Answer:
Fantasy. Although the news media picked up on a story stating that
this was the case, the whole story was in fact an elaborate hoax
constructed by a Tampa Bay Comedy Team. John M. Bunch, Jr., and
David J. Bennet certainly managed to make fools of those in the
mass media with this one!
Source: Skeptical Enquirer, Vol 18, Fall 1994, pp. 453-454