Media Appearances

New Mexico’s Bighoot

Ornimegalonyx oteroi Bighoot, the Flying Head by Mike Smith In the piney mountains and desert mesas of southcentral New Mexico, citizens of the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation still tell legends of an enormous and evil bird: Big Owl. The Jicarilla Apaches, along the state’s northern edge, also talk of Big Owl-near slickrock canyons and beneath the gray bluffs of their reservation-but in their stories Big Owl will often paralyze humans just by staring at them, and after doing so swallows them whole, just as smaller owls swallow mice. Mark A. Hall, noted cryptozoologist and author of Thunderbirds: America’s Living Legends [...]

When Lake Monsters Were Serpents

Serpent in Nevada Lake Mining Man Brings Strange Story to Goldfield. From the Savannah Bee. A report from Walker Lake states that a monster sea serpent has been seen at the northern end of the lake. Dan Cornelison, a mining man of good reputation for veracity, brought the story to Goldfield. Cornelison says that he and a companion named John McCorry sighted the reptile while fishing from a boat half a mile from the northern shore of the lake. The monster was then making its way toward the east shore of the lake. Cornelison says that at first sight he [...]

Devil’s Names and Lake Monsters

Women See Sea Serpent [at] Devil’s Lake, N.D., Campers Are Thrown Into Panic Over Discovery of Monster. Campers on the Chautauqua ground at Devil’s Lake, N.D., were thrown into consternation one night recently by the appearance of what is thought to be a sea serpent in Devil’s lake. Mrs. Edgar La Rue, wife of a prominent newspaper man; Mrs. F. Craig, wife of a banker of Leeds, N.D., and Mrs. Carr Cleveland, wife of a prominent business man of this city, were strolling along the beach when their attention was attracted by a great disturbance in the lake about a [...]

Back From Lake Champlain

Well, I’m back from Lake Champlain, having spent some good time there with the film crew from Nippon TV. I’ll write more about it later today, but merely wished to report in that while no images of Champ were recorded (the above fake is from a Burlington Free Press photo contest from last summer), I was surprised to discover they had earlier had 80-year-old Roy Mackal at the lake too. More later…

Bastien Beasties

Cartoonist Ted Bastien contributes a graphic view of tonight’s program. The cryptic comic crew is gathering for the show celebrating the new release of Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation’s Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures (NY: Paraview Pocket – Simon and Schuster, 2007)!

Department Deals with Dover Demon “Detectives”

Last night, Saturday, April 21, into the early morning of Sunday, April 22, 2007, I was on the “Dover Demon” radio special broadcast by “Spooky Southcast,” for two and a half hours. It was good to celebrate the exact anniversary of the Dover Demon sightings this way, and to join current investigators from the area, on the air. Of course, like some people who decided to go to the specific sites of the encounters, I would have enjoyed being on Farm Street in Dover last night, as well. But it sounds like some people went a bit overboard in their [...]