Archive for the ‘cryptozoology’ category

Close Encounters!

March 27, 2009

lizard-man1

–A recent episode of MonsterQuest presented that “Violent encounters with strange beasts may be increasing.” A number of cases were presented in support of this contention.

In Yakima, Washington, a Bigfoot-like creature is reported to have kept pace with a car traveling at 35 mph; in addition to the reporter cited, Bigfoot was additionally seen by dozens in this area, including four policemen!

In Minnesota, a creature was hit by a car, and then shot at by two brothers (Talk about having a bad day!).  MonsterQuest investigated, seeking DNA from a bullet shot at the creature and lodged in a tree; no DNA was recovered.

In South Carolina, claw marks and puncture holes were found on a van which also had its bumper pulled out; testing suggested that 306 lbs. of force were required to do this to the bumper.  A lizard man was felt responsible, not the heavily-tattooed sideshow gentleman, but rather a bipedal creature 7-8 feet tall  with big red eyes and three fingers on each hand.  Blood samples taken from the vehicle were at first found to be contaminated, later testing as from a domestic dog.

The same episode reported an Indiana hunter sighting a gray, strongly-built ape-man like creature with a massive chest who showed his teeth.  Polygraph testing (87%-95% accurate) showed that this observer was “non-deceptive.”

A commentator speculated that more violent interactions with strange unidentified creatures are likely to occur in the years ahead, possibly resulting in a death…

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(…and thank you, most excellent readers,  for enabling this blog to reach the 25,000 hits mark!–Woo-hoo!)  😉

Devils in New Jersey

February 26, 2009

jersey-devil–There’s a special place in my heart for the Jersey Devil, having resided in New Jersey for years in the past.  I never liked portrayals of the Jersey Devil that were on the comical side, however, for he’s an awesome cryptid.

A recent episode of MonsterQuest gave the Devil his due, portraying him with proper respect.  This blog has featured both the Jersey Devil and the Montauk Monster in the past, and I don’t want to repeat what I’ve already covered.  Suffice it to say that the Jersey Devil has a rich and far-reaching history extending back around 250 years to the 13th child of a legendary Mother Leeds, who when pregnant with that child cursed him, saying “Let him be a devil!”–Well, be careful what ‘ya wish for, ’cause ‘ya may get it, right?  Not only was the 13th child a devil, but in some variants of the story, he consumed his mother and siblings before ascending up the chimney.– He’ll never get any presents on Xmas or  his birthday, but ‘ya gotta love the guy!

Now descriptions of the Jersey Devil vary, but in many accounts he’s described as a winged, horse-like creature with a long neck, red eyes, and a serpentine tail.  There have been many sighting of the creature over time, especially in the large, Pine Barrens region of southern New Jersey; in the early 20th century, significant numbers of people reported sightings, causing hysteria.  More recent cases include one in 1997 where a mother and child were outdoors and saw the creature in a tree, barely making it indoors before the beast landed on their roof and left footprints that couldn’t be identified as those of any known species.

The Jersey Devil should not be confused with the Montauk Monster, which is now thought to have been a decomposing canine (most likely a Boxer) that washed up on a beach.  The Montauk Monster briefly caused a stir when photos of  something weird and disgusting surfaced amidst rumors that it had been produced by the nearby Plum Island facility, reputed to be creating biological weapons for deployment against the Russians during the Cold War era (much like myself).

MonsterQuest presented alternative explanations for the Jersey Devil, including that it is actually a misidentified Great Horned Owl, or perhaps an African Hammerhead Bat.  For that matter, the Jersey Devils are also a professional hockey team in that state, and  far too many people in Jersey drive like bats out of hell…but I digress.

While MonsterQuest investigations in the Pine Barrens yielded nothing, eyewitness descriptions allowed creation of an awesome sculpture of the Devil which the 1997 observers said was much like what they saw; those same eyewitnesses also passed polygraph tests, indicating that they were telling the truth about what they thought they saw…and as it was said, it’s “Possible something is out there that could remain hidden for a significant time.”

or at least, one can hope!


The Late Nessie?

February 22, 2009

rines-image-1972–MonsterQuest debuted for a new season this February with an episode on the possible demise of the Loch Ness Monster. Sightings of Nessie have diminished in recent years, leading to speculation by some that the great cryptid may be no more.

Robert Rines is a long-term Nessie researcher who had a sighting of Nessie in 1972, and has made searching for the elusive beast part of his life since then.  Rines is no whack  job and no slouch in the brains department, having a number of college degrees, including some in physics.  Rines used sonar and other technologies in his investigations, capturing the attached image in the 1970’s.

Now in his 80’s, Rines felt that there may have been two or more cryptids in Loch Ness in the 1970’s, but that the creature’s remains now reside in the murky depths.  His possibly final visit to the Loch with the MonsterQuest crew failed to reveal Nessie, living or dead.

Believers can point to a 2007 video of moving objects below the surface of  Loch Ness, however, as hope that Nessie is still with us…

The Swamp Stalker of Boggy Creek…

February 20, 2009

boggy-creek-monster–Known as The Swamp Stalker of Boggy Creek or The Boggy Creek Monster, this cryptid is reportedly a large, black-haired, barrel-chested creature who walks upright and stands about 7′ high.  He was the subject of a 1972 movie titled, The Legend of Boggy Creek.

Recently profiled on MonsterQuest, sightings of The Swamp Stalker have come from Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, especially the town of Fouke in Arkansas.  Sightings intensified in the late 20th century.  A theory is that The Stalker may simply be a misidentified black bear, although some of the sightings have come from areas not indigenous to black bears.

MonsterQuest set camera traps with 360 degree lenses which yielded only images of known animal species and a few human hunters.  A large old scat sample (feces) turned out upon analysis to be from a wild boar.

And so as with many similar cryptid creatures, the existence of The Swamp Stalker of Boggy Creek “remains undocumented…”


The Kraken

February 6, 2009

kraken –The Kraken of legend is probably what we know today as the giant squid.  A really big octopus might also fit the bill, but squids tend to be more aggressive and are more likely to come to the surface where they might be seen by man.  In days of yore when ocean-crossing vessels were small and primitive by today’s standards (Columbus’ Pinta was only 60 feet in length), a giant squid could conceivably attack a boat and capsize it.  In the 1930’s alone, giant squid reportedly attacked three ships, possibly mistaking them for whales.  The squids tended to get the worse of these encounters, with boat propellers making the big cephalopods into calamari.

Tales of huge, many-armed sea creatures exist from ancient times, figuring in Greek legends and stories from 12th century Norway.  Krakem have also made numerous appearances in fictional works and popular culture, including films, books, television, and video games…

The Monster of Whitehall

January 1, 2009

sasquatch–Whitehall, New York has a history of sightings of Bigfoot-like creatures extending from Indian lore to as recently as 2006. This small town on the eastern edge of New York’s Adirondack Mountain Preserve has long been consider a “hotbed” of  Eastern North American Bigfoot activity.  As described by MonsterQuest, the Monster of Whitehall is a sasquatch-like creature that stands up to eight feet tall, and makes a sound like a  woman screaming.  Several police officers reported a Bigfoot sighting in 1976, and the original officers have recently passed polygraph tests.

Sasquatch field researchers tend to be a motley collection of paranormal buffs, mystery chasers, do-it-yourself  data collectors, and the occasional hard scientist.  But if you’re planning a Bigfoot hunting expedition in Whitehall,  you’re out of luck as the village board has approved a resolution that makes it illegal to hunt the elusive creature…

The Yowie

December 19, 2008

yowie–Not to be confused with Howie Mandel, a Yowie is an unidentified hominid reputed to lurk in the Australian wilderness of Queensland.  This cryptid is similar to the North American Bigfoot and the Himalayan Yeti.

The creature, said to be a cross between a human and an ape with big red eyes, large canine teeth, and fangs emerges at night to eat whatever it can, including humans.  Grainy, blurry photo and video exists of the beast, including a video from  May of 2007.

Reports of Yowie-type creatures are common in the legends and stories of Australian Aboriginal tribes.   There were a wealth in sightings in the mid to late 19th Century, with reports having continued to the present day…

Bigfoot Hoax Aftermath…

November 2, 2008

–In August you may remember that the world of cryptozoology was briefly in an uproar over a supposed Bigfoot carcass held by two Georgians in a freezer.  The alleged Bigfoot was found to be a rubber suit just as soon as the ice was thawed, although suspicions about the authenticity of the find existed from the beginning.

Remarkable was the fact that one of the two individuals with the “find” was a police officer.  Not surprisingly, that individual has since lost his job since police officers are expected to be, well, truthful. The ex-officer apparently saw his role in the fiasco as that of an entertainer, and he did not regard his misrepresentation seriously as he did not swear to be telling the truth…


(–Many thanks to my awesome readers for giving this blog more than 15,000 hits to date!) 😀

“Sanctuary” Shows Promise

October 5, 2008

–The show Sanctuary debuted on October 3rd on the SciFi channel.  Previously seen only in “webisodes,” the show centers on 157-year-old psychiatrist Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), who seeks to track down, study, and protect the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world and live among us.  One of them is, yes, Bigfoot; there is also a young boy with a kind of tentacle attached to his chest.

Elements of this theme have been seen before in such shows, comics, and movies as The X-Files, Men in Black, HellBoy, X-Men, and others.  Reviews have been mixed and are frequently negative, but the show seems to show promise; you may either love it or hate it.

Dr. Magnus is on a mission to finish the work of her father and unlock the secrets behind human evolution using a unique combination of science, medicine, and her own knowledge of the supernatural.  If you enjoy such things and similar considerations often raised in this blog, Sanctuary may be worth a look.  Airing regularly on Fridays on SciFi at 9:00 or 10:00 pm…

The Waheela

October 1, 2008

–The Waheela is a gigantic, wolf-like beast that has inhabited Indian legends in the remote Nahanni Valley in the northwest territories of Canada.  Described as looking like a wolf on steroids, the Waheela stands 3-1/2 feet at the shoulder despite having shorter legs than a wolf; its height accordingly comes from its massive body.  The largest wolf ever recorded stood 3’2″ at the shoulder.

The Waheela is attributed with supernatural powers, and is felt to be responsible for mysterious deaths in the Nahanni Valley, also known as “The Headless Valley as those who died there under unknown circumstances lost their heads.

The Waheela may be a kind of prehistoric bear-dog.  It would be interesting to get one of them after Sarah Palin, who has shot hundreds of wolves…