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Real or Fake? ‘Woolly Mammoth’ Spotted Crossing Siberian River

Feb. 10, 2012 8:05am Liz Klimas

Viral Video: Woolly Mammoth Crosses Siberian River

It was a YouTube video destined to go viral from the get go. Show footage of what looks like an alien or Yeti and you’ll get thousands of hits within days — even hours. The latest viral footage is of a prehistoric woolly mammoth, thought to have been extinct, crossing a river in Siberia.

Watch the clip that already has more than half a million hits on YouTube and has spurred many into discussion if it’s real or hoax:

Before we get into the discussion the extreme likelihood that this clip was doctored in some way, let’s get some of the facts out there. According to The Sun, the beast was 1) thought to have gone extinct 4,000 years ago; 2) the river where footage was taken is located in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug region of Siberia; 3) it was taken last summer; and 4) it is reported that an engineer employed by the government filmed the scene.

The Sun also has the following comments from Michael Cohen, who is notorious for supporting theories of paranormal activity:

“Rumours of a handful of mammoths still kicking around in the vast wilderness of Siberia have been circulating for decades and occasionally sightings by locals have occurred.

“Siberia is an enormous territory and much of it remains completely unexplored and untouched by humans. ”

[...]

“It is highly possible that a number of species, extinct elsewhere, survive in the area.

“If surviving woolly mammoths were found in Siberia, it could run against Russia’s plans to further develop and exploit the area’s considerable resources.

“It would be potentially one of the greatest discoveries ever.”

But here are the problems with the story circulating on the web. MSNBC reports that there are three opinions as to what could be going on this video — aside from mammoths really coming back to life. The first theory is that a creature was straight-up Photoshopped into the river scene. Others think the beast could really be a bear with a fish in its mouth. And the third thought is that it is both a bear and a Photoshopped fake. MSNBC has more:

Derek Serra, a Hollywood video-effects artist who has previously analyzed faked UFO videos, told Life’s Little Mysteries that the video, in his opinion, appears to have been intentionally blurred, probably to obscure the animal’s true identity.

“Even low-resolution cameras can focus fairly well on something,” Serra said. “But there’s really nothing in this video in focus. The rocks in the foreground have a blur to them that doesn’t seem natural.”

The Huffington Post has more thoughts on the fishiness of the video:

Why is the original video just 10 seconds long? Is that the only amount of time the videographer had left on his battery? Why couldn’t he have kept shooting to see what the animal would do when it reached the other side of the river?

Also, as pointed out by Kecia Stewart in The Fayetteville Observer, if you look closely at the full screen version of the video, the river wake appears to follow the animal’s legs, rather than moving briskly downstream.

If this video was shot last summer, why is it only now being revealed?

And how is it possible that, once again, a remarkable “smoking gun”-type video is presented to the world by the new P.T. Barnum of the modern era: Paranormal writer Michael Cohen, who claims the copyright on this mammoth video.

And might I also point out that for some reason all these Yeti and strange alien sightings always seem to come out of Siberia. What is going on here?

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Comments (216)

Segue
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:17am
This reminds me of Mitch Hedberg’s Bigfoot bit… “I think Bigfoot is blurry, that’s the problem. It’s not the photographer’s fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that’s extra scary to me. There’s a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run, he’s fuzzy…” It’s obviously a bear carrying a fish…

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- Rational Man
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:48am
  If it was me taking the footage, I would have followed up by getting a shot of some of the enormous tracks it would have left behind when it came out of the water. Something that weighs that much would leave tracks the size and depth of a kiddie pool……..Well almost……….
  
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- BehindBlueEyes
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:00am
  What a coincidence, UFO’s are always out of focus too. A very strange phenomenon.
  
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- Twinspeedr
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:18am
  The shape of the head is all wrong, Mammoths had a much taller cranium. It’s also not terribly hairy, which seems like a requirement for a Siberian Mammoth to survive the cold.
  
  This is film trickery, using a unique piece of film of a small African or Asian elephant walking, merged with a film of the river in Siberia.
  
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- KickinBack
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:24am
  Wookie! ARRRWWWAGGGG!
  
  Report this comment
- OklahomaBound
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:27am
  Massive backside and big floppy ears? It’s Comrade Obama carrying Moochelle on his back across a river.
  
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- satostud
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:32am
  Why do these videos and pitcures always come out blurry?
  I have a cheap little digital camera and it takes better video than this.
  Must be the same person taking all those UFO videos.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:15am
  It’s curious isn’t it? They’re always out of focus and the cameraman never makes an attempt to follow.
  
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- NeoFan
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:20am
  What the heck is Michael Moore doing in Siberia?
  
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- CCulotta
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 12:06pm
  It was filmed by a Russian Government employee working in the wilds of Siberia. At best it was filmed from a distance with a crappy phone camera. If it was a crystal clear video I would be more suspicious. I think the head, neck and shoulders look to big to be a bear and the gait looks more like an elephant. Also if you look at the close up there seems to be a bit of white between the head and trunk (or fish) like there would be if the animal had small tusks. In my opinion it is either a genuine young mammoth, an elaborate mechanical dummy on a rail under the water, or a young elephant wearing a fur coat.
  
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- Belchfire V-8
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 1:41pm
  Neofan, it’s too small to be Michael Moore.
  
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- USAMEDIC3008
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 3:21pm
  I would go with the fish story
  If it was a (trunk) It yould up out of water to breath???
  
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- 2theADDLED
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 4:15pm
  Quick get Al Gore on the phone global warming is thawing out the dreaded wooly mammoths !
  
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- ILUVJESUS
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 4:33pm
  That’s a bear!
  
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- Zipit
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 5:20pm
  No! It’s MANBEARPIG. Call Algore!
  
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- Patrick Henry II
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:06pm
  The Russians are on the record that they are trying to clone Mamouths. Seems very possible to happen. As far a 4000 years extinct. I think that is in question. Some of these frozen momouths are in pretty good shape. Remember when Bill Clinton even had one for dinner. For real, actually happened.
  
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- BehindBlueEyes
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:22pm
  @PATRICK HENRY II
  Rumor has it Willy showed Monica his woolly mammoth.
  
  Report this comment
- diablamonkey
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:44pm
  thats what I thought it looked like too
  
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- mattmo79
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:54pm
  Completely fake video!
  
  Report this comment
- lodgerat
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:42pm
  When I took pictures of my x-wife they all came out blurry and hairy…coincidence?
  
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- jb.kibs
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:37pm
  how about, “just an elephant”? LOL
  
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- The-Monk
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:59pm
  Look again. That’s a Bear carrying a Salmon or some other big fish in its mouth. Nothing to see here… move along.
  
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- The-Monk
  Posted on February 11, 2012 at 12:14am
  Woolly Mammoths have been found frozen in the most remote and coldest regions of the Planet with grass still in their stomachs. Where did the grass come from. (Please, no pot jokes) Anyone ever spin a Signet Ring and watch it flip/spin over 90 degrees in a single turn? Guess where the grass came from and what’s headed our way?
  
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- 4xeverything
  Posted on February 11, 2012 at 8:36am
  I love Mitch Hedberg. Hilarious. “Do you need a receipt for that doughnut?”
  
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whereareyourbrains
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:16am
where are my posts? This will show up but nothing else…

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whereareyourbrains
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:14am
My little kodak would have brought that in clearer……….fake fake fake……………….where is a clear picture? dah

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acovenantinblood
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:11am
“But here are the problems with the story circulating on the web. MSNBC reports…”

Catch that? “MSNBC reports.” I’d believe that mammoth over what they say.

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- TheDM
  Posted on February 11, 2012 at 8:14am
  I’ll rely on MSNBC before Fox News any day of the week.
  
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Xyskalla
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:10am
Obviously, it’s a woolly mammoth. Because I believe everything I see on the internet. It must be true.

It looks like a snuffleupagus.

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liberalsarealiens
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:01am
Compaired to the Mammonth the skull seems too small and not crowned. It would be nice but I think it’s a shop job!

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- lel2007
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:30am
  It’s difficult to see, but there is no splash or disruption of water as the creature walks. And at the end where the video stops, you can see the left front foot below the water ….. I’d put my money on FAKE.
  
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tweetybird
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:58am
Whatever……why is it when someone captures a UFO, Big Foot ect….they don’t know how to focus their camera.

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- Darla_K
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:14am
  lol, so right you are.
  
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- cyclops
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:17am
  I think the sith lord somehow is always able to make the auto-focus, not working……….LOL!!!!
  
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Pat Alexander
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:57am
Did you notice since everyone is carrying a video recorder of some kind, we don’t see many “UFO” pictures any more?

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- liberalsarealiens
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:17am
  Not true! Just google the subject. One was just yesterday!
  
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cemerius
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:54am
Util I have eaten a Mammoth steak or Yeti chili ALL this crap is just that!!! More proof that the internet has a lot of crazy, tinfoil hat wearing, hot pocket eating, basement dwellers……

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drifter09
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:50am
Its a regular elaphant it packed its trunk and left home.

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- sheephat
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:08am
  Booooo!
  
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- AmazingGrace8
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 11:41am
  Obama’s wet-dream about Republicans…….. send them to Siberia!
  
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paleoman
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:46am
Bear with a fish, but I did see a Dodo bird on the shore line.

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- brotherjohn
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:56am
  It’s man-bear-pig!
  
  or just a bear.
  
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- Im_not_crazy92
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:52am
  Somebody call Al Gore!
  
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CJohnWest
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:33am
So what makes a picture of a bear (or large dog but come on it’s a bear) catching a fish, or possibly a piece of some cloth, a mammoth? The sea serpeant at least had a chance to be a life form. On an enviromental note: if we keep letting the bears and sharks populate themselves unchecked and preserved completely we will have no more fish; which will makeJeeves sad. Any responpsible ecologist( if an ecologist is the specialist society has manufactured for this field) should be able to point out one or two things on eco balance and population control, you know that thing about plains to brush to shrub to tree to over-grown to fire to plains… that sort of stuff says we are all going to regret our lack of proper curation.

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- ishka4me
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:46am
  Anybody who thinks the mammoth is extinct has not tried dating in Vermont. Bunch of large hairy women.
  
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The Bushmaster
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:31am
while anything is possible you will have to prove to me that the animal is not an elephant crossing a river somewhere else in the world..

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- 2theADDLED
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:49pm
  Notice the fuzzy pic is blurred so you can’t identify the species of tree’s and foliage which appear to be some sort of pine.
  
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countryfirst
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:25am
It’s Michelle Obama crossing the Potomac. .

If this is the only crossing of the Potomac noted in the History books, then maybe she will be proud of her country

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nuttyvet
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:24am
It’s definately a Woolly Mammoth. I have one in my back yard named Derick. I bring him peanuts and apple cores. He loves ‘em!

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- Gonzo
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:29am
  Can I bring my Tyrannosaurus Rex over for a play date?
  
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- RepubliCorp
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:35am
  Looks like rosie o’donnell to me…….
  
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- Komponist-ZAH
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:48pm
  Can my pet saber-tooth tiger come too?
  
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Gonzo
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:23am
“If surviving woolly mammoths were found in Siberia, it could run against Russia‘s plans to further develop and exploit the area’s considerable resources.”
Yea right, Putin will have it’s head on his wall and a Woolly Mammoth carpet in the Kremlin. They will exploit any recources they have, I assure you.

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- Komponist-ZAH
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:37pm
  He’ll have of photo taken of him standing in front of it, shirtless, holding a crossbow, with the carpet draped around his shoulders….
  
  …And then decree every woman in Russia must have a copy of it…
  
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Blazen420
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:18am
Funny how these photos and videos of mysterious creatures are always fuzzy or blurred. That video is so fake I’d be embarrassed to post it on my site.

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Speak without Fear
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:17am
It is as fake as the P0S sitting in the WH……

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- thegreatcarnac
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 9:56am
  Lol…good one…
  
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Baddoggy
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:14am
If the Dems and envirolmental whackjobs have their way, we will make the United States off limits to drilling because the Wooly Mammoth might return some day.

In West Texas they are trying to shut down the oil fields due to a stupid little lizzard. If they succeed…we are done as a Nation. Gas would be 15.00 a gallon overnight.

The oilfields of west Texas are booming now. If they do put the lizzard on the endangered species list, I hope texas seceeds from the Union. But we have Rick Perry as Governor. The spineless whimp…sigh.

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TomFerrari
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:14am
What a coincidence!
Like all the other bigfoot, nessie videos,
It is grainy, out of focus, long range, and very short.
Also notice how the “haunches” / “back” do not go up and down with its “gait”.

At best, it is Snuffaluffagus on vacation.

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- ron396
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 2:35pm
  There is just something wrong with the way the water swirls never seem to change. The same ripples seem to follow it all the way through the film. Got to be fake.
  
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quicker
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:14am
Bear with a fish.

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- pamela kay
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:32am
  QUICKER, yup, bear with fish!
  
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- drago
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:50am
  Agreed….
  
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- CorpsmanToPA
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:54am
  pretty much – when in full screen it is pretty easy to see.
  
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- Twobyfour
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 10:43am
  Yeppers, a bear with fish in its mouth.
  
  That is not to say there aren’t mammoths still living in the region, it would have better chance than, say, plesiosaurus (presumed Nessie species).
  
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- Cat
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 6:42pm
  East Siberian brown bear with a nice taimen trout catch
  
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- TwoMinuteMan
  Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:14pm
  really looks like a bear with a fish since the “trunk” is a different color and all but i gotta say that is the weirdest walking bear i’ve ever seen. It doesn’t walk anything like a bear and lets face it, its freekin huge.
  
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SoupSandwich
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:13am
Cg.

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NC
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:12am
The Article is quoting MSNBC and the Huffington Post as creditable sources,

I need to go and see if the sun is rising in the west.

NC ( I’ll be right back)

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I.Gaspar
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:10am
First thing that comes to mind…Has the FLOTUS vacationed in Siberia recently?

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THXll38
Posted on February 10, 2012 at 8:07am
Fake and it looks like a baby elephant.

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