What did people see on Sunday, June 10, 2012?

Okay, the headline is “sensational” but “true.” I just wanted to demonstrate how actual sightings of a large, at-first unidentified animal can be transformed by the overblown re-visioning of a real incident.

Bernard Heuvelmans wrote of how human beings have a tendency to record and tell of the encounters with unknown new species by way of the use of fantastic descriptions.

A current example of that just occurred in Alberta.

In the Edmonton Journal of June 14, 2012, it was reported:

“When a large, brown animal was spotted near North Leland Lake in northern Alberta on Sunday, people assumed it was a moose. Maybe a bison.”

A local businessman told of how the people felt, upon seeing this animal.

“They were just overwhelmed to see that and very impressed,” said Dan Wettlaufer, owner of the Andrew Lake Lodge.

Well, a photograph was taken, and the species was immediately identified. It was a musk ox in Alberta, far from where it should be. It may have been the first sighting of a musk ox in Alberta in modern times.

“For the casual person that hasn’t seen one, you kind of have to imagine the combination of a bison and a woolly mammoth. They have a real unique prehistoric character,” said Wettlaufer.

Source. Thanks for newstip from Chad Arment.