GUEST BLOGGER MIKE HALLOWELL: The Geordie Lizard Man and others

First of all, my apologies for the hiatus between my last blog and this one; Casa Hallowell is currently undergoing a refit of monumental proportions, which involves the laying of new floors, a new bathroom and kitchen being fitted, a complete replumbing and rewiring and a multitude of other improvements, including the addition of a curious new form of energy called "electricity". Whether the rest of the British Isles will follow suit and also avail themselves of this new wonder is yet to be seen.

In my last blog, I mentioned the fact that two witnesses had come forward, both of whom claim to have espied a strange "lizard man"; one in Northumberland, and the other somewhat closer to home. I'm still investigating these claims, and have not, as yet, satisfied myself that they are entirely genuine. I believe they are at this juncture, mainly because the experients do not seem to know each other. Both appear to be perfectly sincere, and the intriguing thing is that their descriptions of the creature tally almost perfectly.

Witness A described the creature as five ft. in height, brown/green in colour and scaled. The beast, he said, was essentially anthropomorphic, but also possessed a tail, had no discernible ears and sported a reddish, serrated crest upon its head and spine. Its face was "snout-like" and resembled that of a German Shepherd in shape. I contacted him again several days ago, and asked him to relate to me once again his sighting in detail. His account is as follows, minus some details regarding the exact location which I am withholding at this time:

Last summer - one Sunday in July, as he recalls - Witness A left his home in Northumberland and drove to a remote spot further north to engage in a spot of rambling. He arrived at his destination and parked his car at approximately 1040hrs, and then walked up a path which took him between two small hillocks. In his backpack was a flask of tea and a packet of biscuits.

After walking between the hillocks, Witness A came across a large area covered with shrub, and scattered amongst it were a number of small, boggy areas filled with peat. He noticed that as he walked forward the ground was becoming increasingly waterlogged and spongy. Suddenly, to his right, he saw what he at first thought was a man running across the ground "at high speed". He estimates that he was approximately twenty yards away from him, and was puzzled as he could not see where he had came from.

"He seemed to come out of nowhere", the witness told me, "as if he had suddenly popped up out of the ground".

Witness A told me that the creature - by now he'd realised that it certainly wasn't human - had a gait that was perfectly human-like: "There wasn't anything funny about the way he ran. If it hadn't been for his strange appearance I would have thought it was just a man".

Within seconds the creature had crossed the path of Witness A and gave no indication of being aware that he was not alone. It was, said the witness, "as if I wasn't there". The witness also recalled seeing occasional splashes of water near the creature's feet as it disturbed the boggy ground beneath him. Then, without warning, he claimed that it, "just seemed to sink into the ground, as if he had fallen into a hole. There was no noise or anything...he just disappeared."

Witness A then retraced his steps, found his car and proceeded to drive home. His ramble had been of incredibly short duration, but the incident had removed any desire to prolong it.

Witness A said that although the creature had not threatened him or even looked in his direction, he was extremely frightened. He remembers his heart beating incredibly fast and said that his mouth dried up so much that, even if he'd wanted to speak or shout, he would have been unable to.

In my last blog I appealed for anyone who had heard similar tales to come forward. No one has done so. This may simply be because no one else has spotted the creature - the area Witness A was in is quite remote - or simply because the creature never existed in the first place.

I have still to verify Witness B's testimony and ascertain further details of his own sighting, but its intriguing to think that he may have seen the same creature. Geographically I think its unlikely, but who knows.

I'd also like to appeal to any cryptozoological fanatics out there to get in touch if they know of any other "lizard man" sightings from around the globe with which I can compare this one.

Well, must dash - Bob the builder, Terry the tiler and Pete the plasterer have just arrived...