The Cryptid Files

This blog compiles information on the elusive creatures known as ‘cryptids’

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Hook Island Sea Monster

The Hook Island Sea Monster, also known as the Tadpole Creature, is considered one of the mot credible cryptid sightings in history. The creature is described as resembling a giant black sperm or tadpole, the creature spans an overwhelming 90 feet. The Hook Island Sea Monster has small eyes on the top of it’s large head that hosts a gaping mouth with small teeth.

The Hook Island Sea Monster is considered one of the most credible cryptid sightings as the evidence of it being fake, and it being real are equal. While some state that it was obviously photoshopped, others say that such tools weren’t available when the photo was taken. Some even suggest that the creature is nothing but a large sheet of plastic weighed down by sand. However the monster has some evidence of it’s existence too, such a the fact that the monster is very lifelike in appearance, with some close-ups showing that the eyes were too detailed to be made out of artificial material. 

The first sighting of the Hook Island Sea Monster was in 1964. The sighting was reported by a man named Robert Le Serrec and his family. It was spotted when it approached his ship, the monster's ocean mouth as if being hostile. However Serrec realised that the creature had an injured tail, presumably by a larger creature or by the ship's propeller.

Serrec stated that; "It was only when we got to within 20 feet of the serpent that we could see its head clearly. The head was large, about 4 feet from top to bottom, with jaws about 4 feet wide. The lower jaw was flat like that of a sandfish. The skin was smooth but rather dull, brownish-black in color, the eyes seemed pale green, almost white. The skin looked more like that of a shark than an eel. There were no apparent scales. Nor did we see any parasites around. We supposed the flexible tail would have shaken any off. There were no fins or spines, nor were there any apparent breathing openings, although there must have been some. Perhaps we didn't see them because our attention was focused mainly on the creature's menacing mouth, the inside of which was whitish. The teeth appeared to be small. A fragment of some dark substance hung from the upper row of teeth, possibly a fish. As the monster was lying on the sandy bottom, we could not see the color of its belly. The creature was about 90 feet long. Behind the head the body was about 2 feet 4 inches thick and remained that way for about 25 feet, then it gradually tapered into a whip-like tail. The general color of the body was black with 1 foot-wide brownish rings every 5 feet, the first starting just behind the head. The skin was smooth but dull."

Just as the monster appeared to move to the swallow the ship, it swam away. 

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Phantom Cats

Phantom Cats also known as Alien Big Cats, or ABCs, are in fact not extra-terrestrial cats, but are just normal big cats. The sightings include; black panthers, leopards, African lions, or cougars. The strange thing about these big cats are the fact they have been reported in places such as; Canada, Britain, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, United States, Hawaii, Italy, and Luxembourg. The cats are named 'Alien Cats' as they are sighted in areas outside of their native range. Most reports are sighted in the most undisturbed places, such as swamps.

The widely accepted explanation to these sightings is that the big cats are simply escaped exotic pets. Multiple carcasses of smaller varieties of the Phantom Cats have been found to be hybrids between domestic housecats and Scottish wildcats.

Despite this, people believe that these areas have secretly supported small populations of big cats, with reports of these big cats dating back into prehistory.

Here are some Phantom Cat sightings:

Australian Phantom Cats

Great Britain Phantom Cats

Chinese Phantom Cats

Denmark Phantom Cats 

Finnish Phantom Cats

Netherlands Phantom Cats

New Zealand Phantom Cats

United States Phantom Cats

Luxembourg Phantom Cats

Indian Phantom Cats

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Pogeyan

The Pogeyan is a large grey feline known to local people living in the Western Ghats, India. Its name is derived from the local dialect, and means "The cat that comes and goes like the mist."

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Luxembourg Phantom Cats

A black panther was allegedly sighted in 2009 in Bommelscheuer near Bascharage. Police were called, and when they arrived, the panther was no longer around. The panther was sighted all over the country in the next couple of days. The blame was thrust onto a nearby zoo called Amnéville, however the zoo denied they had any missing panthers. Although the police did not find a panther, however they did find an abnormally large house cat a few days later.

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United States Phantom Cats

Although the United States is home to a few species of big cats, there have been a few sightings of phantom cats.

Delaware

Since the late 1990s there have been reported sightings of what is believed to be a mountain lion in Delaware. The Delaware of Fish and Wildlife theorises that there may be multiple mountain lions in Delaware, originating from animals released from captivity.

Hawaii

Big cat sightings in the Kula area has increased since December 2002, with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife being requested to help big cat wildlife biologists William Van Pelt, and Stan Cunningham of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The big cat wildlife biologists believed that the felines were most likely cats such as leopards, jaguars or cougars. The theory was that the big cats had been illegally brought into Hawaii as an exotic pet and released. However no big cats were detected by tool such as traps, infrared cameras, or professional trackers. In 2003 a fur sample was collected but the analysis of the DNA resulted to be inconclusive. After three weeks without any reported sightings in November 2003, the hunt for the cat was called off.

Illinois

In the Shawnee National Forest of Alexander County, there have been encounters of large black panthers reported sporadically since the 1860s.

Massachusetts

MassWildlife has confirmed two cases of a mountain lion’s presence in Massachusetts. There have been numerous other reports of sightings, as well as alleged photographs, but these remain unconfirmed by state wildlife officials.

North Carolina

Black panthers and other large "non-indigenous" cats have been sighted for many years in the vicinity of Oriental, North Carolina. Accounts from locals and visitors alike have been documented in the local papers.

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New Zealand Phantom Cats

Big cat sightings have been reported in many separate parts of New Zealand, in both North and South Islands since the late 1990s. These reports include several unverified panther sightings in Mid-Canterbury near Ashburton and were also reported in the nearby foothills of the Southern Alps. Despite this, searches to find the big cats in 2003 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry came up with nothing.

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Netherlands Phantom Cats

In 2005, a black cougar was allegedly spotted on several occasions in a wildlife preserve, but the animal, nicknamed Winnie, was later identified as an unusually large crossbreed between a domestic cat and a wildcat.

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Finnish Phantom Cats

On June-August in 1992 there were sightings of a lion in Ruokolahti near the Finnish-Russian border was filed, with multiple sightings. Government biologists were able to identify tracks being from a big cat not native to Finland. The biologists were given the clear to capture or shoot the lion by the Ministry of the Interior, with border guards participating in the hunt.

The last reported sightings were in Russia and there were reports that the lion was seen by Finnish border guards. The lion's tracks were also reported to be found in te raked sand field used by the Russian border guards to detect crossings. Despite all the efforts the lion was never captured, leaving the events to remain unexplained. However one theory is an incident where a few circus animals escaped from a railroad accident containing a circus train in Russia.

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Denmark Phantom Cats

The earliest sighting of phantom cats in Denmark go as early as 1982, in southern Jutland. Another sighting of a big cat, usually described as a lion or lynx, was reported in 1995, with the big cat being named 'The Beast Of Funen".

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Chinese Phantom Cats

Sightings of a blue, or Maltese, Tiger is a reported colour morph of the South China Tiger. Reports have been made in Myanmar, China and the Korean Peninsula. It is theorised that if the "blue" genotype was ever real, they would now be extinct due to poaching for traditional Chinese medicine.

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Great Britain Phantom Cats

As early as the 1960s many sightings of big cats have been talked about across Great Britain. A 2003-2004 survey was conducted by the British Big Cats Society gave the following results, based on 2,052 sightings; South West has 21% of the sightings, with South East having 16%, East Anglia 12%, Scotland 11%, and West Midlands 9%.

Many big cats have been captured or killed since 1903, all of which are believed to have escaped captivity.  

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Australian Phantom Cats

The Australian Phantom Cats have many sightings, with the NSW government even stating that it was "more likely than not" that there were a small population of big cats living deep in the wilderness near Sydney, in 2003.

The Gippsland Phantom Cat

There are alleged reports of American World War ll airmen releasing cougars into the Australian bush after bringing them with them as mascots. The cougars were rumoured to be released in the region of Gippsland of south-eastern Victoria.

Grampians puma

Deakin University conducted a study that concluded that the existence of exotic cats in the Grampian Mountains were "beyond reasonable doubt".

Blue Mountains Panther

One of the most famous Australian Phantom Cats is the Blue Mountains Panther. For over a century sightings of a panther in the Blue Mountains areas have been reported, with the main theory being that the big cat had descended from either zoo or circus escapees, or possibly descending from a military mascot. 

Video footage of a large black cat near Lithgow surfaced, allowing for a team of several zoo, museum, park and agricultural staff to examine it. The conclusion was that the cat in the footage was nothing but a large domestic cat, being 2-3 times bigger than usual.

  Tantanoola Tiger

In the late 19th century sightings of a tiger roaming Tantanoola, a town in the south-east of South Australia, were reported. However a man named Tom Donovian shot and killed the Tantanoola Tiger on the 25th of August in 1895, claiming that it was an Assyrian wolf, even though no such species seems to exist. The remains of the tiger were stuffed and are still displayed in the Tantanoola Hotel. 

Sunshine Coast Big Cats

As early as the 19th century reports of big cats roaming the Sunshine Coast, Queensland have been made. However these claims have no real proof.

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Nuckelavee

Hailing from Orcadian folklore, the Nuckelavee is described as a centaur like being, who has fins protruding from its legs, a massive open mouth and one enormous eye, which burns with a red flame, weighing nearly 2,000 pounds. The Nuckelavee's most alarming feature is the absence of skin. It's yellow veins, which contain black blood, the powerful muscles, and pale sinews are all visible without the presence of skin. The Nuckelavee has a terrifying stature, with it's height being 6 feet tall to their horse heads and 9 feet tall at their humanoid heads. Some variations report that the Nuckelavee is nothing but a very large head supported by two small arms, however includes all the descriptors above.

If you ever find yourself being chased by a Nuckelavee, all you have to do is cross a stream to get away, as they have a fear of running water. Another known fear is the smell of burning seaweed, creating kelp. However this scent would enrage the Nuckelavee, and in it's state of anger it would go forward to kill fields upon fields of cattle. Mither O'the Sea, a Orcadian god-like being is the only person capable of putting a stop to the Nuckelavee.

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Dullahan

The Dullahan (or Gan Ceann, meaning ‘without a head’) is a headless rider, usually on a dark horse, carrying their own head. The decapitated head was said to have a constant hideous grin, with the skin having the consistency and colour of mouldy cheese. The rider wields a fierce whip made from a human spine. In some variations, the horse is seen pulling a cart made of body parts, with the spokes of the wheels being made from human bones, and the cart’s cover being made of dried human skin. The Dullahan is also reported to be the embodiment of the Celtic god Crom Dubh.  

When the Dullahan stops riding, that is where a person is doomed to die, after which the rider calls them by their name, and takes their life. They also do not like to be watched, being reported to throw buckets of blood on those who do so. 

There is no way to stop a Dullahan, as all locks and gates open to them upon their approach. However Dullahan’s do appear to be afraid of gold, and can be temporarily driven away with the mere sight of it. 

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Kelpie

The Kelpie is a horse like creature described as a dark horse, with cloudy eyes, and seaweed in it’s mane. Sometimes Kelpies take the form of beautiful women, with seaweed in their hair, and horse hooves. Some saying the Kelpie takes the form of a beautiful horse, convincing those around it that it’s an innocent lost horse. These types of Kelpie are only identifiable by their constantly dripping mane, frilled ears, forward facing slightly red eyes, and webbing between their hooves. They are described to have skin like that of a seal, smooth, yet cold as ice when touched. 

The Kelpie waits at bodies of water for a person to come by, when they do the Kelpie tries their best to persuade the person to climb onto their back or to touch them. Once they do, the Kelpie drags the human under the water and devours them. Only leaving the heart or liver. 

A famous story that involves the Kelpie goes as following; One day nine children were lured onto a kelpie's back, while a tenth kept his distance. The kelpie chased the tenth child, but he escaped. Another more gruesome and macabre variation on this tale is that the tenth child simply stroked the kelpie's nose but, when his hand stuck to it, he took a knife from his pocket and cut his own hand off, cauterizing it with wood from a nearby fire.

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Bear Lake Monster

The Bear Lake Monster is a cryptid that is sighted near Bear Lake, on the Utah-Idaho border. The cryptid is a beast that spans a length of 40 feet long, with legs that appear short compared to it's long body, however are still very strong limbs. The Bear Lake Monster is greyish-green in colour, with a head that can be compared to an alligator.

The first report of the creature was in the 19th century, by a Mormon colonizer named Joseph C. Rich, who compiled the sightings of the beast. Rich then later renounced the reports. The last known sighting of The Bear Lake Monster was in 2007, however the beast has recently been considered nothing more than a tourist attraction.

 The first sighting goes as such; "It goes that he was riding in his boat to go check some fishing lines at night when he heard a growl like sound. He looked to his right and saw it looking at him. It just went in the water. However, there is the chance that people could confuse the monster with a large alligator. However, this is unlikely do to the fact Idaho is too cold for an alligator."

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Fresno Nightcrawler

The Fresno Nightcrawlers (also known as 'The Fresno Alien') are cryptids that have been found in Fresno, California, and Yosemite National Park, California. With a Polish man claiming he's also seen the creature. There has only been two credible sightings of these creatures, both captured in video.

These cryptids appear to be a creature with an anatomy of mostly legs, estimated to stand at a height of 1.5 meters. Fresno Nightcrawlers do appear to have an upper body, however the quality of the videos make details hard to decipher, with the upper body being significantly smaller that the rest of it's body. The creature is a humanoid being, being completley white with a thin stature.

The very first sighting of the Fresno Nightcrawler was captured on a surveillance camera in Fresno, California by a man named Jose. The creatures were spotted on Jose's front lawn, his dog barking at the otherworldly being.