ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 30...

1888: In London, still unidentified serial killer "Jack the Ripper" perpetrates his "double event," killing two women on the same evening. Victims include streetwalkers Catherine Eddowes and Elizabeth "Long Liz" Stride.

2008: Direct-to-video release of the horror/comedy film Yeti: A Love Story, wherein college students face danger from a "ravenous gay Yeti," as well as a homicidal cult.

OFF TO FIND THE DOBHARCHU

Dobharchu

That is a digitally  enhanced photograph of the Dobharchu, a monster said to be found in lakes in Ireland and off the Irish coast.  Sean Corcoran, an Irish artist, made the above digitalized picture of it after he had seen it in Fahy Lough on Omey Island, off the Galway coast.

Tomorrow, I hit the trail for Omey Island with a Canadian television team which is making documentaries about monsters.  Therefore, I will not be making contributions to this website until Friday.  I know this is probably a source of considerable disappointment to all those readers out there who hang on my every word, but I will give you all the details when I get back.

If you want to know more about the Dobharchu, there are a couple of articles on the subject on the website.  You will also find information on this creature in Mystery Animals of Ireland by Gary Cunningham and me.

Yes, that's it up there.  Handsome little tome, isn't it?

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 29...

1974: Witness Mme. Le Bihan reports three stocky humanoid figures, each about 5 feet 6 inches tall, with round heads, clad in silver jumpsuits, emerging from a doe-shaped UFO at Riec-sur-Belon, Finistere, France.

LEGEND OF THE GIANT BEAVER

Beaver

The Pocumtuck Indians of Massachussetts had a legend of a giant beaver.  In days of yore there had been a lake near where Mount Sugar Loaf stands today and in this the beaver frolicked, a-gobbling of the fish.  However, when fish supplies became exhausted, he ventured ashore and began to eat humans.  He was too big for the braves to fight, but happily a supernatural being called Hobomock came to the rescue.  He fought the beaver and beheaded it with his cudgel.  The beaver turned to stone and its head became Mount Sugar Loaf.

Does this mean the Pocumtuck had a legend of a giant beaver, based on an animal that once lived near them?  There certainly had been a gigantic beaver in North America (Castoroides ohioensis), whose fossilized remains have been discovered.  Zoologists think it may have survived until as late as BC 8000.  But I have my doubts that this legend preserves a genuine memory of this creature.

This strikes me as more of an etiological myth.  Myths of this type are used to explain the origin of natural features.  My feeling is that the story of the Sugar Loaf beaver was concocted to explain the mountain.

However, in modern times, a giant beaver has been reported from Utah.  It was observed in Lake Powell in 2002.  Maybe Castoroides ohioensis has left some descendants after all.

LEGENDARY GIANTS OF MEXICO

Were gigantic humanoids encountered by the Tarahumara Indians?

now read on.....

BIGFOOT IN OHIO

Accounts of sightings in this state.

They're always talking about me.

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 28...

2010: US theatrical release of the documentary film Bigfoot Is Real!

2010: German theatrical release of The Secret of Loch Ness II, sequel to a fantasy film released in 2008, wherein a child meets Nessie.

WINGED CREATURE OF MAGOG

Horrific creature reported from Quebec.

now read on.....

Image courtesy Lon Strickler

STRANGE GREEN SPHERES IN AUSTRALIA

Peculiar green spheres have washed up on the Australian coast.

now read on.....

WAS BABY BIGFOOT PHOTOGRAPHED?

Was a photograph taken in 2013?

Who's been photographing my baby?

now read on.....

UFO OVER SEATTLE

A report from Washington state on September 23rd.

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 27...

2010: Theatrical release of the short animated film Monster in the Woods, written, directed, and "starring" Randall McNair as the titular monster. Its critical assessment reads "A monster, a girl, the moment light meets dark. In the tradition of the Brother's Grim, this fairy tale about loss, love, and loneliness, may be a bit scary for young children...unless they're British."

MONTANA TEACHER AND ALLEGED BIGFOOT HOAX

Is a Montana teacher placing Bigfoot statues about the state?

now read on.....

NEW ROSWELL MYSTERY DISAPPEARANCE

The two people who disappeared woke up surrounded by donkeys.



now read on...

Hee-haw

.

AUSTRALIAN LEGENDARY REPTILES

This link brings you to an interesting feature on Australia's mystery reptiles, especially those that seem to be versions of the goanna, an Australian lizard not related to the similar sounding iguana.

Goanna

now read on.....

BLACK-EYED CHILD ENCOUNTER

What was thie eerie being?  There seem to be a number of encounters of this kind coming in at present.  When you hear a first hand account like this one, it is difficult to use urban myth as an explanation.

now read on....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 26...

1954: A French witness, Mme. Leboeuf, reoirts a daylight UFO landing near Chabeuil, in the Rhône-Alpes region. She says a lone occupant emerged from the craft, approximately three feet tall, with large eyes visible inside the helmet of a costume resembling a deep-sea diving suit. The witness flees, later returning to find a circle of crushed foliage at the site.

ABC OF CANNOCK CHASE

The mystery wild big cat of Cannock Chase, a haven of the mysterious in Britain, has been photographed.

Cannock Chase

have a look and read on.....

MAN CLAIMS HE CONVERSED WITH YOWIE

Australian Tony Duffy claims he met a yowie and taught it some English words.

Yowie statue

now read on.....

PURSUIT OF BIG CATS

Neil Arnold reflects on the tendency of large posses to hunt big cats.

Black panther

now read on.....

HIPPOPOTAMUS IN CHICAGO RIVER?

Was this a hoax?

Hippopotamus

have a look....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 25...

1808: A classic globster, the "Stronsay Beast," washes ashore on the island of Stronsay (then spelled "Stronsa") in the Orkney Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, following a storm. The carcass measures 55 feet, with part of its tail clearly missing. While initially believed to be a sea serpent, by 1849 general consensus labels the creature a decomposed basking shark—although the largest official specimen of that species known to science measured only 40 feet.

JONATHAN DOWNES BECOMES A GRANDFATHER!

Congratulations to Liv McCarthy, Jonathan Downes' stepdaughter, and her partner Aaron, on the birth of their daughter, Evelyn Lilah Smithson.

Jonathan Downes in pensive mood.

UNEXPLORED EARTH HABITATS

There are five possible earthly habitats that we have hardly or never explored.

now read on.....

INTERESTING STORY OF UFO AND OCCUPANT

If this story is true, it will be of considerable interest to the paranormalist.

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 24...

1922: Future horror director Bert Ira Gordon born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His 21 feature films, produced between 1955 and 1990, include such cult classics as The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs. The Spider, and War of the Colossal Beast.

POSSIBLE ALMAS HANDPRINT DISCOVERED

Is this evidence that there is an almas near Moscow?

now read on.....

POSSIBLE BIGFOOT TRACK DISCOVERED

The Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization has found Bigfoot evidence.

So what?

now read on.....

OKLAHOMA BIGFOOT SYMPOSIUM

Information on this forthcoming event.

Will I get there in time?

now read on.....

UFO SIGHTING OVER NEW YORK

Also one in England.

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 23...

2013: Herpetologist Robert C. Stebbins, the preeminent expert on North American reptiles and amphibians—and onetime searcher for reported giant salamanders in California's Trinity Alps—dies in Eugene, Oregon, at age 95.

SOUTH CAROLINA LAKE MONSTER

The Monster of Lake Murray, informally known as Messie.  

now read on.....

FRENCH MYSTERY CAT

While many mystery cats are reported from the United States, Britain and Australia, France too has its reports.  Here is one from the archive.

Black Panther

now read on.....

DID RUSSIANS SHOOT DOWN A UFO?

Russia denies it was a UFO; what do you think?

now read on.....

TERRIFYING CREATURE OF WEST VIRGINIA

What is the Snowman?

Image courtesy of Lon Strickler

now read on....

BIGFOOT AND OTHER WILD CREATURES

This article deals with wild creatures of the Mississippi woodlands, including a claimed Bigfoot sighting.

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 22...

2010: Longtime Sasquatch researcher Laurelyn Fanshier dies from cancer in Mannford, Oklahoma

2011: Theatrical release of Dear God No!, wherein outlaw bikers meet a bloodthirsty Sasquatch while robbing an anthropologist's home.

LOCH NESS MONSTER-TOURIST HOAX?

Is there a conspiracy behind the Loch Ness Monster?

Nonsense! I'm genuine!

now read on.....

DID BIGFOOT ABDUCT A TEENAGE GIRL?

The Strange case of Teresa Ann Bier.

now read on....

ARE THERE AMERICAN HYENAS?

Is the ringdocus/shunka warak'in a kind of hyena?

now read on.....

SIGHTINGS OF "THUNDERBIRDS"

A selection of sightings of unidentified large birds that may have given rise to the Thunderbird legend.

now read on.....

Thunderbird

WEIRD CREATURE ACCOUNT FROM ZIMBABWE

What was this bizarre upright creature?

Map of Zimbabwe

now read on....

ARE THESE BIGFOOT HOWLS?

Recorded noises may be the howls of a BHM.

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 21...

1921: "Amala," one of two "feral girls" allegedly raised by a wolf pack, dies in Bengal, India, precise age unknown.

1947: Future best-selling horror author Stephen Edwin King born in Portland, Maine.

2008: Theatrical release of the Canadian film Hair of the Sasquatch.

RENDLESHAM UFO SCULPTURE

A sculpture is to go up at Rendlesham, site of a possible UFO landing.

now read on.....

RUSSIAN RESEARCHER CLAIMS TO HAVE FOUND PROOF OFALMAS

A Russian researcher is claiming to have found proof of Russia's equivalent of Bigfoot.

now read on.....

BLUE DOG MODEL ON DISPLAY IN TEXAS

One of the Blue Dogs, commonly miscalled chupacabras, has been manufactured for display in Kingdom Zoo Education Center, West Orange, Texas.

now read on....

ALMAS - A GENERAL ACCOUNT

Account of the man-beast of Russia.

now read on....

BIGFOOT REPORTED FROM TEXAS

Witness is certain he saw Bigfoot.

Who saw me?

now read on....

MYSTERY LIGHT PILLARS SEEN IN MALAYSIA

The cause of these pillars of light has led to speculation.

now read on.....

SHOW ABOUT KILLING BIGFOOT

This is due for October.  The CFZ does not approve of efforts to prove Bigfoot's existence by killing a specimen.

Like I'm scared!

now read on.....

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 20...

1996: U.S. theatrical premiere of Loch Ness, starring Ted Danson and Joely Richardson.

2013: Longtime Bigfoot researcher Joyce Marie Kearney dies in San Francisco, California, at age 70.

FINN CLAIMS TO HAVE DECIPHERED VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT

A Finn who describes himself as a "Prophet of God" claims to have deciphered what many regard as the world's most mysterious manuscript.

Voynich Manuscript

now read on.....

ETHIOPIA'S ARK MAY BE MOVED

The Ethiopians claim the original Ark of the Covenant is in their possession.  However, outsiders have rarely if ever seen it.  However, it may now have to be moved from its Chapel owing to a leaky roof.

Ethiopian tradition asserts that Emperor Menelik I, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, brought the Ark to Ethiopia.

now read on....

UNDERGROUND PEOPLE

A story, apparently true, from Germany, dealing with the Underground People, whom we should probably regard as a type of fairy.  The story involving a human acting as midwife occurs in a number of other places.  Could it have been a fairly regular happening, rather than mere folklore?

now read on....

GIANTS

Giants, in the sense of enormous humanoids, are a feature of many legends in Britain.  Here we have a giants gazeteer.

Jack the Giant-Killer versus Blunderbore.

now read on.....

PLESIOSAURS AND LAKE MONSTERS

Plesiosaur

There seems to be a fairly widespread assumption that lake monsters and sea-monsters are plesiosaurs.  This assumption owes its origin to a number of factors, which we shall consider below.

According to the fossil record, the plesiosaur died out 66 million years ago, but the fossil record is incomplete, so we cannot use that argument to say plesiosaurs did not survive beyond that date.

Plesiosaur remains were discovered as early as 1605 and the creature was named in 1821.  It is presumed it was a cold-blooded creature.  Because of its long neck and humped back, it conforms in some respects to descriptions of lacustrine and marine monsters.  Also, creatures washed up on the shore sometimes look like plesiosaurs.

With regard to the creatures washed onto the shoreline, they generally turn out to be the harmless basking shark.  When one of these starts to decompose, sections of it rot away, leaving a remnant that resembles the outline of a plesiosaur.  The Zuiyo-Maru monster, fished out of the sea in 1977, proved to be a decaying basking shark.

Sometimnes monsters, including him of Loch Ness, are described as beings with a hump and a head on the end of a slender neck, held upright.  From this we can infer that such monsters are certainly not plesiosaurs, as it has been shown that it was quite impossible for them to raise their heads.

Whatever sea serpents and the Loch Ness Monster may be, we can rule out plesiosaurs.

THE LEGEND OF AMIGO

The Stone Dog of Puerto Rico.

now read on.....

FLORIDA UFO SIGHTING

Sighting reported from Fort Lauderdale.

now read on..... 

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, September 19...

1870: A local newspaper, The Republican, reports posses pursuing a "wild man" near San Joaquin, California. The "man" creature left 13-inch footprints, well within the possible normal range for an adult male human.

1966: Motorist Ken Pettigrew reports a 7-foot Sasquatch, grayish-white in color, "examining" his car near Yakima, Washington.

1972: Four separate witnesses report encounters with a 10-foot-tall Sasquatch in Parke County, Indiana. The creature leaves 21-inch footprints.