Sunday, April 11, 2010

Unknown Specimen

This photograph of the decapitated head of an unknown creature was allegedly taken in the small coastal town of Baclayon in the Phillipines in 2004. It was found floating in the ocean the day after an unannounced joint naval "exercise" involving the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and Phillipine Navy. The only ships identifiable by observers on shore were BRP Emilio Jacinto (PS-35), BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS-36), and multiple patrol craft from the Philippine navy. Witnesses reported a deep rumbling coming from the ocean during the operation, presumably a result of live depth charges or seismic activity.

The specimen was reportedly bought by "scientists" wearing dark-colored suits, who stated it was a type of deep water fish. It's whereabouts are unknown.



Update: After David pointed out in the comments that he thought this image was an art project, rather than the misidentified dog corpse I thought it was, I did a little more searching.

The original photo I nicked came from this woowoo site, where it's identified as a "reptilian" killed by a shaman. Googling "decapitated reptilian" didn't turn anything up, but after trying a number of different searches along those lines I eventually tried "chupacabra head", which lead me to this copy of the original photograph on Flickr. That identified the source photograph as being taken from Charlie White's "“In A Matter of Days", which in turn lead to this interview with the artist accompanied by a clearer print of the original, entitled "Highland Park".

I have no problem at all with repurposing photographs of alleged cryptids as props, but this isn't the case here. This was a work of art created by Charlie White, and I wholeheartedly apologize for assuming otherwise.

5 comments:

Harald said...

Ok, you've freaked me out. But damn, that made my day. Thanks.

Oh, an the captcha reads 'subdegr'. Ominous...

RahneFan said...

Great job. I would love a tutorial on how to make pix like these look so realistic!

David G. said...

I remember seeing this before. The artist who made the "specimen" and took the picture had other such similar fakes done.

Beautifully made, I was truly creeped out the first time I saw this!

Too bad I can't recall the artist's name or website.

Propnomicon said...

@ David

If you remember who crafted the original I'd appreciate a heads up so I can give appropriate credit.

The woowoo site I took the original from identified it as a genuine "reptilian". I had assumed it was actually a dog's head fished out of the ocean.

Mr. Sable said...

There's a whole book of these, and that's the most famous shot in it. All the shots in it seem entirely realistic and plausible, which is what makes it so epic; it's not a typical 'here's my work museum-style' presentation. It's a creeptastic photo collection and I think the followers of Propnomicon would enjoy seeing the whole thing.