Cryptozoology

“Hunting Monsters” – A Lecture Reviewed

On the late afternoon of October 4, I drove from my Arlington, Texas home to nearby Bedford, to see good mate Lyle Blackburn give a new lecture at the local library. The title of the lecture: Hunting Monsters: On the Trail of Famous Cryptids. Lyle is the author of a number of excellent books, including Lizard Man, The Beast of Boggy Creek and Beyond Boggy Creek. Around 100 people turned up for a great presentation that lasted for approximately two hours and with time left for questions. Rather than focus on just one strange creature, Lyle – who also fronts the band Ghoultown – treated the audience to his personal research into a wealth of strange creatures, including Bigfoot, the aforementioned Lizard Man, the Chupacabra, and the Dogman.

As Lyle told the audience, it was when he was a kid that he got interested in the world of monsters. It was specifically the 1972 movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek – a low budget, but highly atmospheric saga of a Bigfoot roaming around Fouke, Arkansas – that caught Lyle’s attention and prompted him to seek out the truth for himself. I didn’t see the movie myself until I was well into my teens, but I can easily see how it would have had a deep impact on a young kid. Lyle made it clear to the audience that there are no experts in the field of Cryptozoology, primarily because we don’t have proof of the strange things that are said to lurk in the woods, forests, mountains and lakes of our world. So far, we are collectors of data. Indeed, Lyle specifically referred to Cryptozoology as a “pseudo science,” which is correct. Certainly, for the most part, Cryptozoology is not seen as a recognized science. Of course, should Lyle solve the riddle of Bigfoot (as one example) then that will likely change things very quickly!

Lyle spent time addressing the nature of Bigfoot. Is it an unknown ape? Maybe not. Lyle spoke of hunters who had a Bigfoot in their sights, but who held back from shooting the creatures for one, specific reason: they weren’t entirely sure that what they were seeing were animals. Maybe they were something else: perhaps even a relic, human species. On the matter of why we don’t have a corpse of a Bigfoot, Lyle suggested that their numbers may be very low at the best of times, something which might account for their elusiveness. He also made the good point that we rarely see dead bears in the woods. The reason? Nature has a way of taking care of things. Other animals will soon devour the remains of something dead in their midst. And that might very well apply to a deceased Bigfoot too.

Lyle then moved onto the Yeti. I found it very interesting that when Lyle asked the audience how many of them thought the man-beast of the Himalayas had white hair (or fur), quite a few raised their hands. As Lyle accurately noted, this is actually due to the influence of Hollywood and blockbuster movies – and nothing else. The Yeti is, in fact, described as being brown or black in color. I thought this angle – of Hollywood influencing views, assumptions and memories on Cryptids – was particularly intriguing. After a brief section on Nessie, Lyle tackled the matter of the Chupacabra. He gave an excellent overview on how the saga of the Chupacabra has become hugely complicated. As Lyle correctly noted, what passes for the Chupacabra in the United States today – a hairless coyote with a few very strange mutations and physical oddities – has zero to do with the original Chupacabra that surfaced in Puerto Rico in the mid-1990s.

Moving onto the weirder side of Cryptozoology, Lyle took on the Lizard Man – a strange, Creature of the Black Lagoon-type beast that surfaced in Bishopville, South Carolina in 1988. Lyle gave a great rundown of the Lizard Man saga, and how his personal investigation of the affair led to the surfacing of a wealth of fascinating material. A word to armchair-based skeptics: if you want to find the answers to the likes of Bigfoot, lake-monsters, etc., you really need to do what Lyle does. Namely, he goes out looking for them. Also on the matter of the stranger side of Cryptozoology, Lyle turned his attentions to the Dogman, a werewolf-like beast that has been the subject of a number of books by Linda Godfrey. While Lyle doesn’t go with the supernatural angle of the Dogman issue, he did speculate that at least some cases might be mistaken identity – of Bigfoot. In other words, one monster being wrongly interpreted as another.

As the lecture came to its end, Lyle demonstrated how Cryptozoology – which began strictly as the study of unknown animals – has changed over the years and decades. A perfect example is that of the Thylacine. As Lyle told the audience, there’s actually nothing mysterious or unknown about the strange-looking marsupial, which is believed to have become extinct back in the 1930s. What makes the story of the Thylacine so intriguing, said Lyle, is the fact that people claim to have seen such animals in modern times, and particularly so in Tasmania. It may still be around, although largely in stealth. Forty or fifty years ago, Cryptozoologists might not have looked at the matter of the Thylacine, but today things very different. Times – and Cryptozoology – have definitely changed. Extinct animals are now a part of Cryptozoology. Or, rather, ones that are supposed to be extinct!

In closing, I’ll say that Lyle gave an excellent overview of Cryptozoology that was perfect for both long-term monster-hunters and for those new to the field and who may be wondering what it’s all about.

SOURCE:

Mysterious Universe

Cryptozoology

A video of the second “confirmed” appearance of Nessie appeared on the internet

A Nessie fan recorded a second meeting with her this year. O’Faodhagen, a 55-year-old employee of the Irish hospital, claimed to have seen Loch Ness floating in Urquhart Bay.

He managed to film this meeting. He is delighted with the video. O’Faodhagen sent his results to the Official Loch Ness Monster Observation Register, and they confirmed the footage as an official second observation in 2020.

The video shows a dark figure rising from the water.

She splashes, creating waves and a white foamy substance. Then it goes under water and reappears. Despite the fact that he saw about 1.2 m of the creature emerging from the water, O’Faudhagein estimated that it probably had a length of at least 3 m. The frames that show this creature last 1 minute 38 seconds. O’Faudhagain said that Nessie had not appeared for the past three months. He decided that Nessie went to quarantine.

Her appearance surprised him. He believes that Nessie has stepped out of the depths to say hello. O’Faodhagen noticed that during her appearance on the lake there is no activity. On January 18 of this year, he observed her appearance from the water. Gary Campbell, keeper of the Official Loch Ness Monster Observation Register, confirmed this observation.
According to O’Faodhagen, it is very exciting to get a new observation, especially when it happened almost immediately after the first. And he seems to know what he is looking for.

Last year, he managed to capture 4 encounters. 2019 was a record year for people who saw the Loch Ness Monster. A total of 18 observations were confirmed. This is the biggest since 1983.

Some believe in the existence of Nessie, others are critical. Perhaps it is not worth denying that a strange creature unknown to science lives in the dark waters of the lake. If you have not seen any phenomenon, this does not mean at all that it is not.

Cryptozoology

A creature assembling a Mermaid discovered in Antarctica: Google Earth user provides evidence

A Google Earth user spoke about the incredible discovery that he managed to make in Antarctica. Thanks to the rather rapid melting of the ice, he managed to consider a strange creature in one of the images received.

He claims to have found a frozen mermaid in the ice, or a “sea creature resembling a mermaid.” YouTube user Florida Maquis claims that the mermaid is by no means a natural geological formation.

The man believes that either a mermaid or some obscure sea creature froze in the ice, which very much resembles a popular mythical creature. At the same time, the user is trying to prove that his find has absolutely nothing to do with natural formations of a geological nature. The user is sure that this is some unusual creature from mythical stories. He says:

“I found in Antarctica many different things that seem to be sea creatures. I think that due to the melting of snow and ice, the mermaid became visible, its shape simply cannot be explained by ice crumbs or snow.” The coordinates of the mermaid-like object are 76 ° 52’51.92 “S 145 ° 42’4.27” W.

The video above was posted online with confirmation of the man’s words. It was watched by several thousand people who commented on what they saw. Most users are sure that the video does not contain a mermaid, but, for example, a walrus. Some believe that this may turn out to be a dolphin of a sufficiently large size. Some say it could be a Ningen. The author also found support from some users who have no doubt that the mermaid is depicted in the frames.

Cryptozoology

Ningen: A Humanoid Monster Hiding in the Antarctic

Since the early 2000s, there have been rumors of a creature allegedly spotted by Japanese researchers in the Antarctic. Since the appearance of the first messages, interest in this mysterious creature has grown, fueled on the Internet by alleged photos and videos. The creature was named Ningen, a Japanese term meaning “man.”

https://thoughtcatalog.com — **thoughtcatalog.com**

First observation

It is unclear when the Ningen was first seen, but the most popular version of this appears to come from a 2chan blog post. The blogger claimed to have collaborated with a whale-owned state research institute. He was allegedly told the story of a meeting with a mysterious creature. The crew initially suggested that it was a foreign submarine. However, when an unknown large object approached, the sailors realized that it was a living creature.

This topic gained great popularity, which only increased when an article about Ningen was published in 2007 in the Japanese magazine MU, devoted to paranormal phenomena. The article deserves attention not only because of the growing interest in Ningens in Japan, but also because it contained an image of Google Maps, which, presumably, was this creature.

After the article was published, numerous photos and videos began to appear on the Internet, which allegedly depict the creature. Some photos of Ningen can be traced at least until 2006, which suggests that these images may have preceded the creature’s popularity.

Photo published in MU magazine. Ningen off the coast of Namibia. A source: — Photo published in MU magazine. Ningen off the coast of Namibia. source:Google Earth

Appearance

Judging by eyewitnesses, the length of the Ningen is estimated at 20-30 meters. It is completely white and has a human shape. Messages diverge depending on whether he has legs, five-fingered hands or even fins, a tail, like a mermaid or tentacle. Eyewitnesses seem to agree that Ningen does not have any distinctive features that could be spoken of, although he has a mouth and eyes. In a Gaia.com article, the creature, in particular, is described as “with a small slit-like mouth and two empty eyes .”

Conspiracy

There is no convincing evidence to support the existence of Ningen. However, since in most cases an unidentified creature may be mentioned, this did not stop the rampant speculation on the Internet.

The most popular rumor spreading about the Ningen is that the Japanese government actually took messages about the creature seriously, but hid all the real evidence. But why should the Japanese government do this?

One theory is that Ningen, whatever it may be, is capable of producing a rare chemical compound that has healing properties, or that it is very toxic, and the government intends to investigate this creature.

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Possible photograph of the mythical Antarctic-dwelling cryptid, Ningen. I do not have the source of this image, so I have no idea wether or not it was forged. However, it is most likely a fake. ❗️FOLLOW FOR MORE CRYPTID POSTS!❗️ If you have a cryptid photo or story you would like to share, DM or Email me at [email protected] and your contribution may be posted on here. – – – – – #cryptids #ningen #Antarctica #monster #cryptid #encounter #mothman #bigfoot #sasquatch #chupacabra #chicagomothman #owlman #pointpleasant #bigfootencounter #sighting #monstersighting #creatures #spotted #monsterspotted #cryptidspotted #realcryptids #reallifecryptids #monstercryptid #yeti #lochnessmonster #flatwoodsmonster #nessie #everythingcryptids
A post shared by EverythingCryptic (@everythingcryptic) on Nov 18, 2017 at 3:25pm PST

Some went even further with this conspiracy theory , suggesting that numerous low-quality photos and videos are in fact a government disinformation campaign in an attempt to discredit factual evidence of Ningen.

However, the lack of high-quality photographs was also explained by the fact that the observations appear to occur most often at night, which complicates their documentation.

There were also rumors that men in black came to eyewitnesses. This, of course, is not confirmed (because “men in black” would not be true professionals if there was convincing evidence of their visits), and it is unclear whether this implies that the Ningen is of alien origin?

Explanations

Due to the alleged elusiveness of Ningen, cryptozoologists were not able to directly study the creature. Because of this, all information comes from eyewitnesses and photo and video evidence, often of poor quality, such as the following:

Based on available data, some suggest that Ningen cannot be a living creature at all, as many photos of the creature look more like blocks of ice. Those who think that Ningen is a living creature consider him a giant albino stingray, white whale or beluga whale. Some explanations have gone so far as to suggest that it could be a water sloth or even a mermaid, an alien, or some previously unknown species of aquatic humanoids.

Those who do not believe in the existence of Ningen have been suggested that the stories of this creature are just a modern embodiment of old tales of sea monsters.

Ningyo

Some experts made a connection between the stories of Ningen and Ningyo, a creature from Japanese folklore.

Ningyo is a term meaning “human fish”, although it is often translated as “mermaid”. This fish-like creature is described as having a monkey mouth, small teeth, golden scales and a quiet, flute-like voice.

It is very tasty, and the use of its meat in food significantly increases a person’s life span. However, they say that catching a ningyo brings storms and misfortunes, so if a fisherman ever caught a ningyo, he usually released it back into the sea to avoid possible consequences. Seeing a ningyo ashore is considered an omen of war or some other great calamity.

Perhaps, given that rumors about Ningen originate on a Japanese site and are further popularized by a Japanese magazine, they may turn out to be a modern interpretation of folklore about Ningyo.

*Ninge with fish body and human head. (* **CC BY SA)** .

So what (or who) is Ningen? Well, that could be pretty much anything. Personally, we are inclined to believe that this is a natural evolution of ancient folklore, adapted to modern times. But, true, this is not as interesting as a giant monster hiding somewhere in the waters of the Antarctic.