LOREN COLEMAN: Are Zooforms Cryptids?

As I move forward in this new adventure, I wish to see the CryptoZooNews blog take on reasonable conversations fully developed and registered. Shall we begin?


This era’s emails, tweets, and social media discussions are often shared for quick impact and smartly short quips. Nothing wrong with that. But my hope for this new platform calls for unfolding time to think aloud about many sides of an issue.

One topic that has concerned me is this fantasy that there is a major disagreement between myself and the broader concept developed by the Center for Fortean Zoology’s director Jon Downes, regarding “zooforms.”
I tend to think this is a misunderstanding based on a mild and slight difference in viewing a complex subject from a few degrees apart.

Let me try to capture, briefly, via this summary, what Jon appears to have proposed. Downes and his Center for Fortean Zoology of the United Kingdom introduced a new three tier concept to aid his classification and analysis of unknown animals.

Read on...

LOREN IS RIGHT

After reading this post the other day, Loren Coleman wrote:

'LOL.It is a freaking small world in Fortean cryptozoology.

Look what I posted, by strange coincidence, at 12:01 am on April 16th:

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/mystpix11/ "

So my mystery fish is Gymnothorax rueppellii - Damn! I had hoped that it would be a freshwater species and that I could think of an excuse to add some to the CFZ aquariums.

As far as the peculiar happenstance is concerned, just remember what Doc said to me many years ago:

"There's no such thing as a coincidence, you Saxon eejit!"

And so say all of us.

DALE DRINNON: Could Nessie REALLY Swim through the City of Inverness Unnoticed?

I am surprised at how often I hear it raised as an objection that if a large animal swam up the River Ness through the metropolis of Inverness it should attract some attention at least.

The best reply to that is an analogous case of a large released captive crocodylian (called an alligator by the press) into the White River some twenty years ago. White River runs through the city of Indianapolis and the city of Indianapolis is about three times the size of Inverness. According to Wikipedia, Inverness had an estimated population in 2008 of 56,660 while Indianapolis had an population estimate of 1,774,665 in 2007.

And Literally NOBODY in Indianapolis was aware there was an 'alligator' in the White River at the time. There were not even any rumours circulating about it: our press services picked up the story from the National Press services. Periodically there are large sea animals (whales) that go up the rivers in the middle of big cities like San Francisco or New York City. Unless somebody lavishes a lot of press coverage on the event or writes a book nobody pays any attention. The tendency to disbelief is THAT strong.

So actually it is not difficult to believe that it happens every so often Nessie goes swimming down the centre of Inverness (usually in choppy floodwaters and at night, according to some of the witness reports when something actually was reported) and nobody even bothers to go take a look. As a society, we are THAT apathetic.

[Many instances of errant crocodylians are listed in L. Coleman's Mysterious America among other sources. The instance I mentioned in Indianapolis was after the publication of that book. I subsequently read about it in FATE magazine; the story had not been carried locally. I live in Indianapolis.]

CFZ PRESS SUCCESS. YAY!

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/czbook2010/

Loren has published his annual top 20 Crypto books - and five of them are ours! Thanks Loren.,

NEW MONKEY SPECIES

Over on Cryptomundo, Loren has news of a new monkey from Myanmar
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/strykeri/

DALE DRINNON: The Skunk Ape

It seems that the best evidence is that there exists a sort of native orangutan in the south-eastern United States. Loren Coleman has been by far the most active investigator in this matter and therefore, I pass on his information without comment. I for one have never questioned the value of his original research in this matter.

The tracks are, however, different than the other orangutan-like creatures reported further to the south in the American tropics: it walks flat-footed. It leaves tracks generally like those of a chimpanzee. It is supposed to walk upright more often than the usual apes, although it still goes down on all-fours sometimes. It also seems to do an unusual amount of swimming and wading for an ape.

There have also been some purported and highly disputed finds of fossil teeth and skulls supposed to be related to it. It does seem that it inhabits a climate zone parallel to the Japanese macaques ('snow monkeys') and it eats primarily acorns and nuts in season - possibly stock-piling them for lean times - and it is especially fond of fruit when it can get any, but it also eats birds and eggs (and is blamed for raiding henhouses). These latter comments are my observations from the reports and not necessarily those of Coleman, although I would dare say he would agree with those remarks.

Here is the Wikipedia entry on the Skunk Apes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunk_Ape

The Skunk Ape is a cryptid said to inhabit the Southern United States, from places such as North Carolina and Arkansas, although reports from Florida are most common. It is named for its appearance and for the unpleasant odor that is said to accompany it. Some reports say the skunk ape is so stinky because it rolls itself in animal carcasses to get people to leave it alone. According to the United States National Park Service, the skunk ape exists only as a local myth. Reports of the Skunk ape were particularly common in the 1960s and 1970s. In the fall of 1974, numerous sightings were reported in suburban neighborhoods of Dade County, Florida, of a large, foul-smelling, hairy, ape-like creature, which ran upright on two legs.

Myakka photographs

In 2000, two photographs of an alleged ape, said to be the Skunk Ape, were taken anonymously and mailed to the Sarasota Sheriff's Department in Florida. They were accompanied by a letter from a woman claiming to have photographed it on the edge of her backyard. The photographer claimed that on three different nights the ape had entered her yard to take apples from a bushel basket on her porch. She was convinced it was an escaped orangutan. The police were dispatched to the house numerous times but when they arrived the Skunk Ape, also known as the stink ape was gone. The pictures have become known to Bigfoot enthusiasts as the "skunk ape photos".

Loren Coleman is the primary researcher on the Myakka photographs, having helped track down the two photographs to an "Eckerd photo lab at the intersection of Fruitville and Tuttle Roads" in Sarasota County, Florida.

The Myakka photos can be seen at http://www.lorencoleman.com/myakka.html The main criticism of the photos is that the body does appear to be rather shapless with no anatomical hallmarks visable, but that is also true in the case of known big male orangutans covered in long shaggy hair.

DALE DRINNON: Gambo and Ambon

There is a continuing controversy about an unidentified carcass of a 'Sea Monster' found off The Gambia and popularly named Gambo. From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambo

'Gambo' is the name given to a carcass of an unidentified large marine animal that was reportedly washed up on Bungalow Beach in The Gambia. The carcass of the Gambo was reported to have been discovered by 15-year-old Owen Burnham and his family on the morning of June 12, 1983. Owen, a wildlife enthusiast, decided to take measurements and then make sketches since he did not have a camera at the time. According to later testimony, he did not think to take a sample until after he realised he could not identify it in any books. According to Owen, local villagers called it a 'dolphin' but that was likely only because of the superficial similarity.

The carcass was later decapitated by local villagers, and the head was sold to a tourist. Its body was then buried and attempts to relocate it have failed. After Owen mentioned the carcass in a newspaper article three years after the event, it caught the attention of cryptozoologist Karl Shuker who requested more information on the carcass. According to Owen, the carcass showed little or no signs of decomposition and measured around 15 feet (4.6 m) in length. The colouration was brown on top and white below, and the skin itself was smooth. The most specific measurements were taken on the head, which was 4.5 feet (1.4 m) in length. It had a beak measuring 2.5 feet (0.76 m) long, 5.5 inches tall, and 5 inches (130 mm) wide with 80 uniform and conical teeth. A small pair of nostrils were present at the tip of the beak. The somewhat domed head measured 10 inches (250 mm) tall and 1 foot (0.30 m) wide, and had small eyes. The front pair of flippers measured 1.5 feet (0.46 m) long by 8 inches (200 mm) wide. One of the rear flippers was badly damaged and nearly torn off, revealing some intestine. The waterlogged and bloated body was around 6 feet (1.8 m) long with a 5-foot (1.5 m) girth. No fin was present on the top of the animal. The tail was long and pointed, and measured around 5 feet (1.5 m) in length.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to what the carcass could have been in life. Some question whether the carcass ever existed in the first place, as with the case with paleontologist Darren Naish. Naish expresses doubt that the carcass was real, and finds it suspicious how no sample was taken. Cryptozoologist Chris Orrick proposed that it was a severely mangled Shepherd's Beaked Whale that was twisted so that the dorsal fin and genital slit lined up, giving the appearance of a torn off limb. Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe speculated that it may be an unknown form of Beaked Whale. Another common suggestion is that the carcass is some sort of surviving prehistoric reptile. Shuker proposed initially that it was either a pliosaur or a thalattosuchian crocodile, but later referred to it as 'the last of the mosasaurs.' A 2006 expedition by the Centre for Fortean Zoology failed to uncover any remains of the creature at the alleged burial site. They also learnt from local people that the carcass was possibly that of a dolphin.

'Gambo' has been connected to many sporadic reports of crocodile-like sea serpents.

References

There are Giants in the Sea. Bright, Michael. Robson Books, London, 1989.
In Search of Prehistoric Survivors. Shuker, Karl P.N. Blandford, London, 1995.
The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. Coleman, Loren and Huyghe, Patrick. Jeremy P. Tarcher Publishing. November, 2003

This is another case where I had added different information to the Wikipedia article, which was subsequently removed. In this case I was not arguing for the identity of the carcass but drawing attention to the fact that the description was indeed close to two reports listed by Heuvelmans as possible 'Marine saurians' but off the coast of EAST Africa, at the end of the Red Sea.

These reports were sent along by the same Nederlandisch sea captain and both compared to a 'Smooth caiman.' The captain's own report was listed under the ship's name Ambon and the report dated to 22 October 1904. At the time, J. Vollewens was Third Officer and the Captain was G. A. Zeilanga. Vollewens later sent a report to A. C. Oudemans and he said then the head was raised above water for a little more than half a minute, was black above and white below. The head was raised about eight feet out of the water and both jaws were lined with many sharp-pointed teeth about 4 inches long. A fin was momentarily seen behind the head and could have been either a dorsal or a pectoral fin. The diameter of the neck where it met the water was about 2 1/2 feet. It was surrounded by several smaller animals like young sharks, probably travelling along with it to catch scraps.

A similar creature was sighted by the Java off Somaliland in 1906 and Vollewens also reported that one to Oudemans. (In The wake of the Sea-Serpents, pages 374-376)

Heuvelmans states in the text that it is probably an odd odontocete but it could never be a type of beaked whale because of the many teeth in the jaws. However, in the tables in the back of the book, these reports are treated as Marine Saurians and they are so indicated on his map.

It would seem that the Ambon Sea Serpent was slightly larger than Gambo, possibly 20-25 feet long; and all speculations that this type of animal would be any sort of cetacean or crocodile would be mistaken. It is more likely a smaller form of the regular Marine Saurians, but there is no telling whether it would be the younger size of the same species or possibly a dwarfed variety. The colouring is also unlike the usual Marine Saurians. It cannot be a crocodile because the skin is smooth and it cannot be a cetacean because it has hind feet.

I include a map to indicate the carcass and the sightings. I also indicate (tenatively) that there might have been another corpse of this type found off Puerto Rico in 1964 according to information in Ivan Sanderson's files.

But Darren Naish's belief that there never was a carcass seems considerably less likely now - as indeed are nearly all of the other alternative suggestions.

RIGHT ON LOREN

Over on Cryptomundo, Loren was musing on tulpas and wrote:

Yes, for those who have created an imaginary feud between myself and the Center for Fortean Zoology folks, you should realize that Creatures of the Outer Edge was the inspiration to a generation of thought-form/zooform Fortean CFZers, including Jon Downes, Nick Redfern, and several others, apparently. Any change in my thoughts on thoughtforms has not changed my respect for those who have considered these theories valid for their own worldviews. To each to their own sense of the phenomena, I say, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.

Loren is perfectly right. This has gone on for far too long. Read my lips: THERE IS NO FEUD BETWEEN THE CFZ AND CRYPTOMUNDO, AND THERE NEVER HAS BEEN. Loren and I have disagreed over certain things in the past. We have also agreed on certain things. So what?

Two of his books in particular, Mysterious America and Creatures of the Outer Edge, are seminal works and inspired me to get involved in the Fortean universe in the first place, and I am very pleased to be able to call him a friend.

Capisce?

OLL LEWIS: 5 Questions on… Cryptozoology - LOREN COLEMAN

Today’s guest is Loren Coleman. Loren is an American cryptozoologist and author. Loren also runs a cryptozoological museum in Portland, Maine, which contains a number of exhibits including casts, models and film props, and it is well worth a visit.

So, Loren Coleman, here are your 5 questions on… Cryptozoology.

1) How did you first become interested in cryptozoology?

I first became interested in cryptozoology almost exactly fifty years ago.

On Friday night (March 18th) and then again on Saturday morning (March 19th, 1960) I watched a docu-drama-style movie, Half Human, about the search for Abominable Snowmen in some mountains in Asia. The film was directed by Ishiro Honda and had been released in the US as Half Human in December 1958. It had previously been released in Japan as Jujin Yokiotoko ('Abominable Snowman') in August 1955. In the American version new footage had been added, starring John Carradine as anthropologist Dr. John Rayburn. I, of course, didn't know any of this in 1960.

I went to school on Monday, March 21, 1960, after seeing this movie on television over the weekend, full of questions and curiosity about these creatures. I asked all my teachers what was this business about the Abominable Snowmen. I was given answers like "Don't waste your time on that; they don't exist," "Get back to reading your studies," and "They aren't worth your time."

I decided to do my own research, and read everything I could about the Abominable Snowmen. I soon discovered there was a whole world of cryptozoology out there. I recall discovering books on the Loch Ness Monsters. I remember reading Bernard Heuvelmans's On the Track of Unknown Animals. In 1961 I found and read Ivan T. Sanderson's Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life in the Decatur, Illinois, library. I soon bought my own copy from the money I was earning from my paper route job. Then I systematically bought every publication I could find that was listed in Sanderson's bibliography.

I had begun corresponding with Sanderson and within two years I had 400 other correspondents (remember letters vs emails?) from around the world. I was also doing fieldwork with wildlife biologists in Illinois, going out investigating reports with them of black panther sightings, and interviewing eyewitnesses who had seen Bigfoot, ape-like creatures, mystery cats, and giant snakes.

I decided to attend a university in the midst of an area known for its sightings and folklore about reddish unknown anthropoids (Southern Illinois University) and majored in anthropology, minored in zoology, during my undergraduate years, due directly to my interest in cryptozoology.

As I grew older, except for decisions based on the best interests of my sons, cryptozoology served as the primary key to what future paths I wished to take in my life, just as it had since 1960.

2) Have you ever personally seen a cryptid or secondary evidence of a cryptid, if so can you please describe your encounter?

I have found footprints of ape-like creatures and heard unexplainable screeches (where others had reported similar screams) while investigating unknown anthropoid, mystery kangaroo, and other cryptid sightings.

But the only marginal first hand sighting I had of a cryptid was the brief glimpse of a 'black panther' I saw when I was riding with a group of co-workers returning from a state job we all had been doing in Anna, Illinois, on our way back to Carbondale. I was the only one of the five in the car who was interested in cryptozoology, and I wasn't driving (I didn't own a car), so we did not turn around to investigate. (In the USA, 'black panthers' are indeed cryptids because they are not verified as existing by mainstream zoology. About 40% of all mystery cat sightings are of large melanistic cats in North America.)

I find no need to discuss my sighting very often, as it was fleeting, but certainly gives me a sense of how quick such encounters are for most witnesses.

3) Which cryptids do you think are the most likely to be scientifically discovered and described some day, and why?

As I've mentioned in my book The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates (co-authored with Patrick Huyghe), I feel the best bet for discovery is Sumatra's Orang Pendek. I sense the zoological and anthropological discovery and verification of this great ape will occur in the next 25 years, and it will be a ground-breaking find.

Why? Because it appears to be one of the best funded, long-term surveys and quests that has occurred in recent memory. The quietly financed search by the UK's Floral and Fauna International during over two decades of fieldwork there by Debbie Martyr is the key reason. While I was at the University of Southern Maine as a full-time researcher and adjunct faculty, I was delighted to have written a letter regarding the importance of Orang Pendek research in 1985, in support of Debbie's first application to get her initial visa to enter Indonesia. She has done nothing but the most superb research on the ground since then.

4) Which cryptids do you think are the least likely to exist?

This is a difficult question to answer, for at any one time time there are all kinds of 'new' cryptids that turn up, which are quickly explained as normal species, misidentifications, mistakes, outright fakes, and hoaxes that gum up the significant and long-term work we have to do. So, seriously, I would have to say the cryptids that are the least likely to exist are those that aren't unknown or hidden animals in the first place.

5) If you had to pick your favourite cryptozoological book (not including books you may have written yourself) what would you choose?

Hands down, the book that I feel has influenced me the most, which even contains the first example of the use of the word 'cryptozoological' in English, and thus is my favourite is Ivan T. Sanderson's Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life. I was over-joyed to have seen this re-published as a high-quality hard-bound recently, for I think it is a book that should be read by every serious student of cryptozoology and hominology, despite how dated it is and the fact that much has happened since 1961.

Second, of course, is Bernard Heuvelmans's On the Track of Unknown Animals.

I was lucky enough to have personally known both of these gentlemen, and both of these men's books mean much to me.

All the classic cryptozoology works of Bernard Heuvelmans and by folks like Rupert Gould, Odette Tchernine, Willy Ley, Anton Oudemans, Marian T. Place, Roy Mackal, Karl Shuker, Tim Dinsdale, Ralph Izzard and many others, deserve to be in any cryptozoology resource library, as well as the encyclopaedias of George Eberhart, Michael Newton and others. A good historical reading in cryptozoology assists people entering the field who wish to build on the successes of the past.

A year ago I published a list of the top 30 Bigfoot books I would recommend to everyone: http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/top10-bf-bks/

Happy New Year, and may 2010 be full of great surprises for all of us interested in this field! I look forward to co-operative efforts between the International Cryptozoology Museum, the Centre for Fortean Zoology and other worldwide cryptozoological organisations.