"Alien" Creature Washed Up on Australian Beach is Most Likely a Possum, Says Queensland Scientist
A still image showing the animal corpse from Alex Tan’s video. (Alex Tan / Instagram)
The corpse of a hairless animal found along Cotton Tree Beach on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia has been identified as most likely being that of a bushtail possum, according to scientist Stephen Johnston.
Pastor Alex Tan originally discovered the cadaver on March 21st, recording a video of it that he later posted to Instagram.
"I've stumbled across something weird," Tan said of the creature in his video. "This is like one of those things you see when people claim that they've found aliens."
However, he went on to say, "[The creature] looks like a deerhead possum, but different than anything I've seen."
Stephen Johnston, an associate professor at The University of Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, was able to assist in identifying the creature with the help of Heather Janetzki from the Queensland Museum.
"After consultation with my colleague Heather Janetzki from the Queensland Museum, we are pretty sure that it is a swollen, waterlogged brushtail possum who has lost its fur," he told the Courier Mail. "The skull and hindlimb give the clues. The animal was probably washed down into the ocean during the floods."
The brushtail possum is found throughout northern and eastern Australia, and is the second-largest possum species on the island continent with a body length of 12-23 inches and a tail that can add another 10-16 inches to its total length.
The animal in Tan’s video drew immediate comparisons within the cryptozoological community to the infamous Montauk Monster mystery, which began in 2008 with a photograph showing a partially decomposed animal that had reportedly washed up on a beach near Montauk, New York.
Despite numerous conspiracy theories and potentially paranormal explanations of its origin, the Montauk Monster was eventually concluded to be the waterlogged corpse of a raccoon by zoological experts.
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