Cryptozoology

Minnesota Mystery Cat Captured

Sometimes cryptids are captured. Credit for video capture (no pun intended) from KSTP-TV. The recent sightings of a mystery cat in a Willmar, Minnesota neighborhood have resulted in the capture of a mountain lion, yesterday, on the first of February 2006. Surprise, surprise. It is a real animal. It was not a phantom or a figment of people’s imagination. The female mountain lion, puma, cougar, or whatever American moniker you want to use, officials say, weighs about 80 pounds and is believed to be 12 to 18 months old. But more importantly, the government line is reflected in the day [...]

Beast of Balbirnie

Tracks of a black leopard or melanistic panther in Scotland, at first dismissed by police as those of a St. Bernard dog, have been confirmed as a large feline’s. Scottish law enforcement authorities, on the evening of February 1st, released a statement noting they feel a black leopard (the size of a collie) is roaming near a Scottish town. As the Glasgow Herald is reporting in their February 2nd issue: A plaster cast of a paw print made following a sighting of the so-called “Beast of Balbirnie” in October [2005] has been studied by zoologists. The large, dark-coloured animal has [...]

Breaking News: Mokele-mbembe Sighted

Exclusive to Cryptomundo There’s some exciting news from the Milt Marcy Expedition, now in Africa, in pursuit of the Mokele-mbembe. Word via Bill Gibbons is that Milt Marcy just emailed from Cameroon. The expedition travelled far up the Dja River and spoke to witnesses that had observed a Mokele-mbembe only two days before. Paul Ohlin, who replaced Pastor Gene Thomas in 1992 in the northern Congo, saw a Mokele-mbembe only three weeks ago! Mokele-mbembe art courtesy of Bill Rebsamen. Click on image for a larger view. The brief dispatch ended with a promise, by the end of this week, of [...]

Kenneth McConnell, 54, Leader of 1996 Yeti Expedition, Dies

Having survived near-death experiences in the Himalayas, including the near loss of a companion while they searched for the Yeti in 1996, a world-class climber dies close to home. Scottish-born mountain climber Kenneth McConnell, 54, died, Saturday, January 28, 2006, when he fell from 4170 feet tall Mount Wellington, near Hobart in Tasmania. His father Kennedy said it was a tragedy because his son was climbing a “molehill” compared to Mt. Everest, which he had conquered, noting Kenneth had been to the Himalayas about 20 times. Kenneth McConnell often was the medical adviser on leading international climbing expeditions in the [...]

Great Bear Lake Monster

Scientific historian Will Bagley recently gave a lecture to Utah Humanities Council at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, on the the legend of the Bear Lake Monster and other aquatic creatures in Utah. The title of his January talk was “Does the Bear Lake Monster exist?” The Giant Beaver, illustration by Harry Trumbore. From The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep (Copyright 2003). Bagley mostly gave a chronological overview of the accounts, bringing to the fore, once again, the rich interwoven nature of the local history of the area with the reports [...]

Hoan Kiem’s Giant Turtle

In the midst of a very long article reviewing the eating establishments and the The Ho Chi Minh Museum of Hanoi, Vietnam, there’s a surprising update on the Old City’s most famous cryptid. Photograph of the Hoan Kiem Lake’s Giant Turtle. Credit Vietnam.net Here’s what we learn from Simon Busch, in the January 28th edition of London’s Financial Times: The turtle of Hoan Kiem Lake sounds terribly lonely. Such experts as there are on this most elusivecreature, Vietnam’s only slightly less fabulous version of the Loch Ness Monster, contend furiously over its likely age and its species – even its [...]