Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman

Cryptid Long-Tailed Wildcats

The “Long-Tailed Wildcat” trapped and killed on January 16, 1922, in the Tinicum Swamp, Pennsylvania. Archival photograph, Henry W. Shoemaker, via Chad Arment. Perhaps it would be good to take a bit of a look at the reports of long-tailed spotted and striped small mystery and not-so-mysterious cats, in light of yesterday’s mention of “Long-Tailed Bobcats.” The bobcat pictured above has a short tail, but the photo shows how an allusion is created by the image of the tail merging with a back leg. Puma, young. Are there any jaguarundis (Puma yaguarondi) in the mix? Cryptozoologist Chad Arment has reminded [...]

Seeking Searle: Nessie Hunter

Frank Searle and Lieve Peten For years I searched for Frank Searle, the Loch Ness Monster hunter. Finally, I found him, but it was too late, and instead, had to write an obituary, noting “Nessie Seeker Frank Searle (1921-2005) Dies.” Recently, repeats of a documentary The Man Who Captured Nessie, directed by Andrew Tullis and released on December 29, 2005, have been broadcast on Scottish television. While trying to relocate my obituary on Frank Searle, I have discovered it has disappeared from the Internet. So here, to revisit the legacy of this man, I republish my look at Searle, who [...]

Call For Cryptozoology Papers

The Association Belge d’Etude et de Protection des Animaux Rares (ABEPAR) asbl have organized its 8th Symposium at Engreux, to be held in The Ardenne, south of Belgium, on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th September 2008. The thema is “Mysterious Animals from Waters and Woods.” They have opened, for consideration, a call for papers of fifty-minute long presentations (maximum lecture + questions/answers) in English, but best in French if possible. (They will not be paying for your travel expenses, even for accepted speakers. You must find your way to Belgium. I would love to give a formal analysis of Bigfoot [...]

Davies Replies to Selma Film Critics

Adam Davies (above) in Mongolia. The following is the video of the “Seljord Serpent” or Selma, which was taken at Lake Seljord, Norway, credited to Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson. (Please click on image directly above for a larger sized version.) Extreme Expeditions’ Adam Davies replies to the comments, questions, and criticisms: Thank you to everyone who has commented on the Seljord Serpent footage so far. To answer a few basic questions: 1/ The footage is shaky because Andy was stood up in a boat when he took it. It’s shot on a hand held camera. We had hardly any [...]

Long-Tailed Bobcats?

In Amazing Indeed: Strange Events in the Black Forest Vol. 2, Robert R. Lyman, Sr., 1973, The Potter Enterprise, Coudersport, PA, on page 70, can be found this intriguing passage: Bobcats with Long Tails September 1951. Strange animals appear at times and no one can say for sure what they are. Such an animal was caught in a fox trap south of Wharton by Lynn Wycoff. Since it was an unusual specimen, Wykoff [name is rendered both ways in the article] decided to keep it alive. With the help of his father, he managed to free it from the trap [...]

Solomons Island: New Fossil Dolphin

It’s party time on Solomons Island. A new species of extinct dolphin is to be named in Calvert this week. The Solomons Island region is on the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland. Solomons Island, specifically, is on the north side of the mouth of Patuxent River, where it meets the Chesapeake Bay. (Solomons Island is not to be confused with the Solomon Islands, a nation in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands.) At 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Thursday, June 12, 2008, the Calvert Marine Museum (a typical exhibit is shown above) [...]

CFZ Almasty Expedition

A group of scientists from the UK based Centre for Fortean Zoology are set to travel to the Caucasus Mountains of the Southwest Russian republic of Karbadino Balkaria in search of what they are saying may be “mankind’s closest living relative ~ a hominid known as the almasty.” The three-week expedition is being filmed by October Films for UK Channel 4 television, and by the team themselves for a feature length documentary to be broadcast, for free, on their CFZtv multimedia website. Ukrainian biologist Grigory Panchenko, who has been on the track of the ape-like man for over 14 years, [...]

Cryptozoology Museum Internships

On June 1st, I launched a call for applications for one or two unpaid volunteers or interns, if you will, at the International Cryptozoology Museum, here as part of my home/office/musuem in Portland, Maine, for the summer of 2008. Here’s a reminder of that call: Are you an extremely well-organized person? Are you a happily obsessive compulsive person that can deal with a seasoned but not cranky cryptozoologist? Do you have a passion for cryptozoology? Would you enjoy filing Bigfoot reports, sorting through 45 years’ worth of boxes of old news accounts, correspondence, and contributed photos? Actually helping in moving [...]