Every year I watch to see what is the first cryptid sighting that is mentioned in the media and what is the actual first cryptid encounter. Take for instance 2000. On January 2nd, news services reported that in the rural Malaysian village of Kampung Chennah, durian farmer Liong Chong Shen, 50, smelling a strong odor and hearing a grunt, turned to see two mystery ape-like animals covered in long, shiny, black and brown hair. The mawas (as they are locally called) stared at the startled farmer, and walked back into the nearby rainforest. As fate would have it, this 2000 [...]
Maine’s Mystery Beast Banner
The Maine Mystery Beast banner remains safely in the Pine Tree State! Rogier van Bakel, his wife Debbie, and their two delightful daughters (one shown above) came by over this Christmas weekend to drop off the unique Paul Szauter sideshow art, entitled the Maine’s Mystery Beast banner. Van Bakel is a well-traveled, well-spoken journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. We had a good talk about all matters of cryptozoology and Forteana, and I showed them some of the items around my in-house museum. Of [...]
The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006
The Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories of 2006 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoology A to Z 1. Darlings of Cryptozoology Videotaped: Coelacanth and Giant Squid 2. Lost Worlds Revealed 3. New European Mammal and Others Discovered 4. Discoveries Debated: Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Kouprey 5. Africa Explored: Mokele-mbembe Quest, Gambia Expedition, and SEALs’ Secret Mission 6. Lake Monsters Photographed: Champ and Nahuelito 7. Canid Capered: Maine Mutant, Montana Creature, and Nebraska Cryptid 8. Cryptids Televised: Mothman, Monsters, and More 9. Thylacine Remembered: Steve Irwin’s Search, New Photo, and National Thylacine Day 10. Cryptozoology and Art Exhibited: A First ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. Darlings of Cryptozoology [...]
2006’s Passings of Cryptozoologists and Others
Who Did We Lose This Year? by Loren Coleman, author of the biography, Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology. The following is a roundup of 25 notable people linked to cryptozoology, cryptids, Bigfoot studies, aligned fields, and cryptocinema who died in 2006. Death is a milestone. This gathering is given out-of-respect and in celebration of the significant lives of these people who have passed before us. It is chronological and begins with an ordinary man unknown to but a few, is followed quickly by a bona fide cryptozoology celebrity, and ends with a writer of whose art inspired many [...]
The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2006
The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2006 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist Author, Cryptozoology A to Z, Bigfoot!, and Tom Slick It is time for the annual top picks for the best cryptozoology books of 2006, with attention to each book’s individual achievements noted in recognition of its unique niche within the cryptozoological literature this year. Since 2000, I have published my annual "best of lists" in cryptozoology. Last year’s list of the best non-fiction books can be found here. For more information on each book picked below, please click on its hyperlinked name. Congratulations to the authors, editors, and publishers. Readers, [...]
Who Coined “Skunk Ape”?
Just as I was curious about who coined “blobsquatch,” I’ve been wondering if there’s a clear history to who invented another term in our field. Who coined the phrase “Skunk Ape”? If you work your way over to the “Skunk Ape” entry at Wikipedia, you will find a simple answer that someone added there to that question. It is presented, as a fact, under the first subsection entitled simply Name. The following single sentence is given: The term “skunk-ape” was coined by David Shealy who heads the Skunk-Ape Research Headquarters in Ochopee, Florida. I’ve known the term “Skunk Ape” has [...]
CZ 2006 Lists Begin Roundup
Cryptozoology, in various overt and covert ways, is all over the news this last week in November 2006, as people appear to be getting a headstart on their end of the year lists. Here’s a snappy overview of the first wave. First, a calm and quiet honor you may have missed. Stanley Newman is the editor of the Newsday Crossword and author/editor of nearly 100 books on crosswords, word games and trivia. On November 29, 2006, Newman picked his: Word of the week: “cryptozoology.” It is the study of creatures whose existence is as yet unproved. Cryptozoological subjects include the [...]
The Short History of Blobsquatch

Ask yourself, is that image you are looking at a blobsquatch or not?
Three-Toes Revisited
St. Petersburg Times: Tony Signorini said that in 1946 or 1947 his boss saw a picture of dinosaur tracks in a National Geographic and said, "You know, we could have fun with this." Ted McLaren, St. Petersburg Times: Signorini’s tracks, using these 30-pound molds, created a sensation. A zoologist speculated they were left by a giant penguin. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Tony Signorini told the media in 1988 that it was all a hoax, and then recycled it as “news” again last summer. (I refused to post it here as “news” then for that reason.) The zoologist was Ivan T. Sanderson, and he [...]
Ozark Howler: Faux Cryptozoologie
During the last decade, several attempts have occurred to promote the "Ozark Howler" as a real cryptid. After the first round of efforts, I gathered the specifics of the story, discovered the identity of the original hoaxer, and submitted the overview of what happened in a draft manuscript written with Jerome Clark in 1998. The draft would eventually become a published book. A photograph of a real howler, the black howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) of South America. Photographer Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian. The editors at Simon and Schuster, deciding to delete about 25% of the content of the draft mostly due [...]
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