Hook Island Sea Serpent

 Hook Island Sea Serpent

By Cole Herrold

There are very few pieces of Cryptozoological evidence out there that have lasted the test of time. Often many of them are debunked, proved to be misidentified, or are examples of pareidolia. While we cannot expect clear photos for every cryptid encounter like the Sandra Mansi Champ photo or the Patterson Gimlin Film, there are some photos that just seem to be too good, and this leads into controversy. One of perhaps the most famous and controversial pieces of evidence of all time was a series of photos that were taken off Hook Island by Robert Le Serrec. These photos are stone-cold classics in the world of cryptozoology and are a toss-up as while many researchers feel the photos are hoaxes; others continue to think that there is something real and tangible just below the surface.

On December 12, 1964, Breton Photographer Robert Le Serrec might have captured one of the best pieces of evidence for the existence of an aquatic cryptid we would call a sea serpent. Le Serrec, his family, and his Australian friend Henk De Jong were shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef and decided that during this time that, they would purchase a motorboat and spend about three months on Hook Island. While out one day near Stonehaven Bay, Le Serrec’s wife noticed a dark form seemingly resting on the bay floor and proceeded to bring the figure to the attention of the rest of the party. The group, upon coming close to the object which at the time they thought was a mere 30ft but as they came withing shocking closeness they noticed in utter horror that it was a strange unknown creature. The group having more courage than arguably they should, proceeded to take a series of photos, each more interesting than the last. They were shocked at what was below the waters for the creature they photographed in the waters of Stonehaven Bay around Hook Island in Queensland, Australia, had an appearance similar to a black tadpole or American eel. The creature had eyes located either on the top or near the sides of the head with slit-like pupils and had an incredibly long smooth serpentine body that was black in color with brown transverse stripes. The most incredible aspect of this is that the creature, however, is not arguably its appearance, but instead of its initial 30ft length, the creature turned out to be an astounding 70-80ft long. One member of the party or another individual had managed to take a boat out towards the tail of the creature, and this gave a sense of just how colossal the creature was. It was in this position that they noticed a large pale region which they thought was a wound that was visible on the right side of the tail. Le Serrec and Henk De Jong were completely perplexed by this creature and, thinking that the creature was dead, decided that they would film it underwater. The two had just started to film the creature when the creature, in a sudden change of pace, began to move. The two watched in utter horror as the creature opened its mouth, revealing a white mouth and throat, and proceeded to move towards them; half expecting that they would be consumed by the colossal monstrosity, they began to swim back to the assumed safety of the boat and began to clamor ashore, and as they turned to look back into the water to see if the creature was hot on their heels they were surprised and relieved that the creature had disappeared. As the group was rationalizing their thoughts, they felt that the creature was resting in the bay because of the wound to its tail, which they felt might have been caused by a ship's propeller.

In March of 1965, Le Serrec, in Australia's Everyone magazine, came forward with the photographs of the serpent and proceeded to tell the tale of how he caught it on camera. It was around this time that the claimed photos and story caught the attention of Cryptozoologists Ivan T. Sanderson and Bernard Heuvelmans. Ivan T. Sanderson heard about the case in February of that year as Le Serrec had initially attempted to sell the photos to several media outlets, yet these outlets would not give him the price he had wanted. Sanderson, however, would later write about the photos in an article for True Magazine. After this, the case was written about by both researchers as well as other cryptozoologists years later, such as Loren Coleman and Karl Shuker. The general consensus is that the photos are more than likely a hoax; however, some researchers to this day do think that there might be something more to the footage.

Now there is some controversy over this footage, as with just about any cryptozoological evidence, and this deals much less with the photos themselves and more around Robert Le Serrec. As time went on, when researchers Loren Coleman and Bernard Heuvelmans investigated Le Serrec and the Hook Island Photos, they had found some issues with Le Serrec’s character and the possibility of talks of creating a hoax. In their books In the Wake of the Sea Serpent and Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep, the two-state Le Serrec was in great debt. In fact, during the time the photos were taken, Le Serrec had left France to go and avoid his creditors and that Le Serrec was even wanted by Interpol, and Heuvelmans, in general, felt that he was not very trustworthy. Heuvelmans would later discover as well that Le Serrec, in 1959, had allegedly told several friends in France that he was about to go away on an expedition and “another thing in reserve which will bring in a lot of money… it’s to do with the sea serpent”. Adding to these seemingly damning character traits and backstory, Heuvelmans, upon looking at the photos, felt that there were problems in regard to the anatomy of the creature since the eyes of the creature appear from what we can tell near the top of the head and not near the side or closer to the snout. Yet there are species out there with eye placements similar to the creature.

Ivan Sanderson felt that the photos were most likely hoaxed and felt that “the object was either a plastic bag used by the US Navy “for experiments in towing petrol” or a deflated skyhook balloon which had become covered in weed, or a roll of cloth which had been tied together in places." Heuvelmans had his own idea as to just what was the answer to the photos Heuvelmans thought that the creature in the photo was a carefully shaped expanse of plastic sheeting weighed down with sand into the form of a colossal serpent. When one looks at the close-up photos of the head, researchers like Darren Naish point out that one can see covering four certain portions of it as though someone had “placed handfuls of sand on top of the edge of the creature: exactly what you would do if trying to weight down a monster-shaped sheet of plastic." Yet Le Serrec would claim that this was because the creature had slightly buried itself in the sand. Other researchers later had pointed to a possible shoal of fish, yet there are several problems with this since there were close-up photos, as well as the fact that while fish shoals can form basic shapes, they do not stay in these shapes for long periods of time, and in such a complex shape, all of this tends to point to one of two possibilities either some sort of material shaped and placed as a hoax or a biological creature.

While Sanderson and Heuvelmans were very certain that the creature was a hoax, they both entertained as well the possibility that the creature may have been real. Sanderson, for example, later on, felt that "the creature might be a giant synbranchid or swamp eel. Synbranchids are long-bodied acanthomorph teleosts, mostly of freshwater and estuarine habitats, well known for their ability to breathe air and undertake terrestrial excursions”. Synbranchids, however, are exceptionally small, however, usually being about 60 cm long, so if the Hook Island photos are an example of this, it would be the largest example known. Heuvelmans, however, was arguably more certain than Sanderson that the creature was a hoax and said should this creature be authentic, it could be "some kind of gigantic eel-like selachian." Paleontologist and Cryptid Enthusiast Darren Naish felt the reason he chose this possibility is due to a possible connection to sightings of an incredibly long-bodied shark. Another possibility often pointed to for another answer to the Hook Island Serpent is mastodonsauroid temnospondyls, a Triassic and Jurassic amphibian, yet the problem with this hypothesis would be the creature's lack of limbs.

One cannot help but mention that Heuvelmans created nine different categories in which different sea serpent and lake monster sightings could be categorized as. Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe would also utilize and update this for their own book, fixing some of the discrepancies and problems with Heuvelmans original model. Of the original 9, however, there was one category of a sea serpent which curiously is very similar in shape to the Hook Island Sea Serpent but is described as the Yellow Belly. Essentially it is, as the name suggests, a yellow-bellied tadpole-shaped creature with brown stripes along the back and a tannish-green colored body. Some researchers feel that Le Serrec, if he hoaxed the serpent chose the design of the creature from this entry, yet this is not possible, seeing as how the publication of Heuvelmans book was four years after Le Serrec took the photos. Other researchers felt that Heuvelmans included this entry solely because of the Le Serrec photos, but obviously, this was not to be the case since the appearance does not match really. Heuvelmans based the Yellow-Bellied type of Sea Serpent on a sighting aboard the ship Nestor in 1876, which took place in-between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Now I must say I have problems with the hoax aspect of the Hook Island Sea Serpent case. For one thing, to pull off a hoax of a creature this size, it would take a great deal of time and energy. With a hoax of this caliber, one would think that someone would have seen them creating it. Now granted, Hook Island is basically uninhabited with some exceptions and is a national park, so perhaps if this was a hoax, it was done in a much more secluded area to avoid notice, but by creating a creature in the water as large as the sea serpent, it would stand to reason that someone would have seen them stretching out the balloon or bag and packing it in the sand. Also, as with other famous pieces of footage like the Patterson Gimlin Film, there are always people who come from the woodwork to claim that they were involved or that they caused the footage, and with this set of photos, nobody, as far as I’m aware came forward, and Le Serrec continued to state the film and footage’s authenticity. We can add this even to Le Serrec’s family, who was with him during the filming; when infamous hoaxer Ray Wallace passed away, his family immediately released a statement saying that they hoaxed countless footprints and videos, yet in Le Serrec’s case, if he has passed away there’s been none of that adding to the overall strangeness of the story. Now again, Coleman and Heuvelmans stated that Le Serrec was a rather untrustworthy individual, and there are two ways to interpret this one can look at his claims and automatically dismiss them or that everything he experienced did, in fact, happen. The point of it truly is the following is that if a phenomenon is real, people of all sorts of merit can still encounter the unknown it just makes it more difficult to accept their claims.

In 2003 Le Serrec was said to still be living and currently residing in Asia. Once this was revealed, there was a sudden rush in attempting to interview him about the sea serpent, yet no interview currently has been conducted. I would love to hear his thoughts now since it's some 60 years later if he is still alive. Or if any of the others who were around with him during the photographing of the creature. While there’s currently no further investigation into this case, and for most researchers, the case seems to be closed, I think that there's enough ambiguity that would warrant a follow-up. Yet as with most older cases, chances are this will not be the case, but until then, we are left to ponder just whether or not this series of photos is authentic or not and it's a mystery that will last for countless years until an example is either captured or that other members of Serrec’s family finally come forward and claim either that it really is a hoax or that it’s the real deal.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species:

Location: Pacific Ocean, Stonehaven Bay, Hook Island, Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia

Sighted: December 12, 1964

Works Cited:

Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology By Michael Newton

Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep By Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe By Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe

Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths By Darren Naish

In the Wake of the Sea Serpent By Bernard Heuvelmans

Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology Volume 2 By George Eberhart

Darren Naish "The amazing Hook Island sea monster photos, revisited" Scientific American November 23, 2013. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/the-amazing-hook-island-sea-monster-photos-revisited/. Accessed June 26, 2022.

Laura Rowton "5 Lake and Sea Monsters Supposedly Caught on Camera" The Paranormal Scholar. February 9, 2018. https://www.paranormalscholar.com/5-lake-sea-monsters/. Accessed July 8, 2022.

Bluefield Frogoyle

 Bluefield Frogoyle

By Cole Herrold

Green seemingly reptilian or frog-like creatures are perhaps some of the most interesting cases in the world of the Fortean. Who does not love the Loveland Frogmen, either the wand-wielding parachute pants wearing 55' beings or the classic bipedal amphibians from 1972? There are tons of these reports, and each is unique in its own right. One such Cryptozoological Kermit occurred in Bluefield, West Virginia, and its visage and impact were so great that it affected the life of an at the time little boy for the rest of his life.

A boy by the name of Robert S. would write in 2004 at the now-defunct About.com Your True Tales Paranormal Phenomenon. This encounter occurred in Bluefield, Mercer County, WV, after he had moved to the area as a boy. His family had moved into a house on Longview Ave; as a boy, he was noticeably and surprisingly fearless and was exceptionally curious about his new home. One of the things that piqued his interest as a boy was his neighbor's house, which was located two homes down from him. The house had long and huge hedges that surrounded the perimeter of the backyard. One day his curiosity got the best of him, and he proceeded to squeeze his way under the hedge; as he crawled under the greenery, he soon noticed that there was a layer of barbwire intermixed within; due to his size and age, he had no problem maneuvering through the wire. When he entered the backyard, he found a pond that was surrounded by Witching Balls. These witching balls were also darting the yard, and as he examined the confines of the yard, he noticed that someone had seen him from the window and he realized that if he were caught, he'd have to face repercussions and began to run back to the bushes and as he ducked and worked his way through the boughs a man came from the house running towards him and proceeded to yell at him “get out, get out”. Robert would describe the man as looking like” Allen Funt from "Candid Camera” and that he had “a white birthmark on his skin that looked like paint dropped on his head, and a sneaky grin". Robert proceeded to run back to his home after evading the barbwire and low-hanging limbs from the hedge, hoping that the walls of his home would provide him safety from his trespassing. This would not be the case, however, as the man ended up coming straight to his home, knocking aggressively on his front door, and then proceeded to tell his mother to keep him out of his yard.

Robert, for a time, did just that, but he was curious about this strange man, and as time went on, he watched his neighbor intently. He discovered that he and his wife were rather odd, to say the least, his wife would wear a tank top around her waist to show off the scars from where her breasts were removed, and on one winter day when he was out climbing a tree, he saw both the husband and wife sunbathing naked on their property in the snow. During the night, he could hear the neighbors singing Christian tunes for hours, and it was not at all peaceful but instead reminiscent of what one could imagine what playing the piano with a hammer would sound like. The peculiar nature of his eccentric neighbors was not enough, however, to dissuade him from approaching their property, and on one particular summer day, he would come to regret not staying his distance.

One summer day, he decided to go over to the hedges with his matchbox cars. While playing with the small mechanical vehicles, he noticed a rustling in the bushes. Curious by this, he turned to look at the shaking foliage and was surprised to see a face pop out and glare at him. This was no normal face; however, its visage to the young boy would only be comparable to a gargoyle, yet each feature of the strange entity was more perplexing than the last. Instead of human-like eyes, the creature had solid black pointed eyes that were bulging from a face that looked eerily like a frog's except that it had both teeth and ears that "flexed outward like the side of its head two big green gloves on” and a body similar in shape to a bulldog's. Its skin was a vibrant green in color, and while its arms and legs were not described in any great detail, it was noted that the creature had webbed feet that pointed inward as it walked. As it stared at the boy, the creature began to open its mouth and uncurl a loud hiss. Robert would describe this action in the following "He held it wide open as if to taste the air". Robert, as he stared at the creature, was completely paralyzed with fear and attempted to cry out for help, yet not a syllable was able to be uttered. Eventually, however, he was able to get control of his faculties and, at a speed that would rival The Flash proceeded to run as fast as he could back to his home and run straight to his mother. Upon seeing her, he, in excited and terrified bursts of energy, attempted to tell her about the anomalous amphibian that he had witnessed, yet all she could do was point to a series of "Childcraft books" and say, "See if you can show Mommie a picture of the animal." Upon scanning through the various tomes, the closest he came across was even more peculiar as the animal in question was an Australian marsupial namely a Koala and only this because of how the creature’s eyes appeared. Seeing the animal her son had said was the closest in appearance, his mother only laughed and said, "Son, those animals are only in Australia. What you probably saw was a dog". Disheartened by his mother's comment, he never spoke of the creature again.

Several years later, after his strange and eccentric neighbors had left the area, a preacher and his wife moved into their house. Robert was then hired by the couple to do some maintenance on the property, like mowing the grass and taking care of the home in general and on one occasion, he had to go down into the basement of the home, and while there, he felt extremely terrified of being down there as though there was some dark energy in that room. Robert proceeded to tell the preacher about his experience with the previous owners of the house and about the time the husband chased him out. The preacher explained that the man did this because a little girl in the area drowned in the pond, and the girl's family proceeded to sue the family. Yet Robert felt that there was some strange connection to the previous owners, the strange creature, and the dark energy he felt in the basement, but he could not figure out just how or what it could be. Robert's final remarks on the creature, however, were the following “I have never seen a creature like the one I'm about to tell you about since the day I laid eyes upon it, and till this point, I have never seen it again… Because of that experience, I have always been scared of the dark because I know there are monsters. I saw one."

With this case, there are several avenues to go down in analyzing this case. Perhaps the most obvious is the possibility of a hoax, seeing as this was an online uploaded report with no follow-up. The strange details in the case could be examples of elaboration to make the case seem stranger, and there are certain details that definitely seem unrelated and raise the question as to why they'd include that in the report. This almost seems like a slight wink towards absurdity, something a hoax claim would usually do. Yet with that said, there's a lot in the description that seems to be reminiscent of other more obscure cases that, to me, at least seem to point to something more tangible than a wild false narrative.

The next possibility still on the skeptical side would obviously be a misidentification. One could point to an exotic pet such as an iguana or basilisk lizard as being the culprit of what he had seen. The barbwire could possibly have been some idea of the couple's to keep the animal inside the area of the yard. Yet, with most cases of a reptilian or frog humanoid, there are problems with this; for one thing, the boy got a very good look at the creature, and upon trying to find something similar in a book, the closest he came to and only because of the eyes was a koala. If this was a reptile of any variety that we are currently familiar with, he would have found something similar, so I have to say that a misidentification is extremely unlikely. This unlikeliness is added to the fact that similar types of creatures have been reported elsewhere, often times in and around water.

Now this curious creature does appear to be a cryptid as from the very brief encounter that was described, it seems to indicate something that can interact with its environment and has a kind of behavior that is extremely similar to reptiles and amphibians, especially when the creature opened its mouth wide and taste the air. This behavior has been reported in other seemingly reptilian and amphibian cryptids, such as Lizardmen reports and the Franklin Township Frogman case. In comparison to other reported cryptids, this particular cryptid is actually very similar to another cryptid reported in New Kensington, PA, on February 28, 1981. This being known as the New Kensington Green Thing was described as a green-skinned entity with strange ear-like protrusions and webbed feet. The creature was seen by a group of boys who attempted to capture it but were unsuccessful, and it ran into a sewer drain. There are other similarly described small frog or lizard-like creatures reported elsewhere, and with this and the New Kensington Green Thing cases, I have to wonder if what these creatures are is the juvenile versions of larger cryptids. As a researcher, we go off the assumption that cryptids are, for the most part, biological in nature and origin, and if this is to be the case, there must be both a decently sized population and young. While with some cryptids like lake monsters and sasquatch young are reported with reptilian and amphibian cryptids, there are seemingly no reports in the record. Yet looking at cases like this, it could be that is exactly what we are looking at, and it would make sense as well. In nature, there are what is referred to as r and K-selected species; in r-selected species, such as sea turtles, there is no care for the young due to the fact that in species of this variety they tend to release a ton of offspring at once and very quickly whereas K selected species tend to raise young for longer periods of time and have fewer numbers of offspring. Some species, like certain dinosaurs, had intermediate traits between the two types of r and K selection. With aquatic humanoids or reptilian humanoids, it would seem that they would be either in the intermediate category or r selected, and if their behavior is like frogs or sea turtles, this could explain why there are never any reports of juveniles with adult lizardmen or frogmen yet why there are tons of seemingly unrelated reports of lizardmen, frogmen, and these frogoyles and green things. Yet, of course, this is all mere speculation.

Now while this creature does appear to be a cryptid, it's not the only possibility of its origin of existence. The next possibility, as unlikely as it sounds, is that this entity could be some sort of demon or supernatural entity. While this seems like a clear departure from sanity, I say this for the following reasons, and it's entirely in regard to the Robert S. neighbors. In myths, there are entities known as familiars, and interestingly enough, familiars often take the forms of owls, crows, cats, and for this possibility, frogs. These entities often change into intermediate stages of a demonic entity, and the animal they appear as to the witch who owns them. Robert was quick to point out that the neighbor's behavior was rather eccentric, and so it's possible that some of this could have been due to practicing Magick of some sort or another. This, too, added to the strange drowning of a girl in the couple's pond, could all be connected to them summoning some sort of entity, and on this particular day, Robert had happened to see it. Or alternatively that the couple was attempting to rid their property of some malevolent entity as witching balls which were seen in their backyard traditionally were used by farmers to scare witches and other malevolent entities away. This could be the more likely option since if they were malevolent magicians of some sort, the husband would not have told Robert to get out, and he would be in the basement being used in some arcane ritual. Again, there’s not much to go on and certainly not much to connect without wild speculation, but it should be noted that even towards the writing of his encounter, Robert felt there was some connection to all the strange things with the couple, the creature, and the house. Or, more than likely, they are all separate phenomena.

The Bluefield Frogoyle is an interesting addition to a wide pantheon of seemingly aquatic-looking cryptids. The fact that it was seen so close to a pond, albeit in someone's back yard, is interesting as depending on the layout of the house and the yard, one has to wonder just how the overall setup of the area is. There is a hypothesis that I've been a firm supporter of proposed by Cryptozoologist Rob Morphy that aquatic humanoids may migrate from one watery locale to another. I find this extremely likely since oft times these creatures are not seen regularly in such locations and often disappear for exceptionally long periods of time only to occasionally reappear. Often times in some locations, there are islands and rocky areas that rise out of the water; these would be ideal locations for the creatures to live momentarily as they go from water source to water source, and it could also explain how and why similar creatures are seen in completely different locations in the US and if these creatures have life cycles like an amphibian then there will be all sorts of different stages reported hence why someone might see a frogman or Fishman and someone else in a different location might see an Armless Horror or Charles Mill Lake Monster whereas others might see Frogoyles or Green Things. Obviously, this is just a theory based on the pattern of sightings of these types of creatures, yet it's interesting to think about. Either way, this is a fascinating case and one that I'm sure we will more than likely never find a definitive answer to but until the day we know this is a hoax or a real creature, it's best to stay away from the strange property in Bluefield.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Reptile, Amphibian, Paranormal Entity

Location: Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia

Sighted: Undisclosed

Works Cited:

Monsters of Virginia by L. B. Taylor Jr.

Mack Maloney's Haunted Universe By Mack Maloney

Strange Tales from Virginia's Mountains: The Norton Woodbooger, the Missing Beale Treasure, the Ghost Town of Lignite and More By Denver Michaels

 

 

Lake Hopatcong Monsters

 Lake Hopatcong Monsters

By Cole Herrold

New Jersey is known for several things in the Fortean world; the infamous Jersey Devil, for example, of the Pine Barrens, is sort of the state mascot of all things weird there. There are numerous reported ghost roads filled with phantom hitchhikers, ghostly apparitions, and the occasional demon. UFOs and Men in Black have been reported there as well, and one particularly weird MIB report happened there that was interconnected with the infamous Mothman flap. There are semi-transparent mantis men, creatures seemingly ripped from the pages of mythology like the Blackwood Pigtaur and the Blackwood Centaur, Lizardmen and Gatormen, Bigfoot, Monkey Men, and even dragons. The one thing, though, that New Jersey is not exactly known for is aquatic monsters which is not accurate, to say the least, there had been several reports of sea serpents in areas like Cape May and near Atlantic City, and another strange creature known as Tommie was said to of roamed the Tom's River. Of all of them, though, there's one lake, in particular, that is said to be the most active in regard to aquatic anomalies, and that is Lake Hopatcong.

Lake Hopatcong is the largest lake in the state of New Jersey and is nestled between both Sussex and Morris Counties and is approximately 4 square miles in total area. This lake was enlarged in the 18^th century when a dam was erected in the Musconetcong River on the south end. This caused the water to rise by about 6ft which caused the original bodies of water in the area known as the Great Pond and Little Pond to come together to form the Lake Hopatcong that we now know today.

Tales of something large and mysterious lurking in the depths of the waters were first said to of been rumored by the Lenape Natives who had lived for a time along the shore of the lake, yet specific accounts seem to have gone unreported. Yet as the area began to be more and more utilized and used as a commercial zone, sightings and possibly dangerous interactions with a mysterious creature became more frequent and led to an overall acceptance of a colossal creature that locals have come to call "Hoppie." The earliest reports of this creature outside of the ambiguous Lenape acknowledgment of the creature began some 200 years ago when people coming around the area of the lake reported seeing a large, colossal form break the surface with a gigantic splash of the now pond joined lake. The creature was said to have a giant elephantine body so large that it could make "an ox look like a fawn" and a large, long neck ending in a horse-like head that was topped with a pair of large, colossal pair of 10ft long antlers. The creature was so ferocious in appearance and assumedly in behavior that the creature caused excessive panic to anyone in the region, and this was added to the fact that the creature was also capable of leaving the lake and walking on land. This reign of terror seemed to of gone on for some time until a harsh winter hit the region, and the creature afterward had seemed to of disappeared. The locals were both curious and at peace at the sudden departure of the creature, but they still wondered just what happened to the creature. They wouldn’t have to wait long for an answer as a group of Lenape Natives passing through the area told just what happened to their semiaquatic neighbor. The Natives would state that during the winter, the creature was crossing the now frozen lake, and as it reached a particularly thin patch, the creature broke the ice and had proceeded to fall into the frozen water of the lake, where the creature seemingly perished. Whether the creature's death was due to the temperature of the lake or some physical trauma to the body of the creature, the Natives did not say. A short time later, while the lake had dethawed, several of the locals took a boat out to the area where the creature was said to of died and, upon peering into the water, could see the slowly rotting remains of the colossal monster. Its skull and antlers being the most noticeable feature that they could make out in the creature's watery grave.

This dead body clearly, however, was not the end of the creature as in pure classic monster film fashion, the "Son of" or "Daughter of" Hoppie would continue to be reported in the Lake. The next report of a large aquatic monstrosity in the lake occurred on November 11, 1999, when a witness known only as Pete and his unnamed friend were hanging out at the lake. The two had spent most of the chilly day on the lake and, upon deciding to call it a day, began to work their way towards the shore. Getting very close to the shore, the two hopped onto a deck and began to pull the boat into the shore. As the two strained to pull the boat in, Pete noticed that as he looked out on the water, he saw a colossal black 6-7ft wave come straight towards their dock. This colossal wave eventually hit their dock, and the impact of the water onto the dock was so strong that it almost knocked them off into the dark water. As they followed the direction of where the wave was headed, the two noticed a large object bobbing up and down in the lake. As they stared, they at first thought the object was a buoy but wondered just how a buoy would have made it to that area since they had never noticed one before. During this time, Pete's neighbor had left his home after seeing the colossal wave splash on the nearby dock. The trio of men debated about the form seen in the water the neighbor from a much safer distance than the other two, and when the buoy hypothesis was brought up again, Pete's neighbor said that this was impossible since the object was much too big. They watched as the object eventually submerged and hid in the murky water disappearing from sight altogether. During this time, the unthinkable happened to Pete's friend for some untold reason, be it fright, loss of balance, or some other possibility Pete's friend ended up plunging into the murky depths and disappearing for a brief period of time. When his friend resurfaced, he was some 10ft away from the dock and noticeably terrified as he cried out that during his time underwater, something had grabbed him and pulled him away from the dock. They were able to get his friend back to land and assumedly were more than hesitant to go back into the water for years later.

Now there had been rumors for years later of something strange and bizarre lurking in the lake, and these reports did not go unnoticed as they would be collected by the Fortean magazine Weird NJ; on one occasion, the magazine received a letter from a man residing in Sussex County who claimed that he had seen and experienced the creature on the lake countless times starting from when he was a boy. The witness stated that the reason he chose to write the letter was that creature was large and carnivorous and that while he did not want the creature hunted, he wanted others in the area to be aware of the creature and to be careful when swimming, boating, and fishing in the area. He claimed that the first time he saw the creature was when he was a boy fishing with his uncle. While out, he saw a bunch of splashing on the water and saw a large, colossal creature that released chirping sounds from a mouth filled with curved backward-facing razor-sharp teeth and began to hit the water with large paddle like fins. His uncle would later tell him more about the creature as he too had experienced it multiple times on the lake and noted that the creature had a habit of swallowing hooked fish, which he had experienced firsthand, and that upon biting them would swim away, remaining submerged the entire time. This unnamed letter writer would detail a full wildlife fact file on this creature and the knowledge of the behavior of the creature. The creatures he claimed are covered in brown and green slimy scales; they are usually about the size of a large dog but can reach the size of a cow with a long slender snake-like head and neck; they have forked tongues, long thin tails, and also have paddle-like fins that are tipped with claws. The creatures also have a terrible odor that smells like rotting fish or sulfur. The man would claim that the creature was not dangerous while left alone, but he does know that the creature is carnivorous as he had seen the creature on one occasion swallow two geese whole and that on one occasion it attacked his dog, which tore threw his beloved pet like a chew toy. On that occasion, the dog attacked the creature when the man was out fishing. The man was reeling in a large fish he had caught on the line when the creature rose from the depth biting the fish he had just caught. At this moment, the dog seeing that his owner's quarry was being intercepted, rushed out into the water and began to attack the creature in an attempt to have it drop the fish. The creature turned and proceeded to drop the fish and attack the dog, and in a brief skirmish, the creature ended up killing and eating the dog. As the man watched as the creature continued to consume his canine, he saw a peculiar behavior as the creature would spit out the bones, something one would indicate as a sign of intelligence. This creature, he realized, is an ambush predator and frequently utilizes the shoreline to capture and eat animals coming near the water, much like a crocodilian. He noted that the creature tends to do this more before and during the first light of day. It was in this interaction that he realized the potential danger this creature could have towards humans and shuddered to think about what the creature could do to children. He did note that the creature did not seem to be aggressive to creatures initially outside of fish, as in the two times that the creature did attack another organism, it was in self-defense, and this includes the instance with the geese. The man also noted that this creature was not alone and seemed to have a mate and that these creatures seemed to be more active on nights of a full moon. The creatures do have offspring as well, which are about the size of ducks and that the larger of the offspring tend to hang out towards Lify Island. He, while knowing the animals were breeding, he had no clear indication as to the breeding population or the exact number of creatures in the lake. The creatures have a preference of hanging out near-deserted tree-lined coves and rarely near docks; however, on at least one occasion, he did encounter the creature stealing his fish while fishing off a dock. It's from this that he recommends people to avoid deserted coves, especially at sunrise, and to stay at home at night, especially during the late fall and early spring, which is the creature's mating season and also when they appear to be more aggressive. The creature's the man would claim had unique eyes; they were a shiny color, and that these eyes are so bright that they can be seen even when the creature is underwater. His uncle would claim that these eyes have difficulty in seeing those wearing green camouflage. He would claim that the creature would also have a habit of hanging around deserted cove areas known for being local lover's lanes and "smooch parks" and that the creature had a habit of waddling ashore and peering into the windows of cars. The man ended up after becoming seemingly an expert on the creature, christening the beast Xepeciup Uqsejtjux Cemupiz or simply Cemupiz, which according to him, was the native name for the creature, which means "flesh-eating lake monster" and that the natives who knew of the creature forbade the killing of it seeing it as a sacred creature. During his research of the creature, he claimed to of captured the creature on camera; the photo he took came from a disposable camera from a Pathmark. He also, much like the native tribes, feels that we should protect the species from overall assault and extinction and that we should also attempt to protect others from the creature by making the public aware of the creature.

To this day, there are people who whisper about the creature, but as for officially documented sightings, there are none. The creature, however, has been picked up by the region as a kind of mascot for the tourist trade, not unlike Nessie or Champ and the other various lake and river monsters across the world. Just what the Lake Hopatcong Monster is, is difficult to establish as looking at the descriptions over the years, there seem to be several different creatures reported. This indicates a couple different things; the first would obviously be that this could be simply an urban legend. We have no official interviews or study of this creature, and all the sightings are either anonymous or so antediluvian that we do not have a way to find the beginning of the account. This could also explain why in the 1700s, the creature was described as being a semiaquatic deer monster, whereas now it's more of a traditional lake monster with notable plesiosaur-like features since that is what is ingrained in the culture of lake monsters.

Let's say, however, that all of the reports are accurate and that what the witnesses saw actually occurred. Right off the bat, I would say Cryptid as there are no UFOs associated with the creatures, and the fact that they can be killed, at least in regard to the original antlered version, implies a more physical existence as opposed to some ethereal entity like an Ultraterrestrial, tulpa, thoughtform, ghost, demon, faerie, or any other ethereal option. Now just what could this creature be, though, if it is a physical animal. Interestingly enough, with the original account and upon reflection while writing this, perhaps what was seen was not a lake monster or anything we would associate with a lake monster but perhaps a surviving Megaloceros. Megaloceros are giant elk that are approximately 7ft in height at the shoulder with an antler spread of, interestingly enough, almost 10ft, so exactly the same as the creature initially reported. The large elephantine-like body would make sense if the creature was wadding in the water, and perhaps this creature, much like moose, was capable of diving or surviving for some periods of time in and around water, adding to the lake monster mythos of the creature. Now I love this theory, and I will say that while Cenozoic prehistoric survivors are more likely than, say, Mesozoic era survivors, there is one major problem with this particular possible identification, and that is that Megaloceros was a Eurasian species from what we know in the fossil record hence the other alias the Irish Elk, so one has to wonder if this is the case just how one of these colossal creatures managed to get their way to New Jersey.

Megaloceros in comparison to a Human

Now, as for the modern Lake Hopatcong Monsters, they seem to be more akin to plesiosaurs or some other type of aquatic reptile which the closest Id argue based on description Id have to say would be a Tanystropheus or some smaller variation of a giant turtle. Yet unlike other cryptids like Nessie or Champ, where the lakes became landlocked shortly over time, ergo trapping such prehistoric remnants in the lakes. Lake Hopatcong did not have that, at least in the same way as the others; the lake does flow into another body of water, the Musconetcong River, which itself is home to another creepy critter known as the Musconetcong Mantis Man (see entry for more information) yet this leads into a possibility that perhaps the river allowed some creature to enter the lake back before the area was dammed and then afterward the creatures were trapped there. Now, of course, this is all speculation, and the creatures would, of course, have to follow such biological rules as the 50-500 rule, which, if the size of the creatures given is accurate, does not seem likely for a lake only 4sq miles in total. So perhaps these creatures are more terrestrial than we realize.

Image of Tanystropheus

One problem with lake monster reports from smaller lakes obviously is population if these creatures are, in fact living in the local. But perhaps lake monsters are more terrestrial in behavior and utilize lakes as feeding, breeding, and hiding spots. I've mentioned this before with Aquatic humanoid cases as well as with cryptids that appear to be more like giant snakes like Raystown Ray or the Wolf Pond Monster since there are reports of similar giant snake-like creatures seen on land. Now I venture this option again since where are all of these dinosaurian or reptilian-like cryptids going? They cannot be hanging out in the lake wed see them more often, so I wonder perhaps these creatures spend most of their time on islands or woodlands surrounding lakes. There are several cases throughout the years of colossal reptiles or quadrupedal dinosaurs living in the woodlands, yet much like these lake monsters, they are exceptionally rare; it's from this I ponder whether the two are interconnected and that when these creatures are seen on land its because they're moving to another water source or that they are utilizing other resources in the area. This is not an altogether farfetched idea; there are reports of dinosaurian-type creatures on land in areas where river and lake monsters are reported. I covered the Astor Monster, a ceratopsian-type dinosaur that lived both on land as well as the St. Johns River, and the William Lake Lizard, a colossal seemingly monitor type reptile that charged a car in 1973. So, such reports have occurred that do seem to lend credence to this idea, but of course, the accurate identity of such creatures is anyone's guess.

Another possibility I feel that needs to be addressed is the possibility of a time slip. Time slips in regard to cryptids are, to me, hit or miss as when looking at sighting reports of creatures said to be from another time like Pterosaurs, for example, they often are missing important features such as feathers or bright colors and this to me seems to be more evident of losing a feature through years of evolution to adapt to a certain environment or possibly a totally new species. Now there is an ever-shifting view on prehistoric life as we are always finding new features or rediscovering how these organisms were actually built since fossils are basically puzzles without instructions or original artwork to compare to hence why some dinosaurs like Spinosaurus are drastically different in form compared to how we originally thought they were built. So perhaps the reason these creatures were seeing seem to not match with our current animals is that they are accurate animals that are dropped here through a time slip but again, just what they'd be is anyone's speculation.

Another possibility for these creatures, of course, would be the interdimensional route; if these creatures are popping in and out from another dimension, then that would explain why we don't see them as much or why there's no evidence for their existence. The interdimensional aspect also offers an outlet for all sorts of possible evolutionary lineages that we currently are unaware of, and in the infinite dimensions of the multiverse, there is guaranteed to be at least one where a creature like this would exist. Now just the how and whys these dimensional shifts would occur is anyone's guess, but it is certainly much more likely than many of the other alternative Fortean ideas out there.

With New Jersey Cryptids, there is perhaps more skepticism when one thinks about the state and the incredibly high populated areas therein, but when one actually drives through the state, especially the backroads, it is entirely possible for things to remain hidden there. The same can be said about the waterways. We as a species are always discovering new animals or new ecosystems that we did not know were at the tip of our fingers. Perhaps we will find out that there might be some hidden glen or grotto where these creatures remain elusive; its interesting to note that many feel that there are certain waterholes that are seemingly bottomless in New Jersey known as Blue Holes, and many legends are interconnected with them one of the most famous is that they have underground caverns in them that reach to other places in the state perhaps Lake Hopatcong has one such entry/exit way. We can only guess and speculate, as with almost all cases. I've thought of checking the lake out myself on numerous occasions, so perhaps there might be more to this case, but until then or until more information can come to light, this is all we know about the infamous Hoppie.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Reptile, Mammal, Fish, Multiple Creatures

Location: Lake Hopatcong, Sussex, and Morris Counties, New Jersey

Sighted: Lenape legends around the 1700s to at least 1999 to possibly modern times

Works Cited:

Jersey Devils, Bizarre Beasts And Other Creatures of Weird NJ By Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman

Monsters of New Jersey By Loren Coleman and Bruce G. Hallenbeck

Weird NJ By Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman

 

Breckinridge Fishman

 Breckinridge Fishman

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to Cryptids, most seem to be almost pulled straight from the pages or film reels of both horror and science fiction films. Mokele-Mbembe, for example, seems to be a creature pulled from Land of the Lost or the Lost World. One case in Kentucky, however, seems to be of a far more exotic cryptozoological creature that appears to of been pulled straight from either Universal’s Creature from the Black Lagoon or Roger Corman’s classic Humanoids from the Deep. This case is pseudo-famous as the case has made its rounds in the works of Lyle Blackburn in his book Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster and whose image was featured as the cover of the Inhumanoids: Real Encounters with Beings that Can’t Exist! By Barton M. Nunnelly who also was the first individual to write about the case in his book Mysterious Kentucky Volume 1: The History, Mystery, and Unexplained of the Bluegrass State.

This encounter occurred in Breckinridge County near Stephensport sometime during the early fall of 1966. The witness, a man named Joseph, who was 9 years old at the time, was sleeping late one night when around 1:00 in the morning he was suddenly awoken by a large noise that seemed to of come from outside. The noise seemed to come near his bedroom window, and the noise was almost as though something had hit the side of the house. The boy, sluggishly and no doubt tired by this rude awakening, began to arise out of bed and went over to the window and, looking around the area, noticed that there was nothing in the area or nothing that would have noticeably made the sound. So, the boy, with an incredible amount of courage, proceeded to wander to the living room and began to head towards the front door. Just before opening the door, however, he pulled back the curtains in front of the door's window and peered out into the darkness. As he looked into the darkness, he noticed a bizarre figure moving out front of his home. At first, when he saw the figure moving, he thought it was some sort of person, but as he stared at the figure, it then looked over at him. He then could see that the figure was by no means human. The figure was 5'6" to 6' tall and was walking on two legs, and what Joseph thought he was looking at once some sort of Lizard-man. The figure he saw in the darkness he would describe thusly “it was “very amphibious looking" with scales covering its entire body. I could definitely see that this creature had webbed feet and webbed hands. Its color was dark, brownish-green. What I remember the most about its face were these huge rows of gills which flared out on both sides of the face. Its face was very "hard" looking with little dark eyes, similar to a snake or lizard. I can't recall a nose or lips as the face-to-face encounter only lasted a second or two. There was this ridge-like feature which started on the forehead and ran back over the top of its head, kind of peaked at the top". He watched the creature for some time and realized that the creature had seemingly run into the side of the building or at the very least was responsible for the loud commotion he had heard earlier. As he stared at the creature, the creature seemed to notice him and gave him an exceptionally surprised look as though it was startled by him. The creature, then realizing it was spotted, turned and began to run towards the nearby creek known as Sinking Creek, which was 75 yards from his house. Joseph jumped from the front door window and ran towards an adjacent window which was pointed towards the direction where the creature was running, and he continued to watch the creature until he lost sight of it in the darkness. The boy then returned to bed and spoke not a word about the encounter until September 13, 2006, when he told the full account to Barton M. Nunnelly and later interviewed by Bigfoot investigator Charlie Raymond who would write the following of Joseph “Joseph appears to be very credible. He is now 49 years old, married, with two children in college. The details of his encounter remain true to his online report. He kept stressing how "amphibious looking" the creature was and that it definitely ran on two feet. He added that its body was proportionate to a man's, but neither muscles nor genitalia were noticed. What struck him the most was how quick it was! Still to this day, he can't imagine someone having a costume "that life-like," not today, not 40 years ago, especially in the remote parts of Breckinridge, Kentucky".

Thus ends the case of the Breckinridge Fishman; to me, this case is particularly interesting as it is one of the few cases of a seemingly fish humanoid on the books. There are, of course, other examples, such as the infamous Thetis Lake Monster, which I will discuss later, but reports of semi-aquatic fish humanoids are rare as opposed to encounters with fully aquatic fish humanoids such as mermaids. Other encounters with entities that are semiaquatic of a more amphibious or reptilian nature are much more common such as the Loveland Frogmen, the Riverside It of Riverside, California, or the Lizardman of Scape Ore Swamp, which many point to all being interrelated in some fashion, however, each case has features that seem to reflect specific taxonomic species that fit more in the categories of Amphibians or Reptiles the Breckinridge case even though Joseph called it a Lizard-man when he first saw it has glaring features that seem to be more of an ichthyo-humanoid if such a term can be used as the creature he saw had more noticeable fish features as gills. Something reptiles and amphibians typically do not have.

When attempting to rationalize this entity, the best way to do so is to go down the Fortean ladder of possibilities and try to see where it would best fit. Going from the most skeptical, the first place to look is a possible hoax. With this case, there is a higher probability for a hoax than many other cryptids, and the only reason I say this is simply the description; if one was to remove the head fin or crest, the creature is a mirror image to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. A similar issue comes with the Thetis Lake Monster when one compares the description to both Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Beach Girls and the Monster, and The Horror of Party Beach. With this case, Horror of Party Beach came out 2 years before the sighting, the Creature from the Black Lagoon came out 12 years before the sighting, and if this kid was as interested in monsters or had the same amount of access to such films as I did as a kid, it is not impossible that he too could have fabricated the whole encounter. However, I will say that this is unlikely as Joseph, unlike the kids during the Thetis Lake Monster case, waited many years after the fact to report his sighting, which seems sort of a bizarre time to of claimed to report such an encounter. The witness also has only released his first name, so it's not like he's trying to profit off his encounter or even gain any sort of notoriety or attention from his sighting, so the motive behind a hoax is unlikely.

The next conceivable category is that this is a cryptid. This is perhaps the theory I agree the most with, as aquatic humanoids are a rather constant cryptozoological phenomenon. Merfolk sightings have been reported since time and memorial, and there are some incredibly famous cases of semiaquatic anomalies. The most famous, of course, being the Loveland Frogmen from Ohio, which was a large frog-like being reported near the Little Miami River. The Charles Mill Lake Monster of Ohio and The Armless Horror of the Susquehanna of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, are both seemingly bipedal humanoid fish-like entities that, while similar to the Breckinridge case, have one distinctive difference both don't have arms. The region that these cryptids are reported, it is interesting to note, is a hotbed for such sightings, and in relation to the Breckinridge Fishman, there might be a reason as to why. Joseph, as a follow up to his report, said the following about the Creek that the creature was seemingly running towards and the location of his house: "Our house is located on an acre where Sinking Creek meets the Ohio River. Sinking Creek originates 15 miles "upstream" in Big Springs, Ky. An interesting fact, this creek is the only natural trout/spring-fed creek in Kentucky. Just past the town of Sample, it disappears 12 miles underground (thus the name "Sinking Creek") and then resurfaces in an area further upstream in an explosion of bubbling water. As far as I am aware, nobody has ever dared to dive far enough down to determine its true origin. This creek is believed to connect to the vast underwater system which connects the many caverns of Western Kentucky; the most noted being the caverns of Mammoth Cave." Now for those unfamiliar with the Mammoth Cave system, it is an alleged hotspot for Fortean phenomenon such as Bigfoot, underground alien bases, other cryptids as well are said to of been seen in and around the caves, and the reason these underground streams are of note is that perhaps they lead much like in Creature from the Black Lagoon underground grottos where these organisms may hideout or live. A famous case known as the Green Clawed Beast which involved a woman being clawed and dragged underwater by a mysterious scaly yet hairy-handed creature; when she was rescued, she had several scratches and a green stain in the shape of a handprint from the aquatic assailant. A sample of this green substance was tested, and it was later revealed that a bluish mud that was intermixed with the handprint comes from the deepest of rivers that have access to caves; all of this was revealed on the "Black Swamp" episode of Monsters and Mysteries in America. With this case, it seems to add to the possibility of pockets of these organisms living deep in caverns and using the waterways that are interconnected to hunt or go from cavern to cavern.

With all that said, these cryptids, however, do not exactly match the Breckinridge Fishman, but the creature does have two very distinctly similar creatures; the first of this variety is the Thetis Lake Monster of Vancouver, British Columbia; this creature was described as being about 5 ft tall with silver scales and a noticeable spiny frill that a topped the creature's head. Another Cryptid I recently covered and compared to this creature was the New Kensington Green Thing which bears many similar features to the Breckinridge Fishman except for the following traits while the creature was a vibrant green in color and did have some sort of cranial frill, it did have a long tail, and seemingly mammalian features namely a pair of nipples and what some researchers claim are floppy rabbit-like ears. While there are some noteworthy differences between the Thetis Lake Monster, Breckinridge Fishman, and New Kensington Green Thing, there is a lot of noticeable similarities between them all as well; all the creatures are either Reptiles, Amphibians, or Fish or some intermediary evolutionary step in between the three or perhaps even examples of sexual dimorphism or stages of development. Evolution is a bizarre mistress, and when one looks at the phylogenetic branches of organisms, there are often these creatures that are often a mixture between two noticeable Taxonomic Classes; the main example would be the Synapsids which include organisms like Dimorphodon. These organisms have features very much like those of a reptile but have a temporal fenestra, a feature that is only associated with mammals, as well as other more intricate features that are clear indicators of being more closely related to mammals than reptiles. Perhaps this is what we see with these organisms; they are an intermediary stage where we are seeing organisms which are returning to land or evolving to be a kind of super amphibian where they can regulate their internal body temperature better, utilize both the resources in water ecosystems as well as land ecosystems, and possibly might develop migratory patterns which could explain the incredibly elusive nature of these creatures. However, all of this is complete speculation.

After the Cryptid possibility for the Breckinridge County Fishman could be some sort of extraterrestrial or interdimensional being. The fact that encounters with these creatures are practically nonexistent in both the fossil record and even inconsistent Cryptozoological or folkloric lore does not exactly bold well for them being an earthbound species. Even though I will be the first person to say that a small relict population of any creature can easily remain elusive to the point that sightings would be nonexistent, the fact that these creatures are sighted even less than Bigfoot, Eastern Mountain Lions, Black Panthers, and Lake Monsters does not exactly point to a native species. If these creatures, however, are from outer space or from another dimension, then these encounters, or should I say lack thereof, would be much more understandable. Now the only problem, of course, with this possibility is that these creatures are never, at least to my knowledge, seen in conjunction with UFOs, vortexes, or portals, and while the lack of this direct connection does not always mean they do not come as Lovecraft and Stuart Gordon would say From Beyond be it space or another dimension it makes it just as difficult however when looking at these cases as one cannot automatically assume that they do because it would simply be the “easier” answer even though we cannot take it off the table either.

 In this case, there is a clash with traditional biology, which is something that makes many scientists turn their noses up at cases like this. Yet in the millions of years of evolution, species, including our ancestors, evolved from aquatic life, and as organisms evolved to live on land, others decided to once more return to the sea when looking at cases like this to me, this is evolution once more creating creatures that are returning once again to land or that are surviving the dual life of an aquatic and terrestrial organism. Science has examples of this with organisms such as amphibians, and back when Palkicetus, the ancestor to whales, was starting to return to the water, it evolved into Ambulocetus, which was very much an amphibious creature as well, so such organisms have occurred and still do occur today. The existence of a biped on the planet other than us is not unheard of either birds, and carnivorous dinosaurs were and are all bipeds; several species of ancient reptiles also ran bipedally, such as Eudibamus, and even to this day, there are over 50 species of living reptiles that partially use bipedalism while running such as the Basilisk Lizard who takes this running to the extreme as it also can run on water through surface tension. So, the idea of other bipedal species, even to this day, is not something out of the ordinary. It's from this that this case and the countless other bipedal cryptid cases to me seem to have some plausibility through evolution; it's just figuring out exactly why they came about that's the mystery. Even with all that said, however, there is no denying that this case, as with most cryptid and Fortean encounters, will probably never be solved but at least from this sighting and the countless others, we have a place to start looking and maybe just maybe we might some day discover something that science at one point thought was impossible.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Amphibian/ Fish

Location: Stephensport, Breckinridge County, Kentucky

Sighted: Early Fall, 1966

Works Cited:

The Inhumanoids: Real Encounters with Beings that can't Exist! By Baton M. Nunnelly

Mysterious Kentucky Vol. 1: The History, Mystery, and Unexplained of the Bluegrass State By Barton M. Nunnelly

"The Kentucky Lizardman". Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization. http://www.kentuckybigfoot.com/cryptids.htm. Accessed January 26th, 2022. 

The Fetalvero Mermaid

 

The Fetalvero Mermaid

By Cole Herrold

Merfolk are a surprisingly common phenomenon in Fortean history; most accounts are held in antiquity, appearing in tales from the beginning of when man sailed the seas. Yet, these aquatic anomalies are not solely confined to the musty journal ledgers of pirates and conquistadors but have occurred up to modern time. Many of these encounters are not like how Disney portrays the phenomenon as these creatures tend to be aggressive at best-chasing humans and at worst drowning them, but in the Philippines, an entirely benevolent version of this creature was reported and that it not only was pleasant but even aided in the work of a local fisherman.

It was in the summer of 1978 when successful fisherman Jacinto Fetalvero It was on a moonlit night as the maritime man was out fishing on his boat attempting to acquire an aquatic bounty that would help him not only feed himself but also help him financially. He had been struggling for some time as he had no real luck with fishing of late. The area he knew was filled with fish, but for whatever reason, they refused to bite onto his lines. On this particular night, he was waiting on his boat rod in hand when he noticed a strange bubbling out further in the water.

Fetalvero continued to watch this churning until he noticed a form that seemed to slowly rise out of the water; as he watched this form, he expected it to be some naturally large native fish or even a shark, but the more he looked, the more he realized that this was not a typical fish. The form soon began to approach his boat, and as he watched, he could see the form clearer and clearer and could tell that this creature was nothing less fantastic than a mermaid. The mermaid was absolutely beautiful, and he would go and describe her as having “amiable blue eyes, reddish cheeks, and green scales on her tail."

The entity approached the man and, seemingly out of either pity, attraction, or some other mindset we do not know, began in helping the man in acquiring a hoard of fish which it would throw into the man’s boat. This continued until his entire boat was filled with the sloshing and flailing forms of countless fish. The entity, seemingly pleased with how the man reacted to its aid, began to return deep down into the water, disappearing from the man's sight. The man, no longer seeing the creature, left the area leaving his newfound marine friend behind, and began to clean and sell the various wares. This interaction seemed to of gone on for some time, and Fetalvero gained some noticeable wealth from this aquatic aid.

Fetalvero eventually, either from being pressed for how he suddenly became so successful or out of his own willingness to share his experience, proceeded to tell several people about his encounter with the marine maiden. The result was unfortunate, to say the least. His story became the talk of the town as everyone began to talk of his encounters, but instead of praise or acceptance, he was treated with disdain and ridicule. This occurred for a long time until Fetalvero ended up refusing to talk about his encounter and assumedly became a recluse because of this.

While Fetalvero assumedly never had an encounter with the entity after this time, but the Philippines are no stranger to this phenomenon. The Philippines have a long-standing tradition of mermaid-like creatures known as Sirena; these entities are similar to the classic Greek Siren in that they are said to be violent creatures that drown and hypnotize men, yet the terror of those who would befall those captured by a Sirena would not end there. The Sirena apparently have a culture, and legends claim that a sailor who is captured would be taken down to the kingdoms that they live in and would be sacrificed to the Sirena's water deities.

Now while there is a rich history of mermaid lore in the Philippines, the Fetalvero account appears to be very different from what the lore says the entities are supposed to behave. While there is no clear indication as to whether the creature could communicate, it does appear to be intelligent enough that it might have human or above human intelligence. If this is the case, the creatures possibly have developed some sort of empathy or other emotions, and in this one particular case, the merfolk showed this as opposed to following the behavior of its swimming sisters.

As a huge fan of faerie folk and the coexistence of the humanoids we share our planet with, this encounter is extremely interesting and one of the few times I could argue it would not be an entirely bad thing to meet a mermaid. With that said, it is important to remain skeptical as this account could have been some elaborate Scooby-Doo style cover-up to possibly some illegal or hazardous fishing methods or simply some story that was created to give Fetalvero some fame in the town. Yet I cannot deny that this account could also have occurred as stated the area is rich with aquatic humanoid lore and also with the constant stream of reports from around the globe of these kinds of entities that there is a chance that this account and the phenomenon, in general, is real.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammal/Fish/Amphibian

Location: Philippines

Sighted: pre-September 1978

Works Cited:

A Bestiary of Filipino Fairies By Mga Engkanto

The Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology By Maximo Ramos

Encyclopedia of Strange and Unexplained Physical Phenomena By Jerome Clark

Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena By Jerome Clark