The Allegheny River Flying Serpent

by Cole Herrold

Pennsylvania is filled with waterways and with them supposed tales of Cryptids. From the western tip of the state is Lake Erie which is home to Bessie, a large plesiosaur type cryptid that has been seen resting on Presque Isle as well as on the coast of the Ohio side of the lake. The Susquehanna River in the early 1900s was reported to of been the lair of a creature I've come to call the Armless Horror, an armless fishman that rose from the churning brine. Giant Catfish are rumored to dwell in every river and stream, and a large serpentine creature known as Ogua is said to dwell in the Monongahela River. In the lake Wolf Pond, a giant circular patterned snake was encountered in a dramatic way when it capsized a fisherman’s boat. Even in manmade lakes, cryptids are reported as in Raystown Lake; a black slimy creature known as Raystown Ray is rumored to appear on occasion in the lake. All these creatures seem to be either amphibious or solely aquatic, and that is to be expected as most species on this planet that deal with water as a lair tend to be one of these varieties. However, in 1906 a creature was seen in Pennsylvania's Allegheny River that was not just at home in the water and land but also in the air.

It was on a warm Fall day near Grunderville when Miss Rachel Talbot, the daughter of W.A. Talbot, was out at her Summer Villa. The Summer Villa was facing the Allegheny River. The river was throshing and churning with the natural flow that Rachel had come to be used to and at times miss when away at her normal residence. It was while staring out at the frothy brine that her eye noticed something dark moving on the water. She squinted and stared at this strange form, wondering whether or not it was a log or piece of driftwood. As the figure got closer, she could tell it was larger than the typical piece of wood that would float down, and it seemed to be significantly larger out of the water than a normal log. She stared, wondering whether an entire tree had potentially fallen and made its way down the river simply from how large and long it was, but the more she stared, the more that didn't seem right either, and then the unthinkable happened the tree turned its head. She soon realized that this was not a tree, a log, or any piece of driftwood but instead a large snake-like creature. The creature swam down the middle of the river, its head stretching ten feet out of the water, appearing like the quintessential Loch Ness Monster image.

The Freeport Owlman

by Cole Herrold

Mothman has always been one of my favorite cryptids. I loved the menacing glowing red-eyed, winged creature ever since I came across him in Daniel Cohen's America’s Very Own Monsters, the first cryptid-oriented book I ever came across in elementary school. As I began to do research on the flying fiend, I came across a similar and equally bizarre creature that was seen in Mawnan, England. The two avian anomalies have been some of my most beloved cases, and to me, evidence of potential cases of giant owls or, as Mark Hall would call them, "Big Hoots." I had even as a kid drew a potential migratory pattern for these creatures but have since scrapped it as I know feel that the two are totally separate species. I have longed for Pennsylvania to have an Owlman and Mothman, and extremely recently, my wish seemed to of been granted.

In Armstrong County, a bizarre flying feathered freak had been reported in October of 2013. Armstrong County is located right next to Butler County, for those who are truly familiar with the strange and unusual in Pennsylvania will know that the area is ripe with bizarre flying creature encounters. The most famous being the Butler County Gargoyle, which has been extensively covered by Fortean researcher Stan Gordon in several of his books and website, is for all intents and purposes a neighbor to another avian atrocity.

The Butler County Faerie

by Cole Herrold

Faeries have always interested me. The idea of small, allegedly magical humanoids that lived either as avatars of nature or as a parallel society that only occasionally interacted with humans was extremely fascinating, and the older I got, the more I appreciated the lore and myths associated with them. As I began researching Fortean phenomenon, however, I began to realize that the idea of small allegedly magical humanoids was something universal. I soon began hypothesizing a variety of ideas but the one I to this day adhere to is that what people are seeing is dwarf variations of a hominid species, especially since most of the famous cases take place on islands where dwarfism is rather commonplace. Now this explanation could explain humanoids like Iceland's elves or Ireland's Leprechauns, but there is another kind of faerie folk that makes this hypothesis more difficult. This kind of faerie is, of course, the winged variety that has been the poster child of faeries since tales have been recorded. I often dismissed reports or accounts of this as fancy as most reports of faeries that are reported are of small humanoids like gnomes, dwarves, goblins, elves, etc. Yet every once in a while, a case does occur of a strange flying humanoid of miniature stature that for all intents and purposes is a faerie.

I first came across the Butler County Faerie in Lon Strickler’s amazing book of flying freaks Winged Cryptids: Humanoids, Monsters, and Anomalous Creatures Casebook. Which I highly suggest anyone interested in more modernish accounts of flying creatures to get. I was taken back one for the fact that the witness believed it to be a faerie, two for how the witness described this faerie, and three for the fact that it took place not in the land of green in which these tales would seem commonplace but essentially in my own backyard. The encounter with this strange, winged anomaly took place in Chicora, which is located in Butler County. Butler County is a hotbed for paranormal activity and bizarre cryptid encounters, so it would only make sense that one of the good people would dwell there.

The Veggie Man

by Cole Herrold

In the pages of the unknown, there is a constant stream of cases or accounts that indicate multiple origins to the phenomenon. Bigfoot is a classic example as there is the cryptozoological approach of a physical animal, the Ufological approach where there appear to be reports of bigfoot and UFOs at the same time or in some connection to each other, and then there is the interdimensional aspect where some individuals have claimed that bigfoot has phased out of reality, turned into a ball of light, or cloaked itself. The Loveland Frogmen are another case that mixes both Ufology and Cryptozoology as the 55' reports of wand tech-wielding, and baggy pants-wearing creatures are connected to reports of very biologically behaving humanoid frogs. These cases are often confusing when trying to look at them from a physical cryptozoological standpoint, and most researchers who do tend to take these accounts seriously often claim that they are separate entities bigfoot, bigfoot type aliens, frogmen, and aliens that look similar, etc. This tends to be where I stand on this phenomenon as often there are extreme differences in appearances and behavior compared to the earthbound phenomenon.

Often times a cryptid case is later on included into Ufological or some other Fortean lore, but on occasion, the opposite will occur. One particular case of this variety is a cult favorite Ufological topic known as the Vegetable Man. The original account came from Gray Barker and was covered in Brad Steiger's book Alien Meetings. The Vegetable Man was a bizarre, assumedly extraterrestrial visitor that communicated in a bizarre high-pitched whining recordesque telepathic manner and had an extremely bizarre appearance. It had large ears, big, slanted eyes that had yellow and red swirls in it, similar to a stereotypical hypnotist tool. It was extremely thin with long arms which had fingers tipped with stingers and suckers. IT had large feet capable of making great distance and, in many sketches of the beast, a long carrot-like body. The creature was allegedly wounded or suffering from some need and proceeded to use its sucker-like fingers to drain the blood of a Jennings Frederick before running off at high speed.

Recommendations for your Crypto Library

Are you looking to start your own crypto/Fortean library? Have you ever wondered where it all began, or where it's headed, but didn't know where to start? Then check out these handy recommendations provided by some of the giants in the field, including Lyle Blackburn, Karl Shuker, Ken Gerhard, and Matt Bille!

Lyle Blackburn recommends:

1. Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupucabras and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature – Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark

2. Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide – Michael Newton

3. Sasquatch the Apes Among Us – John Green

4. Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America – Loren Coleman

5. Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena – Jerome Clark

The Franklin Township Frogman

by Cole Herrold

Frogmen are a rare occurrence in the cryptozoological world. There are scant reports from all over the United States, but they are mainly reported in the North Eastern and Midwest section of the United States. The most famous case is the poster child for aquatic humanoids in general and one of the most beloved cases in both Cryptozoological and Ufological circles. The Loveland Frogmen case started in 1955 when a man returning home one night reported seeing three lumpy headed wand wielding silver panted figures similar in appearance to frogs along the Ohio River. Similar creatures often connected to them were reported by police officers in the 70s, and they too were seen along the Ohio River, but these figures did not have the sweet wand tech or odd track pants reported in the 55' case and appeared to be more biological in origin. In recent years a photo was taken of an alleged Frogman from a Pokémon Go player, and the photo is of hot debate in the cryptozoological community. While the majority of Frogman related sightings do come from the Ohio River Valley, it is not the only area to host them, and here in Pennsylvania, there was one such case that came from Franklin Township near Lapping Farm.

Franklin Township is located in Greene County and is one of the many small communities that make up the vast section of Pennsylvania. Many of these townships are extensively wooded, with plenty of places for bizarre beasts to hide, and are often located near bodies of water. Named after Benjamin Franklin, the area of Franklin Township has a rich history that makes it a hidden gem of the state of Pennsylvania as many of the communities and cities of the state are. The area, interestingly enough, is a hotbed for strange accounts as well, from a Lizard Man abducting a hunter to countless haunted houses and reports of mystery big cats, but one of the more bizarre cases features an amphibious resident that may be a unique addition to the already bizarre beasts reported in the area.

The Lapping Farm Lizard Man

by Cole Herrold

Reptile-like monsters have always been a staple in horror, science fiction, and fantasy. They speak to us culturally in a primitive way of something old and ancient. Something that predates us and will most likely exist long after us. There is an understandable fear to anything we cant relate to hence why we project them in classic kaiju films like Godzilla, the Giant Behemoth, Gamera, and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms as well as in characters like the Sleestaks from Land of the Lost, the Lizard from Spider-Man, and the sinister extraterrestrials from V. With these creatures the more human-like we make them it always seems to be more terrifying and more intelligent they appear to be. Yet while our movie theaters and television screens host these bizarre beasts, they are not alone, as reports of similar creatures are claimed to be sighted around the world. 

Humanoid reptiles are a topic that constantly is discussed in cryptozoological circles. Reports have been sporadically coming in from all over the world. In America, though, we have had a rather steady amount of reports and sightings from just about every state. The most famous case, however, is of the Lizardman of Scape Ore Swamp, which was sighted in the late 1980s which chased and attacked a car near Scape Ore Swamp. In California, a bizarre lizard creature was reported coming out of a river during a rainstorm and also attacked a car. Most reports of these ostensibly semiaquatic dwellers are from the southern portion of the United States, yet upon doing some digging, there are reports of some reptile-like beasts in the northern states as well. In Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Kevin Paul's amazing book Haunted Hills and Hollows: What Lurks in Greene County, Pennsylvania, they describe an extremely early account of a lizard humanoid in Franklin Township near the Lapping Farm area, and it is an exceptionally bizarre case and also possibly a look into an even more disturbing element to these creatures.

The New World Explorers Society Library of Fortean Resources

This is a list of the resources in the  Ever-Growing Fortean Library of the New World Explorers Society. Bolded are all the works that feature cryptozoological topics directly. Other sources such as those on Urban Legends,  folklore, and mythology also have some cryptid related material. The rest of the list features works on Ufology, Demonology, ghosts, hauntings, psychic phenomenon, esoteric concepts, and other bizarre phenomena that are included as a list to help expand anyone's library.

A

Abair Road: The True Story - Brian Gosselin and Sue Gosselin

Abduction - John E. Mack

Ablaze!: The Mysterious Fires of Spontaneous Human Combustion - Larry E. Arnold

Abominable Snowmen: Legend Comes To Life - Ivan T. Sanderson

Adventures in Cryptozoology: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms, and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters - Richard Freeman

The Aeneid - Virgil

African Myths and Tales - Flame Tree Publishing

Agartha- The Earth’s Inner World - Marianna Stjerna

The Alien Abduction Files: The Most Startling Cases of Human-Alien Contact Ever Reported - Kathleen Marden and Denise Stoner 

The Alien Agendas: A Speculative Analysis Of Those Visiting Earth - Richard Dolan

The Alien Book: A Guide to Extraterrestrial Beings on Earth - Nick Redfern

Alien Contact: The First Fifty Years - Jenny Randles

Alien Disclosure: Experiencers Expose Reality - Lon Strickler

Alien Encounters - Time Life

Alien Legacy: Based on True Events - Geraldine Sutton Stith

Alien Meetings - Brad Steiger

Aliens in the Forest: The Cisco Grove UFO Encounter - Noe Torres and Ruben Uriarte

Almanac of Alien Encounters - Eric Elfman

America's Bigfoot: Fact, Not Fiction: U.S. Evidence Verified in Russia - Dmitri Bayanov 

America’s Most Haunted: The Secrets of Famous Paranormal Places - Theresa Argie and Eric Olsen

America’s Scariest Places: Haunted, Creepy, Abandoned - Centennial Entertainment

America’s Scariest Places: Haunted, Creepy, Abandoned - Centennial Outdoor

America’s Very Own Monsters - Daniel Cohen

American Folklore and Legend: The Saga of Our Heroes and Heroines, Our Braggers, Boosters, and Bad Men, Our Beliefs and Superstitions - Reader’s Digest

American Cryptids By Kenny W. Irish

American Indian Myths and Legends - Richard Erodes and Alfonso Ortiz

American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America - Linda S. Godfrey

Amish Folk Tales and Other Stories of the Pennsylvania Dutch - C. Eugene Moore

The Amityville Horror - Jay Anson

Anatomy of A Phenomenon: UFO's in Space - Jacques Vallee

The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead - E.A. Wallis Budge and Epiphanius Wilson A.M.

The Andreasson Affair: The True Story of a Close Encounter of the Fourth Kind - Raymond E. Fowler

Animal Ghosts, or Animal Hauntings and the Hereafter - Elliot O’Donnell

Appalachian Case Study: UFO Sightings , Alien Encounters and Unexplained Phenomena - Kyle Lovern

Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base - Annie Jacobsen

Area 51: The Revealing Truth of UFOs, Secret Aircraft, Cover-Ups, and Conspiracies - Nick Redfern

The Asian Wild Man: Yeti, Yeren, and Almasty Cultural Aspects and Evidence of Reality - Jean-Paul Debenat PHD

Astonishing Encounters - Pennsylvania’s Unknown Creatures: Casebook Three - Stan Gordon

Astral Projection- Brad Steiger

The Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore - Maximo D. Ramos

Atlas of the Mysterious in North America - Rosemary Ellen Guiley

The Beast of Barrisdale

by Cole Herrold

The Beast of Barrisdale is a bizarre mystery that, like many older cases, seems to be one part myth and one-part cryptozoological phenomenon, and unfortunately, most if not all the witnesses are no longer with us to elaborate or explain what is currently out there in the form of books and website information. It is a case that, like many, we will probably never be able to explain or come to any solid conclusion. While the case of the Beast seems to of come to a close, there is another element to the Beast of Barrisdale; however, it is known as the Loch Hourn Monster, but if this is the case, it is not alone in this moniker. For the Beast seems to of staked a claim only on the land and air as no reports of its description come from the water, and that is because the water is already taken.

Scotland is just teeming with loch (lake) monsters. The most famous being the Loch Ness Monster, which has since been the poster child for lake monsters since word of it hit the mainstream media. Yet other lochs around it and all throughout Scotland are homes to other slithery slimy aquatic beasts’ lochs such as Loch Oich, Loch Lochy, Loch Morar, Loch Shiel, Loch Quoich, and Loch Awe, just to name a few. Yet, there is one loch that is home to one of the most bizarre beasts ever conceived in an aquatic lair.