Eyewitness Accounts

Thundergoose

Do extraordinarily large geese exist? Is there a Thundergoose out there? Sure, you are going to find a history of photographic hoaxes, such as the old postcard pictured above, with real people pictured on top of big geese, but I’m talking about an actual case of an oversized goose. This article was discovered by Robert Schneck (the author of The President’s Vampire: Strange-but-True Tales of the United States of America) and exclusively shared with Cryptomundo. Appreciation to Schneck for his contribution. Schneck humorously dubbed this critter “Thundergoose” in our email exchange, and that seems to be a fitting name. The [...]

Boss Snakes Observed

Attention to Chad Arment’s newest book, Boss Snakes: Stories and Sightings of Giant Snakes in North America will be worth your time. First, let’s start with the obvious. Big snakes do exist. But various cryptozoological questions remain: Are there unknown species? How big do they get? And where are they found? Fluffy, above, who is thought to be the longest captive snake in the world at 24 feet long, drew record fans (1.53 million) to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in 2007. The reticulated python is 15 years old and weighs 300 pounds. It will keep growing, and may live [...]

Rats! Or Not?

Remember the recent story of the discovery of a rat-eating pitcher plant? Do they or don’t they? Rats! Or not? It sure kicked up a few pro and con feelings about the whole issue. Some people wondered if pitcher plants can actually “eat” (i.e. dissolve and digest) rats? Despite scientific literature saying it happens, skeptics exist. Are the rats really mice? Interesting distracting question, sort of like, how many times a week do you beat your husband? How many rodents are eaten by your local neighborhood pitcher plants? Are rat-eating pitcher plants only found in Australia? Do rodents actually fall [...]

Bird Picks Up Boy

Why does that headline looks vaguely familiar? What may be inside of us, almost at a genetic level, that remembers such incidents? I’m not talking about the Lawndale, Illinois, case of Marlon Lowe being picked up by one of two large birds, then dropped. That took place in Logan County in April of 1977. Instead, I’m reminded of my sense that there is a new such event due, by reading about an earlier case, highlighted recently by anomalist Scott Maruna. Maruna posted his finding of a copy of an old article about a bird identified as an eagle picking up [...]

Nazis & The Search for Yeti

Heinrich Harrer in Tibet. I got to first thinking about Nazis, Tibet, and Yeti, three years ago, when I heard that famed mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, 93, died on January 7, 2005. The entire story does feel like it is straight out of Indiana Jones, of course. Movies are often a point of reference, needless to say. Harrer was portrayed by Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet, a 1997 movie based on Harrer’s 1953 nonfiction memoir with the same title. But sometimes the movies leave out the best parts. Harrer’s interest in what today we mostly know as the lore [...]