you can't believe everything you read...can you?
Cryptozoology
you can't believe everything you read...can you?
Cryptozoology is the study of unknown
or "hidden" life forms that might possibly exist on our planet. It is hard to
fathom that there could be creatures as yet to be discovered, however in this century
alone three excellent examples of discoveries come to mind: the Mountain Gorilla, the Okapi, and of course one of
the most famous, the Coelacanth, a fish only known from its fossils which are found in
rock 400 million years old. |
| In 1938 fishermen working in
the Indian Ocean off South Africa brought up a strange, metallic blue fish almost six feet
long. The fish possessed large, thick scales covering its body and had strong fleshy fins which it possibly used to propel itself along the ocean bottom. When the fish was brought to Professor J.L.B. Smith, an eminent marine biologist, for identification, he commented "My surprise would have been little greater if I had seen a dinosaur walking down the street." He identified the fish as a Coelacanth, a fish only known by fossil records. Several other specimens have been caught in the last decade and examination reveals that they differ little from their fossil forebears, with primitive hearts and brains only 1/15,000 of their body weight.
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Another discovery of this century is the Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) of
Africa which was discovered in the early 1900's. I remember writing a report in the fourth grade for open house at West Novato Elementary school about this critter based on that first book of weird animals my grandmother had given me. If memory serves me, I received a good grade for the report, but the teacher didn't leave it out for open house as she felt no one would believe it. I remember feeling confused and a little hurt that people might not believe the report. That was my first experience with some of the closed minds of the world. That feeling was to haunt me years later at a California University when I was taught the theory of Plate Tectonics behind closed doors by a graduate student who acted like we were practicing heresy during the Inquisition. At least she had enough huevos to proceed with a theory which hadn't been embraced by some of the older faculty. The rest is history. |
An open mind doesn't seem like an unreasonable thing.
| A decayed carcass accidentally netted by a Japanese trawler near New Zealand in 1977 has often been claimed to be a likely plesiosaur or "sea-monster" of the Loch Ness variety. Plesiosaurs were (are) a group of long-necked, predatory marine reptiles with four paddle-like limbs, believed to have been extinct for about 65 million years. Lab results from tissue samples taken from the carcass before it was discarded, strongly point to the specimen being a shark, and in all probability a basking shark. Basking sharks are known to decompose into "pseudoplesiosaur" forms, due to the different decomposition rates of the cartilage and skin. The results of scientific studies on the carcass data received less media attention than the reports of the original discovery of the carcass, allowing much confusion and speculation about this case to continue circulating. |
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There is also the discovery of the Mega Mouth Shark, and a new species of Ibex in Vietnam. These things still turn up, so should we laugh at the mention of long necked lake monsters, or the reports of hairy hominids? |
I don't.
| Once while on a backpack trip at the end of winter in
Desolation Wilderness in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains I followed tracks in the snow over a pass to another valley. I was wondering what other backpacker might be out there when I realized that the stride of the "other backpacker" was averaging 1.5 to 2 feet greater than mine. The tracks seemed definitely bipedal to me. It gave me a rather uneasy feeling when I realized this and I headed back the way I had come. I have seen pictures of bear tracks in snow after some melting action and this was not that, nor was it a deer bounding through the snow. It is easy for me now to wish that I had followed the tracks, but up there alone it was a completely different story. They could have possibly been from someone jogging with snowshoes, I have seen weirder stuff than that up there! |
Who knows. The point is, I ain't sayin' it is....but I ain't sayin' it ain't.
| If you take into account the age of the Earth, one can only begin to imagine the civilizations, and creatures who might have flourished and withered into the sands of time, or what small remnants might possibly remain hidden here and there in remote valleys, and in the depths of the sea. Who among us can say with absolute authority what has been, what is and what shall be? Not I, nor have I met anyone in the span of my time here who can. |
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Some say the carvings of this unidentified
animal, made by the ancient inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands some 1,500 years ago, are the earliest evidence that Loch Ness harbors a strange aquatic creature. I think that is stretching it quite a bit. |
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 These are frames from the Patterson-Gimlin film taken in 1967 in the Bluff Creek area. |
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| July, 2011 Move over, Montauk Monster. Step aside, Nessie. There's a new sea creature in town--maybe. Footage of a 20- to 30-foot long creature caught on tape by fishermen suggest we have an Alaska bonafide marine-creature mystery. The black and white footage from 2009 is by no means definitive. It is taken on a rainy day with a shaky camera, which make it all the more confounding. But you can check out the testimony of people who say they witnessed the creature's appearance in the video above. The Alaska-dwelling creature has been labeled a "Cadborosaurus willsi," which means "reptile" or "lizard" from Cadboro Bay, British Columbia, where it was originally spotted centuries ago. Called "Caddy" for short, it has a "long neck, a horse-like head, large eyes, and back bumps that stick out of the water," according to a report on MSNBC. Though the tape captures the most recent sighting, tales of beholding the creature in the North Pacific have circulated for 200 years. In 1937, scientists thought they might have uncovered physical evidence when what was thought to be a sea serpent was found inside the stomach of a whale. Still, the creature is classified as part of Cryptozoology, i.e., a creature not formally recognized by the scientific community. One true believer today is Andy Hillstrand, a veteran of the reality-TV show "Deadliest Catch," who tracks the creature in his new show, "Hillstranded." The seaman reports that he saw "a big, long white thing moving in the water. We chased it for about 20 minutes. Spray came out of its head. It was definitely not a shark…I've never seen anything like it before." ~ |
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| March 2nd 2011 The Telegraph New photo of 'English Nessie' hailed as best yet The photograph, which shows an object with three humps breaching the surface
of the lake, is said to be the best evidence yet of what some claim is a monster lurking
beneath the depths.
He said: “I’m really pleased that someone has
finally got a really good picture of it.
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| May 20th 2004 Agence France-Presse Ape-like beast seen in Chinese forest AN investigation has begun after sightings of a legendary
"ape-like" beast in the forests of central China, state press said today. The reserve is well known as a place where local legend has it that the half-man, half-ape creatures live. Dozens of sightings have been reported and China organised several high-profile searches for the unidentified animal through the 1980s and 1990s, but no hard evidence was found. Several years ago, China's state press said scientists had unearthed hundreds of fossilised teeth of giant apes in the area, with some speculating that Bigfoot could be a descendant of such primates. The latest sighting was described as a grayish "mythical ape-like animal", 1.65 metres tall with shoulder-length black hair. One of the witnesses, Shang Zhengmin, a local reporter on the way back to Songbai town from an interview in Muyu town with five local people, said they saw the beast when they took a left turn along a mountain road. He said the "ape-like" animal was moving fast on the road and by the time the vehicle finished the turn, the animal had disappeared. He said the passengers got out of the vehicle and found several 30 centimetre-long footprints and newly broken branches in the jungle near the road. They also claimed to have discovered a patch of "foul smelling urine-like liquid" on the road where the creature was seen. Xinhua said an investigation was underway. Theories abound about the mythical creature, with some scientists
speculating that if it exists, it may be an unknown primate, some arguing that it may be a
bear or a monkey and others suggesting it could be a missing evolutionary link between ape
and human.
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| June
22,2011 (published) The Sun, UK Chinese find 55ft 'sea monster'  Monster ... creature washed up at A GIANT 55 foot 'sea monster' has been found washed up on a beach in China. The beast from the deep is so badly decayed it cannot be identified. But according to local reports from Guangdong, in the south-east of the country, it weighed at least 4.5 TONS. One fisherman, known only as Hwang, 66, said he was astonished by the find. People have flocked to see the creature — despite the rotting corpse's foul stench. It was found tangled in ropes and one theory is fisherman caught it but could not land it as it was so big. published June 22, 2011 ~ The Sun |
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Links
| 1/27/12 do you no anything about a sea monster attacking divers in florida about 50 years ago or there abouts? someone disapeared while diving on a wreck and one guy they found went nuts or something like that but told everyone about a sea monster eating his friend(s)?. thanks ~ USA ~ |
| 12/3/11 I think that the Loch Ness Potato is really "The Loch Ness Yam". ~ USA ~ |
| 10/31/11 i found your site quite interesting. this past summer i visited scotland and got a good picture of one of their cryptids. THE Lock Ness Potato. the picture was taken about 5pm on 8/23/11. the potato just sat there for about 45 minutes or so. i took about 375 digital pictures of it from different angles. then the batteries ran out. it still just sat there for another 20 minutes or so. then i had to go to the bathroom. when i got back it was gone. i showed the cook at the b&b i was staying at all the pictures. he said he has seen many "supposed' pictures of the potato in his years but these are the clearest. then he just stared at me for about a minute. then shook his head and walked away. i felt he knew much more. i am sending you all 375 pictures to your email. i put them in 1048 format so you could analize the detail. thank you. ~ the travelor ~ ~ USA ~ Scotland ~ traveler - Thanks for the pictures. We
found them interesting, once we could get the email system clear.
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| 9/17/11 thanks for the info ~ USA ~ |
| 3/2/2011 I have seen a number of water serpent-like creatures in some South African rivers.These beings are extremely psychic & have a very high level of intellect too!The good thing is,I'M NOT ALONE!Others continue to see these huge serpent-like creatures.If you want to know more,cotact me at szar@vodamail.co.za.We are not the only intelligent beings on this planet,we NEVER WERE!Warm Regards. . .Molebatsi |
| 7/19/10 This is a really cool. Different.. Interesting page:). -Cinthia |
| 11/24/2009 this is all pree cool(: |
| 9/20/2003 Good BIGFOOT SITE-even one older report of a bigfoot in Santa Rosa, California (area I lived in(-:) http://gcbro.com/dbase1.htm |
| 4/12/2003 I don't know what to think about the loch ness monster I would like to see some up close picures How close is "close"? ~ byerly |
www.byerly.org ™
01/1999 - 2011
last update: January 31, 2012
