An Alien Entity or Experiment Gone Wrong?

In 2008, three friends, Jenna Hewitt Rachel Goldberg, and Courtney Fruin happened upon a strange creature that washed ashore at Ditch Plains beach in Long Island. It was named the "Montauk Monster" on account of its resemblance to a monster right out of a storybook.

According to allthatstinteresting.com, the beast had strange bindings on its feet and may very well be a sun-baked carcass of a dog except for the fact that it had a beak instead of a snout. Pictures of the creature were quickly circulated on the internet leading to wild speculation. Some called it an alien entity while others called it the result of an experiment gone wrong at the nearby Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Yet, others suggested it was something cooked up by pranksters.

First appearing in the East Hampton Independent under the headline " The Hound of Bonacville,” the story of the mysterious beast later exploded on the national stage appearing on Fox News and The Huffington Post.

However, before the director of the International Cryptozoology Museum, Loren Coleman could arrive on the scene to make a proper examination of the carcass and determine its origin, it mysteriously disappeared. The three friends who made the initial discovery also abruptly stepped back from the limelight leading to even more speculation as to why.

Here is an excerpt from newsday.com where William Wise, director of Stony Brook University's Living Marine Resources Institute explains what he thinks the creature is not: "A raccoon. ("The legs appear to be too long in proportion to the body.") A sea turtle. ("Sea turtles do not have teeth.") A rodent. ("Rodents have two huge, curved incisor teeth in front of their mouths.") He said the general body shape looks like a dog or other canine ("Coyote?"). But that the "prominent eye ridge and the feet" don't match. He said the feet and face look "somewhat ovine" -- that would be like a sheep -- but sheep don't have sharp teeth."

He concluded it was something made out of latex.

Another rumor has gained traction that the carcass belonged to a product of an experiment gone wrong from the nearby Plum Island facility. An article published by Wikipedia describes the Plum Island facility as follows: Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) is a United States federal research facility dedicated to the study of foreign animal diseases of livestock. It is part of the Department of Homeland Security Directorate for Science and Technology, and operates as a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The facility's director is Dr. Larry Barrett."

What propelled the rumors is this fact: "During the Cold War, a secret biological weapons program targeting livestock was conducted at the site, which ended in 1969 when President Nixon declared an end to the United States' offensive bioweapons program. Today the facility maintains laboratories up to biosafety level 3, but has remained controversial as a result of its high risk work and proximity to the New York metropolitan area."

Since 1954, the center has been tasked with protecting America's livestock from animal diseases.

Other rumors that abound are that the carcass that washed ashore Ditch Plains was that of a raccoon that was given a Viking's funeral and set adrift. By far it seems to be the most credible theory. However, that still leaves the question of the bindings on the creature's feet. Some suggest it may have been a pit bull that was fatally wounded in a dogfight.

For more information on how the entity looks like, Wikipedia has a photograph and more details about the beast dubbed the "Montauk Monster."

A version of this article was published on NewsBreak.