The Minnesota Iceman is a sideshow exhibit and elaborate hoax that depicts a fake man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was displayed at shopping malls, state fairs, and carnivals in the United States and Canada in the 1960s and early 1970s and promoted as the "missing link" between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. It was sold on eBay in 2013 and put on display in Austin, Texas.

History

Promoter and exhibitor Frank Hansen stated the Minnesota Iceman was discovered in the region of Siberia and that he was acting as its caretaker for an absentee owner he described as an "eccentric California millionaire". Touring carnivals and fairs with the exhibit, Hansen was once reportedly detained by Canada Customs officials, who were concerned he was transporting a human cadaver.

Napier, in conjunction with the Smithsonian, made preliminary investigations of Hansen's affairs and said he found that Hansen had commissioned the creation of the Iceman from a West Coast company in 1967, leading Napier to quickly conclude there was only ever one Iceman latex model that he theorized was repositioned and refrozen between appearances. Napier stated that "The Smithsonian Institution…is satisfied that the creature is simply a carnival exhibit made of latex rubber and hair...the 'original' model and the present so-called 'substitute' are one and the same." It was purchased by Austin, Texas, "Museum of the Weird" owner Steve Busti, who has placed it on public display.

The Minnesota Iceman was featured on season 4 episode 6 of the A&E series Shipping Wars as well as season 12 episode 26 of the Travel Channel series Mysteries at the Museum. The story of the iceman was also featured in the 7th-season premiere of the television show Unsolved Mysteries. In "Rock Apes of Vietnam" (Series 1 Episode 9 of the 2019 TV series "In Search of Monsters") the exhibit's current owner Steve Busti and others say that Hansen changed his story about the exhibit's origin 3 times, and that the current exhibit may be a latex replica intended to protect Hansen from legal problems if he killed and illegally imported a "Rock Ape" (an alleged rock-throwing Vietnamese cryptid similar to America's Bigfoot) from Vietnam when he was a military pilot during the Vietnam War.

See also

  • Cardiff Giant
  • Almas
  • Bigfoot
  • Homo pongoides (Fr)

References