Mysterious Creepy Gnome

A "creepy gnome" was recently captured on film by teenagers in Argentina. The Sun reports:
Teenager Jose Alvarez - who filmed the gnome - yesterday told national newspaper El Tribuno that they caught the creature while larking about in their hometown of General Guemes, in the province of Salta, Argentina.
He said: “We were chatting about our last fishing trip. It was one in the morning.
“I began to film a bit with my mobile phone while the others were chatting and joking.
"Suddenly we heard something - a weird noise as if someone was throwing stones.
"We looked to one side and saw that the grass was moving. To begin with we thought it was a dog but when we saw this gnome-like figure begin to emerge we were really afraid."
Jose added that other locals had come forward to say they had spotted the gnome.
He said: “This is no joke. We are still afraid to go out - just like everyone else in the neighbourhood now.
"One of my friends was so scared after seeing that thing that we had to take him to the hospital.”

This smells like a prank to me. Kind of a like a smaller version of the Winsted Wild Man. Why did the teenager just happen to be filming with his mobile phone? He and his friends probably got a local dwarf to dress up in a pointy hat and hop sideways. Either that, or there's a little person down in Argentina who likes to scare people. (Thanks to Scott Lunsford for the link)

Gnomes

Posted on Tue Mar 11, 2008


Comments

:roll:
Scared of Gnomes?! Have these guys been torturing the lawn ornaments or something?
Posted by lea_petra  on  Tue Mar 11, 2008  at  05:23 PM
Perhaps it is El Pombero. An imp-like or gnome-like creature that is said to live in the forests of Argentina. I saw an episode of Destination Truth about it on SciFi. They never found anything of course, but when I read this post I immediately thought of it. Here is a link to the SciFi page about it...

http://scifipedia.scifi.com/index.php/El_Pombero

For some reason the illustration is of a bird. I believe that is because the Pombero is said to mimic animal noises, especially that of birds.
Posted by Jackie  on  Tue Mar 11, 2008  at  05:54 PM
Judge Floro should be advised of this. They may be relatives to his gnomes.
Posted by Transfrmr  on  Tue Mar 11, 2008  at  11:04 PM
its a a Hobya
Posted by PT  on  Tue Mar 11, 2008  at  11:18 PM
Video is pretty creepy to say the least....
Posted by Emidawg  on  Wed Mar 12, 2008  at  04:40 AM
You question why the teenager would "happen to be filming with his phone," but the truth is that a lot of teenagers film with their phones a lot. That's as in constantly, as in nothing too trivial to catch on film. That part, at least, doesn't surprise me much.
Posted by PlantPerson  on  Wed Mar 12, 2008  at  05:45 AM
With the pointy hat... I just can't take it seriously.
Posted by Crazy Ivan  on  Wed Mar 12, 2008  at  08:59 AM
Having spent some time in south America....anything is possible....!
Posted by patrick  on  Wed Mar 12, 2008  at  09:20 AM
Step 1: Collect Underpants
Step 2
Step 3: Profit!
Posted by Dan Sz.  on  Wed Mar 12, 2008  at  10:00 AM
Why do I get the feeling that this is another Travelocity viral ad...
Posted by Jake  on  Wed Mar 12, 2008  at  01:47 PM
What language are they speaking in?
Posted by KSho  on  Thu Mar 13, 2008  at  08:55 AM
It's too late at night for me to watch the vid, now...but why would these guys be afraid of a gnome. The picture alone doesn't look very big. I mean...couldn't they just kick it over??
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Mar 13, 2008  at  08:01 PM
Funny, similar story in 2002:
http://www.rense.com/general25/cooat.htm
Posted by Brun  on  Fri Mar 14, 2008  at  01:56 PM
It's hard to tell from that video how tall the gnome is, as there isn't much visible in the background to compare it to. So it might not even be a little person.
Posted by Antenora  on  Fri Mar 14, 2008  at  07:42 PM
The idea of gnomes having tall, pointed, hats comes from the 1976 book by Wil Huygen & Rien Poortvliet I believe. I do not know of any reference before that book describing gnomes with such hats. This, I think, indicates a prank either on the part of the kids or the person imitating the gnome.
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Sat Mar 15, 2008  at  08:48 PM
It moves like somebody "walking" sideways on his knees. Maybe he misses his left leg.
The pointy hat definetely suggests a hoax.
Posted by Robin  on  Sun Mar 16, 2008  at  10:40 AM
When we get the local dwarf to dress up in a pointy hat and hop sideways, we call it a Presidential news conference.
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Sun Mar 16, 2008  at  10:26 PM
This is definitely a joke-- the kids released a second take which is different and less convincing than the first one, shot the same night in the same location. It's a kid in a costume is what I think. It's just a kid walking sideways and getting to be part of the gang with the older kids.
Posted by me  on  Sun Apr 27, 2008  at  01:06 PM
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