.
Mysterious Creatures
& Cryptozoology

Here are just a few of the many unknown, undiscovered, mysterious animals that are out there.  There are many remote parts of the world where humans rarely travel through that can hide a species that hasn't been discovered yet. Some others may be genetic mutations of a species or just a single mutated animal.  There are new species being discovered every year and these animals may have been thought rumor and myth at one time, but now they are accepted as genuine animal species.  The mountain gorilla, giant pandas and giant squids are just a few creatures we now know exist, but were once considered myths and legends.  The coelacanth was thought to be extinct for 70 million years until it was discovered alive and well in 1938. The fish is no longer on the extinct list. If this fish could survive all those years undetected, why can't other prehistoric giants have done the same thing. Every year unknown animals or animals that were thought extinct are discovered.  In December of 1997, a new species of monkey was discovered in the Amazon (story here). In April of 1998 a new species of bird was discovered in Brazil (story here).  Because most of these animals don't fall into the "monster" category, there is very little written about them that a lay person would see.  The creatures below are considered myths or unexplainable sightings.  Which one will be the next to be discovered and accepted in the known animal kingdom ?  Which ones will proven to be figments of imagination or frauds ? Read on to find out.....

Anyone wanting to contribute info, pictures, stories on local or other mysterious creatures please email us.

We are also looking for amateur or professional researchers who want to join the staff here at The Shadowlands and contribute articles and information, send us an email for info.



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Olifiau
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Impakta
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The Loveland Frog

The Loveland Frog has been seen by numerous people in the area around Loveland, Ohio.  The witnesses include Police officers who observed the creatures on the side of the road.  The officers watched as the giant frog like creature jump down an embankment and out of sight.  The descriptions of the creature all seem to match.  The man-like creature is 3 to 5 feet tall.  It walks upright like a human and has webbed hands and feet.  The head is that of a large frog or lizard.  It's skin appears to be leathery.  Get more information here



 
 
 
 
 

Mothman

In 1966 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, after a large number of UFO sightings, this mysterious creature was sighted.  The creature is described as 5 to 7 ft tall, gray in color, winged and headless, glowing red eyes on it's torso.  The creature was seen flying across the sky at speeds estimated at 100 mph.  As it flies by it emits a high pitch shrieking sound.  The deaths of small animals and pets have been attributed to this creature.



First Sighting of the Mothman?
Not quite so clearly visible, but still definitely man-shaped, was the figure standing in the middle of the road ahead of a woman driving her father along Route 2 in the Chief Cornstalk Hunting Grounds of West Virginia, USA, in the 1960 or 61. As they got closer, the driver slowed the car. The two apprehensive witnesses saw that the grey figure was much larger than a man. The driver later reported what happened next: A pair of wings unfolded from its back and they practically filled the whole road. It almost looked like a small airplane. Then it took off straight up, disappearing out of sight in seconds. We were both. terrified. I stepped on the gas and raced out of there. We talked it over and decided not to tell anybody about it. Who would believe us anyway? Who indeed? Although she did not know it, she was possibly the first witness of a winged, being later nicknamed ‘Mothman', which in late 1966 plagued the area of West Virginia called Point Pleasant. First to see it at that time were two young local couples, Mr and Mrs Roger Scarberry and Mr and Mrs Steve Mallette. Later on the night of November 15 they were driving through the ‘TNT area' where there was an abandoned wartime explosives factory. As they passed an old generator plant, they saw in the darkness two bright red circles, which looked like eyes. As the circles moved, the couples saw a man-shaped figure between 6 and 7 feet tall, greyish in color and with big folded wings; it was shuffling along on two legs. Roger, who was driving, quickly turned the car in the direction of safety and they drove off at speed. But they saw the creature, or another similar one, standing near the road and as they went past it spread its batlike wings and began to follow them. Even though they accelerated to 100 miles per hour, the ‘bird' kept pace with them, without flapping its wings. Mrs Mallette could hear it squeaking ‘like a big mouse'. When they reported their experience at the sheriff's office, the deputy could see they were scared and he drove straight to the TNT area, but saw nothing strange. The story was publicized and Point Pleasant immediately became a focus of attention for monster-hunters. Armed men searched the TNT area but did not find their prey. However, Mothman was still around: on the evening of November 16th he appeared to Mrs Marcella Bennett who was visiting friends living in the TNT area. She was sitting in the parked car when she noticed a figure in the darkness. ‘It seemed as if it had been lying down. It rose up slowly from the ground. A big gray thing. Bigger than a man, with terrible glowing red eyes.' Like the two couples on the previous night Mrs Bennett seemed hypnotized by Mothman's red eyes. As she stood there staring at it, she and her baby daughter were grabbed by a friend and dragged into the house. During the following days, numerous people saw Mothman, or believed they did. How many of the sightings were caused by the ‘contagion' of news stories, we shall never know. The writer John Keel went to the Point Pleasant area to investigate at first hand. From the many reports he collected, he established that Mothman was between 5 and 7 feet tall, grey or brown in color and man-shaped but without any arms or head. It had luminous bright red eyes where a man's shoulders would be. The wings were folded back when not in use, and the wingspread was about 10 feet. The majority of sightings were made in November and December 1966; then Mothman was gone. This article is courtesy of The World of The Strange



 
 
 
 
 

The Dover Demon

The last thing a 17 year old Bill Bartlett expected to see when driving with two friends through Dover, Massachusetts, at around 10:30 PM on April 21, 1977 was a creature from another dimension. Yet that is what he may have done, at least in the opinion of some investigators-and judging from Bill's description of what he saw, they could have a point! Driving along, his car's headlights suddenly illuminated a peculiar entity picking its way along a stone wall at the side of the road. As can be seen from the picture that Bill later prepared, which is reproduced here, the creature had a disproportionately large head, shaped like a water melon, with two big, protruding eyes that glowed orange, but it did not seem to have a mouth, nose or ears. Its body was small, its neck and limbs were long and thin, and its fingers and toes were slender and supple. The creature appeared to be hairless, but it's peach-colored skin was rough in texture. It stood about 1 meter (3-4 feet) high, and was observed only by Bill (his two friends were not looking in the right direction to see it). Unknown to Bill, however, his strange sighting would soon be substantiated by an entirely independent eyewitness. Less than two hours later, 15 year old John Baxter was walking home little more than a mile from the locality of Bill's encounter when he saw a strange figure coming towards him. After receiving no reply when he called out to it, John paused, and as he did so the figure ran away down a gully. John chased after it and when he was about 9 meters (30 feet) away, he could see it clearly, standing upright on its hind legs and gripping the trunk of a tree. When he spied its brightly glowing eyes staring at him from an otherwise featureless face, however, John decided to let caution supersede curiosity and he walked briskly back to the road. Once he reached home, he too made a visual record of what he had witnessed, and as can be seen here, his wholly independent illustration corresponds very closely indeed with Bill's. At around midnight on April 22, what writer Loren Coleman has subsequently called "The Dover Demon" was seen again, this time by 15 year old Abby Brabham while being driven home by Will Taintor, 18, who only spied it very briefly. Abby's description matched those of Bill and John in every respect except one: when she observed it, its eyes were glowing green, not orange. And thus ended the curious case of the Dover Demon, for it has never been reported again and has never been satisfactorily identified. If the descriptions of it are accurate-and they are certainly very consistent-the Dover Demon does not resemble any species known to science, either from North America or elsewhere. It may not, however, be entirely unknown. The Cree nation of eastern Canada speak of a mysterious race of pygmy entities called the Mannegishi, who delight in playing tricks upon travelers. According to the Cree, the Mannegishi have round heads, long thin legs, arms with six fingers on each hand, and they live between rocks in the rapids. Excluding the finger count discrepancy, this description is reminiscent to the Dover Demon.
This article is courtesy of The World of The Strange



 
 
 
 
 
 

Mokele-Mbembe

Could a dinosaur still be alive today in the jungles of the Congo ?  Since 1913 there have been numerous sightings by local villagers of a creature that closely resembles a Brontosaurus.  Foreigner's  like Professor Roy P. Mackal have also seen this animal in the Congo.  The creature is about the size of an elephant with short legs and a long neck.  It appears to be a small version of a Brontosaurus.  The creature is herbivorous, but it has attacked humans who have ventured to close to it while it was feeding.

More info sent in by Socrdude86@aol.com

Since 1913 there have been numerous sightings in the African Congo of a creature closely resembling the brontosaurs. Reports of dinosaur survival in Africa actually further back than this century if you consider the rock paintings of long necked quadrupeds. This creature is commonly known as mokele mbembe (meaning 'rainbow'), named by local pygmies. Common descriptions are of an elephant sized creature, reddish-brown or grey with smooth skin and a long muscular tail similar to that of an alligator. The legs are short in comparison to the long neck which is topped by a reptilian head. Footprints left on land are of a three-clawed foot.

James Powell, a Texan herpetologist was the leader of the first cryptozoological expedition to the area in 1979. His report included tales of a strange animal called n'yamala living in the swamps of Gabon which resembled the sauropod diplodocus. the diplodocus was a gray dinosaur with a long neck and tail similar to the brontosaurus. James Powell also said that a local witch doctor had told him he had seen a n'yamala around 1946, of over 30 feet (9m) in length, with a huge neck and tail, weighing at least as much as an elephant.

Interesting findings were made in the autumn of 1981 when Herman Regusters and his wife became the first Westerners to succeed in reaching Lake Tele. They returned with sounds recordings, plaster cast footprints, and samples of droppings. They also claimed to have sighted mokele membe on the lake.

Marecellin Agagna, a zoologist from Brazzaville zoo led a Congolese expedition which arrived at Lake Tele in April 1983. He also claimed a sighting of mokele mbembe about 300 yards (275m) out on the lake. He thought the animal was reptile. His description was of a thin reddish head with oval eyes like a crocodile. The head was about 3 feet (90 cm) above the water, and turned from side to side as though looking for him.

By 1992, Dinosaur fever had subsided dramatically. A Japanese film crew shot some interesting footage in September 1992 showing unusual activity in the water of Lake Tele. Expert opinion failed to confirm the video evidence in any way. Mitsuharo Ondo. the director of the Bala film told how the footage had been shot while the expedition crew were flying into the interior to begin there overland trek of the lake. They had planned to pass over the Tele region on the way, so they could film the lake and get an impression of the terrain they faced ahead on foot.

The Congo is full of caves many of which are below ground level and some even stretch for as far as 60 miles, with swamp conditions making an idea habitat for possible creatures such as mokele mbembe.

Dinosaur survival in the Congo can not honestly be reckoned proven. On the one hand, equatorial Africa does appear to have survived largely unchanged since the end of the dinosaur era. On the other, 70 million years is a long time for what appears to be a limited population to survive while adapting to the arrival of new rivals in the food chain and without suffering a severe deterioration of its gene pool.


The Black Beast of Exmoor





This cat-like creature was thought responsible for the death of over 200 farm animals over a 5 month period in England in 1987.  The creature pictured above was sighting numerous times and was clocked running up to 35 MPH.  The creature was also able to leap over 6 foot high fences without a problem.  There aren't supposed to be any large cats still living in regions where this animals was sighted.


Mongolian Death Worm

The Mongolian Death Worm, aka Allghoi Khorkhoi, was first sighted in 1926 in the Southern Gobi Desert in Mongolia.  It is described as a thick-bodied worm about 2 to 4 feet long.  The creature is reported to be able to spray a acid like substance that causes death instantly.  It is also claimed that this creature has the ability to kill from a distance with some sort of super charged electrical charge.  Numerous Mongolians have reported seeing this creature including a Mongolian Premier.  The creature is reported to hibernate during most of the year except for June and July when it becomes active.


De Loys' Ape

This creature was killed on the Venezuela/Colunbia border in 1917 by Francois De Loys and his party.  This creature appears to be a very man-like ape.  It has never been identified as a known species.  De Loys group was attack by these creatures and they shot and killed one of them.  The creature was about 5 ft tall and had a very human like appearance and movements.  The size and shape of the creatures forehead show that it isn't even closely related to known primates of South America.    Could this creature be the missing link between man and ape ?  Is this creature or one of it's relatives responsible for the bigfoot/yeti sightings ?


Giant Congo Snake

The picture above was taken in 1959 by a Belgium helicopter pilot, Col. Remy Van Lierde, while on patrol over the congo.  The snake he saw measured approximately 40 to 50 feet in length, dark brown/green with a white belly.  It had triangle shaped jaws and a head about 3 ft x 2 ft.  Experts have analyzed the pictures and have verified them as authentic.  They also have verified the size of the creature by matching ground features to the snake.  As the helicopter flew in lower the snake raised up 10 feet and looked as if it would strike at the helicopter if they flew any closer.


Morag

Is there a creature in a another body of water near Loch Ness ?  For centuries there have been reports of a creature dwelling in the depths of Loch Morar, located just 70 miles from Loch NessThe creature seems to be similar to the one sighted in Loch Ness.  This add even more to the theory that some large water dwelling animals were living in the various lochs' waters as they slowly became land locked.  There is enough food in the eco system of both lochs to support a large whale like creature such as the assumed extinct Zeuglodons.   The Zeuglodon is a primitive snake-like whale.  Sightings of Morag, as the creature has been dubbed, have been numerous in the this century.  In 1970, some members of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau went to investigate the possibility of a creature in near-by Loch Morar.  One member, Neil Bass, spotted a "hump-shaped black object" during their observation on the loch.  Bass did recognized the creature he say as normal marine life in the area.


Orang-Pendek

The small Indonesian island of Sumatra is the home of the Orang-Pendek.  It is said to stand 3 to 5 ft tall, is covered with short dark hair and has a thick bushy mane.   It walks mostly on the ground instead of living primarily in the trees like the island's other apes.  It has a footprint that is very similar to a humans.  In 1989 a British writer Deborah Martyr found the footprints of the Orang-Pendek and made casts of the prints.  The director of the Kerinci Selbat Nation Park was given the casts and said that they were made by no animal that they knew of.  The creature lives mostly off of fruits and small animals and is seen fairly often by locals.  This creature would be hard to find on this island if it is reclusive, the island is covered with millions acres of rain forest. An article about Orang-Pendek here


Impakta

Police blotter sent in by 1lenp@webquest.com

CAMP NAKAR, LUCENA CITY,PHILIPPINES
  On 131800June,1989 at Bantang,town of Caniwan,Burdeos Island, a two year
old baby identified as Viena Rosales was bitten and murdered by a suspect
known only as an old woman with long white hair touching the ground, white
complexion, four feet tall and with two three fourths inch long canine teeth

The sister of the victim,2 year old Jeona Rosales saw her sister being taken
out of her cradle and saw the suspect take the child into the grasslands.At
8:30PM of the same day the childs body was found lying near a river bank
mutilated and bitten many times.


Owlman

In the 1970's a silvery feathered birdman was observed by people in the Mawnan in Cornwall, England.  The birdman was said to have pincers as feet, reddish eyes and a large mouth.  Two sisters watched it fly over a church in 1976.  In July of the same year there were more sightings of the creature both on the ground and in the sky.   In June through August of 1978 there were additional sightings in the area of the church in Mawnan.
 
 
 


Olifiau
A giant black bat has ben reported in the mountains of Cameron.  It has been observed by many hunters in the area.  A similar creature has been seen in the Jiundu swamp in Zambia, called the Kongamato.

Do you know more ?  Send it to us.
 
 



 
 


Monster of Flatwoods, West Virginia

by jg@theshadowlands.net

 In the eastern state of West Virginia, there lies the town of Flatwoods.  Flatwoods, West Virginia is just like any other town...That is if you exclude the events on September 12, 1952.
 That day in September is definitely a memorable one to the locals of Flatwoods.  Just as the New Jersey Devil is to New Jersey and as the Dover Demon is to Dover.
 On the afternoon of September 12th, Sheriff Carr and his deputy Long were given a report of an object falling to earth.  Not long afterwards, a similar report was given by local school students.  However it was the night of this where the most interest lies.
 Shortly before the sunset, four boys saw an object fall on a hill.  Bringing an adult named Kathleen May and her two boys along, they journeyed up the hill.  What they found was quite interesting.  Twas’ a large sphere-like object which was reported to have a diameter of about ten feet.  Now, afterdark, two lights suddenly shone from a distance.  One of the members of the group directed his flashlights towards the two lights.  However these were not just any lights...they were eyes!  They were the eyes of a creature about ten feet in height.  The eye witnesses described it as having, “a bright red face, bright green clothing, a head which resembled the ace of spades, and clothing which, from the waist down, hung in great folds”.  Shortly after the creature realized it had been sited, it began to hover towards the witnesses.  The group then retreated.
 Mrs. May called Sheriff Carr while the four friends called their “buds”.  Even later that night, the original group, the sheriff, the kids’ friends, a giant mob of locals climbed the hill to see what has been reported.  However nothing mysterious was found.  All that was mysterious was that of a peculiar odor.
 The next day, “two parallel skidmarks and a circle of flattened grass” was discovered.  Unopened-minded authorities tried to explain it as being that of a comet or meteor and nothing else.  And that the so called creature was just an animal wrongfully identified.  These are absurd solutions which do not solve many factors of the event.  These include the fact that a meteor or comet crater would be clearly visible in the night.  Also, there are no known species of a land animals that are ten feet tall, stand on two legs, and that also on top of that has a red face.
 Beginning the next night,  other sightings were reported.  A mother and daughter claimed to have spotted the creature not many miles from the hill.  A non-resident of Flatwoods reported seeing a “bright orange object” hovering over Flatwoods.  There was one more couple who reported an observation of unusual objects overhead Flatwoods, and also reported seeing the monster.  Many investigators looked into this incident such as the famous John Keel (author of the Mothman Prophecies).  A "festival" was recently held for the 50th year anniversary of the event. Though it has been exactly fifty years since this event the people of Flatwoods have never solved the mysteries of September 12th, 1952.  -By Jarid Goodman

Bibliography:
The Flatwoods Entity,
http://bjbooth.topcities.com/Flatwoods.html
&
Flatwoods' Monster.
http://www.theweirdplace.com/ufos/flatwood.php

Much more information can be found on the Flatwoods Monster at
http://www.flatwoodsmonster.com (Note: No information was taken from
this source due to copyright laws)



 
 

Tatzelwurm



Tatzelwurm (German for worm with claws)

Tatzelwurms are creatures that live in holes.  Sightings of these creatures center around the Swiss and Austrian Alps. Tatzelwurms are described as mountain dwelling dragons with a cat head, razor sharp
teeth, spiked ridges along their back, little or no neck, cylindrical body, lizard or serpent like, scaly, and has four legs with three toes on each foot.  It is reported that they live mainly in the crevices on the mountains.  They are extremely aggressive and will attack if provoked.

The first reported sighting was in 1779 by Hans Fuchs.  While he was out on the mountains he had the misfortune of sighting first one, then a second one appeared.  Fearing for his life, he fled.  Before
he could reach his home, he suffered a heart attack.  However, before dying he was able to warn his family and tell them of his harrowing experience.

Tatzelwurms are also known as Stollenwurms and as Springwurms because of their leaping abilities.  One report has a farmer killing a tatzelwurm that had been hibernating.  The blood flowed freely from its mouth, but was green instead of red.

In 1711 Jean Tinner, a man, was on the mountain of Frumsember in Switzerland.  He reported to authorities that he had seen and wounded a horrible serpent with a musketshot.  Nearby residents had complained that their cows were without milk.  Mr. Tinner's lucky shot must have been fatal to the serpent creature as the cows were giving milk after the incident was reported.

In 1924 a 5 foot long skeleton was found that resembled a lizard.  Some have come to view the tatzelwurm as a giant size member of the otter family or a giant sized Asian salamander.  It has also been considered a relative of the American gila monster.  It is true that sightings in recent years have been rare, but this does not detract from their past or current existence.

Living in the crevices of the Alps is pretty much a guarantee of existing.  Their ability to hibernate in the extreme cold allows them to survive the elements.  As to surviving the human race, well, just the fact that they live in the crevices of the Alps would insure a few of their kinds survival.  The depth of all the crevices is unknown and most of the crevices have not been explored. Hmmm, like the ocean and outer space these crevices may never be fully explored as to their depths, where they go, or what dwells within their dark
tombs.

Charla@theshadowlands.net
 
 
 



 


Big Bird

There is no confusing this Big Bird with the big yellow one on Sesame Street!  January 1, 1976 a five-foot tall, bald black bird, large red eyes, with a six-inch long beak in the center of it's gorilla-like face was seen in the Rio Grande Valley standing with it's wings folded around it's large body.  This creature will make a loud shrill "eeeee" sound and its wings sound almost bat like.

Those that have reported seeing the creature say its face is horrifying and that the large red eyes are pure evil.  Animal behavior when this bird is around is odd.  One family reported that the bird was watching their daughter and her playmate one late afternoon.  The girls were terrified as was the family dog that lived
outside.  The dog cowered and when released to come into the house for dinner darted and refused to leave the safety of the house.

The fathers of the two girls went to investigate the area where the creature was seen.  Upon arriving at the site, they found prints that were 8 inches across squared at the top with 3-toed impressions and 1.5 inches deep in the hard dry dirt. One of the men attempted to gauge the weight of the bird.  His weight was 170 pounds and even jumping down hard on the hard dry dirt, he was unable to make even a slight impression.

A second sighting of the bird was made by a motorist on January 7, 1976.  The driver was startled by a big bird standing aggressively in the middle of the deserted road with his wings wrapped around his body and whose eyes glared at him.

Based on witness reports, there are many who believe the Big Bird is possibly blue herons or pelicans.  Not likely since herons and pelicans do not weigh anywhere near the 170 plus pounds that would have been required to leave the prints mentioned earlier. We are discovering new creatures daily and even some that were once thought extinct.  The big bird could be a new species or a once thought extinct one or perhaps it is a "mothman" creature!

Charla@theshadowlands.net
 
 
 
 
 
 


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