There’s nary a week that passes when, in some corner of Texas, someone isn’t getting up to something that we can only describe as “antics.” These stories capture our attention and imagination, and we explore them in Meanwhile, in Texas.

On May 21, security cameras at the Amarillo Zoo captured a mysterious figure wandering just outside the grounds around 1:25 a.m. Stumped, the city released an image on June 8, with a tongue-in-cheek request for help identifying what it’s calling the UAO (Unidentified Amarillo Object). We at Texas Monthly are more than happy to oblige! Here are some of our suggestions. 

  1. Ruckus, the Amarillo Sod Poodles mascot, on a drunken bender. (Side note: are the Sod Poodles not the best-named team in Minor League Baseball?)
  2. Hayden Pedigo, the Amarillo-raised musician and prankster, trying out a new art form.
  3. Ted Cruz’s miniature poodle, Snowflake, who finally broke free.
  4. The next Texas Democrat to run for statewide office, and this time, she’s gonna win.
  5. Another California transplant 🙄.
  6. It’s just a little smudge on the camera lens—calm down.
  7. Three nutrias in a trench coat.
  8. Sorry to inform you, but this is what Buc-ee actually looks like IRL.
  9. Something even more threatening and evil than critical race theory.
  10. Elon Musk.
  11. Please, please, please, let it be El Niño. We need him. It’s so dry here.
  12. The next evolution of the feral hog.
  13. Wait, is this what an NFT is?
  14. Ozymandias, with his new legs.
  15. A very welcome distraction from the rest of the Texas news cycle.
  16. Chupacabra, y’all. It’s obviously a chupacabra.