Eyewitness Accounts

Ponik Needs Your Love

In The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep (NY: Tarcher/Penguin, 2003), I wrote that the aquatic cryptids seen in Lac Pohénégamook are “supposedly” some of “the ugliest-headed monsters around.” But “ugly” does not translate into disrespect or unloved in my book, and perhaps it is time to send the Poniks a little more love than usual. For centuries people in Scotland have talked about a monster lurking in Loch Ness, called “Nessy.” It turns out, just a few hours away from Bangor there is talk of a similar creature named “Ponik.” Natives [...]

The Curious Case of Mr. Holmes and the Mystery Ape

“Perhaps when a man has special knowledge and special powers like my own, it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation when a simpler one is at hand.” ~ Sherlock Holmes, in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange. The serial melodrama apparently continues. To tell you the truth, when I read the headline to the story late last night (November 18, 2007), “Bear trap set for mysterious ape,” I chuckled to myself. I immediately thought: “Dang, someone’s decided to finally attempt to catch Jacobs mangy bear.” But I read on, and was more startled than enlightened by what I [...]

Watch the Skies! Here Comes Birdzilla!

Get ready. They are coming. Not by land or sea, but by the airwaves. The invasion has begun. They are here! Have you noticed that when the thoughtful pieces on cryptozoology turn up, the segments are populated by “friends of the family,” commenting on the subjects under discussion? Have you also noticed the manufactured tension in these appearances? Often the media naturally sets up the “good cop, bad cop” scenario for their stories, and you should expect to see it again this week (if not on the History Channel, certainly in the stories done in the wake of “Birdzilla”). How [...]

Barta: Ethnoknown Viper Discovered

According to cryptozoologist Chad Arment, an apparently previously ethnoknown cryptid viper has been discovered. The barta, a feared snake, is well-known to the indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh. Arment points out that the alleged “suicide” (see below) is probably a misunderstanding of behavior. Protobothrops jerdoni is a known viper from India and Southeast Asia that may be related to the newly found snake. The following report is dateline Itanagar, India: A deadly hiss has emanated from the country’s easternmost state, Arunachal Pradesh. A three-member team discovered what could be a new species of pit viper snake, from the remote Sango [...]

Devil’s Lake and Black Mystery Cats Sighted

Sightings of Mystery Cats occur frequently. This last week saw continued activity around Devil’s Lake, North Dakota (apparently tan-colored) and in the Lambton area of Ontario (melanistic). The road out to the Cove, Lakeside Restaurant and Woodland Resort was deserted on Wednesday afternoon [November 14, 2007], no mountain lions in sight. Mary Jane Stubbe of Devils Lake was returning to her home near The Cove Lakeside Restaurant recently when she spotted a mountain lion, or a cougar as some call it. She claims to have seen the reclusive animal at the Cove road about a half-mile from Highway 19 close [...]