Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman

Satyrs

Want to talk about a weird creature for Halloween? How about the really bizarre ones – the Goatmen, Hoofed Horrors, and other strange beasties that seem to have their legs on backwards and appear to have rigid feet? Is there another form of "Bigfoot" out there? One hominologist appears to think so, and a filmmaker has passed along new "old" stories for me, for us to ponder. Goatmen stories have been heard about in cryptid circles from such high profile locations as Maryland-Virginia, near Washington D. C. And, no, people weren’t talking about the politicians. Thirty years ago, I was [...]

Pondering OOP Dolphins and Manatees

What is to be made of the recent reports of river-dwelling manatees and now a dolphin? Have some of these known species been misidentified as cryptids in the past? Well, yes, they probably have been. First, let me share a mention of the newest account. Reporter Elizabeth Ratto of the Boston Globe writes that a “common dolphin” was sighted on Friday, October 27, 2006: …swimming in the Fore River, just outside the Braintree Yacht Club, until it exited Boston Harbor with high tide around 3 p.m., according to Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium. The aquarium was alerted [...]

Keel Rehabs

John Keel was supposed to be moved on October 23 from the hospital, but didn’t get transferred to rehab until the 25th. He is receiving his cards and letters. His recovery from his heart attack that apparently occurred on Friday the 13th seems to be slow but nothing out of the ordinary. Here’s some more news from Doug Skinner: Greetings, Keel fans. I’m a friend of John’s. He’s recuperating nicely. He’s undergoing some physical therapy after his cardiac surgery, which is routine. He’s expected to be back home in a couple of weeks. I visited him yesterday, and brought him [...]

Coming Soon: Cryptid

The above image of the Cryptid movie poster may be clicked to see a larger version. Remember the "Cryptid" comic book? Now there’s going to be a movie. According to the IMDb: Gruesome murders of South African farmers spur reports of a possible "cryptid" – a creature previously discovered by science. The worldwide news coverage of the gruesome murder attracts an international team of scientists to the remote area which is considered by some to be the "cradle of civilization". Cryptid Monster Full Cast and Crew for Cryptid (2006) Directed by Darrell Michael Writing credits (in alphabetical order) James Drydon [...]

Rich Dolan Comments On “Mothman”

As a comment to my review of the “Sci-Fi Investigates” program, one of the program’s four investigators, Richard Dolan, sent in a comment to my blog. I wish to bring his insights to a higher level of blog-awareness by posting it separately today. Richard M. Dolan Hello everyone, I’d like to extend my greetings to everyone and just say that I often enjoy reading the entries in here. I agree with other commentators that the absence of John Keel on this show was very unfortunate, as was the absence of Loren Coleman. I asked the producers about getting Keel on [...]

Sci-Fi’s Mothman Non-Investigation

On October 26, 2006, "Sci-fi Investigates" broadcast their "Mothman" episode. While it had a few moments that are pure entertainment and certainly funny, it had little or nothing to do with "investigating" Mothman or unexplained phenomena. The program was a forensic failure. Eyewitnesses were interviewed, sites were visited, group discussions were recorded, and more eyewitnesses were interviewed. The archival footage was interesting, but the repeating images of the collapsed bridge and created Mothman-in-flight scenes were visibly boring after their third time through. Come on, did they run out of b-roll so quickly? Skepticism and Ridicule Are Not the Same Thing [...]

Memphis Manatee

Remember the Hudson River, New York sightings of a manatee named Tappie? Well, incredibly, near Memphis, the above pictured manatee has appeared in the city’s Mud Island Harbor. For more than four hours Monday [October 23, 2006], Memphis Police Harbor Patrol and officials with the Tennessee State Wildlife Resources Agency tracked the 6- to 8-foot-long, 1,000-pound mammal after they received a call about a strange creature in the harbor. "These old fishermen spotted it two days ago and called the zoo to report that they had seen a prehistoric animal, a Loch Ness monster or something," said Lt. Ed Vidulich [...]

Department of Cryptozoology

The Kansas City Star celebrates the opening of the traveling Bates exhibition with an article by John Shultz, in the October 25, 2006, edition: It evokes a hallway out of the X-Files, a parallel universe where government spending skews towards the arcane. At the end of the faux corridor, the very official-looking door for the Federal Wildlife Commission’s Department of Cryptozoology. It’s sandwiched, naturally, between the portals of the National Institute of Comparative Astrobiology and the Bureau for the Investigation of Paranormal Phenomena. The movie set of a hallway, inspired by a piece by artist Mark Dion, is among the [...]