The munted carcass of a freaky-looking creature has washed up on a Queensland beach and left a local man wondering if he found an alien. Maybe some stones are better left unturned???
Alex Tan posted a video on Instagram of his “extraterrestrial” discovery at Cotton Tree beach after floods and be warned — these images are not for the squeamish.
“I’ve stumbled across something weird,” he said to the camera in the Instagram post.
“This is like one of those things you see when people claim they’ve found aliens.”
He then flipped the camera to show an image that I can only describe as nauseating — a swollen, pink-skinned carcass of a creature that sure as hell doesn’t resemble anything walking this earth.
The creature has a long tail and bloated body. Weirdly, its head has been reduced to a skull but flesh still hangs on to the body. Bones can also be seen poking out of the creature’s legs.
The fact that the skull is the only part of the body without flesh makes me wonder if this is staged or a prank, but one thing I know for sure is that it’s fkn gross.
Alex described the creature as a “de-haired” possum and invited commenters to theories on what it could be.
Obviously the comments immediately filled with people trying to get king of wildlife (and my heart) Robert Irwin to identify the creature for us.
“I want to put the deal out there – if it’s not a possum I will shout that person a chicken parmy,” Alex told news.com.au.
Well, it looks like no one is getting that parmy.
University of Queensland Associate Professor Stephen Johnston reckons our “alien” is indeed just a possum.
“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,” Prof Johnston said, per Courier Mail.
“The skull and hindlimb give the clues.
“The animal was probably washed down into the ocean during the floods.”
No aliens today, friends. It’s nice to not write apocalyptic news for once.
