Giant footprints in the snow capped mountains of the Himalayas are those of the Yeti, aka the abominable snowman, the Indian army has revealed.

Over six million Twitter followers of the nation’s military were treated to photos of “mysterious footprints” which were claimed to be made by “this elusive snowman”.

The footprints, measuring 81 x 38 cm, were found by army personnel near the Makalu base camp in the Himalayas.

The ‘discovery’ was made on 9th April. The Times of India reported that the army had decided to keep the news of its “photographic evidence” under wraps until it had matched the prints with earlier theories.

The “evidence” of Yeti existence has now been handed over to “subject matter experts” for scientific evaluation.

Scientific studies have tended to view Yeti mythology as being based on real animals.

A DNA analysis of supposed Yeti samples – including hair, fur and faeces – published in 2017, concluded that they were left by a Himalayan and Tibetan subspecies of brown bear and an Asian black bear.

A more macabre finding of a “yeti finger” in Nepal in the 1950s was revealed by a genetic expert in 2011 to have been human. The latest findings are yet to point to anything identifiable.