FS is indebted to Claudio Pisani for the following information. It appears that games manufacturers in particular have become very adept in finding new and innovative ways to market their products (see the recent promotion using crop circles, for example)
Status: Hoax (part of a viral marketing campaign)
Russian geologist Arkady Simkin claims to have participated in an oil-surveying expedition to Northern Siberia that found an enormous, skyscraper-size creature buried in the ice. He gives the following description of the creature (which he refers to as Taurus Major) on his website: The animal appears to be a huge quadruped with horns much like a bull. In fact it looks to be a hybrid of a bull, woolly mammoth and a rhino – if such a thing existed. But its size is truly colossal. The horns are immense in dimension and protrude from the head with incredible length. The body is covered with a combination of coarse fur and what can best be described as ‘body armor’ (like an American armadillo) – protects its enormous joints and head.
What makes Simkin's site interesting (and I'm referring to Simkin as a real person, though I doubt he is) is the movie and radio interview that he's posted on the site. The movie is pretty impressive and indicates that someone spent some money to produce it. The radio interview, by contrast, is fun to listen to, but is obviously scripted.
I'm taking it as a given that the ice giant is a hoax, but I have no idea who's behind it. Maybe it's a publicity stunt for a book, movie, or video game. I'm sure that we'll find out soon enough. The name Arkady may be an allusion to Arkham from the work of H.P. Lovecraft. The Taurus Major creature itself also seems very Lovecraftian. (Thanks to Darrell for the link)
Update: It's part of a viral marketing campaign for a new Playstation game called Shadow of the Colossus, which involves hunting and killing giant creatures. The website giantology.typepad.com, supposedly about "the mythology and culture of giants throughout the ages of humanity," is also part of this same marketing campaign. The giantology site has been hosting footage showing the skeleton of a giant uncovered on a beach in India by the tsunami. Quite a few people have linked to this footage, but it's all part of the same marketing effort.
Posted Oct 26.05
Arkady Simkin's recent disclosure that a previously unidentified creature of enormous dimensions has been uncovered at Franz Josef Land, appears to have placed him at odds with either his former employer or some shadowy group of unknown individuals. The Unfiction forum carries an email posted by 'Brian', allegedly on behalf of Simkin, relating that the Russian geologist: "..... came home to find that most of the apartment had been tossed, and most of his things gone through.
"He tried numerous friends to see if he could stay with them, but several of them said that they could do nothing to help him and he should never call them again. One hinted that she had been threatened to stay away from Arkady.
"I will not go into more detail on his current whereabouts, but Arkady is currently safe, and likely out of sight from those who would like to find him. He contacted me because I am far away from him in the United States; we met through a university friend that we both had in common, and have remained friends since.
"Arkady tried to update his website this weekend and was unable to sign in to it. The server refused to authenticate his login. He then went through the entire site, looking for any changes that might have been made to it, and only found one: The email contact has been altered. Whoever is controlling the site now is directing all email traffic to an internal address, out of Arkady's control. He isn't sure why they simply haven't taken down his website entirely, but suspects that they would rather discredit him than make it look like a cover-up.
"It is possible that the arkadysimkin.pl website will be updated further, or that its current contents will be changed. Any updates to the site from this point out (after Oct 15th) should be treated as suspect. Arkady asks that, if people are able, they get the word out about his website being hijacked (likely by his former employer, Polarneft), and let others know that any email sent to the "geolog@arkadysimkin.pl" will NOT reach him. Also, he asks that people make back-ups of the website, or publicize any changes that are made to it, since he is no longer in control of the site or its content. He is currently able to check his gmail account via a roundabout way, and he asked me to express his gratitude for the amount of support he has been receiving with regards to the discovery. He may not be able to get responses back to everyone, but he asks that if people do wish to send messages of support to him, that they use this email address, rather than the one posted on his compromised website.
"Arkady also asks me to make it clear that he does not take credit for this discovery. Although he was on the expedition team that discovered it, he is not trying to become famous or rich. In fact, quite the opposite seems to be happening, and he is still holding firm to his claims. He just wants the truth to be known, and for other people to open their eyes to the world around them. He is aware that many people are already referring to him as a "quack".
"I was rather skeptical myself when he told me about his discovery. He assures me that it is real, and he is trying to arrange to have a few samples sent to me. The samples are described as "some hair and a small amount of the creature's flesh".
"He has also received many emails about some connection between him and Sony, or between his discovery and some videogame (made by Sony). Arkady can not stress enough that he is not employed by Sony, nor does he have anything to do with any videogames. He understands that some people will believe him and some will not, and he is trying to arrange to get some of the samples he collected into the hands of competent laboratories for analysis. He is doing this largely on his own, with the help of a few trusted friends, as he is now unemployed and somewhat in hiding from his former employer, Polarneft."
The email ends with a somewhat dark warning that if a suggested team of investigators were to head for the site, "It would probably be for the best if the expedition had some sort of governmental backing; otherwise, he [Arkady] fears that it would be all to easy for a small boat full of the over-curious to simply 'disappear', if Polarneft or the Russian government were looking to keep the discovery quiet."
A FS thanks to 'umman' for drawing attention to the above forum discussions on this matter. Whether or not we are entering a new phase of global hoaxing on a grand scale (the remains of at least four gargantuan unknown creatures have now been discovered in recent times), remains to be seen.
Posted Oct 24.05
Eric Belson, of Evanston, Illinois is big on monsters and even though the Tsunami creature video is looking more and more like a cleverly crafted fake these days, his website at www.giantology.net has identified several more potential behomoths which initially defy explanation.
One of these has apparently been discovered in the Russian icy wastes of Franz Josef Land, an archipeligo of some 191 ice-covered and largely uninhabited islands located north east of Spitzbergen. There geologist Arkady Simkin is among a team hunting for oil and natural gas reserves. It's on his website that this intriguing new discovery was first documented.
Here is what he has to say in a report filed October 5:
"Today was strange. The radar readings I was getting from the location Polarneft was interesting in that it did not match the readings they had taken two years previously. In fact they weren't even close which naturally made me question the original Viner-Neyshtadt data. As the discrepancies continued, we then decided to investigate the site in person and what we found was definitely unusual.
"A huge expanse of the site now appears to have the remains of a very large animal. It's massive, simply massive. I took some video of the creature, but am having difficulty accepting the size of the animal and can't understand how it was never found before. The only thing that makes sense to me is that navigation of this area has always been difficult. Even though the island is at the center of the archipelago, it has always had very unfavorable ice conditions. The sea conditions here are similar to the northern straits of Avstryisky Proliv and difficult to examine, but with the recent reduction of polar sea ice and glacial melting, which I believe to be caused by global warming, this area has now become more accessible. Still, for this to have gone unnoticed with today’s survey equipment is quite unbelievable. Only photos can truly do it justice.
"The animal appears to be a huge quadruped with horns much like a bull. In fact it looks to be a hybrid of a bull, woolly mammoth and a rhino - if such a thing existed. But its size is truly colossal. The horns are immense in dimension and protrude from the head with incredible length. The body is covered with a combination of coarse fur and what can best be described as 'body armor' (like an American armadillo) - protects its enormous joints and head. As the temperature dropped and the winds picked up we had to leave for the day, but we recorded all that we could on the chance we might be hallucinating!
"The site I have marked is 80 degrees 47’N, 58 degrees 10’E and approximately 2.5 miles from the severe glacial precipe at the north end of the mountain range - impossible to miss if you happen to be in the area."
Two days later Arkady Simkin had this to say: "It's as if we are living on another planet. Our tiny group is still at a loss as to what we have found. One of the other geologists who does the 3D seismic surveys with me thinks that global warming, receding glacial levels and unseasonably high artic winds this year helped reveal 'TM' (the name our group has given the animal - 'Taurus Major'- for its resemblance to a gigantic bull). We took more video and photos today as the weather was much better, but it didn’t last long.
"As for Polarneft, it would seem that they can't quite figure out what to do and have asked us to not visit the site anymore due to 'safety reasons' Needless to say, I'm sure 'safety' is not the issue. Our little group plans to go back again tomorrow to record what we can, so hopefully more to come.
It would appear that shortly after this, Polarneft Oil & Gas, who apparently are financing the operation, decided to halt further exploration and pulled out the team and its equipment, after publicly citing a 'geological anomaly' as the reason. Simkin and several colleagues took a joint decision not to sign non-disclosure agreements. While he's lost contact with them, the Russian is now anxious to ensure that the importance of this find should receive maximum attention.
farshores.org
Video of creature discovery (wmv)
Radio interview (mp3)
See also:
Giant Creature Unearthed By Last Year's Tsunami and China's
Unidentified Sea Creature Found After Typhoon
