Thylacine Sightings Near Portland

There is a Portland on the other side of the world from mine in Maine that is experiencing a series of Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger sightings. As reported in the Australian media today, Portland, Victoria, Australia, has been the site of at least four sightings in the last three months. Reporter Sarah Scopelianos writes: The last sighting was in early May by a Portland resident, Anthony Ersello, who said yesterday he saw the strange dog-like animal sitting in the middle of the Princes Highway on the outskirts of town near the Shell service station. "I’d been walking home from a [...]

New Skunk Ape Sighting

There’s been a new Green Swamp (“Skunk Ape”) sighting. We have permission of Scott Marlowe to pass this along to Cryptomundo readers. Here’s the details, uncensored: This record was first created on 6/9/2006 Month = 5 Day = 27 Year = 2006 Season = Spring Region = 5 City = Lakeland County = Polk FIPS = 12015 Zip Code = 33803 Longitude = Latitude = Source = Direct Type = Terrestrial Cryptid = Swamp Ape Sighting Summary = Pangea Institute field group watched and was paced by a Swamp Ape seen by team members Narrative = The team had gone [...]

Malaysian Update

The story out of Malaysia today is pegged as an update, but there’s not much news in it. Bigfoot: Johor to verify new info New Straits Times 12 Jun 2006 By R. Sittamparam ———————————————————————— JOHOR BARU: Queries about the Johor Bigfoot continue to pour in from all over the world, with many Malaysians claiming to have seen the creature. State Tourism and Environment Committee chairman Freddie Long said the State Government’s Bigfoot Steering Committee had recently received some new information. “However, we have to conduct more studies and get scientists to verify the information collected so far,” he said. “A [...]

Will Mothman Deaths Return?

According to a listing of TV Movies for June 11 – 17, 2006, a sinister banshee is on the horizon. The Mothman flies again: The Mothman Prophecies ’02. Richard Gere. A reporter investigates the sightings of a strange creature and other strange phenomena in a small town. (PG-13) (2:30) TNT: Jun 17, 2006, Sat. 2 P.M., 11:15 P.M. (CC) Who will die of the Mothman Death Curse in the coming days? June 20th is the fourth anniversary of the date when Mothman investigator Jim Keith’s former partner Sherry Marie Yearsley’s body was dumped along eastbound I-80 at Sparks, Nevada, near [...]

Mammoth Cave Mystery Cat Sightings

This is a frame from the video of a cougar taken in Willmar, Minnesota, which lead to the capture of the animal on February 1, 2006. Most people didn’t believe the reported cat was anything more than a figment of people’s imagination before the video. Meanwhile hundreds of miles away, officials in other locations are confronted with similar situations with less imagery. Nevertheless, sometimes it becomes “official business,” merely based on the where and the who of the encounters. Take, for instance, the events unfolding now in Kentucky. What happens when the United States federal government has to deal with [...]

Okapis Rediscovered!

Thought extinct for 47 years in the Congo’s Virunga National Park, the okapis have been rediscovered! Okapis are important in the history of romantic natural history. The animal was used to symbolize the International Society of Cryptozoology (1982-1995), and was the centerpiece of the organization’s logo. The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is a beautiful animal, a true “living fossil”. I have observed them in St. Louis, Chicago, San Diego, and every zoo I can find that has any. Last weekend, I was able to observe for several minutes over the space of three hours, the 21-year-old male, born in the San [...]

New Big Bird Sightings

How often are large unknown birds seen and quickly explained away? Quite frequently, if a quick survey of newspapers are any indication this week. In Gary Bogue’s June 9, 2006, column on animals in the Contra Costa Times of the East Bay area near San Francisco, California, he publishes an item on a new big bird sighting. I corresponded with Bogue over 30 years ago, as I mention in Mysterious America, regarding the melanistic felid (Black Panther) accounts coming his way. It is obvious Bogue has become and been serving as the local man-to-go-to with any reports of strange animals. [...]

In Search of African Dragons

Jon Downes has announced that his Center for Fortean Zoology will attempt to track down recent accounts of “dragons” or monitor lizards in West Africa. In early July 2006, a six-person team from the North Devon-based UK group is travelling to Gambia to investigate these folktales. They may find the trail a little cold. Back on June 12, 1983, 15-year-old amateur naturalist Owen Burnham discovered the fresh carcass of a strange beast on the remote Bungalow Beach in Gambia. The stranded dead cryptid was around 15 feet long and looked like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin. Owen [...]