Army soldiers were once mocked over claims they had found one of Earth's most sought-after creatures, the giant yeti.
Also known as the "abominable snowman", soldiers in India claimed to have found footprints of the beast, a trail leading off into the snow at the Makalu Base Camp in the Himalayas.
The Indian army released an official statement in April 2019 and described an "elusive snowman".
They said: "For the first time, an #IndianArmy Mountaineering 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."
Some taunted the statement, responding with pictures of footprints claiming to be belonging to Bigfoot, while others were less than impressed.
One person said: "Really hope this is a joke. This is supposed to be a smart and intelligent force."
The idea of a fearsome and giant ape-like creature has long crept into the world of common myths and legends, but there is no evidence such a creature exists.
Some scientists think the animal rumoured to be lurking in the Himalayan mountains could be a subspecies of the brown bear.
Britannica explains: "At certain gaits, bears place the hindfoot partly over the imprint of the forefoot, thus making a very large imprint that looks deceptively like an enormous human footprint positioned in the opposite direction."
Ideas such as a creature like this existing are not exclusive the Indian folklore but are frequently seen in Western myths as well.
In 1951, British explorer Eric Shipton was trying to find an alternative route up the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest, when he stumbled across a large footprint.
The word yeti comes from the local Sherpa word for 'wild man' and the picture Shipton took of the footprint sparked a huge amount of intrigue.
American scholar Daniel Taylor spent over 60 years trying to get to the bottom of the Yeti mystery.
He was directed to the Barun Valley in Nepal, supposedly a place relatively untouched by humans due to its jungle-like habitat.
Taylor told National Geographic: "Once I got in that valley I found footprints. I’d seen footprints before but these were fresh and I had no doubt I had found the Yeti."
The scholar eventually came to the conclusion that legends about the yeti come from a human desire to understand the "great beyond".
He added: "The deep mystery at our core is that we want to be connected to the great beyond. And we need symbols to help us understand the connection. That’s why we believe in God or angels or the Loch Ness Monster. Throughout human history, and across human cultures, we have developed messengers from the great beyond."
