WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Saturday, May 31, 2014

CRYPTOLINK: Are these the bones of a water demon? 'Remains' of mythological Kappa to go on show in Japan

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 


Just as British children have been brought up with scary stories about the Loch Ness Monster, Japanese people know all about the Kappa - a slippery water demon from ancient folklore.
The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly green or blue skin of a reptile and webbed feet.
But unlike the Loch Ness Monster, believers claim to have found ‘proof’ of the creature’s existence - and bones purporting to be from the Kappa are going on show in Japan.
Proof? Mummified remains (pictured) purporting to be from the Kappa - a scaly green water demon said to be around the same size as a child - are going on show in Japan
Proof? Mummified remains (pictured) purporting to be from the Kappa - a scaly green water demon said to be around the same size as a child - are going on show in Japan

THE FOLKLORE OF KAPPA

There are over 80 different names for the Kappa or 'river' child in Japan.
Kappa are typically drawn to look a little like humans, and are said to be around the same size as a child.
Their scaly skin varies in colour from yellow to blue.
They are said to live in ponds and rivers in Japan and have webbed hands and feet, a beak, and a bald patch on their head.
In some tales of ancient folklore, the patch must be kept wet when Kappa venture out of the water, because if it dries, they will lose their power or even die.
In other stories, Kappa are seen as mischievous troublemakers, or they are wicked creatures capable of attacking women and even drowning people.
Kappa are similar to Scottish Kelpies and Finnish Nakki, which are used to scare children about the dangers of water.
Some people think the Kappa legends are based upon the Japanese giant salamander, which is around the same size and has been known to grab prey using its formidable jaws.
In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or ‘river child’ occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks, as well as attacking women. 
Some tales even claim the Kappa pulls people into the water to drown them.
The colour, shape and features of the monster vary according to differing illustrations of the monster.
It is thought the creature is similar to the Scottish ‘Kelpie,’ Scandinavian Nakki and other such monsters, which have been used over the years to warn children about the dangers of playing near water.
Some people in Japan think the legend of the Kappa might be based upon the Japanese giant salamander, or ‘hanzaki’, which is an aggressive lizard that grabs its prey with its powerful jaws.
But others believe the Kappa is a specific creature, and there are signs near some lakes in Japan warning people of their presence, RocketNews24 reported.
The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly greeny blue skin of a reptile and webbed feet. These illustrations are from the mid-19th century
The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly greeny blue skin of a reptile and webbed feet. These illustrations are from the mid-19th century
In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or 'river child' occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks as well as attacking women and even pulling people into the water where it drowns them. The colour, shape and features of the monster vary according to differing illustrations (pictured) of the creature
In Japanese folklore, the child-sized Kappa, or 'river child' occasionally jumps out of its watery lair to pull pranks as well as attacking women and even pulling people into the water where it drowns them. The colour, shape and features of the monster vary according to differing illustrations (pictured) of the creature
Scientists have not managed to confirm the existence of the creature, despite the fact that numerous bones have been discovered that are said to belong to the Kappa.
One set of mummified remains, which seem to show a webbed hand is going on show for the first time at the Miyakonojo Shimazu Residence in Miyazaki prefecture on the island of Kyuushuu.
The remains were given to the Miyakonijo Shimazu family after a ‘Kappa’ was shot on a riverbank in 1818.


Read on...

GONZO WEEKLY #80

BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



Bigfoot is Alive and Well in the Big Thicket of Texas
Rob Riggs, the author of "In the Big Thicket, On the Trail of the Wild Man" has been researching bigfoot for over 30 years. Longer than some 

Dread Central

Fan-Made Stop-Motion Megafoot Stomping About
Fan-Made Stop-Motion Megafoot Stomping About The idea of a Mech-Bigfoot is very exciting. So exciting in fact that artist Vincent Cretara and ...

Big Foot thoughts.....
I've never heard of stories about Big Foot from anywhere other than the US. Seems like if there were such an animal that they'd likely live in remote 

Watch Multiple Bigfoot Sightings in Wisconsin Last Summer
In the summer of 2013 there were multiple sightings by different people of the same bigfoot. Check it out: “All of a sudden, I look over there, and she

2013: Big Foot Spotted in West Virginia
Summary/Description: My sighting was unusual as I had been asked by a friend to go with him to attempt to see a Bigfoot Creature. The creature I ...

Bigfoot Appeared after Experiments to Cross Apes with Humans
http://english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/26-05-2010/113512-bigfoot-0/

Scientific View – A Guide to Bigfoot Hunting
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Bigfoot science. ... Bigfoot Evidence Released By Mainstream Scientists – Science News

Bigfoot's daughter
In the forest,there lived a human-like bigfoot who can was picking berries when he heard followed the he saw a young woman picking apples.


FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology?

Well, everything actually!

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. 


THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN SINGS


The Gonzo Daily - Saturday
www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html
The next issue of Gonzo Weekly is imminent, and later this afternoon it will be available to read at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has Don Falcone from the mighty Spirits Burning on the front cover and features an interview with the man himself by Doug Harr, an interview with Patrick Campbell-Lyons of the original Nirvana by me, a special dedication from Patrick to Twink, what happened when Erik Norlander met Corky Laing, and Keith Levene in Prague.
There are also new shows from the peculiar multiverse of Sub Reality Sandwich, from Friday Night Progressive, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and high heeled shoes (OK, no specialist footwear, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
Read the previous few issues of Gonzo Weekly:
All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
*  The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at  jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

*  The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html

* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

*  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 54 who - together with an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange kitten?

WALLY THE COMEDY RHINOCEROS: Yesterday's News Today

Oll is away so for today Yesterday's News Today is done by Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros. He is a stand-up comedian of some renown. Here is one of his rhino-related jokes.

Q Why are rhinos large, gray and wrinkled? 
A If they were small, round and white they would be aspirins

Ha Ha! That was funny. Sidesplitting. Yes. Ha!

Now for the news....

  • White-faced darter dragonfly reintroduced to Chesh...
  • Fossilised crocodile tooth 'largest of its kind in...
  • Five Alaska Wolf Pups Rescued by Firefighters
  • The Fiercer Sex: Why Female Scorpions Sting More Q...
  • Cats found to eat more in the winter
  • Unusual parenting behaviour by Southeast Asian spe...
  • New Ramsar site for Andorra

  • Panama saves whales, protects world trade

  • And now for a happy tune that you can whistle while you work:

    TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

    The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

    There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

    The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking. 

  • VIDEO: Wild Lion Ganglands - National Geographic D...
  • VIDEO: Big Cats Of The Timbavati - British documen...
  • VIDEO: Big Cats Of The Timbavati - british docum...
  • NEWSLINK: Dramatic video: Indian villagers corner ...

  • UK SIGHTINGS: Big cat sighting - Talk of The Villa...
  • Friday, May 30, 2014

    ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier

    News and stories from the remoter fringes of the CFZ blogosphere...

    From CFZ-USA:

    TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

    The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

    There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

    The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking. 

  • UK SIGHTINGS: Big cat sighting - Talk of The Villa...
  • UK SIGHTINGS: Big cats in Kent - MyGreenPod
  • UK SIGHTINGS: Big Cat sightings on the rise in Oxf...
  • NEWSLINK: White tiger coming: More rip-'roar'ing f...

  • NEWSLINK: The World's Oldest Cat's Secret to Etern...
  • BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Who Was Jerry Crew and Why Was He Important to Bigfoot?
    Bigfoot Evidence Matt K.
    Join us LIVE tonight as Rev. Jeff and David Batdorf talk the show back to basics and bring to you a show like we have never done before. The Bigfoot 

    Skepchick: Bigfoot erotica, bad bar signs, and bird names
    Skepchick: Bigfoot erotica, bad bar signs, and bird names. I read Bigfoot erotica for research – I'm just glad someone's doing it so we don't have to

    Bigfoot Sighting
    TODAY IN BIGFOOT HISTORY! 1989, Monkey Mountain, Montana: Man Sees Bigfoot. Dennis Starcavich claims while walking through Monkey

    I Read Bigfoot Erotica For Research
    The atmosphere in the barn suddenly shifted…my fear had morphed into something different, and my sole focus was on my Bigfoot. –Moan For Bigfoot ...

    Bigfoot Hunter – Teaser Trailer Release
    Today, The Tap Lab, an indie game development studio, released a teaser trailer for their upcoming game, Bigfoot Hunter. The trailer shows a bit

    Bigfoot North Radio Archive: John Mionczynski
    Cryptomundo » Bigfoot North Radio Archive: John Mionczynski.

    Check out the new trailer for bigfoot horror movie 'Willow Creek'
    The bigfoot legend gets a found footage twist in the new horror movie Willow Creek. Directed by comedian-turned-filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait — who ...

    Watch This 2014 Ohio Bigfoot Conference Photo Montage
    When it comes to the bigfoot community, you have some very recognizable names. Matt Moneymaker, Cliff Barackman, Todd Standing, Jeff Meldrum

    Massive suspect Bigfoot Territorial structure
    Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization: Derek and Shelly hike up to a massive structure we suspect was made by Bigfoot in this area with a long

    News amazingly see Bigfoot in a forest Wisconsin
    News amazingly see Bigfoot in a forest Wisconsin Linda Godfrey, investigator & author of 'American Monsters, God Johnson & The Beast of Bra

    Questionable Tree Arch, was it Bigfoot? You tell us
    David Crane: Possible Bigfoot tree arch , Log is laying on small tree top . My question is how did tree fall and capture salping to create an arch.

    Is it time to call BS in the Bigfoot Community?
    Recently there have been some people claiming obvious stumps or rocks are Bigfoot and acting very rude and condescending to anyone that 

    Bigfoot Hunter: Official Teaser Trailer!
    We're so excited to share a first look at the world of Bigfoot Hunter! Almost a year ago, the team decided to spend one sleepless night breathing life ...

    FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


    What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology?

    Well, everything actually!

    In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. 



    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS MILDLY ANNOYED

    The Gonzo Daily - Friday
     
    This afternoon we received five Japanese fire-bellied newts which are now (thanks to Charlotte) safely ensconsed in a tank in the sitting room. Mike Davis will be recording here again this evening, and so the fact that I am running extraordinarily late is a mild problem. However we had friends here this afternoon and a whole string of telephone calls also conspired to make things more complicated than they otherwise would have been...
     
     
    GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Chris Judge Smith - Curly's Airships - "A byronic sort of blighter" (with Hammill)
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/05/gonzo-track-of-day-chris-judge-smith.html
     
     
    Eric Burdon, A Conversation With Rock and Roll’s Original animal
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/05/eric-burdon-conversation-with-rock-and.html
     
     
     
    The latest issue of Gonzo Weekly, can be read at www.gonzoweekly.com. It has Steve Ignorant (late of Crass) on the cover and features exclusive interviews with the man himself, Ken Pustelnik (late of The Groundhogs), exclusive live accounts of The Pink Fairies triumphant return, and Clepsydra's appearance at Rosfest, and a poignant article by Richard Stellar entitled The Inspiration of a Holocaust Survivor and Hero about how the story of Curt Lowens inspired composer Sharon Farber. There are also new shows from the peculiar multiverse of Sub Reality Sandwich (this week they are in their submarine off the coast of Australia with special guest Lyn Paul) from Friday Night Progressive, and from the multi-talented Neil Nixon at Strange Fruit and a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and Victorian flues (OK, no 19th Century heating ducts, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
     
    The full list of artists in #79 is Yes, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison, Steve Ignorant, Ken Pustelnik, The Pink Fairies, Led Zeppelin, Sir Paul McCartney, David Gilmour, The Beach Boys, Mick Harvey, Judge Smith, Michael des Barres, Merrell Fankhauser, Galahad, Auburn, Liz Lenten, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Wise Williams, Barbara Dickson, Keith Levene, Marianne Faithfull, Grace Slick, Transatlantic, Sub Reality Sandwich, Friday Night Progressive, Jean Philippe Rykiel, Joey Molland, David Jackson & Rene van Commenee, Pierre Moerlen’s Gong, Clearlight, Planet Earth Rock ‘n’ Roll Orchestra, Kevin Ayers and the Whole World, Tumblewild, Hollis Brown, PFM, Richard Stellar, Clepsydra, Marie Osmond, Donny Osmond, Carlos Santana, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Elvis Presley, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Lives & Times, Twelfth Night, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows
     
     
    All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
     
    To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
    http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
     
     
     
    *  The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at  jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

    *  The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
     
    * We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

    *  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 54 who - together with an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange kitten?

    WALLY THE COMEDY RHINOCEROS: Yesterday's News Today

    Oll is away so for today Yesterday's News Today is done by Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros. He is a stand-up comedian of some renown. Here is one of his rhino-related jokes.

    Q How can you tell that a rhinoceros has been in your fridge?

    A By the footprints in the custard. 

    Ha Ha! That was funny. Sidesplitting. Yes. Ha!

    Now for the news....

  • Full Moon Lures Ferocious Muskie Fish to Bite
  • Bats and badgers may be rehomed for Thame developm...
  • Fish more inclined to crash into each other than b...
  • New Zealand to speed up its shark-finning ban
  • Wasp uses zinc-tipped drill to lay eggs
  • 'Listening' helps scientists track bats without ex...
  • Australian tour operator bans elephant rides in As...

  • Asian relative of cane toad threatens Madagascar h...
  • And now for a happy tune that you can whistle while you work:

    Thursday, May 29, 2014

    BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



    Researchers Examine The Mono Lake Bigfoot Footage In The Sierras (Documentary)
    Bigfoot researchers trek into California's Sierra Nevada following Native American stories and petroglyphs of a supposed family of hairy man-beasts; ...

    The Body of a Real-life Gnome?
    The following story (verbatim) was published on toptenz.net: "In October 1932, two prospectors named Cecil Mayne and Frank Carr discovered a

    Bigfoot: The Evidence Files
    Bigfoot: The Evidence Files - Now Available for Streaming! Over 20 researchers and witnesses have come together to present some of their greatest 

    Why Bigfoot is Fake: Bigfoot Debunked!
    Find out why Bigfoot is a big, fat fake and some say he doesn't exist. Is Bigfoot real or not? The Sasquatch myth debunked

    Bigfoot evidence
    Posts about Bigfoot evidence written by Sharon Hill.

    Who Was Jerry Crew and Why Was He Important to Bigfoot?
    Join us LIVE tonight as Rev. Jeff and David Batdorf talk the show back to basics and bring to you a show like we have never done before. The Bigfoot 

    Finding Bigfoot: Squatch Spotted in Michigan Photos
    Cliff and Bobo can sense they are not alone and then something interesting is spotted on the thermal imager. Could it be a Bigfoot?

    See Incredible Video Footage of a Bigfoot in Norway
    KOOL 107.9 FM Ed Chandler
    What he filmed was even more incredible. There have been Bigfoot sightings all over the world and still many doubt the existence of the famed elusive ...

    Bigfoot Might Have Been An Alien
    If you weren't in Clearfield, PA. this last weekend, then you missed out on a bunch of nerds arguing about whether or not Bigfoot is an alien or just your ...

    Listen to this: Bigfoot from a Scientific View
    Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is the name given to an ape- or hominid-like creature that some people believe inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific 

    Bigfoot News May 28, 2014
    This post will feature the testimony of Aaron Arcand, one of Canada's top Bigfoot researchers, up there with Sasquatch Ontario and John Bindernagel.

    THE TRUE LEGEND OF BIGFOOT ~ Special Guest Cliff Barackman of
    KPRSProduction1 Cliff Barackman has been a dedicated Sasquatch field researcher for the past two decades. Known throughout the Sasquatch ...

    CRYPTOLINK: The Nantucket Sea-Serpent Hoax (1937)

    ffdA word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 








    In the summer of 1937, stories started appearing in the local papers of Nantucket carrying photographs of giant footprints found on a local beach. With the region of New England’s long history of sea-serpent sightings, rumours quickly began to circulate reporting that, at last, one of the elusive creatures had come ashore. Copies of the photographs were even sent for scientific analysis, though Dr. W. Reid Blair, director of the New York Zoological Society, was sceptical: 



    No marine mammal could have left the tracks as they do not move so much on their flippers as they do on their second joint and on their bellies. Evidence of their passage would be seen on the beach only in a slight indentation. As for a land mammal, there is nothing on Nantucket Island that could leave such large tracks. 

    A few days later, however, a gigantic creature was indeed spotted on South Beach. People came flocking to investigate but instead of the long awaited New England Sea Serpent they found something quite different – although most definitely a serpent of some kind, it turned out to be of the inflatable balloon variety.

    Read on...