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The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2007

The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2007 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoology A to Z, Bigfoot!, and Tom Slick It is time for my annual top picks for the best cryptozoology books of 2007, with attention to each book’s individual achievements noted in recognition of its unique niche within the cryptozoological literature for this year. Since 2000, I have published my annual “best of lists” in cryptozoology, regarding books, events, and people. Please visit the list for the top books of 2006, for example. Each year has been different, and 2007 is unique, as well. In 2007, there was a good crop [...]

Year Ends With Zoos in News

Goodbye to Nonja. The final days of December seem an appropriate time to talk about death, a metaphor for an internal feeling of the artificial human construction of a year ending. Death drives the mainstream news. How can we extract something useful out of all of this? This year thoughts of death have occupied many due to the assassination of Bhutto in Pakistan, of course, and also because of the deaths of two unfortunate victims, Carl Sousa Jr. and the Siberian tiger Tatiana, both at the San Francisco Zoo on December 25, 2007. Zoos are in the news. Zoos are [...]

On the Track of the Kumbway

John-Mark Sheppard (above, right), writing from Liberia, shares the following information about another armored cryptid as yet unrecorded in the cryptozoology literature. Although Sheppard speaks below in terms of the “reptilian” nature of this cryptid, the reported appearance of hairs might point to the mammalian origins for these reports, e.g. Pholidota: the pangolins (shown in the two images below). However, such an answer does not address all the issues raised by the descriptions given of the Kumbway. John-Mark’s report follows: There is a Liberian cryptid known in the Mende language as Kumbway. This reptilian creature is less widely known than [...]

Men in Cryptozoology: John-Mark Sheppard

John-Mark Sheppard (above) is the young man who is supplying cryptozoology with new insights about cryptids being reported in Liberia, e.g. the Gbahali and the Kumbway. In response to reader requests for more about the person collecting the reports, I asked him to share some insights about himself. Here is John-Mark Sheppard’s personal profile: I am an American, 25 years old, single. I first came out to Liberia with my parents in 1986, and have spent most of my life between Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire. For the most part I have lived in rural areas of West Africa. I can [...]

Water Horse: A Well-Told Fantasy

In his December 30, 2007 column, Maine film critic Marty Meltz gives three and a half stars out a possible four to the new movie about the Loch Ness Monster. Here are the highlights from that review: In this, my farewell column for the Maine Sunday Telegram at the end of 30 years, it is gratifying that destiny has led me to review a superlative film like “The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.” Lovers of “E.T.,” “Free Willy” and “King Kong” will love this wonderful family fantasy film. Over the first half, it presents itself as simply a well-constructed [...]

Desi Pondering: SF’s Tiger Event

One of the most important components to living, to me, is to always be open to learning new information, new things about the mundane and the extraordinary, and to understand how the new interacts with the old. As I read it, the mystery of how the tiger escaped from the grotto at the San Francisco Zoo remains. The riddle of why the two Indian brothers were there and what they were doing continues. Part of what has been an enigma is the role of the humans involved. But who are these individuals? As it turns out, the three men involved [...]

Pterodactyl Causes Car Crash

The Pteranodon replica produced by the Papo company of France. Giant flying reptiles, believe it or not, have routinely been sighted in the Olympic National Park’s rainforest in Washington State. I’ve been hearing about reports from there for decades. Now comes an intriguing, if unbelievable, account from the same area. First, here are some quick footnotes about pterodactyls vs pterosaurs vs pteranodons, which the media creatively confuse. No telling what this person really saw. Pterodactyls are any of various small, extinct flying reptiles (pterosaurs) of the genus Pterodactylus of the late Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Pterodactyls had long, narrow jaws [...]

Mystery Birds in Annual Christmas Counts

This is the time of year throughout North America when birders take their annual “Christmas counts.” This involves identifying and counting what bird species birders and casual observers have seen in their area. Besides the various extremely large avian cryptids that avoid detention by having small numbers, being ignored, flying too high, hiding, and remaining in remote locations, mystery birds do turn up. You have to read Christmas counts closely to find them, but they are there. Most are eventually seen as identified species that have turned up in out-of-place sites. For example, on December 29, 2007, Mike Jacobs of [...]

Top Cryptozoology Stories Picked as Best of the Best

In today’s Washington City Paper, columnist Mark Athitakis has picked his “The Best of the Best,” which are his “top ten favorite best-of-the-year lists” for 2007. His # 6 is noted as: Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories (Cryptomundo)