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

 

 

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. 

Armless Horror of the Susquehanna

 The Armless Horror of the Susquehanna

By Cole Herrold

The world of Cryptozoology is chock full of strange chimeras, hairy hominids, prehistoric remnants, and beasts that seem to have escaped from a 1950s drive-in monster movie. In the annals of cryptozoology, countless of these drive-inn monsters were reported, especially throughout the 1950s and 1970s. Tales from Ohio of the Loveland Frogman have echoed in the Little Miami River since their initial report in 1955. The Lake Thetis Monster, a kind of Gill-man from British Columbia, has one of the most cinematic encounters reported. The creature was seen rising from the dark, murky depths, which resulted in the beast to charge after two eyewitnesses hanging around its aquatic domain. These creatures from the black lagoon have captured the imaginations of many a paranormal investigator and cryptozoologist, but there is one case that occurred before any of the previously mentioned beasts that have not been brought to the surface of the vast public. This strange creature is a haunting part of Pennsylvania's rich lore and history and one I have come to call… The Armless Horror of the Susquehanna.

The Susquehanna River is a large body of water that stretches throughout New York, my home state of Pennsylvania, and empties into the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. My hometown is actually located right on the river itself, with my house facing the darkened water that surges down throughout the state. The river has always been a source of recreational boating, tubing, swimming, and fishing. Growing up, I would hear tales of monster catfish and carp that would hide in the muddy sections of the river, but never would I have dreamed of something much more mysterious swimming below the churning brine.

The story of the Armless Horror is recorded briefly in the October 23^rd issue of the Wilkes-Barre Record in 1905. The events of the article occurred the day before publication near the town of York Haven, which is located in York county. York County is at the very bottom of the state, and the mighty banks of the Susquehanna separate York from Lancaster County. This area of Pennsylvania is a mixture of both relatively decently populated towns and cities as well as vast areas of back road type communities. These communities are where the scene takes place.

Photo of the Susquehanna River and Three Mile Island taken in November of 2020 this area is an approximate section of the river where the sighting should have taken place.

The Record describes in the exceptionally short article the events of two anonymous couples and their encounter with something that biologically should not exist. The Record describes how in broad daylight, the two anonymous couples out near the river observed what the title of the article rather blandly states as "Fish Walks Like Man." The creature is described as the following: "The creature, whether fish or animal, is described to be as large as a man. When seen, it came out of the water erect like a man and is described as looking like a man but without arms". The article does not state where the beast was headed or if it even came on land or simply arose cinematically from the muck and churning mire.  The article does not even describe the actions of the witnesses. Were they curious, terrified, or simply trying to process the strange apparition before them? The article does give us this one insight into the witnesses' thought process to what occurred, and that is "Those persons who have seen it declare they are not the victims of an optical illusion." The article's author who tries to give as much credence to these anonymous witnesses as possible states" As it was seen in broad daylight more credence is given to the story than would be if it had been seen at night, when people are more prone to see "things".".

While the exact location of where these anonymous couples encountered the beast is not stated, the article does say that the sighting had reached the ears of people residing between Cly and Goldsboro. Cly is a small community in Newberry Township that is actually right along the bank of the river, and Goldsboro is located north of Cly. The total distance between the two boroughs is a mere 2.4 miles, which is not an extensively long stretch of the river. Arguably it is a safe bet to the point that this particular section of the Susquehanna is the approximate location where the sighting took place.  Both communities are located along the bank of the Susquehanna and interestingly enough located by Three Mile Island and several other smaller islands. Three Mile Island is home to the infamous Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station and is considered part of Dauphin County. The Island was home to a partial meltdown in 1979 that resulted in the leak of radioactivity.

Photo of Goldsboro Sign taken back in November of 2020 while researching the Armless Horror case

Even with figuring an approximate location of where this creature was spotted, we are still no closer to determining what this beast is. This creature, as with most cryptids, is something we have never seen before. There are no bipedal fish and no reptiles that bipedally walked exactly like a hominid in the fossil record. This aquatic monstrosity, scientifically speaking, should not exist. So, what are some possible explanations for the phenomenon? Well, here are some of the possibilities ranging from most probable to most unlikely.

One of the most common possibilities with any monster report is a newspaper hoax. At the same time, this account does take place later on than the typical Hoaxed papers. A monster story is still a perfect way to get individuals to pick up and purchase a paper. The account also raises several red flags like the nameless witnesses. The paper could attempt to hide this possible controversy by making their monster appear in the day so it would not be mistaken for anything other than what was reported. While this seems to be the most probable explanation, the simplicity of the article appears to be the opposite of what we would see in a newspaper hoax. If the article really wanted to capture some public notoriety at the time, you would think that the creature would come out of the river and attack the witnesses or at least capsize the boat. The article even seems to try to lend credence to the witnesses by expressing the difference between seeing a creature in the day versus night. As for the anonymity aspect of the witnesses, this could be to avoid ridicule or mocking, which is a reasonable response to reporting an encounter with a beast. With this lack of sensationalism and the article's attempt to not only lend credence to the account with the author's rationale but the simplicity, it does appear that the witnesses, whoever they may have been, had actually seen something strange. The question remains, what?

Could it have been someone in an early diving suit? Diving suits and wetsuits are not new inventions. The earliest diving suit was made in the 1700s and was a clunky, heavy piece of maritime technology. As time went on, however, the diving suit became more streamlined and less bulky, but even in the early portion of the 1900s, the suits bore a resemblance to droids from Star Wars. It is very possible that the witnesses misidentified a diver for a monster. There are also the possibilities of a hoax with a diving suit. A suit with its arms wrapped or sewn to the sides might give off the impression of the creature being an armless creep from the deep. The only possible problem with this hypothesis is with the restriction of movement in the suit. At the same time, there are individuals who, due to accidents or birth conditions, have been able to dive without the use of arms. Typically, they do need some additional help unless they are truly masters at diving. It's always smarter and safer to always have others with you when doing anything underwater, and if the witnesses themselves did not perpetuate it as a hoax. There's not enough information to truly paint a picture of who else could have been out on the water.

The most common skeptical take on any cryptid report is misidentification. So, one would have to include the possibility of an individual mistaking a common or invasive species as what they are witnessing. There are many large species of fish that swim up and down the Susquehanna. The largest species of known fish being muskies and catfish, and like most fish, they will come up to the surface of the water if there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water for them to breathe. Fish will also come to the surface to feed if need be. In 2019 a 50lbs flathead catfish was reeled in, breaking the state record. With that said, a 50lbs catfish is a big fish but nowhere near the size of the creature reported in the Record. With that said, that could be the result of classic "fish stories" where the witness exaggerates the size of the fish for a reaction. A man-size Fishman monster could actually be, in reality, an oversized catfish.

Other organisms could be beavers, muskrats, river otters, raccoons rearing up to head onto the bank. These, to me, are extremely unlikely, but for the sake of argument, they should be included. A black bear, while not as aquatic as the others, could also be a possibility, and it would be closer in size to what has been reported, but a black bear has evident arms and ears, which is entirely opposite to that which has been reported.

An undiscovered species is arguably the final possibility for what this creature could have been. While some can argue that Pennsylvania is a strange location for a species to remain hidden for countless years, the state itself is vastly forested and full of small islands and deep sections of rivers that some small troop of an undiscovered species could carve out a section to remain unseen. Interestingly enough, creatures similar in description to The Armless Horror were seen in Ohio and Kentucky. These creatures are described as armless, and both are semiaquatic in nature. The most famous of these two lesser-known cryptids is the Charles Mill Lake Monster, which was seen in 1959. Its description is shockingly identical to that of the Armless Horror, everything down from the lack of arms to its bipedal locomotion.

This case, to me, is interesting for several reasons and why I felt the need to write this article. For one thing, the general lack of sensationalism in the article for something that very easily could have fallen in the same category of the countless penny dreadful type monsters seen throughout the decades of yellow journalism. In the 1800s, monster attacks were a dime a dozen lake monsters ate numerous individuals swimming in their abodes, Spring Heeled Jack of London belched blue flames and tore at the flesh of young London women, even possibly killing them in some accounts, even bigfoot type creatures seemed to be overly aggressive as countless articles reported them devouring children and attacking horse-drawn carriages. This case has none of that and echoes a lot of modern monster reports that we take very seriously, seeing as it is a creature that simply appears mysteriously, and that is it. Granted, there is a lot of ambiguity in the article in the Wilkes Barre Record that does not describe what the creature did after being sited or how the witnesses reacted; one can imagine they hightailed it out of their obviously, but the lack of action is something that is reminiscent of many bigfoot reports where the creature simply walks across the road into the woods or a lake monster sighting where it appears above the surface and submerges. These accounts are almost believable in their simplicity as opposed to something more extravagant, that is what one would have expected in an encounter with the unknown, and this case is no different. 

Another element is the description I have stated previously about the depiction is similar to other creatures reported in the late 50s, and the concept of a fish-man in the media was not common in 1905. The account taking place in 1905 is almost fifty years older than the most famous aquatic humanoid in pop culture the Gillman from the Creature from the Black Lagoon, so unlike other marine humanoid encounters, the chance of a lie or hoax inspired by this film or a similar film is quite literally out of the water. Folklore around the world describes merfolk, or semiaquatic human-like creatures whether it be the Mermaids, Dagon, River Sprites, Nixies, Merrow, Selkie, Finfolk, Kappa, Neck, Ceasg, Amabie, Ningyo, Naga, or Melusine that appear as a chimera of various aquatic organisms or as elementals that reside in bodies of water and are bipedal in nature. While some folklorists could argue that there is some underlying cross-cultural trend, whether it be these creatures are manifestations of our fears of deep pools, which are environments very much alien to us, or that they symbolize our connection or the deification of nature. There is another possibility, however, that these cultures, many of whom developed these stories independently from each other, are, in fact seeing species hitherto unknown to science currently.

While it is safe to say that gathering any more specific information on this particular case would be almost impossible unless by some miracle a diary or the descendants of those unnamed witnesses come forth with more details, it is still an enduring mystery, and while the account is relatively short and somewhat vague as with most potentially real cryptid encounters the impact is significant, Not just for those who have encountered a strange creature but also for those who actively read, search, or theorize about the subject. For every new or under looked through case that we do not consider can result in ideas or connections being lost. Yet whether it's lake serpents, Bigfoot, Mothman, or something far more mysterious, there is something that drives all of us as humans and makes life indeed more interesting if not more meaningful for those of us genuinely encapsulated by the possibility of those mysteries still hidden in nature.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Amphibian/ Fish

Location: Susquehanna River, Cly and Goldsboro, York County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: October 22, 1905

Works Cited

Coleman, Loren, Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky spots, and Other Mysterious Wonders. Faber and Faber. 1985.

Hayes, John “50-pound flathead catfish caught on Susquehanna River sets Pa. record” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 9, 2012. https://www.post-gazette.com/life/outdoors/2019/05/09/Pennsylvania-catfish-state-record-Susquehanna-River-flathead/stories/201905090101. Accessed November 14^th, 2020.

The Wilkes-Barre Record “Fish Walks Like Man. Strange Animal Alarms Pennsylvania Residents Along Susquehanna” October 23^rd, 1905

“The story of early diving suits, 1900-1935” Rare Historical Photos. June 18, 2020. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/vintage-diving-suits/. Accessed November 5^th, 2020.

“The Susquehanna River” Susquehanna River Valley. https://www.visitcentralpa.org/things-to-do/the-susquehanna-river. Accessed November 5^th, 2020.

“Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. November 29, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_Nuclear_Generating_Station. Accessed November 30, 2020.

“Dissolved Oxygen (DO)” https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/dissolved_oxygen.pdf#:~:text=Fish%20and%20other%20animals%20that,water%20need%20oxygen%20to%20live.&text=For%20example%2C%20Northern%20Pike%20cannot,the%20strongest%20fish%20may%20suffocate. Accessed November 22^nd, 2020. 

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

Key West Seaweed Beast

 Key West Seaweed Beast

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to bizarre entity encounters, there are tons of accounts, many of which come from the hay days of the 1800s and from the golden era of the 1950s-1990s. These accounts, which are as varied as the infamous Flatwoods Monster to the flapping monstrosity the Jersey Devil to the grinning enigmatic extraterrestrial Indrid Cold, it seems that these accounts are trapped in an era where we were more open to the mysteries of our world and the surrounding space as very rarely it seems that we have the completely unique and downright bizarre creatures and figures nowadays. These unique entities seemed to of completely disappeared and in their place, the mundane overly accounted creatures such as the Grays, Reptilians, Flying Humanoids, and even Bigfoot as the various subspecies such as the white-haired mud-covered Murphysboro Mud Monster or the Watermelon headed hair covered Momo seem to of either been bred out of extinction or simply those traits had been bred away. While it does seem that these bizarre entities are gone either through extinction or some other reason, every once in a while, a case does pop up of something that rarely has been recorded or has never been reported. This case which appeared on the Phantoms and Monsters website, is one such case.    

A Florida man, while vacationing on Key West, would experience one such bizarre entity in a biome that is very much open to holding something elusive, namely the Atlantic Ocean. The man was out bobbing in the ocean with several of his friends one warm day. The group was on a beach near the Southernmost point of the Key. After a long day of frolicking in the froth and foam there, his friends began to work their way out of the water and wandered onto the shore. The man was extremely far out yet did not yet realize the vast distance he was from the shore but did start to notice that the sun was beginning to dip down below the sky. The water began to get darker in color as the lack of the sun made the bluish-green liquid into an olive green, and the ocean seemed to come even more alive as those animals that were nocturnal and more active at night began to come to life. Realizing that it was probably best to leave the water, he began to slowly swim back towards the shore. The water was almost up to his chin, and as he scanned the beach, he noticed that it was abandoned; only his friends remained, and they were preoccupied with drying off and packing up their gear for their car.

The shore was 20 yards away as he moved slowly, working his way. The ocean, which was warm during the day, slowly began to become cooler, making the return to shore more refreshing. As he looked around him in the ever-expanding abyss, he noticed that not too far off a dark form below the water. This patch, he was unsure of its origin, thinking perhaps it could be some school of fish or some cloudy patch caused by the reflection from the sky. The man was disturbed by this form and proceeded to move a little bit quicker towards the shore. He kept looking back each time, noting that the dark form seemed to be heading straight towards him. As the dark object approached, he seemed to be able to tell that this form was not a school of fish or some atmospheric reflection but a large patch of seaweed. It was around the time that the water was up to his chest when the ocean began to push him towards the shore. This oceanic propellent, however, proved to be more of an issue for a man, for not only did it aid him, but it also helped the seaweed in coming closer until it seemed to wrap around the man.

The amorphous form seemed to encircle his body almost how one might imagine an amoeba preying on other single-celled organisms. It was at that moment the man felt a slimy and cold yet firm grip around his calve. He proceeded in slight terror to call out to his remaining two friends on the shore proclaiming, "Something is grabbing my leg!" his friends believing this is some comical joke, began exclaiming in a gleeful and joking fashion that he had better start swimming faster all the while laughing. The man did not want to yell for fear of agitating the strange Creepshow 2 meets Creature from the Haunted Sea esque blob. His mind raced as did his heart; he was petrified to cry out for fear that this leafy creature might, in turn, drag him below the frothing surf, never to be seen again. The man waited, yet the form and its cold, clammy grip seemed to continue; the man decided that he needed to get to shore. So, he proceeded in moving slowly towards the safety of the sandy shore, all the while trailing the bizarre beast much like a parent whose child has clung to their leg. He stared straight at the shore, only occasionally looking down to see if he could make out any clearer definition of the figure, which as it moved below the surf obscured anything other than the hulking seaweed-like mass which he assumed was the body. He could not, however, make out the color or texture of the creature and could only make out an approximate size that went unreported.

He would continue to move towards the shore, watching as the water slowly receded from his body; the figure still latched on, however, only losing its grip whenever he seemed to tense up during this encounter. As he got to an area where the water only reached to his waist, he figured enough was enough, and the man, in a spawn of agitation and fear proceeded in jumping up and down in an attempt to shake whatever was attached to his leg off. The creature soon let go as it either became annoyed or simply tired of its escort of the man and proceeded to hover a short distance away while he trudged at a breakneck pace to the shore. As he reached the shore, he looked back, half expecting the strange creature to rise up out of the water again, almost in a Creepshow 2 style effect. To his surprise, however, the dark form slowly began to move out towards the deeper water, moving against the tide and ultimately disappear into the briny depths. Thinking maybe he imagined the sentience of the seaweed, he looked around him but looking at driftwood and other debris which came towards the shore, he knew that this creatures' movements were maneuvered by itself.

The man proceeded to return to his hotel and later his home, not once speaking about the aquatic anomaly he had witnessed. Yet, it would not be short-lived. Soon on a chance day, he was out with his twin brother, and almost in a therapeutic rant, he came forward with his story. His brother, who also was living in Florida, stared at him for a moment and went on to follow up on his brother's encounter. The Twin would describe a similar encounter while on a relatively remote beach in Miami. The brother was in an almost identical situation; he was out in the deep ocean water up to his chin in the evening, and he too noticed a dark form below the waves. The form, however, as it approached the brother, was something that made the bizarre beast experienced in Key West look like a reject from Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. The dark form reached out to the twin brother, and as it grabbed him, he could make out the form all too clear. The figure was pale and bloated; it had extremely large hands and a form that looked like a dead human. Seaweed was wrapped around the entity almost like some cthulhuian tentacles, and the creature seemed to of arisen from nowhere.  The brother managed to escape his grabber and make his way to the shore, never to see the entity ever again.

While the Florida man felt comforted knowing that he was not alone in experiencing such an entity, he was still affected by it. After experiencing this entity, the man began having anomalous effects when near the ocean. He has the habit of staring out at the water, and while he stares out at the crashing waves, an overwhelming sense of peacefulness fills his body. This feeling is not alone, for it comes paired with the sound of whale song that seems to come from the water, yet some of the areas where he hears the noise are in areas where such sounds should not be possible. The feelings and the noise give him the almost siren-like lull of wanting to jump overboard or run into the briny deep. He has experienced this on three cruises since his encounter and has managed to, even though the sensation extremely tempting, and alluring proceeded in staying on the ship and shore.

This organism is certainly bizarre and is, to me, a mish-mash of several cryptids and bizarre entities that have been reported through the years. The first that comes to mind is the Moss Man; its form is an assemblage of plant-like structures not unlike the Moss Man. Both creatures are found in Florida, which is another connection and something that may imply that they are either one and the same or of a similar origin. Another element that points to this is that while most of the Moss Man sightings did occur in forested areas, there was one beach Moss Man sighting. Perhaps Moss Man and the Key West Seaweed Beast are one and the same they are amphibiously moving from the aquatic biomes to the forested sections for different resources, be they nitrogen, oxygen, or some other mineral necessity.

The behavior of the creature also is similar to a creature reported in Indiana known as the Green Clawed Beast. The Green Clawed Beast is often depicted as a scaly hairy lizard-fish man, yet interestingly enough, an actual depiction of what the creature looks like was not recorded or able to be due to the darkness of the water. There was a feeling of a hairy and scaly sensation on the witness's leg as well the feeling of several fingers wrapped around tipped with what can be assumed are claws. Now there is a possibility that maybe the Green Clawed Beast and the Key West Seaweed Beast may be related to the feeling of something prickly or scaly in the Green Clawed Beast case could be another way of describing some irritation or texture of vegetation. Yet this is just speculation.

The Key West Seaweed Beast, while bearing a resemblance to other cryptids in some ways, does not answer how this creature could exist and, more importantly, what the creature could be. Currently, in nature, outside of the carnivorous plants, there are very few plants that one would think of as sentient, let alone mobile as the Key West Seaweed Beast seems to be, yet we can not rule it out. It is a possibility that a species of aquatic plant branched over into the realm of animal slightly, creating a species that has the same intelligence and capabilities as an aquatic organism while at the same time still relying on photosynthesis and nutrients from the surrounding environment to continue thriving. The fact that this is an aquatic organism makes this even more likely for who knows what could have evolved in some remote lagoon or abyss.

Another possibility is that this creature might not actually be some kind of vegetation or cross in between but a kind of protist. The way the creature moves and the way the witness felt a hand around him could be a way of describing a pseudopod. Organisms like amoebas are very amorphous. They seem to be undefined blobs that have unique limbs for feeding and moving. It could be the seaweed beast might be one of these and that the untrained eye of the man mistook the gelatinous body of a gargantuan amoeba for a seaweed creature. Now the only problem with this is that amoebas are microscopic organisms, none reaching the size that the seaweed beast was. So if this was something of that caliber, it would be the discovery of the century and something that would change microbiology forever.

Another possibility is that this creature could be a giant invertebrate, possibly some sort of jellyfish or hydrozoan. These species are very blob-like in form, and much like protists, do have extensions that could be used to grip or grab a potential food source. Now many of these species are extremely venomous or have painful stinging cells that, if this is the identity of the seaweed beast, would be more painful than just the sensation of being grabbed. Making this highly unlikely to be the case.

Skeptically speaking, and perhaps the most unfun possibility is that the man simply was wrapped up in seaweed. There's currently nothing in the countless known members of flora and fauna that appears and behaves like the creature in question. So, while one can speculate as to what the creature could be, there's also a glaring possibility that does need to be brought up. People can be incredibly observant to the point that they can retell entire accounts from memory or quote a film from front to back. People also, however, are extremely oblivious to the world around them; countless times, people walk out in front of moving cars because they do not see them or zone out. Another thing people are great at is interpreting things that are not connected or not there; our brains are our best asset and worst enemy all in one, and it's something we need as researchers to keep in mind when researching phenomena. Sometimes people mistake or miss certain things that reveal exactly what they are seeing; with this case, it's possible that the witness might have missed a change in the wave-making the beast move out to sea as opposed to coming to shore or that a certain segment of the seaweed was wrapped around his ankle or even some debris connected to say seaweed was the culprit. While I personally do not feel this to be the case, it is something that is a possibility.

This aquatic anomaly is something that can be speculated on quite easily, mainly since it does not have a definitive form. What the witness was able to describe makes one able to point out some very plausible answers based on organisms we already know exist in nature as well as those creatures that have been reported but are not currently accepted by science. To my current knowledge, there is nothing else like this creature that has been reported. One element that I had not covered is the creatures’ anomalous effects to those who interacts with it, mainly the bizarre auditory whale song and sense of jumping into the ocean. Is this creature some sort of entity that can implement or suggest ideas into either prey or experiencers' heads? Is this entity something not of a cryptozoological realm but something of a supernatural world such as perhaps some sort of water spirit? It's difficult to say since while there are similar tales with the Greek Sirens, which were creatures with the head of a woman and the body of a bird whose songs lured sailors to drowning, but this is very different from the entity reported in Key West. I'm not at liberty to say if this creature is something from the same cloth, so to speak, but it is an interesting parallel and one that hopefully is not as malicious.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Vegetation (possibly a kind of sentient seaweed), Giant invertebrate (organism could be some sort of colony organism like a jellyfish, hydrozoan, etc.), Unicellular organism (could be a giant variation of Amoeba or other Protist).

Location: Near the Southern Most Point, Key West, Florida

Sighted: Exact date unknown- account recorded in 2021.

Works Cited:

Strickler, Lon “Underwater 'Seaweed Creature' Grabs Witness' Calf in Key West, Florida” Phantoms and Monsters. June 19, 2021. https://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2021/06/underwater-seaweed-creature-grabs.html. Accessed August 6, 2021.

Mud Mermaids

 The Mud Mermaids

By Cole Herrold

Merfolk are, in general, a difficult to peg bunch. They are the culmination of fantasy stories, faerie folk, misidentified animals, and potentially cryptozoological beasts. Their reign in the sea is something that has been disputed time and time ever since man has ventured out over the blue abyss. There have been some interesting reports that have come out over the years that do point to the existence of merfolk, but these cases usually come from the deep ocean or off of a beach. Yet, as I've researched into this phenomenon, there have been a few times id come across a mermaid that seems out of place from the oceanic lair they're supposed to dwell, for there have been several cases of merfolk reported in both rivers and lakes in landlocked sections of the world.

In Vevay, Indiana, one such account took place of not just one but two semiaquatic fish people. Vevay is located in Jefferson County and is located on the Ohio River in Switzerland County. The area was founded in the early 1800s and founded by Swiss immigrants and with them their legends and hopes and dreams. Part of the main formation of the town was with the planting of vineyards and production of wine, which to this day is still celebrated with a Swiss Wine Festival. The town has a rich history that makes it a quaint place to reside, and it just might have a pair of murky residences just off the coast of the modern dwellings.

It was in the Saturday, October 20^th issue of the Akron Daily Democrat in 1894 that readers would encounter the surprise of their lives. In a small article entitled “Mud Mermaids-Strange Humanlike Creatures That Live In the Ohio River” the article describes a pair of mud-covered miscreants who were sighted on the banks of the Ohio River. The creatures were dubbed Mud Mermaids by the townsfolk when they saw the strange species when they came to the shore for fishing, boating, and other necessary and recreational activities. Their appearance was described as reptile-like but with human-like features. When semi-submerged as they swim, they look very much like human beings with some unique characteristics but in all human-like in form. The features that seemed non-human were described on several accounts are large dog-like ears that behave similarly to those of a canine. Yet these creatures seemed unintelligent when many who saw them looked in their eyes. These creatures utilize the tides to extend their domain at times. During this time, certain areas of the banks of the river had areas with logs and stumps of trees. When the tide comes in and submerges this deforested section, the creatures will come and dwell within there. When the tide is low, there would-be tons of deshelled mussels and fish bones, which indicated that these semiaquatic creatures would be carnivorous. These creatures apparently require a lot of food to survive as the locals would describe that when the tides would come in to wash the remains of the beasts feasts away, the next time the tide was low, a new batch would be filled in its place. The first occurrence of these creatures being sighted by the locals is in 1890. Yet a truly detailed account of these beasts would come from a Ship Captain who, like many Cryptozoologists in later years, would search for unknown animals. He, however, found his quarry.

Confederate Captain J.M. Ozier of Covington, Kentucky, who had searched the area for the beasts, would be the one who would describe the creature the most in description. While out boating, he came across two of the creatures of what he believed to be both a male and a female. He claimed he could distinguish between the two sexes by stating that the male acted aggressively when he had approached as either the beast was territorial or attempting to protect its mate. He would go on to take notes of these amored aquatic animals stating they are approximately 5ft in length, about 150lbs with a yellowish color. Its body is humanoid but only from the waist up, and even then, its hand are webbed with long claws. It has legs humanlike in shape yet shorter than the arms, and the body in the back tapers to a point but not in the same way as a classic tail. On its back, there is coarse hair as well as a third of the way down its body. The skin of the lower portion of the body seems elephant-like, but the upper portion appears smoother. As well as appearing brighter than the lower portions. He describes it bearing a surprisingly strong resemblance to Zip, a member of P.T. Barnum's Troop, which is interesting seeing as how Zip seems to have very little compared to the Mud Mermaids. Another feature the Captain seems to emphasize is how skittish these creatures are. He would state that when these creatures are disturbed, they would submerge not in the classic way as seen with animals but would simply submerge like a stone that is dropped in the murky depth. With that biological survey of the creatures, we are left with more questions than answers. Yet that is all we have to go on a strange anomaly known as the Mud Mermaids.

This case is over 130 years old, so a further investigation into the witnesses of this case is impossible, which is unfortunate but not surprising with Crypto-historical cases. All we truly have is what was written about in the Democrat, what other researchers have speculated, potentially related cases from other areas, and a lot of guesswork. In many ways, these cases are the most frustrating because we are left with more questions than answers, and there is extremely little chance we will come to a conclusion unless some diary or journal is unearthed stating it's a journalistic hoax, or of some local’s prank, or even of some other sightings that lend credence to the account. So, we as researchers and those who have an interest in the phenomenon to assume that its either a case of yellow journalism or an authentic account.

Going under the assumption that this is an authentic encounter, where do we stand on this phenomenon? The first place logically to check is with the possibility that this could be a misidentification. The Ohio River is a diverse location with countless species that occur and frolic. Aquatic mammals make a decent amount of the population of the river, with such members as otters, beavers, minks, and muskrats. The largest of these animals is the North American otter, which can reach a little over two feet in length. There is the possibility that many of these animals could have been what was seen. The descriptions matching even more if any of these animals had mange resulting in the yellowish and brownish kind of skin.  Yet the comparisons end there. It could be possible that, as with many big fish tales, there is a level of embellishment in this case though it would appear that most are if not all of the description is total imagination. While we can't dismiss this possibility in its entirety, it would seem unlikely as the descriptions seem to match what the witnesses in Vevay and what Captain Ozier had seen. The fact that Ozier is assumedly a salted seasoned sailor adds more authenticity to his description, seeing as he clearly would know the difference between the local fish and aquatic fauna and a mud mermaid.

There is a famous type of adjusted taxidermy in which skates and rays are turned into the forms of strange creatures. These are referred to as Jenny Hanivers. Jenny Hanivers have been formed by several different craftsmen for many years, and many who first see them are taken back and that they can believe that these creatures are, in fact, strange biological anomalies. Some researchers have even gone and made comparisons with creatures like the Bishopfish and Sea Monk to these kinds of manufactured art. These figures do, in fact, bear a strike resemblance to what was seen in Vevay in some regard. It is possible that this Captain might have seen one of these figures and created a tale based on these fanciful taxidermied specimens. Yet that is once again speculation based on nothing but what we see now with these unique mummified specimens.

While these possibilities are possible, there is another element outside of the previously listed and yellow journalism. The next most possible outcome is that this could, in fact, be an as of yet unknown animal. What this animal's ancestor could be is clearly something that would be almost impossible to determine. It is not uncommon for something to become semiaquatic or fully aquatic if its ancestor was, in fact, terrestrials. Whales, for example, started out as Pakicetus, which was a small, almost rodent-like beast that, through millions of years, resulted in the colossal cetaceans we see today. Could some species result in a similar evolutionary choice-generating in these strange beasts that were seen in the 1890s?

Merfolk were a phenomenon I truly did not think could possibly occur and were the products of misidentified animals or objects. I had heard of the infamous Christopher Columbus account, which was when he claimed to of sighted three mermaids who were terribly ugly; most scholars conclude it was a manatee. Yet as I began to do more research, I had opened my mind a bit to the possibility. With the Mud Mermaids, however, I do not believe they are mermaids or merfolk in the classic sense. They seem to be connected, though, to a phenomenon, I have a true love for, that being the Aquatic Humanoids. These creatures are similar to a few different aquatic humanoids I have read about over the years, like the Loveland Frogman, which does make its home in the Ohio River, as well as the aquatic enigma known as the Green Clawed Beast, which attempted to drown a woman in the same state, and the Fishman type creature seen in Kentucky. In fact, the beginning of the article definitely seems to point to this kind of beast. Yet, the extremely detailed human points of the Mud Mermaid in the description are very different than the other previously mentioned cryptids. I could definitely see a possible Loveland Frogman type creature, and there is the chance that maybe that is the case with this creature as the other features could have been elaboration. Yet the Captain, if his account is accurate, is something entirely different and something that as of yet matches no known cryptid or known animal. Species outside of Insects, Crustaceans, and Arachnids do not typically have the multitude of limbs as seen in this case. These mud mermaids are more like aquatic centaurs in that respect (Which are an entirely different mythological, paranormal, and potentially cryptozoological pedigree, namely Icthyocentaurs).

In Barton M. Nunnelly’s Book The Inhumanoids, which has been one of the most useful tomes in my research, describes another account of a semiaquatic merbeing that does have some hallmarks that echo back to the Mud Mermaids. The account, however, predates the mermaids by approximately nine years in Vincennes, Indiana, on January 16^th in 1885 when several hunters would encounter a beast while out hunting. The group had no luck, but they would soon encounter a beast that had more luck than them as they came across it sampling its prey, a large hog.  that was described as having the head and face of a dark-skinned human whose mouth was lined with fangs and razor-sharp teeth. Its neck was approximately two to three feet long, covered intermixedly with short red hair and scales as bright as a sunfish. It did have a tail about three to four feet long, and it curled up over its back. Its webbed feet were attached to short legs and on its ties sprouted long claws. One hunter attempted to lasso this strange beast but was, in turn, hit in the head by the creature's tail. The beast made for the creek, which was no doubt the gate to its watery lair, and disappeared in the water. After the creature escaped a most certain able end, a monster hunt was conducted in search of the beast. Its outcome is unknown, but most likefully they came out empty-handed as such a prize would have definitely made the papers.

Another interesting thing is that this is not the only case of a mermaid-like creature in the United States. In a book on the total opposite end of the unknown spectrum, Haunted Bridges: Over 300 of America’s Creepiest Crossings, which I used back in my ghost hunting days to search for outside investigation sites. There is a bridge located on Highway 130 in Westville, New Jersey, that crosses over the Big Timber Creek. This particular creek allegedly was a spot the Lenape Indians viewed as a sacred spot. The natives of the area claimed that a strange creature akin to a mermaid dwells in the Creek. According to the source, sightings are still occurring, and people will leave tokens or offerings to it along the bridge and area. Yet, I have not found any sources on the internet or in any other book on the subject, so whether this is folklore or an actual Cryptozoological phenomenon is difficult to ascertain.

While there are reports of merfolk-type creatures and aquatic humanoids, these creatures do not match exactly any known species. It is well known that the Ohio River area is a hotbed for this kind of activity, yet with some imagination, there's a resemblance to the Loveland Frogmen or even possibly the Octoman, but still going off the reported sightings, they do not look at all like any of these creatures. There is, interestingly enough, a similar type of creature seen in folklore and romantic taxidermy as Gatormen. They essentially are the Feejee mermaid with a monkey head and humanoid torso attached to an alligator's body. They do bear a resemblance to the Mud Mermaids aside from their additional pair of legs, long tales and lack of ears. There are supposed reports in Florida and Louisiana of these creatures, but this is unlikely and more than likely tall tales and folklore. This also goes back to the Jenny Hanivers in the idea of the taxidermied specimens. Whether this Kentucky captain had seen one of these beasts, either real or taxidermied, and generated a tale of the Vevay Mermaids from this creature is also a possibility. Yet once more pure speculation. 

With this phenomenon, the only other possibility that ventures more into the fringe and into the more fantastical world that is supposed to dwell around us. The idea of both faeries and elementals is something I've found interesting for many years. The interest mostly sprung from my Irish heritage and ancestry, but from that, I found several books hypothesizing that these strange humanoids and beasts do, in fact, share our world with us. While I strongly feel that if these human-like creatures do exist, they most likely are early hominids or on some of the islands like Ireland, Iceland, etc. where these creatures are reported that they might be examples of Island dwarfism, a phenomenon we know that did occur to some of our relatives in the Isle of Flores; there is the possibility that they are in fact something supernatural. Mermaids could be guardians or spirits of the water, whether they be some minor deity as the Greeks believed with their tales of the Naiads or something like the Fossegrimen or Nokken as simply the elemental or Shinto-esque forms that are connected to everything. While this possibility is highly unlikely since the way these creatures behave is more animalistic than something supposed to be as intelligent, potentially dangerous, and sophisticated as what an elemental is supposed to be, they give off much more of a biological vibe. Yet, for completion, I have included this possibility.

While there are countless possibilities of what these creatures could have been, there is still to this day no answer. These creatures are incredibly bizarre and extremely obscure. This is part of the reason I love this account. If these animals did exist, it's safe to say they probably are either extinct or a misidentified unknown species that we as of yet don't have categorized. With that said, the time of the account is also ripe for Yellow Journalism, so while I want this to be a strange merfolk, there is also a strong chance this could be the case. Yet still, this is all speculation, and I doubt that there will be an answer to those murky marauding Mud Mermaids.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammal, Reptile, Amphibian, Fish (Merfolk and Aquatic Humanoids are more difficult to decide on a potential taxonomic category due to their mishmash of characteristics)

Location: Ohio River, Vevay, Indiana

Sighted: 1890-1894

 Works Cited

Beckley, Lindsey “Mermaids, Giant Turtles, and Wild Men…Oh My!”. Indiana History Blog. May 29, 2017. https://blog.history.in.gov/mermaids-giant-turtles-and-wild-men-oh-my/. Accessed December 29, 2020.

Bremer, Heather “Cryptids of Indiana- From monstrous turtles to ancient trolls, creepy creatures call Hoosier State home”. Washington Times Herald. October 23, 2020. https://www.washtimesherald.com/news/lifestyles/cryptids-of-indiana/article_9f017b3f-4500-58b6-b609-9b48f8ea803f.html. Accessed December 29, 2020.

Marimen, Mark, James A. Willis, and Troy Taylor. Weird Indiana: Your Travel Guide to Indiana’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Sterling. 2008.

Newman, Rich. Haunted Bridges: Over 300 of America’s Creepiest Crossings. Llewellyn. 2016.

Nunnelly, Barton M. The Inhumanoids: Real Encounters with Beings that Can’t Exist!. Triangulum. 2017.

Swancer, Brent “The Mysterious Mud Mermaids of Indiana”. Prairieland Paranormal Podcast. September 17, 2020. https://www.prairielandparanormalpodcast.com/blog/sfna548h6j3wf4z4u3mr1js1mvrn6r. Accessed December 29, 2020.

Weatherly, David. Monsters at the Crossroads: Cryptids and Legends of Indiana. Eerie Lights. 2020.

“Vevay, Indiana”. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. December 26, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vevay,_Indiana. Accessed December 29, 2020.

Debra, “Vevay Indiana – Reasons You’ll Love Visiting This Little Town” My Humble Home and Garden. August 12, 2019. https://myhumblehomeandgarden.com/2019/08/12/vevay-indiana-reasons-youll-love-visiting-this-little-town/. Accessed December 29, 2020.

“Ohio River Mud Mermaids”. Arcane Beasts and Critters. June 3, 2018. https://arcanebeastsandcritters.wordpress.com/2018/06/03/ohio-river-mud-mermaids/. Accessed December 29, 2020.

 Akron Daily Democrat October 20, 1894