“Chupacabras” by LeCire [Public Domain]The Chupacabra is perhaps one of the most mysterious creatures that we follow. A newer addition to the cryptid list, these strange, blood-sucking creatures were first reported around 1995 in Puerto Rico. Variations of the creature have ranged from a small humanoid with large teeth and a spiked spine to a dog-like creature seen around Texas. In all cases the appearance of the chupacabra includes death to livestock with a mysterious lack of blood on the scene, as though the predator was thirsty for it.
After much conjecture, the Daily Mail reports a farmer in Chile who has actually found and preserved two corpses of the legendary creature. Javier Prohens, a goat farmer, had his lunch suddenly interrupted by farmhand 54-year-old Bricio Saldivar who was very agitated. He took them to the corpses of these bizarre creatures outside of Monte Patria. The remains were unlike anything they had ever seen.
Two mysterious bodies might be the mysterious chupacabraCloseup of the mysterious corpse shows vicious teeth and human-like ears.
In the Museum we have a display of several pieces of evidence for Bigfoot. We reported recent evidence where people have heard the creatures in Canada, yet many still deny their existence. Will these bodies help people to take the chupacabra legends more seriously?
More updates as they become available. Come visit the Museum of the Weird to see our evidence for mysterious creatures.
This amazing mummy rests in peace at the Museum of the Weird
At the Museum of the Weird we feature a mummy that might date back 3000 years. The process of mummification is an ancient art practiced by the Egyptians to preserve and prepare the body for the afterlife. Elaborate tombs were built to house the preserved body along with belongings and largess that showed off the wealth of the deceased. The process was very detailed and took months to complete. Poor people could not afford mummification, but would emulate the process by wrapping their dead in linen. (Read details about mummification from the Ancient History Encyclopedia.)
While many details of mummification are known, it has not been regularly practiced for centuries. The modern practice of embalming is the way that we expect to be preserved. As you may recall in our article on postmortem photos, some bodies were viewed and photographed for years after they died.
However, interest in mummification has resurrected, so to speak. In 2012 a terminally ill man willed his body to scientists so they could try to replicate the ancient mummification process. The entire experiment was explicitly captured in the documentary show, Curiosity, Season 2, Episode 2: I Was Mummified. (It’s available to watch for purchase through many outlets. This clip will give you an idea if it’s for you.)
Of course, the art of mummification is not completely lost. The U.S. company, Summum, offers complete mummification services for humans and animals. Here is video from The Discovery Channel’s show One Step Beyond, where the founder of Summum tells a little bit about his inspiration and their process. He’s a little off the beaten track, but I guess you’d have to be.
The already have a number of people willing to pay for mummification. Does that mean we can expect to see more pyramids rising up around the U.S.? If you can afford it, maybe someday you’ll end up in a museum!
In the mean time, come visit ours on 6th Street in Austin, Texas.
Monolithic head statues of Easter island (Photo by Artemio Urbina and placed in the public domain)
If you have followed world mysteries you have undoubtedly come across the amazing head statues on Easter Island. These gigantic stone carvings depict proud heads, rising up out of the ground. If you’ve not followed them for a while you may have missed the activity over three last few years as archeologists have confirmed that these statues have full bodies and have been working to excavate them.
Called moai, these statues were created by the Rapa Nui people between 1250 and 1500 to depict worshiped ancestors. Many are near the quarry that bore the stone, but many others have been transported around the island.
For some time archeologists expected to find full bodies attached to the heads jutting out of the ground, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that serious excavation began to reveal these amazing monoliths. As you can see on their project web site there’s been a lot of progress. (This is really the site to dig into if you want to see all that has been done.)
This recent article from the Mirror in the UK highlights the discovery that the bodies are actually covered with intricate tattoos that have yet to be fully deciphered. For a quick view of what they’ve been digging up see this video.
https://youtu.be/zWj2keMob-c
It goes to show that even—or perhaps especially—with ancient mysteries there is more than meets the eye.
