Montauk Pioneer - May 22, 2009

In 2008 the unrecognizable carcass that washed ashore on a popular surf location last July in Montauk caused a big stir and no one seemed to know what to make of it. Within hours, theories flew around the world about the Montauk Monster. Eventually, nothing was definitively ascertained as the carcass disappeared, although some locals claim to know what really happened.

Now 2009 is at hand and a new carcass has washed ashore on the North Fork in Southold, and its finder is calling it Monty the Montauk Monster's son. The new creature is capturing the world's imagination again in youtube videos and other video clips shown on news, blogs and websites. Once again conclusions are being drawn to Plum Island where animal research has been going on for decades, with shades of secrecy from the federal government. Some in Montauk believe that the carcasses are actually not from this planet and part of the Montauk Project time travel experiments done at Camp Hero. As far out as it is, it is as logical as some of the others being put forward. One woman thinks it's being done by the state of Connecticut to scare people from Long Island beaches. Another theory is that there is a mad scientist operating somewhere in the area. My favorite off the wall one is the government is covering its tracks on some unusual experiments with animals now that they are closing down Plum Island facility.

The truth is the sea is bringing forth some weird creatures to the Long Island shores these last two years. The problem with this year's carcass, as was with last year's, is preserving the remains. Because of exposure, a considerable amount of decomposition has happened so that the smell and the reality of what one is looking at has become a challenge. Hourly, this year's monster is decomposing. Questions are being circulated that maybe there is a germ warfare issue at play here with the local waters being infected with germs that will affect the fishing and the healthiness of the waters off Montauk and the East End of Long Island.

It is not clear who would be doing this and why, but conspiracy theorists are playing this angle to the nines, blaming, the United States government, aliens, hostile governments, terrorists and Republicans from the Bush administration centering around Dick Cheney's office to name a few. Again the raw truth points out that two bizarre, unrecognizable carcasses, have washed ashore these last two years in a geographical area not that far apart. Will there be more, will there be answers, will the aliens come to claim their pets, will the government fess up, will the mad scientist be arrested, or will Dick Cheney be indicted?

We will never know it seems whether or not this photograph of a new Montauk Monster is a hoax or is the real thing. It seems that nobody really seems to care one way or another however, because we all love a good mystery. Whether or not the new monster will turn out to be the beginning of more unidentified animals will be another story. However, today we are all relying on the words of Nicky Papers, who sent the media the picture of this new animal.