NEWS OF THE WEIRD

This is what is swimming in the water at the Hamptons!

I'm not sure whether to believe that this creature actually exists, but it has been tagged the "Montauk monster."

Gawker first posted the photo on Tuesday saying they assume it was a phony since it came from Alanna Navitski who works for a viral-marketing firm.

Navitski, however, says the monster of Montauk is real. She got the photo from a friend of her sister's who actually saw the monster in real life.

"I saw the monster," said another witness, a waiter at a nearby restaurant, to New York magazine. "I just came walking down the beach and everyone was looking at it. No one knew what it was. It kind of looked like a dog, but it had this crazy-looking beak. I mean, I would freak out if something like that popped up next to me in the water."

In addition to its dog-like body and beak, the Montauk monster evidently has a strange elongated front paw.

Oh and to add even more beef to the stew, there's a government animal testing facility on Plum Island just off shore of the Hamptons.

What do you think? Is the Montauk monster real?