Claim:   Video news report details the finding of the fossilized remains of a giant creature in southern India.

Status:   False.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2005]

Reporter from India claims that the remains of a 150'-0" ancient, giant creature washed ashore on the coast of India. Footage looks pretty good, but who knows if it's still fact of fiction. [Click to view video in QuickTime or Windows Media format]

Origins:   Tales of natural disasters bringing to light fantastic, previously unknown creatures are a common form of legend. One such Internet hoax played itself out a month after the December 2004 tsunami struck several countries in the Indian Ocean region, and a second similar hoax hit inboxes shortly afterwards.

The latest entry in this vein concerns a video clip of a purported news broadcast from an Indian television station detailing the finding of the fossilized remains of a giant creature, one which was supposedly washed ashore by the December 2004 tsunami near Mahabalipuram in southern India (where the giant wave did in fact uncover remains of an ancient port city).

It's safe to say that the clip itself was not a genuine news report, as no other news outlets reported on this amazing find. It was, in fact, part of a viral marketing campaign for the video game Shadow of the Colossus.

Last updated:   8 March 2011

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  Sources:

    Biswas, Soutik.   "Tsunami Throws Up India Relics."

    BBC News.   11 February 2005.