Sign up for the Stardoves E-List!
Stay up-to-date on Mystical Products, Aquarian Events & Alternative Healing Services




The Paracast
Paranormal Radio



Galde Press - Quality Books
Free Book Catalog!





Featured Issue
August 2001
February 1958
This rare, mint condition Feb. 1958 FATE is on sale now for a limited time only!
More Details >



Upcoming Events
Eastern Paranormal Conf
July 17-19
Harpers Ferry, WV
Website

40th Annual International UFO Symposium
Aug 6-9
Denver, CO
Website

View More
Upcoming Events

The Myakka Skunk Ape Photographs
By Loren Coleman
FATE :: May 2001

Two remarkable new photographs of what may be a Florida Skunk Ape have been discovered through an interesting chain of events by Sarasota resident and animal welfare specialist David Barkasy. This article will overview how these photographs were taken, how this find surfaced, the first reactions and analyses, and some tentative conclusions.

The circumstances behind the photographs are intriguingly innocent. In early autumn 2000, an elderly couple living near I-75 in Sarasota County, Florida, began to experience routine visits from an apelike animal. On one of these visits, the wife took two relatively clear photographs of the creature. The couple did not know what the animal was, but since her husband said it looked like an orangutan, they called it an orangutan.

The location of these events was near I-75, most likely east of Sarasota, which includes the Myakka River and Myakka State Park.

The woman describes the events leading up to the photographs being taken: “For two nights prior, it had been taking apples that my daughter brought down from up north off our back porch. These pictures were taken on the third night it had raided my apples.”

She went out into her backyard after hearing deep “woomp” noises. She aimed her camera toward the hedgerow at the back of her property and was startled to see what her flash revealed. “I didn’t even see it as I took the first picture because it was so dark. As soon as the flash went off for the second time it stood up and started to move. I then heard the orangutan walk off into the woods.” She noticed that its “awful smell” lasted long after it had left her yard.

Reflecting on what had occurred, she said that the anthropoid “sounded much farther away than it turned out to be.” She thinks she was about ten feet away from it, and it looked like it was crouching, then standing. She notes it is hard to know how big it was, but she would “judge it as being about six and a half to seven feet tall in a kneeling position. As soon as I realized how close it was, I got back to the house.” (Eyewitnesses regularly report larger sizes for animals which are hair-covered and seen in the dark.)

The woman photographer remarks: “It only came back one more night after that and took some apples that my husband left out in order to get a better look at it. We left out four apples. I cut two of them in half. The orangutan only took the whole apples. We didn’t see it take them. We waited up but eventually had to go to bed.” Then they placed a dog in their backyard, and the animal did not return.

According to the evidence provided by the postmark on the envelope, on December 22, 2000, the woman mailed a letter signed “God Bless. I prefer to remain anonymous” to the Sarasota Sheriff’s Department. They received the letter on December 29, 2000, although most people at the sheriff’s office were unaware of it until after the holidays. According to the department’s official report created later, the filing officer wrote: “I received an unusual letter addressed to the animal services of the sheriff’s office. The letter told of an encounter with a monkey or ape and contained two photos. The letter was anonymous.” The animal control officer read the letter which begins: “Enclosed please find some pictures I took.… My husband thinks it is an orangutan. Is someone missing an orangutan?” ...

Read the rest of this article in the May 2001 issue of FATE

Six strange and unknown packed issues of FATE for just $27.95
Don't miss a single issue, subscribe today!

FATE Magazine: True Reports of the Strange and Unknown