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April 01, 2001 at 14:55:50

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a large creature in the Alps, dubbing it 'Snow Angel'.

(Zurich, Switzerland) -- March 30, 2001. Scientists working high in Switzerland's Alps have uncovered the remains a large prehistoric creature buried in what they describe as an "impact crater" on a mountainside. The discovery was made in early January during a rescue operation but archaeologists were unable to investigate the site until mid-March.

Dr. Reinhard van Gelder, a Dutch paleoarchaeologist on loan from the Royal Museum of Antiquities in Amsterdam, discussed the find with reporters at a news conference. "It is a most unusual creature," he said, pointing to a diagram. The creature, according to Dr. van Gelder, would have stood approximately 3 metres in height. Its skeletal structure, however, is still being examined by paleoarchaeologists.

"The creature was massive," van Gelder adds. "It appears to have wielded great strength, but we cannot explain its motive abilities, or how it came to fall into a mountainside. I suspect there was a tremendous avalanche."

Radiocarbon dating is still being evaluated, but early estimates of the age of the site put it in the range of 6,000 to 6,500 years old. Robert Westerburg, an archaeobiologist assigned to the team by Ponce de Leon University, noted that there is no prior evidence of the creature in the fossil record. "This is a first find," he says. "A once in a life-time experience. It's like finding the first dinosaur, the first fish fossil. It's unbelievable!"

Other relics found at the site include a broken staff, fragments of molten rock which went through a fast-freezing process, and several strips of leather. The leather strips are believed to have been some sort of ritual clothing, much like the string skirt girl's funeral dress. Found at Egtved in Jutland, Denmark, the girl was buried in a string skirt circa 1400 BC. The custom for ritualistic stringed garments may thus have been thousands of years old by her time.

The location of the dig has been kept secret to prevent looters from raiding the site, and because of the danger presented by the high mountains. "The spring thaws are almost upon us," noted Swiss mountain-climbing expert Jan Eiger. "The peril of avalanches is very great. People should not be trekking through the mountains in that region."

A team of 15 scientists, engineers, and laborers has been assembled to ascend to the dig site in early April. The trip will be made partway by helicopter. "But there is a certain point where one must go on foot," Eiger points out. He will lead the team up the mountain. "It is simply too dangerous to fly directly in and out. That area has been plagued by heavy winds and many lightning storms for thousands of years."

Although the research team has revealed few details about the as-yet unnamed creature, early sketches indicate it may have had an humanoid appearance, but of gigantic proportions. There is some debate over whether it had a sort of cowl or cape-like appendage. At least two members of the team have jokingly referred to the creature as an "angel in the snow, fallen from heaven". Dr. van Gelder dismisses any speculation on the matter. "It is too early to know what the broader remains are," he says. "I will have none of this wings nonsense! I believe that the creature was draped in a very fine fabric, perhaps a wool mat, and thrown off the mountainside."

UFO specialists have flocked to Switzerland, claiming the creature is the first solid evidence of extra-terrestial life. But van Gelder rejects their theories as well. DNA analysis has shown that the creature was Terrestial. Microbes found among the remains have been identified as the kind which are usually found only deep inside the Earth. "That is the most compelling mystery," van Gelder notes. "How did these microbes, found miles beneath the surface of the Earth, come to be on a high mountain in the Alps? We may never know."