NEW DELHI: The Indian army has claimed it has sighted footprints of the mythical beast Yeti near a base camp in the Himalayas.
“For the first time, an #IndianArmy Mountaineering Expedition Team has sited (sic) Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast ‘Yeti’ measuring 32×15 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 on Monday night.
It was accompanied by photographs of a group of soldiers, and some large marks in the snow.

Some questioned if what the army posted were actual footprints and if the Yeti really existed.
The mythical ape-like hairy creature is part of the Himalayan region’s folklore in Nepal, Bhutan and India.
“The Yeti is a cryptozoological phenomenon popularised in the early 20th century by British mountain explorers in the Himalayas. Those who claim to have seen it report a modest-sized, two-legged, hairy mountain creature with disproportionately large feet,” US-based ecologist Joe Smith wrote in a blog in 2018.
“A recent scientific study has shown, once and for all, that physical evidence (fur, bone and skin) purported to be from the Yeti are instead from bears, based on genetic analysis,” he noted.
The Indian army, however, believes it has strong evidence that the Yeti exists.

“We got the inputs about 10 days back and yet we held on to it… But then we decided that there are photographic evidences which match with earlier theories,” the Hindu newspaper quoted an army source as saying.
Some were convinced with the army’s “photographic evidence” and praised the discovery.

“Congratulations, we are always proud of you. Salutes to the #IndianArmy Mountaineering Expedition Team. But please, you are Indian, don’t call Yeti as (a) beast. Show respect for them. If you say he is a ‘snowman’,” tweeted former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament Tarun Vijay. – Bernama