Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden by 2013 Type & Image 03 Publications

Krytpos knowledge of of the the hidden hidden knowledge

Table Of Contents Introduction Air Ropen

Mothman 12 Jersey Devil

Thunderbird

Land Sirrush

Bigfoot

Chupacabra

Wendigo

Water Sea Monk

Kelpies

Ninki Nanka

Mermaids

References

Introduction

The word Kryptos comes from the Greek, meaning hidden. Crytptids are creatures whose exsistence have been suggested, but not consistently recognized by the scientific community. The following provides some cursory information regarding a few of these unclassified species.

Air The sky has always been home to many of the planetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creatures. The following are a few that remind us of our past and make us fear our future.

Description The valleys and jungles of Papua New Guinea are known to hold a treasure trove of undiscovered and unclassified species of flora and fauna. Among them, suggest some, is the Ropen, a winged reptilian creature that resembles—or perhaps is—a pterodactyl. The Ropen is said to possess two leathery wings like a bat, a long tail with a flange on the end, a beak filled with teeth, and razor-sharp claws. According to the book Searching for Ropens, it is “any featherless creature

The Ropen Pacific Southwest, Papua New Guinea

that flies in the Southwest Pacific, and has a tail-length more than 25% of its wingspan.” The Ropen is believed to be nocturnal and bioluminescent. It is said to live on a diet of fish, though there have been some reports of the creature feasting on human flesh, especially grave robbery. As for its color, the Ropens are reported to carry a wide variety of natural dark colors. Most of the sightings noted that the creatures were brown, ranging from black or dark brown to a reddish tan. Some however, say that the Ropens that they saw were grayish or bluish.

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

History According to Jonathan Whitcomb, a forensic videographer who interviewed native islanders in 2004, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ropenâ&#x20AC;? of Umboi Island is a long-tailed pterosaur. However, all pterosaurs became extinct by about 65-million years ago. According to Whitcomb, a smaller pterosaur is believed to inhabit the caves that dot the islands of Rambunzo in the Bismarck Archipelago.

Reports seem to fit the presumed-extinct Rhamphorhynchus, a pterosaur with a wingspan of 3-4 feet. Like the Kongomato in Kenya, the Ropen is said to have a taste for decaying human flesh and has even harassed native funeral gatherings with western missionaries present. Carl E. Baugh of the Creation Evidence Museum conducted an expedition to Manus. With missionary Jim Blume, he observed one of the creatures through a monocular night scope and snapped a picture of a strange print in the sand the next morning.

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Sightings In 1944, Flight instructor Duane Hodgkinson claimed that he saw a "pterodactyl" near Finschhafen on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. He described it as a flying creature that had a wingspan as large as that of the Piper TriPacer airplane that he owns. Hodgkinson said that the creature had a head crest and that its tail was more or less fifteen feet long. In 1987, Tyson Hughes, an English missionary, began an 18 month contract to assist the Moluccan tribespeople of Ceram Island, Indonesia to develop efficient farms. Tyson heard stories about a terrifying creature called the Orang-bati (“men with wings”) that possesses enormous leathery wings like a bat and live in the caves of Mount Kairatu, an extinct volcano situated in the center of the island.

Any featherless creature that flies in the Southwest Pacific, and has a tail-length more than 25% of its wingspan. In 1994 Gideon Koro, Wesley Koro, and Mesa Agustin claimed that they saw a similar creature flying above the lake “Pung”. Each of the creature’s wings was at least seven meters long. They were sure that it had no feathers. The long tail’s end was diamond shaped and its mouth looked like that of a crocodile. In late 2006, Paul Nation, of Texas, explored a remote mountainous area on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. He videotaped two lights that the local natives called “indava.” Nation believed the lights were from the bioluminescence of creatures similar to the ropen of Umboi Island. The video was analyzed by a missile defense physicist who reported that the two lights on the video were not from any fires, meteors, airplanes or camera artifacts. He also reported that the image of the two lights was authentic and was not manipulated or hoaxed. In 2007, cryptid investigator Joshua Gates went to Papua New Guinea in search of the Ropen for his TV show Destination Truth. He and his team also witnessed strange lights at night and could not confirm what they were. In 2009, the television show Monster Quest conducted an expedition in search of the "demon flyer" but found no evidence of the creature. Later, they had a forensic video analyst examine the Paul Nation video. The analyst could not definitely conclude what was causing the lights, but ruled out vehicles and campfires believing the footage was of a pair of bioluminescent creatures perched in a tree that later take flight.

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Mothman Point Pleasant, West Virginia Description According to eyewitness accounts, Mothman stood much taller than an average man, at seven feet tall. Its most prominent features were the massive wings spanning ten feet across, which are usually folded up on the back or extended like a bird. Some accounts stated that small patches of feathers were spotted on the body and wings, some said the wings were featherless. Even more unusual were the huge, red, glowing eyes on the generally featureless face. Some eyewitnesses were unable to recall seeing a head; these reports stated the eyes were actually inset into the chest area where a neck and head should be. The creature is extremely fast in flight, but clumsy while running.

Legend On a chilly, fall night in November 1966, two young couples drove into the TNT area north of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, when they realized they were not alone. Driving down the exit road, they saw the supposed creature standing on a nearby ridge. It spread its wings and flew alongside the vehicle up to the city limits. They drove to the Mason County courthouse to alert Deputy Millard Halstead, who later said, “I’ve known these kids all their lives. They’d never been in any trouble and they were really scared that night. I took them seriously.” He then followed Roger Scarberry’s car back to the secret ex-U.S. Federal bomb and missile factory, but found no trace of the strange creature. According to the book Alien Animals, by Janet and Colin Bord, a poltergeist attack on the Scarberry home occurred later that night, during which the creature was seen several times.

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Another name for this creature is the Black Bird of Chernobyl.

The following night, on November 16th, several armed townspeople combed the area around the TNT plant for signs of Mothman. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wamsley, and Mrs. Marcella Bennett, with her infant daughter Teena, were in a car en-route to visit their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Thomas, who lived in a small house near the igloos which were concrete dome-shaped dynamite storage structures erected during WW-II near the TNT plant. The igloos were now empty, some owned by the county, others by companies intending to use them for storage. They were heading back to their car when a figure appeared behind their parked vehicle. Mrs. Bennett said that it seemed like it had been lying down, slowly rising up from the ground, large and gray, with glowing red eyes. While Wamsley phoned the police, the creature walked onto the porch and peered in at them through the window.

Sightings On November 24, 1966, four people allegedly saw the creature flying over the TNT area. On the morning of November 25, 1966, Thomas Ury, who was driving along Route 62 just north of the TNT, claimed to have seen the creature standing in a field, and then it spread its wings and flew away, and Thomas sped toward the Point Pleasant sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office. He then reported the incident that he had seen. Many believed that the Mothman was a prophetic creature, a herald of unknown tragedies to come. On December 15, 1967 that theory was put to the test. The Silver Bridge, a shiny steel bridge joining the states of Ohio and West Virginia, and a main route into Point Pleasant, collapsed, killing forty-six people. Some witnesses

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

claimed to have seen the Mothman on the bridge that same day, though a faulty eye-bar was found to be the cause of the collapse. A true tragedy for the small town, many wondered if the Mothman had been there to warn them of the disaster, though others wondered if the Mothman was part of a curse put on the town by an old Native American chieftain who had been famously murdered two hundred years earlier. Either way, after the collapse of the Silver Bridge, the Mothman legend was put to rest. It was never seen there again. Since the sightings in Point Pleasant, people from all over the world have reported similar sightings of this cryptid appearing. There have been multiple claims that the Mothman was seen right before the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

They saw the supposed creature standing on a nearby ridge. It spread its wings and flewâ&#x20AC;Ś

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Jersey Devil Southern New Jersey

Description Most accounts suggest that the creature has a horse-like face with antlers or horns sprouting for the top of its head. It walks on two legs, that have cloven hoofs or pigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feet. The overall body shape resembles a kangaroo though it also has wings like a bat. Some say it has a tail like a lizardâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;others say it has no tail at all. The monster is said to kill dogs, chickens and other small animals. It leaves cloven hoof prints in the snow and bellows a terrifying screech in the woods at night.

Other names: Hoodle-Doodle Bird Wozzle Bug Leeds Devil

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This depiction of the Jersey Devil appeared in the Philidelphia Evening Bulletin January 1909.

Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Legend Most tellers of the legend of the Jersey Devil trace the devil back to Deborah Smith who emigrated from England in the 1700s to marry a Mr. Leeds. The Leeds family lived in the area of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Mrs. Leeds had given birth to twelve children and was about to give birth to her thirteenth. The story goes that Mrs. Leeds invoked the devil during a very difficult and painful labor and that when the baby was born, it either immediately, or very soon afterwards, depending on the version of the story, grew into a full-grown devil and escaped from the house. People in the 1700s still believed in witchcraft and many people of the period felt a deformed child was a child of the devil or that the deformity was a sign that the

child had been cursed by God. It may be that indeed Mrs. Leeds gave birth to a child with a birth defect and given the superstitions of the period, the legend of the Jersey Devil was born. In the last 200 years or so, there have been a number of “sightings” and the hearing of eerie noises in the forests which have been attributed to the Jersey Devil, but since these accounts are generic descriptions, one is somewhat drawn to the conclusion that any number of “weird” things in southern Jersey are attributed to the Jersey Devil as a matter of course. This is all not to say that people do not believe in the Jersey Devil. Many over the year have believed and reported sightings of the creature. Air

Camden offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Jersey Devil—the reward remains unclaimed.

Sightings Sightings included one in 1870 by a Long Beach fisherman who said he saw the Jersey Devil serenading a mermaid. The best-known sightings however were in January 1909 when Councilman E.P. Weeden of Trenton claimed to have been awoken by flapping wings outside his bedroom window. The Councilman said he found cloven footprints in the snow and several other instances of similar footprints were reported in Trenton at the time. Hundreds of other people also claimed to have seen the Devil within a week or so of the Councilman’s “sighting” and news of the multiple sightings were reported in local papers. The January 1909 sightings were not limited to New Jersey…there were reported sightings across the river in Pennsylvania and some sightings in Delaware as well. In 1978 two teenage boys were ice-skating near Chatsworth in the Barrens and smelled an odor like “dead fish” and saw two red eyes staring at them. They didn’t stay around to investigate, but claimed they had encountered the Jersey Devil.

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

A number of people have claimed, not to see the Devil, but to hear him, rampaging through woods, or emitting blood curdling cries. People have found “strange” tracks and attributed them to the Jersey Devil. One instance of such tracks was reported, along with loud shrieks, near May’s Landing in 1960. Also in 1960, merchants in Camden offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Jersey Devil. They said they would build a private zoo to display the creature if anyone could capture it. The reward remains unclaimed.

The Leeds house where Mrs. Leeds gave birth to the Jersey Devil.

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Other names: Hohoq Kw-Uhnx-Wa Roc

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Description The Thunderbird is said to be an enormous bird-like creature with legendary strength and power. It is often depicted as giant birdlike beings with colossal wings and sharp claws that seem both protective and threatening at the same time. A thunderbird’s voice is thunder and lightening flashes from its eyes. It has the ability to either create or destroy. These powerful creatures can bring turbulent, destructive storms to the land.

Thunderbird North America

Legend The Thunderbird is a mythical creature common to Native American religion. Its name comes from that supposition that the beating of its enormous wings causes thunder and stirs the wind. The Lakota name for the Thunderbird is “Wakinyan”, a word formed from “kinyan”, meaning winged, and “wakan”, sacred. Depending on the people telling the story, the Thunderbird is either a singular entity, or a species. In both cases, it is intelligent, powerful, and wrathful. Most people agree that you should go out of your way to keep from getting them angry. The Nootka tribe believed that a Thunderbird resided on the top of a mountain, and was the servant of the Great Spirit. The Thunderbird only flew about to carry messages from one spirit to another. The Kwakiutl and Cowichan tribes believed that thunderbirds could take on human form by tilting back their beak as if it was only a mask, and by removing their feathers as if it was a feather-covered blanket. There are stories of thunderbirds in human form marrying Feature

into human families, who still trace their lineage to this. Families of thunderbirds who kept to themselves, but wore human form, lived along the northern tip of Vancouver Island- other tribes soon forgot the nature of one of these thunderbird families, and when one tribe tried to take them as slaves, the thunderbirds put on their feather blankets and transformed to take vengeance upon their foolish captors.

Native American rendering of the thunderbird.

Sightings There is a story that in April 1890, two cowboys in Arizona managed to shoot to death a giant birdlike creature with an enormous wingspan. It was said it had smooth skin, and featherless wings like a bat. Its face resembled an alligator. Interestingly, this description has more than a cursory similarity to the prehistoric pterodactyl. They dragged the carcass back to town, and it was pinned, wings outstretched across the entire length of a barn. There is supposed to be a picture of this event, that may or may not have been published in the local newspaper, the Tombstone Epitaph. Despite numerous people who have claimed to have seen this photograph recently, no one has ever been able to produce a copy of the picture nor make historic corroboration that this event ever occurred, and it is most likely an urban legend.

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There have also been thunderbird sightings more recently. In the 1960s and 1970s, sightings of a large bird the size of a Piper Cub airplane were made in Washington, Utah, and Idaho. On occasion, this was accompanied by large footprints or other purported evidence.

Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

They dragged the carcass back to town, and it was pinned, wings outstretched across the entire length of the barn. John Keel with a silhouette of a thunderbird. This gives the viewer an idea of how large this bird would be.

Some cryptozoologists have theorized the thunderbird myth to be based on sightings of a real animal that has dwindled in population of late. Initially this was scoffed at by skeptics saying a bird that large could not have flown. This is not outside the realm of possibility. The prehistoric vulture-like Teratornis incredibilis had a wingspan of anywhere from sixteen to twenty-four feet and is believed to have been capable of flight. Cryptozoologists also posit that the thunderbird was associated with storms because they followed the drafts to stay in flight, not unlike a modern eagle rides mountain up currents. Noted cryptozoologist John Keel claimed to have mapped several thunderbird sightings and found that they corresponded chronologically and geographically with storms moving across the United States. In 2002, a new sighting in Alaska was announced.

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Land The vast continents of planet Earth are filled with a multitude of creatures, both known and unknown. The following are a few, of many, unclassified species.

Sirrush Iraq

Description It is a mythological hybrid, a scaly dragon with hind legs like an eagle’s talons and feline forelegs. It also has a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snakelike tongue and a crest. The mušhuššu, or sirrush, is a creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, originally dating to the 6th century B.C. The form mušhuššu is the Akkadian nominative of the Sumerian MUŠ.HUS, lit. “reddish snake” sometimes also translated as “fierce snake”; or loosely as “splendor serpent”. 26

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

History The sirrush has also been known as the Dragon of Marduk: The mythical Dragon of Marduk with scaly body, serpent’s head, viper’s horns, front feet of a feline, hind feet of a bird, and a scorpion’s tail, was sacred to the god Marduk, principal deity of Babylon. The striding dragon was a portion of the decoration of one of the gates of the city of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, whose name appears in the Bible as the despoiler of Jerusalem, ornamented the monumental entrance gate dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, and the processional street leading to it with scores of pacing glazed brick animals: on the gate were alternating tiers of Marduk’s dragons and bulls of the weather god Adad; along the street were the lions sacred to Ishtar. All of this brilliant decoration was designed to create a ceremonial entrance for the king in religious procession on the most important day of the New Year’s Festival. The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city. Dedicated to the Babylonian

goddess Ishtar, the gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of bas-relief mušhuššu (dragons) and aurochs. The roof and doors of the gate were of cedar, according to the dedication plaque. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls covered in lions on glazed bricks (about 120 of them). Ishtar Gate depicts only gods and goddesses which include Ishtar Adad and Marduk. Statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way each year during the New Year’s celebration. Originally the gate, being part of the Walls of Babylon, was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the world until it was replaced by the Lighthouse of Alexandria; in the 3rd century BC.

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Bigfoot North America

Description According to most eyewitness accounts, Bigfoot is about seven and half feet tall, has broad shoulders, nonexistent necks, and covered in hair that varies in color. The creature has a cone shaped head with a sloped forehead, prominent brow ridges, and large flat noses. Footprints left by these cryptids range from eleven to twenty-one inches. They are generally omnivorous, largely nocturnal, and mostly inactive during cold spells. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell according to those who have encountered it and are known to throw things.

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Other names: Sasquatch Swamp Ape Yeti Mountain Devil

Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Legend Stories of a giant, hairy creature that appears half man and half ape have existed in various parts of the world for many centuries. In fact, the only continent not to have stories of wild men is Antarctica. In the Himalayas, it’s the Yeti. In Canada, it’s the Sasquatch. And in the northwest United States, it’s Bigfoot. Tails of a wild man existed among the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest long before white colonists moved in. Versions of Bigfoot ranged from harmless giants who stole fish from fishermen’s nets, to cannibalistic monsters living on mountain peaks. These stories varied from tribe to tribe, and even from family to family, which meant that Bigfoot had a lot of different names. In the 1920s, J.W. Burns compiled the local legends for a series for a Canadian newspaper, coining the term “Sasquatch” in the process. It wasn’t until 1958 that the Bigfoot legend really started to kick off in the United States. That year, a man named Gerald Crew found a set of large footprints at a construction site where he worked in California. He had his friend make plaster casts of the prints. The story gained a lot of attention after being published in the Humboldt Times, and was picked up by the Associated Press, drawing international attention. Turns out, the footprints were a hoax. After the death of a man named Ray Wallace—the brother of the man in charge of the construction site where the prints were found—his family stepped forward to say that he was responsible for faking the prints. Scoop Beal, the

editor of the Humboldt Times, is also said to have been involved. Nevertheless, the 1958 prints find brought the first “Bigfoot Hunters” to the area. In 1967, the Patterson-Gimlin film was captured. The film shows a tall, hairy Bigfoot walking through the forest. Believers in Big Foot note the creature’s inhuman way of walking is a major point toward the film being real. Patterson also claimed to have taken the film to a group of people working in the special effects department at Universal Studios who supposedly said, “We could try, but we would have to create a completely new system of artificial muscles and find an actor who could be trained to walk like that. It might be done, but we would have to say that it would be almost impossible.” However, a number of factors lead to skeptics believing it’s a hoax: people who knew Patterson have described him, frankly, as a liar; Patterson’s version of events— including an estimate of how tall Bigfoot was—also changed and escalated over time. More to the point, a man named Bob Heironimus claimed to have worn the Bigfoot costume for the making of the film. Most likely, and not too surprisingly, the film was a hoax. The most common explanation for Bigfoot sightings is that people are playing pranks. There was even once a thriving market for Bigfoot feet to create your own prints to trick your family and friends. People still even dress up in ape costumes and ghillie suits in order to perpetuate the legend. Land

Some sightings are also simply misidentified animals. In 2007, a photo was snapped in Pennsylvania using an automatically triggered camera hanging from a tree. While believers claimed the blurry photo—showing a large, hairy creature standing on allfours—was that of a juvenile Sasquatch, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said the creature was most likely a bear with an extreme case of mange. Looking at the picture, it could also just as easily been a human in a suit. One of the big questions posed to believers in Bigfoot is if there are enough of the creatures to maintain a stable breeding population, and over a reasonably large area given all the supposed sightings— which there must be, unless they have extraordinarily lengthy lives—then why has a body of Bigfoot never been found? In 2008, Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed to have solved this problem after they supposedly found a Bigfoot body, posting a video of it on YouTube. The body was nearly eight feet tall and weighed over 500 pounds. Despite even some Bigfoot experts doubting the young men’s story, the discovery was covered by CNN, ABC, Fox, and BBC News, and the pair received 50,000 dollars from Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. as a measure of good faith. However, when the body arrived in a block of ice and was thawed and examined, researchers found that the body was made up of rubber feet, fake hair, and a hollow head. Not exactly convincing. Dyer and Whitton later admitted that it was a hoax.

Sightings Nearly one third of all Bigfoot sightings are in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, with the rest of the sights spread out across the remainder of the states. One of the more recent sightings took place on the Sagebrush Trail in Salt Fork State Park. It was about a three quarters of a mile down the two mile trail. At the point of first seeing these animals, 30

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

the witness was approximately two hundred feet away on a ridge that was mostly cleared of brush. I tried to follow them but once they got in the brush I could not hear or see them. But I got a great look at them they were black as coal and the hair length was as long as a bear and well groomed. At anytime they could have stopped and tore me in half but all they wanted to do is get away as fast as possible. The two animals were dark in color and the witness describes them as huge. The witness describes the arms as long, longer than a human. Their walk was weird as they were sort of squatting as they walked. The closest that he was to the animals was upon the initial sighting. The witness was not able to discern any specific features on the animals as he was not close enough. He did note that the hair was not matted and had a slight shine to it. When the animal turned to look at the witness, the animal turned its whole body. The witness also did not notice a neck and describes the turning motion as stiff.

Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell according to those who have encountered it and are known to throw things.

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Chupacabra Puerto Rico

Description The most common description of the chupacabra is a reptile-like creature, appearing to have leathery or scaly greenish-gray skin and sharp spines or quills running down its back. This form stands approximately 3 to 4 feet high, and stands and hops in a similar fashion to a kangaroo. In at least one sighting, the creature was reported to hop 20 feet. This variety is said to have a dog or panther-like nose and face, a forked tongue, and large fangs. It is said to hiss and screech when alarmed, as well as leave behind a sulfuric stench. When it screeches, some reports assert that the chupacabrasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eyes glow an unusual red which gives the witnesses nausea. Unlike conventional predators, the chupacabra is said to drain all of the animalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blood (and sometimes organs) usually through three holes in the shape of an upside-down triangle or through one or two holes.

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

History Chupacabras can be translated as “goatsucker”. It is known as both chupacabras and chupacabra throughout the Americas, with the former being the original word, and the latter a regularization of it. The name in Spanish can be preceded by singular masculine article: el chupacabras, or the plural masculine article: los chupacabras. The first reported attacks occurred in March 1995 in Puerto Rico. In this attack, eight sheep were discovered dead, each with three puncture wounds in the chest area and completely drained of blood. A few months later, in August, an eyewitness, Madelyne Tolentino, reported seeing the creature in the Puerto Rican town of Canóvanas, when as many as 150 farm animals and pets were reportedly killed. In 1975, similar killings in the small town of Moca were attributed to El Vampiro de Moca (The Vampire of Moca). Initially, it was suspected that the killings were committed by a Satanic cult; later more killings were reported around the island, and many farms reported loss of animal life. Each of the animals were reported to have had their bodies bled dry through a series of small circular incisions.

Sightings While reports of Chupacabra are relatively new, the phenomenon dates back to the 1970’s when Puerto Rican legend tells of El Vampiro de Moca, a supposed livestock-killing vampire in the small town of Moca. Whether Chupacabra exists or not, reports of bloodless murdered livestock persist. And to date, no satisfactory predator has ever been caught. In May 2007, a series of reports on national Colombia news reported more than 300 dead sheep in the region of Boyaca, and the capture of a possible specimen to be analyzed by zoologist the National University of Colombia. On January 11, 2008, a sighting was reported at the province of Capiz in the Philippines. Some of the residents from the barangay believed that it was the chupacabras that killed eight chickens. The owner of the chickens saw a dog-like animal attacking his chickens. On September 18, 2009, taxidermist Jerry Ayer sold the Blanco Texas Chupacabra to the Lost World Museum. The museum, as reported in the Syracuse Post Standard on 9/26/09, is placing the creature on display as they work with an unnamed university to have the remains tested. Land

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

The Wendigo’s twisted lips are flecked with blood, and their long tongues are a disgusting dark blue.

Description There are many legends about a mysterious creature that was encountered by people in the Great Lakes’ forests. In one variation, the creature could only be seen if it faced the witness headon, because it was so thin it couldn’t be seen from the side. The Wendigo had a ravenous appetite for human flesh. Forest dwellers that disappeared were said to be its victims.

The Wendigo Great Lakes Area and Canada

The Inuit tribe called the creature by various names, including Windigo, Witigo, Witiko and Wee-Tee-Go. All were roughly translated as the evil spirit that devours humans. A German explorer translated Wendigo as cannibal. The Wendigo is also known as a spirit of lonely places. American Indian descriptions of the creature spoke of a gigantic being that had once been human but was transformed into a Wendigo by magic. The creature is usually said to have glowing eyes and long yellow fangs. Most have sallow skin; others are matted with hair. Wendigos are created when humans resort to cannibalism for survival. Some people believe that the legend of the Wendigo is based on a cryptid Bigfoot-like creature that was responsible for many unexplained human disappearances. The Wendigo was part of the folklore of various American Indian tribes, especially the Algonquians. Both natives and settlers claim to have seen this being.

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The Wendigo is a terrifying beast. But because they are so swift, it is extremely difficult to get a good look at the monster. Most are tall, have long limbs, and are extremely thin (because they are always hungry). Most have no hair at all, but those that dwell in extremely cold climates can sometimes be found with snow-white, gore-stained fur or matted, bloody hair. Its maw is filled with sharpyellowed fangs, and its hands and feet end in razor like talons. The Wendigoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s twisted lips are flecked with blood, and their long tongues are a disgusting dark blue. Its eyes are one of its most frightening aspects, which range in color from glowing red to bright yellow. The lore on this beast is enormously diverse, all of which emphasize its size. The Wendigo is so big that the human mind is unable to fully comprehend it, and the beastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sheer size is enough to make the human heart stop. The Wendigo is a hideous, abhorrent beast. Its gigantic maw is filled with needlelike teeth, made all the more disturbing by its lack of lips.

Legend According to folklore, a Wendigo is created when a human resorts to cannibalism to survive. Among all creatures in Native American legend, the Wendigo is the most feared and powerful. The Wendigo was once a man that broke a tribal taboo and ate human flesh. A malignant spirit possesses the cannibal, and the Wendigo is born. The spirit forcibly possesses the cannibalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body, forcing the human soul out. The moment the cannibal is touched by supernatural forces, he is overcome by extreme nausea and pain. He starts vomiting uncontrollably, for hours at a time. Eventually, the cannibal loses enormous quantities of blood, and inevitably dies. However, the body undergoes a terrifying transformation. The body

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…no longer a man, but a blood lusting beast.

grows in strength and height, growing a thick coat of white fur. The human’s strength and weight increases greatly, gaining supernatural powers in the process. The head takes on the features of a predatory beast, including the growth of prominent fangs and sharp teeth. The fingernails and toenails grow into sharpened talons, completing the transformation. The cannibal is then resurrected by the evil spirit, no longer a man, but a blood lusting beast. The Wendigo’s spirit has been known to jump from body to body as its own body wears out, and possessing an individual causes them to become the beast.

Sightings There have been numerous Wendigo sightings in Minnesota. There was an outbreak of publicized sightings around the beginning of the 1900s. A Wendigo allegedly was sighted numerous times near Rosesu, Minnesota from the late 1800s through the 1920s. Every time it was seen, an unexpected death followed. It was considered a death omen. Wendigos have been sighted in Ontario near the Cave of the Wendigo and around Kenora for decades. Jack Fiddler was a Cree Wendigo hunter. He claimed to have killed at least 14 of them. His last slaying resulted in incarceration. In October 1907, Fiddler and son Joseph were tried for murdering a Cree woman. They pleaded guilty and defended themselves by averring the woman was possessed by a Wendigo’s spirit.

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Water The oceans are some of the most mysterious places on Earth. Who knows if we will ever search itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deepest depths. We find new species all the time. The follosing may be some of those undiscovered creatures, come to light.

Sea Monk Zealand, Denmark

Description The animal had a human head and face, resembling in appearance the men with shorn heads, whom we call monks because of their solitary life; but the appearance of its lower parts, bearing a coating of scales, barely indicated the torn and severed limbs and joints of the human body. The sea monk, or sometimes monk-fish, was the name given to a sea animal found off the eastern coast of the Danish island of Zealand almost certainly in 1546. It was described as a “fish” that looked superficially like a monk. It was mentioned and pictured in the fourth volume of Conrad Gesner’s famous Historia Animalium. Gesner also referenced a similar monster found in the Firth of Forth, according to Boethius, and a sighting off the coast of Poland in 1531.

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

History In the early 1850s, Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup suggested that the sea-monk was a giant squid, a theory more recently popularized by writer Richard Ellis. Cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans believed the report was based on the discovery of an errant walrus. More recently, it has been suggested that it was an angel shark Squatina squatina, which is commonly called monkfish in English or munk in Norwegian and Danish. The sea monk was also known as the Dagon in Anchient Babylonian. Dagon was originally an East Semitic Mesopotamian fertility god who evolved into a major Northwest Semitic god, reportedly of grain and fish. He was worshiped by the early Amorites and by the inhabitants of the cities of Ebla and Ugarit, modern, Syria. He was also a major member, or perhaps head, of the pantheon of the Biblical Philistines. Fish-god tradition: A colored engraving of Dagon as a merman from a bas-relief at the Louvre. In the 11th century, Jewish bible commentator Rashi writes of a Biblical tradition that the name Dāgôn is related to Hebrew dāg/ dâg ‘fish’ and that Dagon was imagined in the shape of a fish: compare the Babylonian fishgod Oannes. In the 13th century David Kimhi interpreted the odd sentence in 1 Samuel 5.2–7 that “only Dagon was left to him” to mean “only the form of a fish was left”, adding: “It is said that Dagon, from his navel down, had the form of a fish, and from his navel up, the form of a man, as it is said, his two hands were cut off.” The Septuagint text of 1 Samuel 5.2–7 says that both the hands and the head of the image of Dagon were broken off.

Water

Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Description TheÂ kelpieÂ is a supernatural shape-shifting water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland. In mythology, the kelpie is described as a strong and powerful horse. It is a white and sky blue color and appeared as a lost pony, but could be identified by its constantly dripping mane. Its mane and tail is a bit curly. Its skin was said to be like that of a seal, smooth but as cold as death when touched. Kelpies' were said to transform into beautiful women to lure men into their traps. They created illusions to keep themselves hidden, keeping only their eyes above water to scout the surface. The fable of the kelpie varies by region. The Kelpie's mane is said to be a sky blue color. The water horse is a common form of the kelpie, said to lure humans, into the water to drown them. The water horse would encourage people to ride on its back, and once its victims fell into its trap, the water horse's skin would become adhesive and the horse would bear the victim into the river, dragging them to the bottom of the water and devouring them.

Kelpies

Celtic and Scandinavian

Legend In Scottish folklore, a kelpie would lure people onto its back and then dive into a deep lake to magically vanish. A kelpie's bridle could work magic if stolen; conversely, a human bridle on a kelpie could compel it to work for a human. In Scandinavia, the brook horse was a transformation of the Nix, a water spirit in the shape of a man. It was often described as a majestic white horse that would appear near rivers, particularly during foggy weather. Anyone who climbed onto its back would not be able to get off again. The horse would then jump into the river, drowning the rider. The brook horse could also be harnessed and made to plough, either because it was trying to trick a person or because the person had tricked the horse into it. Water

Anyone who climbed onto its back would not be able to get off again. There are many mythological creatures similar to the kelpie, such as the "nuggle" from Orkney, and a "shoopiltee," or "njogel," or "tangi" from Shetland. On the Isle of Man, the kelpie is known as the cabbyl-ushtey (Manx Gaelic for "water horse", compare to Irish capall uisce) or the glashtin. In Wales, a similar creature is the Ceffyl Dŵr. It also appears in Scandinavian folklore, where it is known by the name Bäckahästen, the brook horse. In Norway it is called nøkken, where the horse shape is often used, but is not its true form. In the Faroe Islands it is called Nykur and in Iceland it is called nykur or nennir. Another similar water horse appearing in the mythology of Scotland and Ireland is the each uisge," a sea-dwelling creature that often takes the form of a handsome man. In Greek mythology, Poseidon is the god of the oceans and of horses, and took the form of a horse to seduce Demeter.

Water

In J.K. Rowling's book Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them, Kelpies are described as shape-shifters native to the British Isles whose favorite form is a horse with bulrushes for a mane. It also mentions that the Loch Ness monster is a giant kelpie whose favorite form is a sea serpent. In Tithe by Holly Black, a kelpie is portrayed both as a horse and as a man. In his human form, he uses a type of glamor to drown victims. Jethro Tull's album Stormwatch includes the song “Kelpie,” in which a young man willingly follows a kelpie, who first appears as a fine young lady. Maggie Stiefvater's book The Scorpio Races features an island where vicious water horses called capaill uisce come on land in the fall and people race on them. The book is inspired by the author's fascination with the water horses

Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

of Scottish, Irish, and Manx Mythology. In the manga Berserk, a kelpie resembles a mixture of a horse and a frog. Kelpies can also control water and one appears during a troll attack on a village. In Andrea Cremer's prequel book, "Rift" (One of the prequels to the best selling "Nightshade" series) depicts the kelpie much like the mythological story; lures two children under the water and drowns them as the third child, Gordon, cuts off two of his fingers to escape the kelpie's hold. In the Pokémon series, there is a Pokémon named Keldeo that may have been designed and named after the kelpie. In the anime Earl and Fairy, a kelpie is portrayed as a black horse with smooth skin that can change into a man; he can also control water and seems to have superhuman strength. An interpretation of the kelpie, which includes many of the traits mentioned, is found in Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You.

Sightings According to the Swedish naturalist, and author, Bengt Sjögren the present day belief in lake monsters, like Nessie, is associated with the old legends of kelpies. Sjögren claims that the accounts of lake monsters have changed over the course of history, with the discovery of dinosaurs and giant aquatic reptiles. Older reports often talk about horse-like appearances, but more modern reports are more reptile and dinosaur-like.

Water

Description In Africa, river dragons or river monsters are not that uncommon. Sightings of these creatures are quite often, and are already rooted in oral tradition. In fact, there are already four different names for creatures of the swamp found scattered all across Africa; there is the Mokèlé-mbèmbé found in Congo, Chipekwe found in Zimbabwe, the Isiququmadevu in Northern Angola, and of course, the Ninki Nanka, which is a river dragon found in Gambia. They might be scattered all over Africa but they do have the same basic appearance. Essentially, these river dragons are the loch ness monster’s African counterpart. They also have the

The Ninki Nanka West Africa, the Gambia River

same long neck features, huge size and the horse-like head. But the Gambian dragon does have some very special features that make it quite unique among its African brothers. Although there is a general idea of how people imagine these creatures to look like, there is no definite image or sketch that truly depicts them and so, there is still no concrete idea of what they look like. But there is a way to get a rough estimation, through the testimonials of the different witnesses. For the Ninki Nanka, it has some unusual features that 46

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

separate it from the others and make it something very interesting. First of all, this creature is often described to have the body of a komodo dragon or a crocodile only it is much, much bigger (the size of the creature ranges from 30 feet to 50 feet) and it comes complete with a scaly, leathery body. To go with this body, it is also said to have the neck of a giraffe, and the head of a horse. This horse head is typically described to have three horns, one on each side of the head, and another one right in the middle of the forehead. For the people of Gambia, the Ninki Nanka is taken very seriously. First of all, people usually avoid the rivers and mangrove swamps in the area (especially if a dragon devil had been spotted there) since the Ninki Nanka usually go out at night to eat everything in its path. It is also believed that the whirlpools seen in these rivers are caused by the dragons. Certainly, this is one fearsome looking (and acting) creature that is very hard to spot. The secretive nature is compounded by the fact that people in Gambia are advised not to speak about seeing the Ninki Nanka, for fear of a gruesome death. This only adds to the mystery and frightening nature of these creatures. The range of descriptions of the Ninki-Nanka across the westernmost part of Africa are quite diverse, varying from a large serpent with, possibly, a precious stone on its head to an animal reminiscent of a large crocodile or a sauropod dinosaur. Such broadness of description may, of course, suggest that the name Ninki-Nanka, a bit like Mokele-Mbembe in Central Africa, is actually a generic term for a large and terrifying animal, and has taken on different meanings in different places. Alternatively, the animal may be a totally mythical one. But given the November 2004 discovery of Homo floresiensis – a 3ft (1m)-tall, upright walking ape that co-existed with modern man – in Indonesia, which has given us a new insight into the myths of “little people”, it’s perhaps time we looked again at other mythical beasts and beings, with a view to identifying which might be based on real animals that still exist or have existed in the past.

The Ninki-Nanka is known across the westernmost part of West Africa, throughout Gambia, Senegal and Guinea. The diversity of peoples and languages in these areas mean that it is also known as “Niniganne” (in Guinea), “Ninger” or “Ningiri” in the Fouta Djalon (the mountainous area of Guinea where the Gambia river starts), and “Rianseau” in Guinea Bissau.

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Legend

He personally hadn't seen one, but he knew several people who had—all had gone mad as a result.

Folk beliefs say that when you see the ninki-nanka you will die usually within a few weeks. Parents also tell their children when they get too confident and feel they can disobey and go into the swamp that they will be taken by the Ninki Nanka. Generally, belief in the animal is stronger near large rivers and weaker in villages farther away from them. Most people assume that the mature animal lives in the water and only comes on land on nights when there is torrential rain. Some have the immature animal living in or under a baobab tree, and only moving into the water when it attains a certain size. In some societies, to see one is either very bad luck or signifies death within days. In others, owning one—or part of one—may lead to great wealth for the owner, although it may also shorten his life. In many areas, it is not appropriate to speak of it.

The existence of the Ninki-Nanka is still very much a matter of personal belief in present-day Gambia. Although tourism has altered much of the coastal region and brought in much-needed foreign currency, the culture is still, in the African sense, a multi-tribal one, with a variety of beliefs varying from animism to Christianity and Islam. Some people are firmly aware that the Ninki-Nanka is a myth, and to others who know it isn’t. One can show a hole, not two miles from a tourist hotel, where a Ninki-Nanka lived in the days of his father. A member of the Jola tribe, and a good follower of Islam, was well aware of the Ninki-Nanka but remarkably reluctant to talk to us about it. He also made it quite clear that he should not be talking about it. Assan, a Wolof taxi driver, was certain that the Ninki-Nanka was a real animal, but believed that it was now very scarce and that only a few still existed, living upriver. A few years previously, a bridge had collapsed in the Upper River division of the country. This was, he said, the work of the Ninki-Nanka; one had lived in a hole near the bridge, and had been disturbed. He personally hadn’t seen one, but he knew several people who had —all had gone mad as a result.

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Sightings The oldest reference to the Ninki-Nanka was a 1944 article by MDW Jeffries in the Journal of the Royal African Society. Jeffries actually considers the possibility of flying prehistoric survivors or giant bats, but in passing briefly mentions a native tradition on the Gambia River. He reports that older fishermen on the river still told stories of an “enormous monster that comes out at night from the ooze and slime of the mangroves and devours whatever it meets”. He then discounts the existence of the animal on the basis that it must leave massive footprints, and these were not found. After the Yorkshire television series Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World was broadcast in 1980, Sir Arthur received a letter from Dr Thomas Hardie Dalrymple, a retired medical officer from the West African Medical Service. While stationed on the Gambia River in 1935, Dalrymple heard the natives making a lot of noise one evening. Enquiring in the morning, he was told that “Ninkenanka” had appeared the previous night. The animal was described to him as having “the face of a horse, a neck like a giraffe, a body like a crocodile, a long tail, and being about 30ft [9m] long”. It apparently emerged from the swamps only occasionally, on moonlit nights. Several months later, Dalrymple heard of another sighting and set off immediately to look for it; unfortunately, he was driven back by mosquitoes. On a later occasion, when visiting a riverside town, Dalrymple heard a disturbance in the market. When he went to see what was causing it, he found one of his domestic staff had acquired a copy of a magazine entitled Animals of the World. In it was printed a picture of a concrete model dinosaur in one of New York’s parks. The crowd was shouting that the white man had photographed the Ninki-Nanka. Sadly, Dalrymple does not describe what the dinosaur type was.

A group of cryptozoologists from the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) went to Gambia in the summer of 2006 (J.T. Downes Memorial Gambia Expedition 2006) to investigate the Ninki Nanka and take testimony from those who have claimed to have seen the mythical creature. Team leader Richard Freeman told the BBC, evidence so far was sketchy as most people died soon after seeing it. One interviewee who claimed to have had an encounter with a Ninki Nanka said it looked similar to an image of a Chinese dragon. Water

Mermaids Greece

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Description A mermaid is a mythical creature that is half woman and half fish. The name comes from ‘mer’ meaning sea. The male version is called a merman. Although some mermaids are described as monstrous and ugly, they are more usually very beautiful. Above the waist they appear as a lovely young woman, whilst from the waist down, they are like a fish with fins and a spreading tail. Mermaids like to comb their long hair. In art, they are often shown with a mirror and a comb. Sometimes they sit on a rock and sing, luring sailors to their destruction. This is why they are often confused with sirens, who also inhabit the sea. Mermaids lure handsome young men to their homes in the deep seas. Mermen, however, are usually wilder and uglier than mermaids and have little interest in humans.

The goddess Atargatis shown as a fish with human head, on an ancient Greek coin of Demetrius III Eucaerus

History The first known mermaid stories appeared in Assyria c. 1000 BC. The goddess Atargatis, mother of Assyrian queen Semiramis, loved a mortal and unintentionally killed him. Ashamed, she jumped into a lake and took the form of a fish, but the waters would not conceal her divine beauty. Thereafter, she took the form of a mermaid — human above the waist, fish below — although the earliest representations of Atargatis showed her as a fish with a human head and arm, similar to the Babylonian god Ea. The Greeks recognized Atargatis under the name Derketo. Sometime before 546 BC, Milesian philosopher Anaximander postulated that mankind had sprung from an aquatic animal species. He thought that humans, who begin life with prolonged infancy, could not have survived otherwise. A popular Greek legend turned Alexander the Great’s sister, Thessalonike, into a mermaid after her death, living in the Aegean. She would ask the sailors on any ship she would encounter only one question: “Is King Alexander alive?” to which the correct answer was: “He lives and reigns and conquers the world”. This answer would please her, and she would accordingly calm the waters and bid the ship farewell. Any other answer would enrage her, and she would stir up a terrible storm, dooming the ship and every sailor on board. Feature

Eastern Europe Rusalkas are the Slavic counterpart of the Greek sirens and naiads. Although the Russian word rusalka is commonly translated as mermaid, they lack a fish like tail. The nature of rusalkas varies among folk traditions, but according to ethnologist D.K. Zelenin they all share a common element: they are the restless spirits of the unclean dead. They are usually the ghosts of young women who died a violent or untimely death, perhaps by murder or suicide, and especially by drowning. Rusalkas are said to inhabit lakes and rivers. They appear as beautiful young women with long green hair and pale skin, suggesting a connection with floating weeds and days spent underwater in faint sunlight. They can be seen after dark, dancing together under the moon and calling out to young men by name,

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luring them to the water and drowning them. The characterization of rusalkas as both desirable and treacherous is prevalent in southern Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus, and was emphasized by 19th-century Russian authors. The best-known of the great Czech nationalist composer Antonín Dvořák’s operas is Rusalka. In Sadko, a Russian medieval epic, the title character—an adventurer, merchant and gusli musician from Novgorod—lives for some time in the underwater court of the “Sea Tsar” and marries his daughter before finally returning home. The tale inspired such works as the poem “Sadko” by Alexei Tolstoy (1817–75), the opera Sadko composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and the painting by Ilya Repin.

Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

China A 15th-century compilation of quotations from Chinese literature tells of a mermaid who “wept tears which became pearls”. An early 19th century book entitled Jottings on the South of China contains two stories about mermaids. In the first, a man captures a mermaid on the shore of Namtao island. She looks human in every respect except that her body is covered with fine hair of many colors. She can’t talk, but he takes her home and marries her. After his death, the mermaid returns to the sea where she was found. In the second story, a man sees a woman lying on the beach while his ship was anchored offshore. On closer inspection, her feet and hands appear to be webbed. She is carried to the water, and expresses her gratitude toward the sailors before swimming away. Hinduism Suvannamaccha (lit. golden mermaid) is a daughter of Ravana that appears in the Cambodian and Thai versions of the Ramayana. She is a mermaid princess who tries to spoil Hanuman’s plans to build a bridge to Lanka but falls in love with him instead. She is a popular figure of Thai folklore. Africa Mami Wata are water spirits venerated in west, central and southern Africa, and in the African diaspora in the Caribbean and parts of North and South America. They are usually female, but are sometimes male. The Persian word “maneli” means both “memaid” and “stay with me”

A world-famous statue of the Little Mermaid, based on Andersen’s fairy tale, has been in Copenhagen, Denmark since August 1913 Western Europe A freshwater mermaid-like creature from European folklore is Melusine. She is sometimes depicted with two fish tails, or with the lower body of a serpent. Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” was published in 1837. The story was adapted into a Disney film with a bowdlerized plot. In the original version, The Little Mermaid is the youngest daughter of a sea king who lives at the bottom of the sea. To pursue a prince with whom she has fallen in love, the mermaid gets a sea witch to give her legs and agrees to give up her tongue in return. Though she is found on the beach by the prince, he marries another. Told she must stab the prince in the heart to return to her sisters, she can’t do it out of love for him. She then rises from the ocean and sees ethereal beings around her who explain that mermaids who do good deeds become daughters of the air, and after 300 years of good service they can earn a human soul. Feature

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Kryptos: Knowledge of the Hidden

Sightings Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids while exploring the Caribbean, and sightings have been reported in the 20th and 21st centuries in Canada, Israel and Zimbabwe. The U.S. National Ocean Service stated in 2012 that no evidence of mermaids has ever been found. In 1493, sailing off the coast of Hispaniola, Columbus reported seeing three “female forms” which “rose high out of the sea, but were not as beautiful as they are represented”. The logbook of Blackbeard, an English pirate, records that he instructed his crew on several voyages to steer away from charted waters which he called “enchanted” for fear of merfolk or mermaids, which Blackbeard himself and members of his crew reported seeing. These sighting were often recounted and shared by sailors and pirates who believed that mermaids brought bad luck and would bewitch them into giving up their gold and dragging them to the bottom of the sea. Two sightings were reported in Canada near Vancouver and Victoria, one from sometime between 1870 and 1890, the otherfrom 1967.

English pirates believed that mermaids brought bad luck and that they could bewitch them into giving up their gold and drag them to the bottom of the sea. During World War II in 1943, Japanese soldiers saw several mermaids on the shores of the Kei Islands. They reported seeing creatures swimming in the water — and one on a beach — with pink skin and spikes along their heads, estimated to be about 150 centimeters tall, with limbs and faces similar to that of a human but a mouth like a carp. The locals called them Orang Ikan, or “fish man” in Malay. Several of these sightings occurred and were reported to Sgt. Taro Horiba, who asked the locals about it and learned that they sometimes got caught in their fishing nets. The locals promised to send word to the sergeant the next time one was caught. One was eventually found dead on the shore, and he was allowed to examine it. This convinced him; he returned to Japan and tried to convince scientists to go and study them, but was never believed. In August 2009, after dozens of people reported seeing a mermaid leaping out of the water and doing aerial tricks, the Israeli coastal town of Kiryat Yam offered a $1 million award for proof of its existence. In February 2012, work on two reservoirs near Gokwe and Mutare in Zimbabwe stopped when workers refused to continue, stating that mermaids had hounded them away from the sites. It was reported by Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, the water resources minister.

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References Bigfoot

Jersey Devil

RESOURCES:

“BFRO Report 41232: Sighting of Two Animals Walking a Ridge Line in Salt Fork State Park.” BFRO Bigfoot Field Research Organization. N.p., 24 May 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

“Legend Of The Jersey Devil.” The New Jersey Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

“Bigfoot Description.” Bigfoot Description. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. Upton, Emily. “The Origin of the Bigfoot Legend.” Today I Found Out. N.p., 23 May 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. “What Is a Bigfoot, or Sasquatch?” Frequently Asked Questions. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

IMAGES: N.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <htttp://www.elyetithegreat.tripod.com>. N.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HbBhCZ1KFG8/ UmRCRD7U3xI/AAAAAAAAIP0/onzY2puDuPo/s1600/ Yeti+footprint+cast,+based+upon+the+Shipton+yeti+footpr int+photos+of+1951.jpg>.

Chupacabra RESOURCES: “Animal Planet.” Animal Planet. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. “Chupacabra.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2013. Web. Fall 2013.

IMAGES: DeviantART: More Like Chupacabra by ~Kaaziel. Digital image. DeviantART: MoreLike Chupacabra by ~Kaaziel. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.<http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/ 34637598?view_mode=2>. Unknown Explorers - Chupacabra. Digital image. Unknown Explorers - Chupacabra. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.unknownexplorers.com/chupacabra.php>.

Radford, Benjamin. “Jersey Devil: Impossible Animal of Story & Legend.” LiveScience.com. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

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Kelpies RESOURCES: Draper, Herbert J. “Kelpie.” GitHub. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. “Kelpie.” Monstropedia. N.p., 13 May 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Lindemans, Micha F. “Kelpie.” Kelpie. Encyclopedia Mythica, 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Maydusa. “Kelpie.” Squidoo. N.p., n.d. Web 05 Dec. 2013.

IMAGES: “Be Where of the Kelpies.” Be Where of the Kelpies by SpottedPegasus. DeviantART, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://spottedpegasus.deviantart.com/art/Be-Where-ofthe-Kelpies-16140584>. Langlois, Cassandra. “Why Do Humans Fear Drowning? Part I: The Kelpie.” UWGB Commons for the Digital and Public Humanities Blog Posts RSS. N.p., 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://www.gbdh.sadiron.com/archives/5034>. “The Kelpie.” The Kelpie by TrikSilverwolf. DeviantART, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://triksilverwolf.deviantart.com/art/ The-Kelpie-389480190>.

Mermaids

Mothman

RESOURCES:

“Facts and Fables Regarding the Mer People.” Facts and Fables Regarding the Mer People. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.

Capps, Chris. “The Mothman At Chernobyl.” Unexplainable.net. N.p., 8 Nov. 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

“Mermaids & Mermen: Facts & Legends.” LiveScience.com. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.

Erb, Michael. “Mothman Still Soars In Point Pleasant.” Ghost Stories - NewsandSentinel.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Parkersburg News and Sentinel. N.p., 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

“Mermaid.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Jan. 2013. Web. Fall 2013. “Myths and Legends.” Origins of A Mermaid and a Magic Comb. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. “Phenomena:.” Phenomena Mermaids Return From the Depths of TVs Chum Bucket Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.

IMAGES:

General, Ryan. “Mothman: Sightings, Origin, Myth.” Allvoices. N.p., 2 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. “MOTHMAN: Eyewitness Descriptions.” MOTHMAN: Eyewitness Descriptions. N.p., 2006. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. “Mothman.” The Paranormal Files. N.p., 8 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

Ancient Coinage of Seleucia, Demetrios III. Digital image. Wildwinds. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.wildwinds. com/coins/greece/seleucia/demetrios_III/i.html>.

Moye, David. “Mothman Theories Explored On Science Channel’s ‘Unexplained Files’” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

Auburtin, Jean. Auburtin Mermaids. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-zVG_fRCEtU/ R4CDsi37KTI/AAAAAAAAAl8/shmmCcTvuYg/ s1600-h/Jean.JPG>.

“The Mothman Legend.” The Mothman Legend - A Herald of Doom or Warning? Royal Mint Publishing, 2011. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

Charming Copenhagen. Digital image. Sophie’s World. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.sophiesworld.net/ magic-of-cities-copenhagen/>. Digital image. Kick Starter. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1811420414/cornishsmuggler/posts?page=3>. Morskiia Sireny. Digital image. The New York Public Library, n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/ dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=292604&imageID= 479550&word=lubok&s=1word=&d=&c=&f=&lWord=&lField=&s Scope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=349&num=192&imgs=12&p Num=&pos=194#>. Rhinegold and the Valkyries. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rhinegold_ and_the_Valkyries_p_072.jpg>.

IMAGES: “Mothman.” Mothman by PUmpkinhead666 on Deviant ART. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. <http://www.deviantart.com/ art/Mothman-276003661>. “Owlman on Cryptid-Creatures.” Owlman on Cryptid-Creatures -DeviantART. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

Ninki Nanka RESOURCES: Benjamin, Robert W. “Ninki Nanka: The Dragon Devil of Gambia.” Ninki Nanka: The Dragon Devil of Gambia. Articles Factory, 17 May 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

Brown, Helen. “The Monster Detectives: On the Trail of the NinkiNanka.” The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 12 July 2006. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Mosier, Chris. “Dragons of the Gambia.” ForteanTimes.com. Fortean Times, Apr. 2006. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. “Ninki Nanka.” Monstropedia. N.p., 21 Nov. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

IMAGES: Cooney, Jay. “Bizarre Zoology: Eyewitness Sketches of Possible Longnecks.” Bizarre Zoology: Eyewitness Sketches of Possible Longnecks. Blog Spot, 11 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://bizarrezoology.blogspot.com/2013/08/eyewitnesssketches-of-possible.html>. “Detailed Political and Administrative Map of Gambia. Gambia Detailed Political and Administrative Map.” Vidianicom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://www.vidiani.com/?p=8528>. “Euro-Synergies.” Geopolitics of Leviathan. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://euro-synergies.hautetfort.com/archive/2011/08/ 14/geopolitics-of-leviathan.html>. Kirk, John. “Cryptomundo for Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and More.” Default Cryptomundo RSS 20. N.p., 6 July 2006. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozo ologists/cfz-gambia/>.

Ropen RESOURCES: Benjamin, Robert W. “The Ropen - Living Pterodactyl.” The Ropen - Living Pterodactyl. Articles Factory, 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. “Ropen.” Monstropedia. N.p., 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Tharoor, Ishaan. “Lists.” TIME.com. N.p., 14 Aug. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. UpRising, Mma. “Cryptozoology.” Zimbio. N.p., 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

IMAGES: Burian, Zdenek. “Notasdecine.” Notasdecine. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://notasdecine.blogspot.com/2010/06/ zdenek-burian-1905-1981-prehistoric.html>. Kuhn, Eskin. “Gitmo Pterosaur - Media Center.” Gitmo Pterosaur - Media Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://www. livepterosaur.com/media/Gitmo-pterosaur/>. “Piraci Z “Ponurej Klary” (18 ) - Lastinn.” Lastinn RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://lastinn.info/archiwum-sesji-zdzialu-dnd/11573-piraci-z-ponurej-klary-18-a.html>.

Sea Monk RESOURCES: “Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal.” Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. “Sea Monk.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 July 2013. Web. Fall 2013.

IMAGES: Nineveh and Babylon; a Narrative of a Second Expedition to Assyria during the Years 1849, 1850, & 1851. Digital image. Nineveh and Babylon; a Narrative of a Second Expedition to Assyria during the Years 1849, 1850, & 1851. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://archive.org/stream/ninevehand babylon00layaiala>. Strange Science: Sea Monsters. Digital image. Strange Science: Sea Monsters. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.strangescience.net/stsea2.htm>.

Sirrush RESOURCES: “Mušhuššu.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. Fall 2013. Shucker, Karl, Dr. “The Sirrush ofBabylon.”Http://www.angelfire.com/ dragon2/dragonslair7/Sirrush%20of%20Babylon.htm. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.

“The Cryptid Zoo: Sirrush in Cryptozoology.” The Cryptid Zoo: Sirrush in Cryptozoology. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013.

IMAGES: 2012-10-10 10-13 Berlin 313 Pergamon Museum, Ischtar Tor, Detail. Digital image.Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2013. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/wm_archiv/8106092221/>. Drachen. Digital image. Drachen. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://homepage.hispeed.ch/nimue/s_drachen.html>. Snake Swallowing Human. Digital image. Snake Swallowing Human. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.whale.to/b/ snake_human.html>. The Dafyomi Advancement Forum’s Online Lectures. Digital image. The Dafyomi Advancement Forum’s Online Lectures. N.p., n.d. Web. Fall 2013. <http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/ dafyomi2/lectures/marei-purim64.htm>.

Thunderbird RESOURCES: “Thunderbird Mythology.” Thunderbird Magical Legendary Creatures. N.p., 2006. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. Tracey. “The Return of the Thunder Beings.” The Tribe Scribe. N.p., 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

IMAGES: N.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.rebuildingyou.com/ articles/37-cognitive/271-the-living-matrix-dvd-review>. N.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BWjBSA cMKS4/TgNQnpEG_4I/AAAAAAAAAQM/ nx6bNB8rEiQ/s1600/thunderbird.jpg>. N.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://images.wikia.com/warriorsof myth/images/7/76/The_great_thunderbird_by_ sangel99-d3h5qdc.jpg>. N.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nativeonline.com/Img_2876.jpg>.

Wendigo RESOURCES: Korczak, Ken. “Bigfoot, Wendigo and Other Cryptids: Projections from Space?”Examiner.com. N.p., 3 Aug. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Korczak, Ken. “Wendigo: Stranger than Bigfoot, but Is It a Product of a Holographic Universe?” Examiner.com. N.p., 29 July 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Lindemans, Micha F. “Wendigo.” Wendigo. Encyclopedia Mythica, 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. Stefko, Jill. “What Is the Wendigo Legend or Cryptid?” Suite101.com. N.p., 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. “Wendigo.” Cryptid Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. “Wendigo.” Monstropedia. N.p., 17 May 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.

IMAGES: “Any Animal/Beast Shapeshifting Heroes in the Marvel Universe?” Marvel Heroes. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://forums. marvelheroes.com/discussion/47308/any-animal-beast-shape shifting-heroes-in-the-marvel-universe>. Bombjak. “My Art Introduction! - The Shadow and Flame.” My Art Introduction! - The Shadow and Flame. N.p., 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://www.wetacollectors.com/forum/ showthread.php?p=1407852>. Robinson, Marie. “Fascination With Fear: Roots Of Horror: The Legend And Lore Of The Wendigo In Film.” Fascination With Fear: Roots Of Horror: The Legend And Lore Of The Wendigo In Film. Blog Spot, 18 June 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://fascinationwithfear.blogspot.com/2013/06/roots-ofhorror-legend-and-lore-of.html>. “Who Is the Wendigo-Legend or Unknown Beast.” Strangers and Aliens Here. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. <http://universetime. ru/kto-takoj-vendigo-legenda-ili-neizvestnyj-zver/>.