Case file · Cryptid
Cardiff Giant
A 10-foot 'petrified man' unearthed in New York.
1869 CE · 42.98, -75.86 · status: hoax
The sceptical view
A carved gypsum statue buried as a deliberate hoax — one of America's most famous.
The researched reading
One of the most famous hoaxes in American history. The “giant” was a gypsum carving.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A hoax or fabrication | 96% | George Hull commissioned the 10-foot gypsum statue and buried it in 1868 to mock literal belief in biblical giants; he confessed in 1869. |
| A cultural story | 1% | Genesis giants made the public ready to believe. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 1% | Belief helped sustain the hoax. |
| Something known, misidentified | 1% | The statue was a statue. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | No evidence. |
| An unknown or out-of-place animal | 0% | Not applicable. |
Official position: Confessed hoax.