Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman

Cryptid Cat: Maine Mystery Despite Fox Fur

This photograph was not published again with all the articles being run in New England (from Boston to Bangor) today on the results of the DNA sampling. Oakland — A scrap of hair and skin from a rock where an Oakland man reported seeing a mountain lion came from a fox, according to a state biologist. Still, the results of DNA testing on the sample neither prove nor disprove Oakland resident Kelvin Higgins’ assertion that he saw a mountain lion in his yard on a warm day in April, according to Keel Kemper, a state wildlife biologist. “There are a [...]

Bahia Photo Solved

Click on image for full size version. The cultural reality behind the above Bahia photograph has been solved, I feel, quite correctly, via new information from a Brazilian, Mori of Forgetomori. This is especially valid, as Mori has clearly shown a good comparison to the area and the practice resulting in what is seen above, in the following images. Mori wrote me tonight: “It’s just a local covered in mud. The “horns” are his hair.” Mori has noted on the Forgetomori blog, in deeper details, the following solution: Coleman thinks it’s “intriguing, if not curiously prosaic”, and remarks that “anything [...]

Takahē Discoverer Dies

The Takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri ). Photo: New Zealand’s Mount Bruce Organization. Geoffrey Orbell (October 7, 1908 – August 15, 2007) was a doctor and keen tramper/bush walker best known for the rediscovery of the Takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri ) in 1948. The Takahē was widely thought to be extinct but Orbell suspected it might survive. While taking time off from his Invercargill practice to search for the Takahē, he discovered a set of unfamiliar footprints. After following the footprints with three companions he rediscovered the species on November 20, 1948, in a remote valley of the Murchison Mountains near Lake Te [...]

A Bridge Too Far…For Some

You never know where a bridge will take you. This is the Devil’s Elbow bridge in Oklahoma, along Route 66. Photo: legendsofamerica.com Whether you have thought my attention to the Mothman links has been wonderful or weird, most folks, let’s say, have had an opinion one way or another. A few have not understood why I would even be interested at all. Yes, additionally, I’ve received grief from a verbal few for exploring a couple breaking stories to highlight the fact that dwelling just beneath the surface of such news – whether in Minnesota or China – a wealth of [...]

Free Books At “Halloween At Hadlock”

This Friday, April 17, 2007, is “Halloween at Hadlock.” I will be appearing at the Portland Sea Dogs – the Red Sox AA game – with Dan Gordon, the co-author of Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends & Eerie Events (Lyons Press, 2007). Dan will be giving away five just-off-the-press editions of Haunted Baseball, and I will distribute five free copies of the 2007 edition of Mysterious America. We will be there to meet all kinds of folks, from baseball fans to ballpark Forteans. Friday, August 17, 2007 Doors Open at 5:30 PM Seadogs vs New Britain Game at 7:00 PM [...]

Fremont Lion Found Dead At School

When I was investigating mountain lion, puma, mystery cat, and black panther reports in the 1970s, many accounts from northern California were not believed. For example, in 1973, from Concord to Danville, California, people reported seeing a black panther. (Source: Vallejo Times-Herald, March 5, 1973.) I guess times have changed in those neck of the woods. A Fremont Unified School District employee received a very unusual greeting at work in Fremont, [California] Monday [August 13, 2007]: a dead 80-100-pound mountain lion sprawled in front of an elementary school parking lot. The animal appeared to have been struck by a vehicle [...]

Fenghuang: Mothman in China?

Monday afternoon, August 13, 2007, a bridge fell in Fenghuang, China. Early reports are of over 30 killed, 46 missing, and 86 saved. (Update, August 15: The death toll is 36 with 23 missing.) You must look closely at the photographs above and below to see the humans and their recovery equipment; the bridge collapse was massive. Our sympathies to the families and victims. Unknown to the mainstream English-speaking journalists who are reporting this breaking news, you will want to know that the name of the Chinese location is heavily tied into myth, legend, and folklore concerning a special cryptid [...]

Giant New England Devil Fish Found

Wire services are spreading the news worldwide of an unusual weekend find near Boston, a giant manta ray. Salem’s sea monster is really a manta ray Experts thought they were being fed a whopper of a fish tale – but when they got to Salem they were astounded to find locals had netted a giant monster from the deep. Marine biologists from the New England Aquarium were stunned when they set eyes on the corpse of a giant Atlantic manta ray, weighing more than 600 pounds and boasting an 11-foot wing span. Locals saw the sea beast’s lifeless body floating [...]

More On Lakota Thunderbirds

Following up on the current report of Thunderbirds or Mothmen from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation mentioned yesterday, I wanted to share this map of the location of the sightings. The Lakota and Dakota have stylization their representations of Thunderbirds for hundreds of years. How some of these have come into white culture is as subtle as these designs published in Boy’s Life a few decades ago. Boy’s Life, the Boy Scout magazine, used to have a monthly column from “Whittlin’ Jim” (1946-1991), and this is an example of one of his “slides of the day.” All were without copyright.

Cryptotourism Ideas

Go and Get Monstered What do you do with your little monsters this summer holiday? Take them to meet some of their relatives! Robin Gauldie goes in pursuit of monsters and other weird creatures…  Netting Nessie No monster hunt would be complete without a visit to Scotland’s Loch Ness. You can take your little darlings on a two-hour trip across the loch with Jacobite Cruises for £12 each (01463 233999, www.jacobite.co.uk). Rival “research vessel” Nessie Hunter (01456 450 395; www.lochness- cruises.com) does similar cruises for £10. You can stay in a two-bed lodge at the Great Glen Water Park with [...]