At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Monday 18 August 2014

ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD


On This Day in Weird, August 18...

1590: Newly arriving settlers find the British colony on Roanoke Island (off the coast of present-day North Carolina) inexplicably deserted. No trace of the settlement's 90 men, 17 women, and 11 children is ever found. The missing colonists leave only one cryptic clue: the word "Croatoan" carved on a tree trunk.



1817: In response to sea-serpent sightings off Gloucester, Massachusetts, the Linnaean Society of New England forms a special committee to "collect evidence with regard to the existence and appearance of any such animal." Subsequent capture of a deformed blacksnake embarrasses the panel, when they leap to an erroneous conclusion, dubbing the reptile an infant specimen the much larger Scoliophis atlanticus ("Atlantic hump-backed snake").



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