woolly mammoth the sunLast week, we all had our hopes up that Snuffleupagus was alive and well in Siberia, Russia, as blurry footage of what appeared to be the sighting of a woolly mammoth blew up online. Being that Snuffy was by FAR my fave Sesame Street character, I was totally psyched! Maybe even more so than when I saw videos of what appeared to be the Loch Ness Monster. But I'm sorry to report that this week, we've learned that the woolly video is officially a HUGE hoax. Boooo.

The reported "paranormal enthusiast" who taped the footage is actually writer and videographer Ludovic Petho, who filmed the now viral vid at the Kitoy River in Siberia's Sayan Mountains. He was interviewed by Life's Little Mysteries and shone light on the truth behind the intriguing footage.

He described his experience at the Kitoy River:

I don't recall seeing a mammoth; there were bears, deer, and sable. But no woolly mammoths. I had no idea my footage was used to make this fake sighting.

Petho also pointed to his original video, which has been on YouTube since summer 2011 and shows exactly the same footage, of course, sans woolly mammoth. So, in other words, some con artist out there in the interwebs yoinked Petho's clip and inserted the extinct animal. Bleh.

Well, you at least gotta give that person credit for getting tongues wagging around the world, but man, what a letdown!! To know or even suspect that a species that existed millions of years ago wasn't completely obliterated would have been really cool. But oh well ... as disappointing and lame as this news has turned out to be, I guess we can always keep our hopes up that another strange creature is out there and waiting to present itself in a legit viral video. Big Foot? Nessie? I'm keeping my eyes peeled for you!!

Are you disappointed to learn that this was a hoax or did you suspect it all along?

 

Image via The Sun