Man Stumbles Upon Human-Like Skeleton on Beach, Sparks Theories

A couple walking the shores of Southern Sardinia were stunned to stumble on what appeared to be a human skeleton near the beaches of Nora.

Ty Sembrat was hiking around the coast with his girlfriend when they ventured toward a rocky overhang near the water. There they stumbled on the strange skeletal remains that looked almost human.

"My reaction initially was, 'oh wow, this is super weird, it's bipedal almost like a human.' But in my mind, I was like, 'there is no way this could be human.' I was pretty stunned," Sembrat told Newsweek.

Taken aback by the strange find, Sembrat shared a picture of the bones with his friends and with the internet on Reddit where people flooded him with theories and suggestions.

Forensic anthropologist Rita Faria told Newsweek: "The bones in the image are not human. But I can see how someone would be alarmed finding this on a beach!"

Faria works for Alecto Forensics, a U.K. based forensic provider that offers a range of services, including bone identification, to domestic and international law enforcement agencies, military forces, government and non-governmental organizations. Faria said while she could not identify the origin of the bones from Sembrat's picture, they were certainly not human.

"Pelvis is too narrow for human, I think. If you live somewhere with monkeys it may be that? Or maybe a small bear?" suggested Redditor gentlybeepingheart.

While Deep_Fun_7550 said: "It's got similar proportions to a raccoon."

MikeTV3708 suggested it could even be a rare mammal: "I'm guessing it's a young Marsican perhaps. Which is incredibly unfortunate since there are so few of them left in the wild."

But with no real consensus, the mystery of the strange bones remains. "Looks like there is still no consensus and I remain more confused than before," said Redditor snamuh.

"I shared to Reddit because I genuinely had no idea," said Sembrat. "The responses shocked me because although bear was mentioned, there were so many different guesses so it was very interesting to see people shared my shock at the sight of this mystery skeleton."

This isn't the first time unusual bones have been found on the shoreline. In 2023, beach cleaners on a U.K. beach stumbled on what was thought to be a centuries-old shipwreck victim.

On Sennen Cove, located in the southwestern coastal countryside of Cornwall, a human skull was uncovered. Soon, the Cornwall Archaeological Unit stepped in to expertly excavate the remains for further investigation.