Happy Weird Wednesday! Like a lot of paranormal enthusiasts, I follow a lot of Facebook pages dealing with the strange and supernatural. One such page is Blurry Creatures, a page dedicated to a podcast about cryptozoology. Today, I ran across a newspaper clipping they had posted about a cyclops skull! I noticed the article was from a West Virginia newspaper, The Wheeling Intelligencer, and got more excited than I should have. So, I consulted my trusty sources in a search for more information.
On the Chronicling America database of historic newspapers, I found a more in-depth article from the Wheeling Register, dated July 8, 1891. Unfortunately, the 'cyclops' in question was not found in West Virginia, but in Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts, on the property of actor, Joseph Jefferson. Apparently, Jefferson had recently purchased the property as a summer residence, and when doing some alterations, found it necessary to remove a sand hill. Inside this apparent burial mound was a large skeleton, which crumbled to dust when the workmen tried to move it. Fortunately, the skull of the taller than average skeleton remained intact and was brought to Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson was astonished to find that the skull did not have two eye sockets...but rather one large eye socket in the middle of its forehead, and thus concluded he now owned the skull of cyclops. Although he encouraged men of science to offer an explanation, Mr. Jefferson, being an actor, apparently was more excited over using the skull in an upcoming production of Hamlet than finding a scientific explanation for its existence. You can read the article in its entirety down below. Happy Weird Wednesday!
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