tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66247178207593355402012-01-23T12:54:23.665-05:00Mysteries of Pennsylvania & MarylandAndrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.comBlogger1251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-62561897636369727082011-11-20T08:50:00.004-05:002011-11-20T08:57:51.016-05:00

Some months ago, I posted about the wild animal which terrorized the Latrobe area in the late summer and autumn of 1945. Although it was usually said to be a monkey, it's tempting to think of it as possibly a juvenile Bigfoot, since, after all, this is on the Chestnut Ridge. It seems to have first appeared in the Crabtree area and the predominant theory was that the animal was an escapee from a

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-27278614248172525102011-11-11T16:53:00.006-05:002011-11-11T18:22:27.308-05:00

From the New Castle News (August 24, 1928):A strange creature termed a "devil" caused a sensation in the rooming house of Mrs. Mary Strichter here early on Thursday [August 23].Awakened by the "devil" flying into the room where she was asleep, Mrs. Andrew Turk, a daughter, screamed, arousing her husband who found the strange creature hiding behind a curtain. Seizing a chair he knocked it down

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-77559600952878610262011-10-05T11:09:00.005-04:002011-10-05T11:49:43.410-04:00

A few days ago, I received a message from Johnathan Lackey describing a sighting, which took place in Bucks County, of something that seems similar to many of the descriptions of the Garden State's most famous monstrous resident, the Jersey Devil. It's interesting that several reports of the Jersey Devil made during the week of January 16-23, 1909 were made in Bucks County (in Bristol, Wycombe

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-45925582714871277772011-09-23T01:03:00.005-04:002011-09-23T01:12:57.192-04:00

From the Denton (Md.) Journal, January 30, 1909:The “what-is-it” that made its first appearance in Greensboro on or about January 16th has been the subject of a great deal of speculation. What is the thing whose tracks are so much like those of a horse or mule, and travels where horses and mules cannot possibly go? Some of the footprints seemed to show that the hoof making them wore an iron

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-12494160060174830932011-09-08T17:27:00.004-04:002011-09-08T18:03:52.585-04:00

Several representatives of a Pittsburgh zoo have joined residents in the Leeper and Snydersburg area in search for a strange animal said to have been seen in the district, according to reports received from Leeper. The animal is said to be about the size of a sheep with a head resembling that of a pig and a tail resembling that of a cow.:: Warren Times-Mirror (August 5, 1940)It's not made clear,

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-11545976309525015302011-09-07T17:27:00.003-04:002011-09-07T17:32:03.969-04:00

The summer of 1987 saw several tales of 'alien animals' in Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia.A monkey was seen on July 15 in a cornfield along State Road in the area of Cutoff Road. A motorist driving the road said that a monkey "with an armful of sweet corn" ran across the road and into a wooded area. Police questioned farmers as to sightings of the monkey, but none had made any -

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-87840814407249300732011-05-15T18:45:00.004-04:002011-05-15T18:49:30.869-04:00

I've since found that, though it's not mentioned in the original article, on the day of the sighting there was also a solar eclipse. The solar eclipse did produce luminous phenomena (seen by astronomers in Kentucky, Iowa and Ohio) which were seen crossing the eclipsed disk. Being those lights were in the air, I'm not sure how they're relevant to ground-based phenomena, but they could be.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-48232789469851214132011-05-15T17:02:00.004-04:002011-05-15T17:08:20.385-04:00

After the reports of the New Oxford winged humanoid were posted, Phantoms and Monsters also received a report of an eerily similar being in Mertztown, Berks County. Mertztown is in Longswamp Township, in the eastern portion of the county nearest Lehigh. Berks County has a veritable ton of bizarre reports, and most relevant to this critter are a ghostly white bird which haunts Hawk Mountain and

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-34631600765822597102011-05-10T23:51:00.007-04:002011-05-15T17:11:02.398-04:00

Lon over on Phantoms and Monsters has some interesting posts on the sightings of a winged humanoid near New Oxford, Adams county. The creature was sighted in 1988 and twice in the summer of 2008.As discussed in the article given above, an animal called the "Jersey Devil" was seen in neighboring York county back in 1910. This also may be similar to a "gargoyle" seen in Lancaster (discussed in

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-8315060290728025522011-05-05T13:26:00.006-04:002011-05-15T17:10:18.863-04:00

From the Lancaster Daily Intelligencer (January 10, 1880):The petrified child in the family of J.A. Kinsley, of New Philadelphia, continues to attract general attention, and is considered by all who have seen it to be the wonder of wonders. The hardness has gradually spread over the entire body, some portions being so hard that not the slightest indentation can be made. The case is said to be

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-40389369834657199582011-05-02T13:30:00.003-04:002011-05-02T13:42:57.263-04:00

From the New Castle News (Oct. 11, 1927):Throngs of people were busy all morning at the window of the C. Ed. Smith Hardware company store on East Washington street, viewing the strange animal captured by Dewitt Gormley in the corn patch of Wesley Gormley, his father, who resides on the Harlansburg road.The strange animal was eating corn, when discovered and captured. The animal has been found to

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-21791132671472659862011-05-01T17:01:00.004-04:002011-05-01T17:26:48.654-04:00

This has to take the prize for most misleading name in the annals of Forteana. While it gives the impression of a clerical, cassock-wearing phantom, this beast was nothing of the sort, being a "large rhesus monkey or a chimpanzee" that roamed the area between Latrobe and Ligonier in 1945.The first real mention of the so-called 'monk' came on September 7, when an article appearing in the Altoona

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-16543383423024300922011-04-26T23:37:00.011-04:002011-05-02T13:49:28.884-04:00

Since I turned up the first reference to the Cloak Man (from the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger) a few days ago, I've been looking around for more information on the entity. Some articles in the Chester Times shed a bit more light on it. The first one, which was published in that newspaper on September 25, 1916, has a first paragraph largely identical to the Philadelphia story I first

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-81999986243980412662011-04-25T09:51:00.007-04:002011-04-25T10:44:19.383-04:00

From the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger (Sept. 26, 1916):A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, man or woman, wearing a long black cloak and black hood, has caused much excitement in Clifton Heights the past few evenings, and not a few women as well as some or all of the men have become thoroughly frightened by this mysterious creature, now called a "cloak man."From the Pittsburgh Dispatch (Aug. 25, 1889):

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-89436522386797526012011-04-18T08:12:00.004-04:002011-04-18T08:26:30.655-04:00

From the Tyrone Herald (undated, but presumably early 1900s):The final chapter of the historic Walter L. Main's circus wreck on May 30, 1893, was written on Saturday when at the hands of Constable Joseph Diehl, eleven descendants of the coyot that for many years worried stock owners in this region were killed. For number of years depredations have been reported as having been committed by

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-58989170867677229932011-04-06T16:31:00.006-04:002011-04-06T16:38:01.467-04:00

From the Racine (WI) Journal-Times (March 30, 1955):Chambersburg, Pa. (AP) - Twelve-year-old Dennis Summers was puzzled when he found a dead monkey wedged in the branches of a tree. It had died of exposure. The police were mystified too. They had no reports of a missing monkey and a check of residents known to own monkey pets showed that all were safe.No one could offer an explanation.Nothing

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-70054232540704873642011-04-03T23:55:00.004-04:002011-04-04T00:14:48.216-04:00

From the Huntingdon Daily News (February 1, 1944):Coatesville, Pa., Feb. 1 - Police were joined by chemists today in an effort to determine what type of gas killed three members of a Coatesville family and made two neighbors seriously ill.The bodies of John Refford, 55, his wife, Myrtle, 51, and her brother, Charles Johns, 54, were found by police last night in the Refford home, in various rooms

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-11277938463261230872011-04-03T23:39:00.002-04:002011-04-03T23:41:45.147-04:00

Mysterious Pennsylvania has been finished, finalized, and sent in to the publisher as of a few hours ago. So it's not my problem anymore!

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-66929975694023978792011-04-02T19:23:00.007-04:002011-04-02T19:40:29.187-04:00

From the Reading Eagle, August 14, 1869:SINGULAR PHENOMENON. - A most singular phenomenon occurred at mid-day on Saturday last, near the village of Adamstown, Lancaster county. About two hundred yards north of the village is an open lot, and at 12 o'clock, while the villagers were taking to dinner, a luminous body was seen to settle near the centre of this lot. It is represented by four or five

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-67943485203087434752011-02-17T13:50:00.006-05:002011-02-17T14:47:39.136-05:00

A bizarre figure known as the Cloak Woman haunted the town of Schuylkill Haven, in Schuylkill County, back in 1911. The Call of Allentown reported on February 11 and 18 about the mysterious figure which followed some women to their homes. The figure was itself followed on Haven Street, where several men said that it wore women's clothing and a red tam o'shanter cap. When seen next, by several

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-79406648970344415302010-12-26T12:02:00.009-05:002010-12-27T13:35:18.643-05:00

In his seminal work Wild Talents (1932), pioneering anomalist Charles Fort tells the story of how "a man and his wife, named Kring, had been butchered, and their bodies had been burned." Thereafter, he gives account of no less than two unidentifed bodies found nearby, one of them a "well-dressed man," near Johnstown (Cambria County).That's not quite the way the story happened. I can't really

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-83729116062142706432010-09-23T01:49:00.005-04:002010-09-23T02:58:05.921-04:00

The York Fair, first held in 1765, has played host to concerts, funnel cakes and, if some folks are to be believed, ghosts. For all the historical events surrounding the Fair which would potentially give rise to paranormal happenings - the original location of the fair in what is now Penn's Park was a potter's field burial ground and the fairgrounds themselves were used as a camp by soldiers

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-66827593418088784942010-09-20T10:43:00.005-04:002010-09-20T11:08:38.630-04:00

January of 1880 saw the appearance of one of the most bizarre phantoms I know of in West Clark Alley in York, on the block between Beaver and George Streets.Sometimes he comes in the form of a man and puts on the airs of a horse-thief; then, again, he struts along in the shape of a huge demijohn on two legs, and not infrequently like a rolling beer barrel, tapped at both ends. The horse-thief

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-441956619090977692010-09-20T10:08:00.001-04:002010-09-20T10:41:22.272-04:00

Apologies to Mark Morrison, wherever you are, for referencing your late 90s R&B hit 'Return of the Mack' in the title of this post. Seriously, try singing the post title in that song in place of the chorus. Well, it sounds OK in my head, anyway.Anyway, I'm back. I know, I've said that before but I think I mean it this time. As you can see, I've changed the look and layout of the blog to

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-50075011350112422622010-04-05T09:47:00.004-04:002010-04-05T09:58:03.849-04:00

Over the past few years I've been almost pessimistic about some phenomena - let me explain, before I'm dismissed out-of-hand as a "scofftic" or something. I've begun to ask myself what sort of evidence would really be necessary to prove things. For example, take the UFO mystery - or actually, say something less nebulous, like the identity of Jack The Ripper. Say through some discussion or

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-60515361493118559862010-04-05T09:39:00.002-04:002010-04-05T09:46:34.936-04:00

Pennsylvania-based UFO, cryptozoology and general Fortean researcher Stan Gordon is releasing a book, Really Mysterious Pennsylvania, today. Stan has done some extensive work on the possible UFO crash at Kecksburg and was one of the main chroniclers of the horribly strange Bigfoot encounters in the state back in the summer and autumn of 1973.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-75697885096219464242010-02-18T13:32:00.006-05:002010-02-18T13:57:14.514-05:00

A few months back, I had mentioned Virginia's traditions of the English goblin known as a bullbeggar and the presence of Bullbeggar Creek in the northernmost part of Virginia's eastern peninsula.Now there come reports of what may be cougar on the eastern peninsula. Could these actually be the bullbeggars reported further north? Melfa isn't that far south of Bullbeggar Creek and besides, I can't

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-40800689089539060282010-02-18T00:59:00.004-05:002010-02-18T01:15:23.386-05:00

I've decided on the direction of the blog. I'll be reporting things that occur on the East Coast, though I'll try to avoid Pennsylvania things for now, unless it's too late for their inclusion in the book, although (for now) Maryland is still fair game. The book, by the way, I think I'll title (at least for now) The Hills Rise Wild (provided Arkham House is cool with that), although as always

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-30130198991623286392010-01-29T01:48:00.003-05:002010-01-29T01:56:55.569-05:00

So I've begun work in earnest on the book, and I've begun gathering as much information as I can on cases (descriptions, etc.) and I'm going to try my hand at a bit of statistical work painting a better picture of what certain critters really look like. I've completed a good-sized chunk of the chapter on sightings of winged monsters in Pennsylvania, and I've also completed some work on a chapter

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-2115103608508699192010-01-12T16:17:00.002-05:002010-01-12T16:21:19.640-05:00

I've begun to question what direction I should take Masks in. I've recently started more seriously tossing around the idea of writing a book or two on things and I don't really want to keep posting things on here as that would make a book sort of irrelevant. I'm mulling over whether I should switch focus to breaking news, or maybe to a more general worldwide focus rather than strictly regional.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-73892188341022788182010-01-11T14:32:00.003-05:002010-01-11T14:59:11.574-05:00

On September 20, 1874, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette ran an article about a hair-covered "wild man" which had been seen near Morgantown (Berks County), in a region enclosed by hills and ridges. It was nearly seven feet tall and uncommonly for a Bigfoot frequently walked on all fours. It was described as having "altogether a horrible appearance."The Bigfoot creature was reputed to steal pigs and

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-7625855225105809302010-01-11T13:21:00.002-05:002010-01-11T13:28:45.244-05:00

A video was posted on January 5, 2010 on YouTube. It was posted anonymously by someone using the name "bobywade517". The attached description says that sightings of a white Bigfoot had been taking place in this Pennsylvania town, though, oddly, it's not mentioned at all what town that is. It obviously, therefore, can't be confirmed that there even were Bigfoot sightings here, and the creature

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-37400574908229987892010-01-05T16:39:00.008-05:002010-01-06T14:56:30.356-05:00

The story of the "Seven Gates of Hell" in York County really has nothing to do with either the cryptozoological or zooform realms. In fact, it scarcely has anything to do with the paranormal realm. But it is a topic I'm semi-obsessed with, since we visited there a few years back, and writing about urban legend creatures in Maryland brought it back up to the surface. It's a pretty famous urban

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-23972834965867881802010-01-02T10:38:00.011-05:002010-01-02T11:26:32.112-05:00

"A Field Guide to the Monsters and Mystery Animals of Maryland", a Strange Magazine article by Mark Chorvinsky and Mark Opsasnick, gives a listing of many strange creature, the majority of which were one-off sightings. Some of these are given below:Another Odenton Humanoid: Odenton in Anne Arundel County was home to a famous sighting of the Patuxent Swamp Monster in 1968, but on May 27, 1989 two

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-24858790907975485062009-12-30T16:30:00.011-05:002009-12-31T10:51:39.013-05:00

What has to be one of the more laughably-named urban legend figures out there hails originally from the area of Fairfax, Virginia although stories of the axe-wielding, bunny-suit bedecked psychopath range into suburban Prince George's County, Maryland, home of the Goatman (with whom stories of the Bunnyman are confused).Incredible as it may seem, the Bunnyman stories may have been based on real

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-53227665557327770202009-12-30T15:22:00.022-05:002010-01-02T10:37:17.633-05:00

The region near Bowie (Prince George's County) is the haunt of a variously-described monster named Goatman. Some will have it that he is a man with a goat's head. Others, that he is a goat-legged human figure, a traditional satyr. Still others, that he is a 6-foot tall hairy humanoid, a typical Bigfoot. Whatever the case, the stories of Goatman could have their origins in August 1957, when a

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-3560826681793170942009-12-24T14:44:00.006-05:002009-12-24T15:23:15.977-05:00

Der Nockisher Mon, or The Naked Man, is an apparition supposedly haunting the neighborhood of Buchtown south of Manheim, Lancaster County. It was seen by Mary Ann Litzenberger sometime around the beginning of the 1900s. As Litzenberger said: To my astonishment as I gazed across the field nearby, I saw the ghost of a stark-naked man rise up from a fence corner and slowly walk across the field,

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-18199511271072160872009-12-23T13:15:00.012-05:002009-12-25T00:28:16.282-05:00

Linda Godfrey has received this account via her website:This sighting occurred in late fall of 1976 in Frederick Co. MD near the town of Thurmont. My friend had picked me up at my house and we had gone into town with plans to meet some other friends to drink some beers at a local pub. Since our friends had not yet arrived we decided to take a short drive up Rt. 77 to a field where it was common

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-47630952803705575262009-12-15T15:17:00.007-05:002009-12-15T16:54:01.961-05:00

In 1922, Shoemaker wrote Allegheny Episodes, which contained a tale called "The Gorilla". The tale, a story of murder and revenge, was a fictionalized account based on actual incidents which took place in the early 1920s in Pennsylvania and Maryland. These events are chronicled by Chad Arment.The first incident, and apparently the one Shoemaker's story was based on, took place in December, 1920

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-54637456238303903992009-12-09T13:52:00.012-05:002009-12-09T16:28:12.693-05:00

Shoemaker recounts several tales of various superstitions held about the mountain lion, including several of animated taxidermy mounts. The stories of the animated cougars seem to be unique to Snyder County and environs.In Centerville (Snyder County), in 1864, a hunter killed a mountain lion and mounted it on the roof of his home. The lion's mate is supposed to have leapt upon the roof and

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-91676095567299554922009-12-06T09:20:00.003-05:002009-12-06T09:25:14.788-05:00

Shoemaker's pamphlet "Felis Catus in Pennsylvania" describes an incident on January 16, 1922 in which a wildcat was killed in Nockamixon (Bucks County) by 16 year old Tunis Brady. Frightful screams had been heard in the vicinity for three years. A detailed description of the dead animal quoted in the pamphlet describes a cat about 2 1/2 feet in length and a foot in height, with a broad head.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-71693831240271421422009-12-03T16:02:00.004-05:002009-12-03T16:31:31.622-05:00

Another of Shoemaker's tales of the Lock Haven area in Clinton County was the account of a bizarre cat killed by the 'mountain man' Peter Pentz in 1798.Shoemaker says that Pentz was visiting with Isaac Dougherty near McElhattan Run when they heard a commotion among Dougherty's animals. They found a steer dead, a large maned cat crouched over its body. Pentz and Dougherty tracked the animal up

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-23166816599817256042009-12-01T01:34:00.007-05:002009-12-02T14:23:42.064-05:00

A white wolf haunted the earliest settlers of Sugar Valley, near Loganton (Clinton County) around 1840. The wolf was first encountered by Philip Shreckengast of Tylersville near his barn. It had apparently been eating some animal as its mouth was bloodstained. Shreckengast managed to sever the wolf's tail by slamming the barn door. The wolf was also seen in the graveyard at Brungard's Church

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-49836801420413651872009-11-24T12:43:00.005-05:002009-11-24T12:49:19.559-05:00

On Mysterious Britain & Ireland, Part Two of my piece on American black dog mythology, focused on Pennsylvania.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-14517301680210839592009-11-23T16:14:00.011-05:002009-12-09T16:26:11.718-05:00

In Pennsylvania Mountain Stories (1909) is the tale of a ghostly black wolf in Oak Valley. Through cross-referencing with a few other tales of Granny Myers elsewhere in the volume, I've figured that this occurred in the valley about five miles north of Loganton (Clinton County) and the wolf-haunted Sugar Valley. Silas Werninger shot two men and killed one after a row at a Youngmanstown hotel.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-13118977722135064162009-11-20T13:21:00.003-05:002009-11-20T13:32:11.564-05:00

In the summer of 2003, a family living in Joppa (Harford County), Maryland, saw a strange canine beast. Eventually they set up some game cameras to capture images of the creature, and they weren't disappointed. They got the above picture of the mysterious dog drinking from a horse trough. The sightings and photographs mostly went unreported for a year.The following summer, another family in

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-89957209102434147992009-11-16T15:41:00.009-05:002009-11-16T16:27:07.939-05:00

In November, 1883, an individual using only the initials R.B. wrote to the Frederick News in Maryland. He swore that at Catoctin Mountain he had seen, early one morning,...a monstrous dragon with glaring eye-balls, and mouth wide open displaying a tongue, which hung like a flame of fire from its jaws, reared and plunged.This may be the same as the dragon which supposedly guarded the mines at

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-72350328793174852012009-11-15T09:28:00.004-05:002009-11-15T09:30:59.667-05:00

Over on Mysterious Britain and Ireland is an article I've written on ghostly hounds in Maryland and Delaware.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-11824844266209001412009-11-13T15:31:00.008-05:002009-11-13T15:57:35.545-05:00

On November 3, Mindi and I took a trip to Reading to do a bit of early Christmas shopping. While there, we decided to stop at the old Union Canal, so we could check out Lock 49. On August 17, 1875, Louise Bissinger, distraught over her husband's infidelities, took her three children on an outing along the Tulpehocken Creek. She had a basket tied around her waist, and when she reached the area

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-43249801668556945082009-11-12T14:33:00.002-05:002009-11-12T14:44:21.832-05:00

On the morning of February 6, 2009, two men driving along Manor Road in Baltimore County saw a strange creature amble across their path. The animal had hind legs longer than the fore, and its face was a hybrid of dog and pig features. The two were quite clear that it was neither a dog or bear - it apparently had thinner legs than a bear and didn't move in the same way as a bear. A bear had

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-26781911321835395992009-11-11T17:43:00.004-05:002009-11-11T17:56:16.986-05:00

WHTM television has reported that a fellow in Dauphin County has released what may be a film of a Bigfoot (WHTM provides a still image of the supposed creature). The story's been making the rounds on various cryptozoological and Bigfoot blogs and websites recently. Several have posted to the effect that the whole deal is dubious at best, mostly due to the involvement of Tom Biscardi (best known

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-7736125690094098042009-11-11T16:57:00.006-05:002009-11-11T17:38:59.583-05:00

Over on Blogsquatcher, today's post is on the connected sightings of Bigfoot and UFOs. The Bigfoot/UFO connection has been present for years, and if all accounts are to be believed, before they were even called UFOs. Pennsylvania and Maryland are home to several reports of this connection.The Sykesville, Maryland monster flap began in the early summer of 1973. Tony Dorsey was the first witness

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-75018610211419576662009-11-10T15:18:00.005-05:002009-11-10T15:28:59.529-05:00

First, there's a nifty video on YouTube of a barking roe deer. I've also found recordings of white-tailed deer, the ubiquitous Pennsylvania species, making similar noises.And over on Marcus Schneck's blog, there's a post indicating that groundhogs can climb trees, though they must do so very rarely.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-69771795974974158742009-11-01T19:05:00.004-05:002009-11-01T19:27:17.206-05:00

Just after Christmas, 2006, on December 29, public workers near the intersection of South Gilpin and Cypress Streets noticed a large fish lying on the shore of the Mahoning Creek. Upon examination, the fish turned out to be a three-foot bonnethead shark. Officer Heath Zeitler of the Punxsutawney police said "it might have been disposed of by some who had caught it while fishing elsewhere, or

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-72275803838057824792009-10-30T09:42:00.001-04:002009-10-30T09:45:19.058-04:00

Ilya, the manatee that made trips to the Chesapeake Bay and New England before being trapped in a tiny New Jersey creek, is back in Miami.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-68870969664808124422009-10-29T23:18:00.007-04:002009-10-30T00:00:47.460-04:00

In 1857, Pierson and Andy Lytle brought a Kentucky mule named Coaly into Pennsylvania to be part of a team of pack mules working on excavation and construction of the Penn State campus in State College. When the mule died in 1893, his remains were displayed in the Old Main building he helped construct. If this seems morbid, remember that the University College in London displays the preserved

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-50102105849337663162009-10-27T09:15:00.007-04:002009-10-27T10:23:49.733-04:00

In July of 1951, the east Baltimore district of O'Donnell Heights was prowled by a phantom. The black-robed, black-capped figure made his forays from a graveyard, jumping six-foot fences topped with barbed wire and leaping off of roofs in the manner of the British phantom Spring Heeled Jack, all without leaving a single track or trace. And for the two-week period the ghostly prowler patrolled

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-25998484807428384102009-10-26T12:53:00.007-04:002009-10-27T01:41:47.757-04:00

It's one of the oddest and most-repeated stories of Pennsylvania's weird lore. A group of archaeologists working near an Indian burial mound in Sayre find many gigantic skeletons, 7 feet tall on average. Incredibly, a few of these had horns sprouting from their foreheads.A good story, but not quite the way it happened.In 1916, Professor W.K. Moorehead of Phillips-Andover College led an

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-71060293662385148652009-10-26T02:17:00.003-04:002009-10-26T03:04:21.793-04:00

According to Ann W. Whitney and Caroline C. Bullock in Folk-Lore from Maryland, in 1887 two men on horseback were near Warfieldsburg's Ore Mine Bridge, in Carroll County, saw a large black dog on the other side of a fence. The dog passed through the fence, crossed the road, passed through a fence on the other side, and disappeared from view. Whitney and Bullock record that one of the men was

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-36896479454584092832009-10-24T10:42:00.013-04:002009-12-31T10:41:52.023-05:00

In 1814, numerous people throughout the city of London, England reported seeing a pig's head silhouetted by gaslight from within the confines of a passing carriage. At times, they even saw a piggish snout protruding from the carriage window. The legend of the Pig Lady was born, and through discussions in various newspapers, the theory was reached that it was a wealthy young woman from

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-10329809962323198852009-10-21T12:03:00.018-04:002009-11-23T16:42:26.140-05:00

In his book American Myths & Legends (1903), Charles M. Skinner gives this account of a lupine creature he called "The White Wolf of Venango":On Cornplanter's reserve in Venango County, Pennsylvania, lived an Indian family named Jacobs; big, athletic fellows, full of hard sense and afraid of but one thing: the white wolf. For to see the wolf was "bad medicine"; to chase it, death. There was

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-50711742923810971772009-10-20T00:32:00.004-04:002009-10-20T00:37:55.047-04:00

The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story on October 17 about the manatee Ilya, which was last seen near a refinery along the Arthur Kill in northern New Jersey. Story here.Ilya is the same individual seen in the Chesapeake Bay several times, and then near the mouth of the Susquehanna River. He later wandered into waters off of New England.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-67953723182807336392009-10-19T02:19:00.010-04:002009-11-01T19:07:30.377-05:00

From the Universal York blog, this post on a whale displayed in a York County barn belonging to one Samuel Spangler sometime in the first half of the 1800s. The whale is described as having been caught in the Delaware River. This wouldn't be unheard of.The Philadelphia Inquirer (December 6, 1994) reported that a 30-foot right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) dubbed "Waldo the Wrong-Way Right Whale"

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-68327512420624300732009-10-19T01:46:00.004-04:002009-10-19T02:23:42.326-04:00

From the Lebanon Daily News, October 18, an update on two pythons found in Annville this summer, as posted on Cryptomundo on August 4 of this year.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-73405458811105724942009-10-19T01:33:00.004-04:002009-10-19T01:39:55.913-04:00

The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era reported on October 16 that freshwater jellyfish had been found in an unnamed quarry in Lancaster Township on October 11. An online comment on the story says that it took place at the Wabank Quarry on Wabank Road.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-81401550745045226372009-10-15T14:45:00.006-04:002009-10-15T14:53:36.653-04:00

The Pocono Record has recently run two articles on the mountain lion in Pennsylvania here, and here.The 1874 extinction date is a bit odd, as there's no less than 22 cougar kills after the Hawk Mountain (Berks) kill that year, placing the date at 1917 at the earliest.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-5557929608167801692009-10-12T10:36:00.009-04:002009-10-12T16:22:58.236-04:00

Over on the CFZ blog, Neil Arnold has an interesting post on some sort of ophidian nightmare. The story's pretty neat, and not altogether unlike the experiences that take place in a hypnagogic or hypnapompic state with the crushing sensations. Sure, there are differences (for instance, Neil reports the ability to move) and I find it very interesting that while Neil's girlfriend didn't see the

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-31441704321963933672009-10-07T16:10:00.010-04:002009-10-07T16:50:04.624-04:00

So, we all know that last week, the latest expedition to Sumatra in search of the orang pendek returned. Soon after their return came news of an earthquake and flooding that hit Sumatra - and a city where they had been, according to Richard Freeman. Within the next few days, Adam Davies, who had been on the expedition, became ill. There's an interesting post on Cryptomundo about some things

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-27142390759037491862009-10-06T00:55:00.005-04:002009-10-06T00:58:13.433-04:00

On the CFZ News blog, I found a link to this recent story:ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Authorities say a woman was killed by her pet black bear as she cleaned its cage.State police say 37-year-old Kelly Ann Walz was mauled to death Sunday evening by the 350-pound (160-kilogram) bear.The Morning Call newspaper reports that a state Game Commission spokesman says Walz kept the bear inside a steel and concrete

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-75095902442032196982009-10-05T14:00:00.005-04:002009-10-05T14:11:40.680-04:00

WHITE PLAINS, Md. - Mulder and Scully from the "X-Files" may be needed in Charles County.A man who speaks fluent Spanish, but little English, went to the County Sheriff's Department to report that he had seen something bizarre last month in the White Plains area."A brownish type animal that he described as a chupacabra, which is a mythical animal in the spanish culture," spokeswoman Crystal Hunt

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-75953224773508271292009-10-05T09:41:00.006-04:002009-12-24T15:20:35.163-05:00

In Ghost Stories From the American South, W.K. McNeil recounts a folktale gathered from a man by the name of Mart Rankin:I was batchin' then, up there in Virginia. Been out on my horse, and my little dog had followed me. When I got to the lane -- guess I was about two hundred yards from the end of it -- I spied two men. They was walkin' together purty fast, keepin' step. I watched 'em. They had

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-82650592967565533152009-09-30T14:02:00.013-04:002009-10-03T08:58:57.029-04:00

Researcher Stan Gordon wrote a piece for the Paranormal News detailing a sighting which took place on June 27, 2009. A number of motorists travelling near Mt. Pleasant, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, reported to Gordon the sighting of a creature which "looked like a giant caterpillar". It was about 7 inches in length, tapered at the ends and thicker in the middle, and appeared to be

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-39827471735319589662009-09-30T12:49:00.005-04:002009-10-03T02:29:45.641-04:00

A strange report was submitted to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) page. It begins with a typical UFO report, but soon recounts a number of anomalous experiences which "followed" the witness, from War of the Worlds-style metallic tripods to giant insects and birds. Very interesting, provided the witness wasn't on some sort of hallucinogenic (a fact I am far from convinced of). Here's the

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-27122552009938121322009-09-29T18:26:00.004-04:002009-11-23T16:43:24.813-05:00

On January 21, 1932 James McCandless, walking near the town of Eagle in Chester County, Pennsylvania, saw a "hideous form, half-man, half-beast, on all fours, and covered with dirt or hair". A short time later, two employees of a nursery near Dorlan reported that they were frightened by a monstrous leaping thing, "neither man nor beast", which approached them. A McCandless and a hunting party

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-19893197608345138362009-09-29T14:48:00.002-04:002009-09-29T14:51:39.334-04:00

The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era ran a story on August 18, 2009 on sightings of brown pelicans and that old stand-by of cryptozoological reports, the sandhill crane, in Lancaster County.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-70375998458483686392009-09-27T17:01:00.012-04:002009-09-28T02:25:04.503-04:00

Pennsylvania has many urban legends which may be based upon cryptozoological phenomena. One of these is the legend of what is called the Suscon Screamer. The screaming thing is reputed to haunt the area around where the Susquehanna Railroad once crossed over Suscon Road south of Wilkes-Barre. The former bridge is also known among locals as the Boo-Boo Bridge or, more ominously, the Black

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-71298709330666623182009-09-27T09:35:00.003-04:002009-09-27T09:46:10.552-04:00

The article appearing in the September 3, 2009 edition of the Trentonian, which was captured in the Trenton, NJ's Stacy Park, contains a quote from Jose Munoz, an animal control officer employed by the city, who noted that the alligator seen in the waters of the Log Basin was larger than the one captured. He said that several witnesses, as well, felt that the caged alligator was not the same one

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-90223026586711548582009-09-23T16:50:00.004-04:002009-10-26T12:28:42.131-04:00

The Pittsburgh Daily Courier ran an article on September 3, 2009 that went more in-depth about the sightings of a 'tiger' in Uniontown, Fayette County:Call it a case of mistaken identity. Fayette County 911 received calls Tuesday evening of a tiger on the loose in the area of Carr and Rankin Air Shaft roads in North Union.The "tiger" had not escaped from the Wild Animal Orphanage nor from Camelot

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-81308408819269094222009-09-21T02:32:00.005-04:002009-09-28T08:31:11.734-04:00

In late 2007, the media was abuzz about a series of photographs taken by a stationary trail camera with an infrared flash set up by Rick Jacobs in northwestern Pennsylvania. The camera captured a few photos of what were clearly bear, followed by two images (one of these is above) which many feel show a Bigfoot in a hunched position. The creature in the photos was apparently about the size of an

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-59234394131557583562009-09-21T01:42:00.003-04:002009-09-21T02:19:47.976-04:00

WPXI reported that in October of 2007, Bill and Mindy Shearer of South Buffalo Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, spotted what they believed was a mountain lion near their home. They said that the creature was lying and rolling on its back and they were certain it was a cat, not a dog or deer. The explanation, of course, was offered that it was an escapee pet.Unforttunately, my computer

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-20706046778160528502009-09-20T00:05:00.011-04:002009-09-21T01:24:41.156-04:00

The Annapolis Capital for July 20, 2009 reported that another manatee had been seen in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Susquehanna River. Policeman Marcus Rodriguez said he saw the aquatic mammal in the waters of a marina in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Rodriguez said that the manatee nosed around among aquatic weeds for a bit and then swam away.The manatee was identified as

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-53719021775137698252009-09-19T12:01:00.008-04:002009-09-21T01:35:58.605-04:00

Loren Coleman reported on Cryptomundo on an old account of something near Coatesville, Pennsylvania - from the Lebanon Daily News, February 15, 1939:A mysterious animal - described by witnesses as having a small head, a neck a foot long, the jumping ability of a deer and a scream like that of two cats - was reported prowling through Chester county woods today. There were some who received the

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-27206470718456848572009-09-19T02:51:00.010-04:002009-09-21T01:35:44.278-04:00

In November of 1945, residents of Pottstown, Pennsylvania reported sightings of a bizarre creature in the Sheep's Hill area. The monster was dubbed Montie. The beast raided hen houses, and frightened children with his growls: it supposedly "cried like a baby", by one account. Others attribute screams, barks, wails and hyena-like laughs to the creature. Although likewise described physically

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-4397265043638483482009-09-17T14:33:00.010-04:002009-09-24T02:22:54.974-04:00

The so-called Lenape Stone, likely an ornamental gorget of the type often buried with notable warriors, was discovered by Barnard Hansell in 1872 (a second piece was discovered in 1881) near Wycombe, Pennsylvania. The carvings on the stone depict traditional motifs such as fish, birds, and turtles and also what appears to be a mammoth or mastodon, types of prehistoric elephants. Several members

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-15237844005745569342009-09-16T16:35:00.006-04:002009-09-21T01:23:27.264-04:00

The Towson (MD) Times carried a story on September 9 about an upswing in sightings of foxes with mange. Both Pennsylvania's 'Yardley Yeti' and the Maryland 'Hyote' are mangy foxes.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-56654783901154410962009-09-15T15:02:00.004-04:002009-09-21T01:25:12.449-04:00

The Baltimore Sun reported on August 14 about a sighting of a loggerhead turtle in the Chesapeake Bay off of Kent Island. This is interesting in regards to sightings of Chessie that have taken place in that part of the Bay.Imagine sitting in a small boat in quiet, open water on the Chesapeake Bay and peering down into the murky depths, when suddenly a massive SOMETHING breaks the surface right

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-84788662633155365872009-09-14T16:51:00.006-04:002009-09-21T01:40:48.665-04:00

'Chessie' is the name given to the sea serpent that supposedly inhabits the waters of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. While the first confirmed sighting of a reptilian oddity that may or may not have been Chessie took place in 1933, the sighting of a 'dragon' on the Patuxent River, legends of a reptilian monster haunting the confluence of the Piscataway Creek and the Potomac River date back to the

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-49486204444535793212009-09-11T17:04:00.004-04:002009-09-21T01:34:06.403-04:00

Fox News has reported that an anonymous Internet poster claims to have hoaxed the Montauk Monster from summer, 2008. The man claims to have found a dead raccoon, which he and his friends burnt and sent into the sea. The monster was found on a beach near Montauk, New York. Theories on its identity ranged from an alien, to a dead raccoon or dog, to an escapee experiment from the Plum Island

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-9380984426455038622009-09-11T16:49:00.004-04:002009-09-11T16:55:50.634-04:00

English newspaper The Sun reports on the discovery of an aberrant grasshopper:A SCHOOLBOY has stumbled on a rare PINK grasshopper.Eagle-eyed Daniel Tate, 11, was taking part in the first Minibeasts in the Marshes event at Seaton Marshes, Devon, when he came across the little hopper.Experts say it is a common green grasshopper which just happens to be pink.Daniel said: "I was looking for

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-41267488136846258692009-09-10T14:11:00.008-04:002009-09-21T01:31:58.382-04:00

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on September 10 that an alligator had been found in Allentown, Pennsylvania:One week after a 4-foot alligator was snared in a Trenton pond, a much larger cousin was caught in Allentown.Early yesterday afternoon, a passerby reported seeing a 6-foot gator sunning itself on the bank of Jordan Creek in a busy park with a playground, basketball courts and baseball

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-34975502232983839062009-09-09T01:23:00.009-04:002009-11-01T19:08:58.639-05:00

On the evening of July 1, 1916, Charles Vansant was swimming in the surf off Beach Haven in Ocean County (New Jersey) when he was attacked by a shark, which stripped the flesh from his left thigh. He died about an hour later. The second attack took place on July 6, when Charles Bruder was attacked off Spring Lake; he bled to death before the lifeguards even returned him to shore. But for all

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-86031349905810957752009-09-08T22:57:00.003-04:002009-09-21T02:22:27.347-04:00

Cryptomundo has reported that in July of 2007 a photograph purportedly of a thunderbird was taken from an apartment building in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The bird was apparently flying at the head of a thunderstorm. However, Loren Coleman and many other of the site's readers identified the photo as being of not a bird, but of the top of one of the large lights in the parking lot which just

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-29388370524003999852009-09-08T08:19:00.002-04:002009-09-21T01:37:49.459-04:00

Cryptomundo reports that a four-foot tall, long-haired, white Bigfoot was witnessed in a wooded area near a mine in Carbondale, Pennsylvania during the summer of 2008. The report was treated none-to-seriously by the local media. Local investigators report that there had been rumors of screams and other sounds from that patch of woods for years.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-9210861347240960282009-09-08T01:45:00.004-04:002009-10-05T13:54:14.125-04:00

The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to Maryland's own version of the more famous Jersey Devil, the Snallygaster (derived from the German schnellegeist or 'fast spirit'). The Snallygaster was first sighted in 1909, during the major 'flap' of sightings of its New Jersey cousin, although traditions of it reputedly dated back much further. The creature was winged, beaked and clawed. A James Harding

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-64011591721363395592009-09-06T09:55:00.005-04:002009-09-24T02:36:58.644-04:00

The Paranormal News reports that in August of 2009, near Route 15 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a strange humanoid apparition was seen. The creature descended from a tree and ran across the witness' yard. It was about three feet tall, with skinny legs and bird-like feet. The witness described the creature as nearly transparent in appearance.

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-2643913841149266392009-09-06T09:28:00.007-04:002009-10-26T12:29:17.514-04:00

The Paranormal News reports that on July 10, 2009 a hominid encounter was reported from Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The report was investigated by the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, who found that at around 6:00 PM, the witness' car swerved to avoid hitting a figure which approached the road. After a few moments, she saw the creature again running down the roadway. She described a dark humanoid

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-16958508128680238552009-09-05T00:49:00.005-04:002009-10-26T12:29:46.786-04:00

ThePittsburghChannel.com reported on September 2, 2009 that a 'tiger' had been seen in Uniontown, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.Some residents in Fayette County swear they've seen a tiger on the loose.State police said they're keeping an eye out for the beast after sightings came in from all across the city.Dispatchers said people calling in about the alleged tiger swamped their switchboard on

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-23378772384429434472009-09-02T15:03:00.000-04:002009-09-02T15:07:33.908-04:00

The CFZ News blog has reported on the discovery of a white otter in Scotland:An otter charity has said an image of a rare albino otter has been captured by an amateur wildlife photographer.Karen Jack said the sight of the white animal eating a fish on rocks in Moray was "surreal".Grace Yoxon, of the Skye-based International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) said the otter was "extremely rare".Ms Jack

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-31294038863783394572009-09-02T14:55:00.004-04:002009-09-21T01:26:50.060-04:00

Lancaster Online reported on September 1 about the capture of a South American fish in the Conestoga near Brownstown, Pennsylvania:Eric Laubach and Steve Bergstrom both thought there was something fishy about the "sunfish" Eric's 5-year-old son, Jake, hauled out of the Conestoga River Sunday evening."We were catching some nice sunnies, but this one was a lot bigger than the others," Bergstrom

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6624717820759335540.post-52262991747309168192009-09-01T14:35:00.000-04:002009-09-01T16:06:56.774-04:00

In the BioFortean Review (November 2006), Chad Arment reports on a huge otter killed near Portage, Maine in 1949. Portage, Dec. 3. (AP)—The otter Walter Bolstridge trapped may have been the giant of the otter world.Game Warden Wilfred L. Atkins said the animal's glossy pelt measured 66 inches long. The average otter is about 40 inches.And Bolstridge said that before being skinned, the huge

Andrew D. Gablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13270538788314012863noreply@blogger.com0