What do you think it is?

[R13]

The verdict is still out on the identity of the so-called Montauk Monster -- an unidentified dead animal whose photos surfaced on the Web last week and fueled wide speculation about what sort of creature it might be. A decomposing dog? A dead raccoon? An experimental hybrid from the nearby government lab?



A really good Photoshop job?



The raccoon claim seems plausible, especially coming from an animal expert such as Jeff Corwin. Problem is, Corwin and others who offered up theories didn't have access to the animal's corpse, only photographs. As for the body itself, one person says she knows where it is -- but she's not disclosing where.



Rachel Goldberg, one of the three women credited with "discovering" and then photographing the creature, adds that her "friends" have the body "in a box," and that she hopes scientists will contact them to unearth the mystery.



Right.



Adding further doubt to the story's credibility: It's been revealed that the original source of the story was an e-mail sent by a public relations firm that specializes in viral marketing.



Meanwhile, the true identity of the animal becomes strangely more monstrous as plausible theories develop. Wired's Brandon Keim recently speculated that the beast was a decomposed pit bull, a "dogfighting washout" discarded because of poor performance. "That would explain the binding around its ankles," wrote Klein.



And that's not the explanation we were hoping for.

Click the link to see the picture.

http://find.msn.com/search.aspx?q=Mo...NIIT&GT1=46001

[MikeJones]

Well the last names Goldberg so I would imagine she is just trying to make some cash.

I'll go with Corwin.

[imported_drgnfly3030]

How about a sea turtle with a missing shell?

[sup-rbeast]

Guy from either National Geographic or Discovery Channel said it was a raccoon.

[imported_elp6n]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: drgnfly3030</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How about a sea turtle with a missing shell?</div></div>
for a turtle the spine is in its shell - so that's not a match (and this thing has canine teeth)

[neutral88]

coon

[TheBeast]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> A tipster says that there is "a government animal testing facility very close by in Long Island," but unless the government is trying to design horrible Montauk monsters that will eat IEDs and fart fire at bad Iraqis, we're not sure why they would create such an unthinkable beast. </div></div>

That's the best one yet.

[1inStripes]

I wonder how much that critter has bloated.