Alien-like creature pulled from New Jersey area an Internet sensation

[Gutter Monkey]

Apparently there's a new photo of a huge alien-like creature going viral on the internet.

Forget all this chatter about exploding meteors and some asteroid making a dauntingly close pass to earth: There are aliens among us! Or so some might think after inspecting the image of a bizarre-looking denizen pulled from the waters of New Jersey.

Link

In the article a spokeswoman for New York's Department of Environmental Conservation tentatively identifies the animal as a sea lamprey. Here's a few different photos of that particular critter for comparison:




I'd say the identification was pretty valid and the size of the lamprey in the viral 'alien' photo mostly due to forced perspective.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Yeah, that's definitely the mouth and gill holes of a lamprey. The forced perspective becomes pretty obvious when you look at the angle of the bar is coming out from the hand

[Simply Madeline]

"pulled from New Jersey area"?

[Der Induktionator]

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

"pulled from New Jersey area"?

That could be anywhere from Wilmington to The Bronx. Probably not including Scranton, though.

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

"pulled from New Jersey area"?

Yeah it was, y'know, just hanging around the area being all alien-like and face sucky. As people in New Jersey are wont to do.

[VeebleFetzer]

Jefe, would you say I have a surfeit of lampreys?

[Xia]

I took one look and said lamprey, before even scrolling down to the reference pics. It seems silly that they would call it an alien. It's not even decomposed beyond easy recognition or something.

[crocoduck_hunter]

But it's so weeeeird and creepy looking! *jazzhands*

[SatansHobbit]

I know, my feelings of penile inadequacy and fear of vagina dentata have been acerbated by one photo.

[curlygirl]

Should have guessed SH would go there

I was thinking that it wouldn't be long before we had a "Weird Penis Injury/Teeth/whatever" photoshop showing up. A bit like the lotus breast ones.

[Em]

Originally Posted by curlygirl

... the lotus breast ones.

Noooooo!

Brain bleach! Someone bring me my brain bleach!

[Dropbear]

Aaaargh! thanks curlygirl, I'd almost forgotten that one. Gack, I'll have the brain bleach after you thanks Em.

Dropbear

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by VeebleFetzer

Jefe, would you say I have a surfeit of lampreys?

Fairport Convention recorded that!