Monday, December 19, 2005

Home of the Mothman.


"West Virginia has played host to two famous monsters, both within a span of a dozen years. In 1955, a 12-foot-tall space creature landed in a flying saucer and terrified the town of Flatwoods. And in 1966-67, a monster nicknamed "Mothman" performed a similar frightfest on the citizens of Point Pleasant. But today, the Flatwoods monster -- it never got a name -- is almost invisible on the vacation landscape. All that the town of Flatwoods offers are some monster replicas for sale ($25) in the gas station next to the Shoney's. In contrast, Point Pleasant is keenly attuned to the needs of the modern monster tourist. It has a very cool Mothman statue. It has a Mothman museum. It sells lots of Mothman merchandise. Why the difference? Mothman was made into a Hollywood movie in 2001 and thus is more than a monster -- he's a celebrity." - roadside


mm1mm2



This statue is not very close to what eyewitnesses said the mothman looked like. For sketches from the original real mothman sighting, check here.

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

A New Beast in Borneo. Next stop: extinction?


"A creature unknown to scientists has been found in dense tropical rainforest on the island of Borneo. The mammal has only been seen so far in photographs caught by a camera trap. ... WWF caught two images of the animal, which is bigger than a domestic cat, dark red, and has a long muscular tail. ... The find was made in Kayan Mentarang national park on Borneo. ... [Due to forest destruction, this and ] other as yet unknown creatures may go extinct before their existence can be documented. " - bbc



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We live in a time when new large species are still being discovered. It amazes me, therefore, that some people are so certain Bigfoot, Chupacabras, Mothmen, etc. are hoaxes.