The Montauk Monster
I have hidden this entry from view due to the grotesque nature of some photographs contained within. Click the link below to see the full article.
In July of 2008 a group of twentysomethings were ambling about the beaches of East Hampton, Long Island when they made a bewildering discovery.
They found the partially decomposed carcass of a beast lying face-down in the sand. About the size of a cat with a fat, bald body and a bizarre beak, this creature could not be easily identified. Some photographs that one of these individuals took of the bloated animal quickly found their way into print and electronic media, where the “Montauk Monster” (so named due to its discovery near the Montauk, NY business district) was treated primarily as a source of amusing curiosity. Since the body vanished before any serious scientific inquiry into its identity could be made, these photos, in addition to some anecdotal evidence, provide the only information available regarding this mysterious creature.
There has been much debate amongst zoologists as to the species of this animal. With various factions contending that it is a dog, sea turtle, raccoon, sheep, and so on, no consensus has been reached. Some have even speculated that the Montauk Monster is an example of a previously unknown species. This has fueled the imagination of cryptozoologists who cite the proximity of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center to the beach where the carcass was found as evidence that it is the nauseating result of government-run biological experimentation.
Plum Island, located near Long Island's Orient Point.
Run by the Department of Agriculture since 1954 when it was established to combat an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, and at times used as a site for biological weapons development, this facility has long been the subject of paranoid conjecture and accusations of conspiracy. Perhaps the most well known of these claims is that the Center had a hand in the creation and/or dissemination of Lyme disease. The Center has received increased attention from whistleblowers since being transferred to the hands of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002. It was due largely to the Center’s reputation that members of the media drew a connection between the facility’s activities and the mysterious Montauk Monster. Interest in this subject was recently rekindled by reports, made by Toronto-based publication The National Post, of the discovery of a second such carcass near Montauk. As in the first case, this body disappeared before finding its way into the hands of professional biologists. Only eye-witness accounts and a few amateur photographs provide scarce clues as to the identities of these baffling animals.
Some Further Reading:
A site devoted solely to the Montauk Monster
An article about the Monster from FoxNews.com
Links to article about various “Globsters”
The homepage for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center
A site containing various accusations made against the Center
A photo gallery, including photos of the Monster, from the Chicago Tribune website
Irrational Geographic 
Owen said,
May 31, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Is there any evidence that this is a hoax? Just a thought.
irrationalgeographic said,
June 1, 2009 at 1:49 am
I read about one biologist who looked at the photographs and said something to the effect of, “It looks like someone is playing around with latex”. So yes, there certainly is a chance that this whole thing is a hoax. The fact that the monsters were photographed and then mysteriously vanished might support such a conclusion. But since the mainstream assumption regarding such a discovery is that there must be a mistake – that the corpses are either fake or are just decomposed dogs or badgers – Irrational Geographic’s task is to champion the notion that there is in fact a possibility, even if only a remote one, that this discovery represents something new and interesting.
Daniel d'Entremont said,
May 23, 2010 at 4:25 pm
I have looked at the pictures and by the looks of it, it is a dog that has been partially digested by a large shark and regurgitated. Hard to tell though as there is no size reference.
3021 said,
June 6, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I think I found one!!