Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman

Real Or Not, Coleman Frog Lives On

Nine-year-old Noah Blanchard looks upon the stuffed Coleman frog. Rob Blanchard/CanWest News Service.   The Coleman Frog was so-called because of its owner, Fred Coleman. The huge specimen is being mentioned again as a tourist attraction to view, if you happen to be visiting Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Tell me, would you want this artifact in your local museum? At 19 kilograms, the Coleman frog is a monster. Supposedly nurtured to its humongous size on a diet of whey and whisky in the 1800s, the stuffed beast occupies a place of honour in Fredericton’s York-Sunbury Museum, where it is a [...]

Beowulf Naked

What have they done to the saga of the misunderstood lonely neighborhood hairy forest giant and his cranky mom? Where has the Neandertaloid gone in this tale of a dying, soon-to-be extinct group of humanlike beings? Coming this November, Beowulf is re-invented for the screen beyond the epic remembrances many of us share of this legend. I really doubt the filmmakers have followed my line of thinking that Grendel was a surviving true giant, near Neandertal, or perhaps even a relict form of Homo heildelbergensis. Nevertheless, the film is made in a fashion that makes it appear similar to 300 [...]

TAPS ParaMagazine On The Move

TAPS ParaMagazine moved into new headquarters in Massachusetts, and the GateHouse News Service highlighted the relocation. The following are parts of that story, plus various sample cover pages from my recent “CryptoCorner” columns and feature articles. Note, the TAPS folks are also thinking about opening a museum in the future. Fall River- The slithery, emerald green ‘‘lady alien’’ android had a parrot on her shoulder and a purple sign in her hand that read: ‘‘Welcome to TAPS ParaMagazine. You are safe here.’’ The investigators and writers of TAPS, with more than 20 monthly issues on the paranormal in the can, [...]

How To Catch A Coelacanth

Indonesian fisherman Justinus Lahama holds up a rare coelacanth, an ancient fish once thought to have become extinct at the time of the dinosaurs. (Reuters) Scientists excited by Indonesian-caught coelacanth fish Two months ago Indonesian fisherman Justinus Lahama caught a rare coelacanth fish that has now lured an international team of scientists to investigate how he caught it. French experts equipped with sonar and GPS asked Mr Lahama to reconstruct in his dugout canoe, exactly what it was he did that enabled him to catch the coelacanth fish, an awkward-swimming species among the world’s oldest. Last May 19, Mr Lahama [...]

Photographed in Laos: Muntiacus vuquangensis

Large-antlered muntjak (Muntiacus vuquangensis) and unidentified poachers (below) in Nakai-Nam Theun National Protected Area, Laos. Copyright 2007 Nam Theun 2 Watershed Management and Protection Authority. Rare Jungle Deer Photographed For The First Time A camera trap has captured the first ever pictures of an elusive forest deer in its natural habitat, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The deer, called a large-antlered muntjak, was previously known only from specimens collected by hunters and a few brief glimpses by biologists. The species stands approximately 25-30 inches tall (65-80 cm) and weighs up to 110 pounds (50 kilograms). The photographs were taken [...]

This “Chupacabras” Is No Mystery

Frankly, I get so tired of these Texas (and other states’) “chupacabra” stories, that these annual versions of the Chupacabras have become non-mysteries. I figured my Cryptomundo-mate Craig would post on his home state’s latest, and he has here, a few moments ago. It’s hot, the season is right, and “they” have turned up for years now. This latest one looks like a coyote, perhaps a fox, with mange. Mange is a parasitic infestation of the skin caused by mites. Mange comes in two forms, red mange (not generally contagious) and sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious infestation [...]

Satyrs & Salt?

Courtesy of The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS) Satyr? A man’s body, naturally mummified within an ancient salt mine, was found in a salt mine outside the Iranian city of Zanjan. What’s going on here? This news out of Iran is now been linked to ancient tales of satyrs and salt. Stanford University’s Adrienne Mayor, a folklorist and friend to Cryptomundo, has previously suggested that satyrs were fakes, as she notes in The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times. Due to this specific find, Mayor may be changing her position: Obviously, satyrs are mythic creatures [but [...]