The Mysterious Thunderbird Photo

During my search for some unsolved mysteries in Arizona, I came across this bizarre photo. This mystery photo is of a popularly known “Thunderbird” with a mysterious creature captured near the town of Tombstone.

In April of 1890, two cowboys noticed an immense flying creature, while in the Arizona desert. This creature’s body was about 92 feet long and was smooth like a serpent. It had huge wings, about a 160 foot wingspan, featherless and resembling bat’s wings. It also had two clawed feet, with a face of an alligator. They followed it on horseback until the horses were too afraid to continue, and then chased it on foot. It kept landing and taking off until the cowboys shot it full of bullets with their riffles, and finally killed it. Then the cowboys cut off a piece of the wing and brought it to Tombstone. At least this is how one of the stories were told.

Was this a true story or just an urban legend? The story was presumed to be written in an April 1892 issue of the Tombstone newspaper, the Epitaph. It was also told that a photo of a enormous bird was seen nailed to a wall. Since many tall tales have been spun in newspapers during this distinctive time in history, it’s hard to say whether it is a true story or just folklore. Employees working for the Epitaph search through many old issues of the newspaper and found no such photo. The question everyone is pondering, is the photo real? Many have remembered seeing the elusive “Thunderbird Photo” but no one seems to know where it is. Some feel that the photo posted above has been tampered with and the dead creature was added in. Also, according to the stories told, two men supposed to have found and killed the bird-like creature, but six men are in the photo. There is lots of mystery surrounding the photo, its existence and whereabouts, and the strange story that goes with it.

This is an unusual one indeed. If you know anything about this story, whether it is true or not, I would love to hear more.
~~Julie~~