I receive good questions emailed to me via my lorencoleman.com website’s contact form.

For example, a Japanese reader asked today about an interesting subject, which I will label as the Red Elephants of New Guinea:

Hello, I enjoyed reading your website. Thank you.

I have read a Japanese book about cryptozoology by Mr. Tatsuo Saneyoshi. In the book the author mentioned red elephants that were sighted in the Nassau Mountains, Indonesia by two American Navy pilots on June 15, 1952.

Mr. Tatsuo Saneyoshi is a well-known cryptozoologist in Japan. In his book he also states that those pilots who sighted the red elephants discovered a huge canyon, much like Grand Canyon in the U.S., at the same time they saw the elephants. It has been confirmed in 1955 that the canyon existed, but no one has seen the elephants since.

The author mentions that Dr. Lawrence at University of Massachusetts commented regarding the event stating the pilots probably saw other mammals that resembled elephants, and the red color is probably either dust or the reflection of the sun light. But Mr. Saneyoshi argues that there are no mammals that resemble elephants in New Guinea in Indonesia.

The author says that there are no known fossils of ancient elephants in New Guinea, but there are many found in nearby Java, including Stegodon. He theorizes the possibility of ancient elephants crossing the ocean long ago and surviving to this day, unseen by humans.

I was trying to find any information about [the U.S. Navy pilots sighting] in English but [have had] no luck yet. Do you know anything about it?Shunsuke Yokota

This one is a new mystery to me.

I realize there are reports of huge “prehistoric” elephants from the hidden valleys of Nepal, which may be related to these stories. However, the description of those elephants being “red” is not part of the Nepalese reports. The general consensus is that the Nepalese stories are being caused by old male Indian elephants being misidentified as “prehistoric” or Stegodon.

In east Africa, especially in the Tsavo of Kenya, “red elephants” are known and often photographed. The reddish color is due to the red earth stuck to the sides and backs of known African elephants who have rubbed it on themselves. However, there is nothing cryptozoological about those red elephants.

Therefore, I call on the readers of Cryptomundo: Have you heard of any sources in English or other languages discussing the Red Elephants of New Guinea, Indonesia?