Montauk Monster: "It" Object Of The Week

This week, a dead raccoon with a beak (for soul-sucking) or some such thing washed up on the shores of Montauk, Long Island. (Or did it?) Anyway, the horrible and demonic creature must have spoken to the zeitgeist of the blogosphere, as evidenced by Gawker posting "updates" in the form of guesstimates about his species extracted from their own comments every 10 minutes and raking in eleven billion page views in the process.

Word of the mysterious photograph spread to the far reaches of the newscycle (see the Montauk Monster here and the Montauk Monster here), and we learned that the entire Internet is necrophilic -- for a time, "monster of montauk" was the #1 Google trend.

The Montauk Monster quickly became the subject of a biographical blog dedicated to his dark materials, as well as an autobiographic bildungsroman right here on the Huffington Post, in which our hero explained he had just fallen asleep after reading Blink and is not dead, etc.

The good people of East Hampton animal control adopted a (justifiably) skeptical eye towards the media's fascination with the beast, passing around Daily Intel's reporters until finally someone three phone calls later said that it was a raccoon, we imagine noncommittally.

Still, some denounced the photograph as (quel horreur!) a work of a twisted Photoshopper or worse: viral marketing. Gawker, which has now for whatever reason assumed expertise about the matter, has insisted on the Montauk Monster's legitimacy.

It's possible the story will survive past the weekend, but it's looking unlikely, as it seems someone found a 44-pound cat that lost its home due to its owner's subprimesomething. Anyway, wow -- 44 pounds!

Comments

[Doofus]

[Here's a surprise...] Montauk Monster: A hoax to promote a film? - Matthew Moore

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2524385/Montauk-Monster-A-hoax-to-promote-a-film.html

The "Montauk Monster", the mysterious dead creature whose
identity has captivated the internet, may have been a hoax all along.

The skinless, leathery beast that was photographed "washed up" on a New York beach was most likely a film prop placed as a publicity stunt, according to Gawker, the US gossip website the originally broke the story.

The animal had variously been identified as a dog, raccoon, vole, and shell-less turtle since images emerged last month.

But now the makers of a film being made in the area of Montauk, Long Island where it was photographed appear to have claimed that they are in possession of the corpse.

A brief, cryptic post on a blog set up to promote the film, Splinterheads, states: "We have the Montauk Monster".

A blog set up to investigate the mystery has also been contacted by a woman who claims that the creature is a prop from the film.

The film"s director Darren Goldberg shares a surname with Rachel Goldberg, one of the women who claimed to have seen the creature.

Her television interview helped propel the story from urban myth to genuine news story, attracting coverage from major US networks including CNN.

The pair have been named on blogs as brother and sister, though this has not been firmly established. ...

[CrabbyGolightly]

Hundreds Flood Officials Seeking to Officially Adopt Corpse of "Montauk Monster"
HORDES OF DEAD ANIMAL LOVERS OVERWHELMED OFFICIALS IN MONTAUK, LONG ISLAND DEMANDING THAT THE MYSTERIOUS "MONTAUK MONSTER" BE GIVEN A PROPER BURIAL.

PETA also sent volunteers to pressure local officials to keep scientists away from the freakish corpse of the so-far unidentified rotting beast.

Speculation was rampant that the animal was a government experiment gone wrong. Others theorized that the beast had fallen from the sky, or perhaps had been coughed up from the earth's center where it had been buried by Scientology's evil galactic overlord Xenu 75 million years ago." Still others speculated that the thing was yet another victim of the fiend dumping body parts along Canada's Atlantic Coast.

Island officials reported an uptick in the number of locals doublechecking the credentials of plastic surgeons practicing around the Island.

CrabbyGolightly.com!

[WasteNJ]

I wonder how big this thing is. "Official" reports initially said it was a turtle, without it's shell... hmmm Hey new species are found all the time. If it's Photoshop, it's pretty good work. If it's not, call Mulder and Scully, I hear they're not busy..

[Pleidian]

Wolf Blitzer....what a looser.

[candlegravity]

Someone call Art Bell quick!

[NWReader]

It's a marketing scheme for a website sponsored by Cartoon Network. They've been playing commercials for several weeks. http://www.cryptidsarereal.com/

[CFAmick]

Could it be a warthog that is bloated and decomposed from the water?

[BlackWidowPilot]

Good 'ole *Corporate *News *Network, the most (mis)trusted name in news(peak). What's wrong, Wolfie? No Paris Hilton story?

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[yuknuk]

it's LA CHUPACHABRA!!!

[rose london]

Wolf lies and twist words. I have lost all respect for this guy. He is part of the problem and does not care about anyone but himself. I wonder if his children are proud of him. I mean, he thinks we are stupid. He uses CNN to campaing for MCsame. He always present Mcain as the best candidate, and always twist Obama's words. Bill Schnieder and the Ugly Candy whatever, are the same old liers. But is not working but only in their head. TheY have consistent failed to research and always cover up for Mccain. This is not reporting, is a joke. And SHAME on all of them for MISREPRESENTING AMERICA.

And Thanks to JACK CAFFERTY. THis guy works with them, but he is a honest guy and MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND HIS FAMILY FOR GIVING AMERICANS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD A BETTER WORLD WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF. JACK TELLS IT AS IT IS, NO SPIN. THE REST ARE UNPARTRIOTIC. IF THEY ARE, THEY WOULD NOT BE DECEIVING AMERICANS AND THE WORLD. AMERICANS DESERVE TO KNOW WHO MCCAIN REALLY IS. A FAILURE AT HOME AND AT WORK. AND A BIG LIE.

[StanTheManic]

Rose:

Work out your rants in a Word doc. first, spell check the damn thing and then if you've got time before your next medication, do a grammar check for good measure.

[rudyinbama]

It's almost as frightening as Wolf Blitzer.
I wonder if it was as stupid and annoying.

[TchoupitoulasCanal]

Dear Cindy--

Please put your makeup back on.

Thanks!

[DrDemon]

lol - but cruel... lol

[awcbuddy8]

Hopefully it's back in hell from whence it came.

[desthmoneses]

If god is dog then Montauk is clearly god.

[JimboSlice]

Notice how the "monster" is giving the finger?

I love the photoshopper