Year In Review

Delphos Hyena

The following report recalls the historical stories of the Shunka Warak’in of Montana, as represented in the now missing taxidermy example above. Delphos, O., July 31. – Considerable excitement was created here yesterday when Isaac Good, who lives on the Noah Miller farm in Marion township, about a mile east of Delphos, came into town and reported that he had seen in the Pohlman woods, near the W. C. Baxter farm, between 8 and 9 a.m., a strange looking wild animal that had all the appearance of being a hyena. Mr. Good first saw the animal in the woods. It [...]

Boy Attacked by Strange Animal

Tipton, Ind., August 26. – His faithful dog was all that prevented Frank Tomlinson, 11-year-old son of Harmon Tomlinson, residing southeast of Tipton on the Rolla L. Hobbs farm, from being torn to pieces by a strange wild animal which attacked the lad when he was driving the cows from pasture to the house for milking Monday evening [August 25]. The boy is suffering from a broken collar bone and numerous bites and scratches as the result of the attack and his clothes were nearly torn from him in the encounter. The strange animal was described by the boy as [...]

Jersey Mermaid

August 10 – The people of Tom’s River, N.J., are just now having a little sensation – it being nothing less than the capture of a veritable mermaid or at least a water animal strongly resembling that poetic species of fish. Two fishermen, while pursuing their vocation a few days ago in the Inlet, effected the capture after a violent struggle. At seeing the animal its captors became hugely frightened, and took to their heels. After a while they mustered up sufficient courage to return and look at their prize. In appearance it more resembled a human being than a [...]

Strange Animal at Knobs

August 25 – Residents of the Knobs section, near Union, [West Virginia] report the presence of a strange, bewhiskered animal having short forelegs and a long tail which curls at the end. Garfield Seers, an employee of the George Irons farm, said he saw the animal emerge from a deep undergrowth and vanish into adjoining timber a short time ago. He described it as being considerably larger than an average-sized police dog [German shepherd]. Ernest Bowyer, Knobs resident, and E. E. McGinley, Narrow timber agent, also reported seeing “the beast,” giving a similar description. No loss of stock, however, has [...]

Chupacabras 1951

Kenneth F. Thomas, editor of the Steamshovel Press and Missouri university archivist, shares an old reference to what seems like a new occurrence of “Chupacabras” in a sinister context, which he found on August 23, 2007. Thomas writes that he made the discovery while…. …watching the 1951 movie Bride of the Gorilla with Raymond Burr and Lon Chaney. Burr gets poisoned by a witch and either starts becoming a gorilla or it’s all in his mind and he’s running around naked at night in a South American jungle. The natives are convinced that it’s a legendary beast called something like [...]

Does Champ Exist?

A new 256-page book has been published that is an incredibly important contribution to cryptozoological history. It is a welcome document capturing a pivotal time in Lake Champlain Monster research Published by Coachwhip Publications, Does Champ Exist? Notes on the Historic Lake Monster Conference held in Shelburne, Vermont, 29 August 1981 by Gary S. Mangiacopra and Dwight G. Smith, has just been released. Does Champ Exist? was written, according to Chad Arment, to preserve the transcript of the (so far) only cryptozoological conference held to discuss the possible existence of an unknown species of animal in the waters of Lake [...]

On This Day in Nessie History

Art by Bill Rebsamen, reproduced with his permission. On this day, August 22, in AD 565, St. Columba came across a group of Picts who were burying a man killed by a monster that today is linked to the Loch Ness Monster. St. Columba supposedly brought the man back to life. In another version, he is said to have saved the man while the man was being attacked, driving away the monster with the sign of the cross. Most histories of Nessie point to this event as the first known reference to the Loch Ness Monster.

Beyond Mothman: I-35W Blues

Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.Magnolia, 1999. The collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota is a tragedy, some say of epic proportions. Certainly, it is the most significant bridge collapse, not caused by an easily visible external reason like an earthquake or an impact from a barge, since 1967. An Anomaly National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said it is too early for officials to know if the accident could have been avoided. “They are built not to fall down. This is an anomaly and we’re going to try to find out [...]