New Delhi:
Sometime in early 50s, 1951 to be exact, British explorer named Eric Shipton took the world by storm when he clicked an image of what appeared to be a large footprint of a hominid-like creature. Soon, everyone was talking about ‘Yeti’. The Sherpa word for ‘wild man’, Abominable Snowman has been one of the greatest mysteries of all time. The photograph taken in Menlung Glacier, west of Mount Everest, became the bedrock of all Yeti researches. Cut to 2019, the Indian Army has released a series of photos that have reignited the Yeti lore. The army took to Twitter and posted a bunch of photographs from its official Twitter handle.
“For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' measuring 32x15 inches close to Makalu Base Camp on 09 April 2019. This elusive snowman has only been sighted at Makalu-Barun National Park in the past,†the army said in a tweet along with the photos.
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For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' measuring 32x15 inches close to Makalu Base Camp on 09 April 2019. This elusive snowman has only been sighted at Makalu-Barun National Park in the past. pic.twitter.com/AMD4MYIgV7
— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) April 29, 2019
The Makalu-Barun National Park is in the heart of eastern Nepal and is located near world’s fifth highest peak – Mt Mukalu. According to a BBC report, Yetis are an example of cryptozoology: the search for creatures that cannot be said to exist because of a lack of evidence. The report also states that “there is no hard evidence of the existence of an unknown primate in the Himalayas, and plenty of reason to suspect that it can't possibly exist.â€
In His book, Eric Shipton wrote in great details about the fateful day when he got that iconic photograph. "It was on one of the glaciers of the Menlung basin, at a height of about 19,000 feet, that, late one afternoon, we came across those curious footprints in the snow, the report of which has caused a certain amount of public interest in Britain. We did not follow them further than was convenient, a mile or so, for we were carrying heavy loads at the time, and besides we had reached a particularly interesting stage in the exploration of the basin. I have in the past found many sets of these curious footprints and have tried to follow them, but have always lost them on the moraine or rocks at the side of the glacier. These particular ones seemed to be very fresh, probably not more than 24 hours old. When Murray and Bourdillon followed us a few days later the tracks had been almost obliterated by melting. Sen Tensing … had no doubt whatever that the creatures (for there had been at least two) that had made the tracks were "Yetis" or wild men".
