Villagers in Thailand ran away in terror after discovering the remains of an ‘alien-like’ creature in a swamp.
Locals were fishing in a river near their homes when they saw the strange decomposed body stuck by the roots of mangroves in Nakhon Si Thammarat on January 20.
Footage shows scared fishermen watching nearby as authorities measured the dead creature half-buried in the quagmire.
It had an elongated head with sharp teeth in its mouth and its rotting skin appeared glossy.
Crab hunter Pinij Bansuwan said: ‘I was setting my traps when I saw the large creature with sharp teeth. It looked like an alien.
‘I panicked and ran. I have never seen anything like that before in our river. I was born and grew up here.’
He told his neighbours about the shocking discovery and they informed the authorities.
Experts from the Department of Marine and Coastal Natural Resources and the Lower Gulf of Thailand Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre arrived for an inspection.
Experts travelled to the site to inspect the carcass and take samples to determine what it was
The team identified it as a false killer whale, a type of oceanic dolphin that inhabits the deep sea
They took the boat to the forest and walked for 164ft (50m) through the mud from the riverbanks before finding the creature.
They identified it as a false killer whale, a type of oceanic dolphin that inhabits the deep sea.
They took samples, including stomach and head tissues, to a laboratory for analysis to confirm their hypothesis.
One of the researchers, Rattanaporn Phakphian, said: ‘It looked like a juvenile. We are unable to determine the gender due to decomposition.’
The expert added the 12ft (4m) baby whale was likely stranded due to winds and high tides.
Rattanaporn said: ‘It could have been there since December and was trapped in the mangrove forest.’
He added that it was possible that the whale ‘fell ill during the recent period of strong winds and high tides,’ before being ‘swept by the currents until it entered the canal and became trapped in the mangrove forest before dying.’
Experts said the 12ft (4m) baby whale was likely stranded due to winds and high tides
But, he said, ‘due to the decomposed condition of the remains,’ the true cause of its death cannot be known for certain.
The false killer whale is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List and is also included in CITES Appendix II due to factors such as a declining population, the threat of habitat loss, and human-induced activities, including entanglement in fishing gear and depletion of their prey.
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Terrified villagers discover mystery creature ‘that looks like an alien’ in Thai swamp
