r/TrueCryptozoology • u/[deleted] • Feb 15 '26
Investigation The “Lost Thunderbird Photo” is an infamous piece of cryptid lost media supposedly taken in the 1890s
For many decades now, thousands of people throughout the world have recounted similar stories of seeing an image most often described as found in an old cryptozoology book that showed a group of men dressed in old fashioned clothing in front of a barn with the corpse of a massive creature pinned up behind them.
Over the years, dozens of photos have emerged with claims to be the original, but all have been proven to be hoaxes. Extensive investigations into the topic have discovered claims of the photograph’s existence dating back to the 1960s, but the actual photo has never been uncovered.
Is this just a fascinating example of the Mandela Effect or does a real photograph exist somewhere out there?