CRYPTID CORNER MINNESOTA ICEMAN The Minnesota Iceman is a sideshow exhibit that depicts a man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was displayed at shopping malls, state fairs, and carnivals in the United States and Canada in the 1960s and early 1970s and promoted as the missing link between man and Neanderthals. It has been described as male, human-like, 6 ft (~1.8 m) tall, hairy, with large hands and feet, very dark brown hair about 3 - 4 inches (~9 cm) long, and a flattened nose. One of its arms appeared to be broken and one of its eyes appeared to have been knocked out of its socket, allegedly by a bullet that was said to have entered the creatures head from behind. Cryptozoologists have suggested the Minnesota Iceman was a Neanderthal, Bigfoot and or a primitive human. Promoter and exhibitor Frank Hansen stated the Minnesota Iceman was discovered in the region of Siberia and that he was acting as its caretaker for an absentee owner he described as an eccentric California millionaire. But he confessed he shot the creature in Minnesota woods before putting it on ice. As a result of these new claims, the FBI almost became involved, thinking Hansen had been exhibiting a murder victim. While touring carnivals and fairs with the exhibit, Hansen was once reportedly detained by Canadian customs officials, who were concerned he was transporting a cadaver. While searching for evidence of Bigfoot in 1968, cryptozoologists Ivan Sanderson and Bernard Heuvelmans examined the Iceman in Hansens house trailer in Minnesota, and concluded it was a genuine creature, saying they found putrefaction where some of the flesh had been exposed from the melted ice. They could also smell the decomposition. Sanderson, then science editor for Argosy magazine, authored an article about the Iceman in the April 1969 issue that featured the headline, Is this the missing link between man and the apes? Sanderson also spoke about the Iceman in television appearances, and contacted primatologist John Napier, asking him to investigate it under the official auspices of Smithsonian Institution. Hansen subsequently withdrew the Minnesota Iceman from public inspection, saying he was receiving real threats and became concerned for his life. His actual exhibit was never shown again. ~ Punk
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 23:13:45 +0000
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