Eyewitness Accounts

Brookline Gator Sighted

The following account signals that spring is finally here in North America. In Mysterious America, I noted that out-of-place alligators should to be tracked to keep such reports separate from Lake Monster reports. Over thirty years ago, reports of crocs could often indicate an extension of the reptile’s range or an escaped or released pet. But some few sightings hinted at breeding populations of alligators, such as near Decatur, Illinois, or Oakland, Michigan. (Yes, department of wildlife officials, they do “winter over.”) Very rarely, some “alligator” observations are indications of a cryptid in the area. Heightened awareness makes recording such [...]

Chilean Winged Wonder

Mr. Oscar Solar Valdebenito, married, a sergeant with the Carabineros, was performing his duties as a security guard in the Preventive Custody Center of the city of Angol on Friday, April 28, 2000. The facility was under construction at the time. Mr. Solar was alone and was making his rounds of the construction site’s interior. Once he returned to the guard shack on the southern side, using a passageway located in the back, he noticed the presence of an “animal” standing 1.20 meters tall, average complexion, with a small head in proportion to the rest of its body. The creature [...]

Lake Monster or Giant Snake?

Milwaukee [Wisconsin] Sentinel September 4, 1886 THE SEA MONSTER IN MICHIGAN. Charlotte, Mich., Sept. 2. – Charlotte is somewhat stirred up over the report that a genuine sea monster exists in the water of Narrow lake, ten miles south of this city. The monster, it is claimed by the habitués of that vicinity, raises itself out of the water on moonlight nights to a height of ten feet and then disappears. Its body is said to be about the size of a stovepipe and its head to resemble that of a serpent. A party is being organized for an investigation. [...]

Cape Cougar Back?

Cryptomundo field correspondent Evan Livada passes along the breaking news of the possible return of active cougar sightings from southern Maine. Taken seriously by local residents, the encounters are getting the typical skeptical official and media reaction. One has to wonder, since physical evidence has confirmed their presence in the past, then why the overtly debunking treatment again? Cougar, mountain lion, panther, puma, painter, catamount, and ghost cat are some of the names given to Puma concolor couguar. By any name, wildlife biologist, Scott Lindsay, of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Gray regional office, is doubtful such [...]

Cryptozoo Book With A Warning

Extreme Expedition: Travel Adventures Stalking the World’s Mystery Animals by Adam Davies (Anomalist Books) has been published. It contains a rare “warning label” not often seen on cryptozoological works. Davies, who is departing on a new Yeren expedition on April 28, 2008, is sharing with the world his most recent adventures. Does a dinosaur exist in the Congo? Does a Yeti-like creature live in the jungles of Sumatra? Does a fearsome Death Worm inhabit the deserts of Mongolia? Explorer Adam Davies has traveled some of the most dangerous places in the world in search of these and other supposedly mythical [...]

Devilish Melanistic Panthers

Relatively old-fashioned wildlife and outdoors reporters are few and far between today, and especially in big city papers. But San Francisco is lucky enough to have one: Tom Stienstra. Stienstra has a history of being open-minded enough to pen and tackle thoughtful pieces on Sasquatch, which seems reasonable concerning his location. He also appears to be very aware of the jet-black felids that are often seen in Marin County and around the East Bay area. One difference I do have with this reporter, however, is his unfortunate and incorrect use of the word “mythic.” “Myths” are wrongly used with cryptids. [...]

Kokako News

It is always good to update a year old story. The Kokako ~ the New Zealand version of the ivory-billed woodpecker intrigue ~ is back in the news. The Kokako has recently been in the newspapers again, with a new sighting of this contemporary cryptid. Alec Milne, an amateur ornithologist from Golden Bay, in the Nelson region at the top of the South Island, has reported to the New Zealand Department of Conservation that he has recently heard what he believes was the call of the South Island kokako at the head of the Cobb Valley in Kahurangi National Park, [...]