonous plankton bloom or had become stranded in shallow water.

But recent geological analysis of the fossil site indicates that the park was deep underwater when these shonisaurs swam the prehistoric seas. So why were their bones laid in such a bizarre pattern? A new theory suggests that a 100-foot-long cephalopod arranged these bones as a self-portrait after drowning the reptiles. And no, we’re not talking about Cthulhu.

i09: Giant prehistoric krakens may have sculpted self-portraits using ichthyosaur bones

(via Disinfo)

Mutant emerges from cave, stoned to death by children

September 18, 2009 / Klint Finley

panama mutant

A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them.

The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out “as if to attack them”. […]

But in a “desperate bid to defend themselves” four children grabbed rocks from the beach and hurled them at the beast.

Having killed it they picked up the body and tossed it back into the lake, before fleeing.

Metro: ‘Gollum-like’ monster emerges from lake

Sad.

(Thanks Trevor)

Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

September 7, 2009 / Klint Finley

A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea.

A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never before been recorded by science, at least three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which may turn out to be the biggest in the world.

Guardian: Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

(via Disinfo)

Journalist hunts for acid-spitting Mongolian death worm

August 11, 2009 / Klint Finley

mongolian death worm

ARMED with explosives, two men are heading to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm.
The worm has never been documented but some Mongolians are convinced it exists. They call it Allghoi Khorkhoi, or “intestine worm” because it resembles a cow’s intestine and is about 1.5m long.

The worm apparently jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances, NZPA reports. (Seriously.)

New Zealand TV entertainment journalist David Farrier, who is organising the expedition, and cameraman Christie Douglas, leave this week to spend two weeks in the Gobi, trying to verify the worm’s existence and making a documentary about it.

news.com.au: Journalist hunts for acid-spitting Mongolian death worm

(via Post Atomic)

Monster mummies of Japan

March 6, 2009 / Klint Finley

monster_mummy_3

monster_mummy_6

More Pics: Pink Tentacle

These remind me of the work of Alex CF:

Cryptozoology in Japan

May 27, 2008 / Klint Finley

kappa kappa kappa

Pink Tentacle has a round-up of seven mysterious Japanese creatures. Above are some drawings of Kappa:

Kappa (river imps) have appeared in countless stories and folk legends for centuries, and they rank among Japan’s most well-known cryptids. While most people nowadays regard the amphibious child-sized troublemakers as pure myth, stories of kappa encounters still crop up from time to time, such as the following two reports from Japan’s southern island of Kyushu.

Full Story: Pink Tentacle

Werewolf FAQ

April 7, 2006 / Klint Finley

The source for the idea of selling your soul to the devil for a werewolf belt may be this story:

Another unfortunate werewolf was Peter Stubb of Cologne, tortured until he confessed having transformed himself into a wolf by a magic girdle given him by the devil. The judges couldn’t find the girdle where Stubb said he hid it, but they explained this by saying it had “gone to the Devil whence it came, so that it was not to be found.” Though his case was unproved, Stubb was nastily executed for the crime of lycanthropy: he was sentenced to have the flesh pulled off his bones in ten places with red-hot pincers, then to have his legs and arms broken with a wooden axe; finally to be beheaded and burned.

From: alt.horror.werewolves FAQ.

The Top Cryptozoology Stories of 2005

December 27, 2005 / Klint Finley

1. The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
2. Filming of the First Live Giant Squid
3. New Homo floresiensis Discoveries
4. New Animal Discovered in Borneo
5. First Cryptozoology and Art Symposium at Bates College
6. Bobby Clarke’s Manitoba Bigfoot Video
7. Bigfoot Bounty
8. Mystery Photos of Cryptid Felids and Fish
9. Disney Yeti Expedition
10. The Laotian Rock Rat is Discovered at a Meat Market

Full Story: Cryptomundo: The Top Cryptozoology Stories of 2005