Shocking Reveal: Two Centuries Later, The Hidden Truth About The Mermaid Mummy Comes To Light!
This is a creature that has travelled a lot: in August 2006 alone, we received the photographs shown above with messages claiming to show a mermaid (or sea monster, or alien) found in Campeche (Mexico), Venda (South Africa), Cebu (Philippines) and Swaziland.
The correct answer here, however, is “none of the above”: These are photographs of a model created by artist Juan Cabana, offered for sale in a spoofed online auction (no longer available) and advertised with an elaborate backstory about the seller’s encounter with the “mermaid or sea monster” while “exploring desolate areas of Fort Desoto Beach at the southern tip of St.
Petersburg, Florida.” (The same seller has offered other items of equally dubious reputation, such as a “Time Traveling UFO with Authentic Organic ALIEN Corpses” (no longer available), which looked uncannily like a stingray corpse he had just purchased from another seller on eBay.)
Descriptions of mermaids as tiny, hideous creatures with the torso of an attractive woman and a fish tail have been a staple of folklore and mythology for many centuries, although the modern popular image has not always been the standard.
Mermaids have appeared in stories, artwork, travelogues, and sideshows. Although many of these invented mermaids date from that era, the most famous example was the “Fiji Mermaid” (also known as the “Fiji Mermaid” or “Fiji Siren”), a grotesque creature supposedly “captured [by Japanese fishermen] from the Fiji Islands and preserved in China” before being purchased by one Dr. J. Griffin, acting as an agent for the Lyceum of Natural History in London, in 1842:
Those who are enamored with the supernatural, the unknown, and the patently strange may be familiar with famed showman P.T. Barnum’s Fiji mermaid. The eerie fossilized creature, which Barnum claimed to have purchased from a Japanese fisherman in the mid-1840s, has been a popular fairground attraction for nearly two centuries, with many claiming that the creature proves the existence of mermaids from folklore. Unfortunately for true believers, a recent Yahoo Lifestyle article has debunked this claim, with scientists confirming that the fossil is actually a Frankenstein amalgamation of a lizard, a monkey, and a fish.
The Fiji mermaid is made from a lizard, a monkey and a fish.
Even though the creature has been so elaborately constructed that it has fooled ticket buyers for longer than we have been alive, it seems hard to believe that no one has confirmed it before. After all, once you get a good look at the Fijian mermaid after hearing this news, it becomes the only thing you can see at the famous attraction. The head and torso of the monstrous artificial reconstruction are from a small monkey grafted onto the body of a common fish, while the extended clawed fists protruding from the creature belong to a Komodo dragon.
The parts were preserved and joined together
The research team tasked with dissecting the Fiji mermaid was led by radiologist Joseph Kress of Northern Kentucky University. Through a series of advanced autopsy procedures, including X-rays and CT scans, Kress and his team were able to determine that the mermaid was stitched together like a human centipede, including a skeletal vertebra made of wooden stakes to hold the mutant in place and prevent deterioration.
Since this creature’s initial purchase in the mid-19th century, many imitations have been built into other sideshow attractions, including some made from paper mache and basic office supplies.
The Japanese theory on Ningyo debunked
The existence of a Fijian mermaid that was said to have been discovered in a Japanese temple last year has also recently been debunked. The newly discovered creature turned out to be nothing more than convincingly crafted paper, cotton, and cloth, which was made into an eerie voodoo doll-like representation of the mythological Ningyo from Japanese folklore. Like the mermaids of traditional sailor tales, Japanese Ningyo are said to be fish-like humanoids, representing longevity and wealth in Japanese culture.
The investigation is ongoing
While many viewers were quick to spot imperfections and inconsistencies in the Fiji mermaid imitations over the years, the origins of P.T. Barnum’s original model have puzzled crowds since the exhibit’s inception. According to Kress and his team of scientists, researchers have planned additional tests designed to determine the exact species of fish, monkey and lizard the creature is made of, and they have plans to reach out to local zoos and aquariums for animal expertise.
There is no proof of the existence of mermaids… yet
Although this discovery seems to suggest that no humanoid mermaids have been discovered on Earth, scientific discoveries always have new and wonderful findings to offer. Those who feel disappointed by the deconstruction of the Fiji mermaid can find solace in a number of recent discoveries, such as the alien world hidden within the Earth’s mantle or the recent discovery of 100,000-year-old mammoth bones.
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