Early in 2004 there was much excitement in the media over the "discovery" in
England of what
appeared to be a baby dragon or dragon foetus preserved in formaldehyde in an ancient
glass jar: a pickled dragon. The discovery was made by David
Hart. He claimed that the strange object had been saved by his grandfather, a museum
curator, and had then gathered dust in the garage for twenty years.
After much media attention and further spinning of yarns, the pickled dragon was revealed
to be a hoax. The "creature" was actually a model created by Colin Shulver of Crawley
Creatures. It was made from silicon with latex wings and nylon claws and teeth.
The stunt was masterminded by Allistair Mitchell. Why? Publicity. Mitchell was having
trouble getting a publisher interested in his dragon-related fantasy novel. He thought
that the publicity might get him a publishing contract.
He was right. His novel is to be published under the penname
P.R.Moredun