For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast… https://t.co/1mpgyJ35FL — ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) 1556557998000

NEW DELHI: No, it was not a joke. Neither was it an April Fools’ Day prank, albeit late in the month. With all seriousness at its command, the Indian Army late on Monday night declared its mountaineers had discovered “mysterious footprints of mythical beast Yeti” in the snow-bound Himalayas, leaving all and sundry flummoxed across the globe.The declaration in a tweet, with three pictures of the footprints, by the Army’s official handle, which has almost six million followers, set social media platforms all aflutter overnight. It rapidly turned into widespread incredulity and outright mockery of the so-called evidence about the elusive and legendary “abominable snowman”, the shaggy ape-like creature that has figured in Himalayan folklore for centuries without ever being physically found by anyone.A series of scientific studies have also held that the evidence collected in the shape of DNA samples from bones, hair strands and faeces purportedly belonging to the enigmatic Yeti were, in fact, mostly from different sub-species of black and brown bears inhabiting the Tibetan plateau region.But rejecting all the derision, the Army on Tuesday said the “sufficient photographic and video evidence” about the long trail of footprints, each measuring 32x15 inches, close to base camp of the 8,485-metre high Mount Makalu near the Nepal-Tibet border, would be handed over to “subject matter experts” for proper scientific evaluation once its expedition team returns home by end-May or early-June.“The team of four officers, two JCOs (junior commissioned officers) and 11 soldiers, led by acclaimed mountaineer Major Manoj Joshi, who has also climbed Mt Everest, spotted the huge mysterious footprints while acclimatizing at Langmale Kharka on April 9,” said a senior officer.“We did not say the expedition team had found the Yeti. But that the huge footprints, found in such large numbers by an Indian Army expedition for the first time, in the remote high-altitude area matched with earlier theories about the elusive creature. The aim is to share the evidence so that the interest is rekindled, addressed in a scientific way and taken to its logical conclusion,” he added.But the Army’s definitive tweet, which also said the “elusive snowman has only been sighted at the Makalu-Barun National Park in the past”, had already settled the matter on Monday night. It led many to jocularly speculate whether the Indian Navy would now hunt for the equally elusive and mythical Loch Ness monster, with the IAF too chipping in by chasing UFOs in its fighter jets.Though for decades there have been purported sightings of the Yeti and its North-American equivalent “Bigfoot” or “Sasquatch”, or at least their monstrous footprints, there has been little scientific evidence to back the claims. Evidence or not, the legendary hairy beast will continue to capture the imagination of many in the years ahead as well.