Phantoms and Monsters

The Michigan Dogman Wanders...Again
Just the Facts? - Orange 'Goo' Identified, Undersea Volcano Prediction and UFO Abducts Shark
Ohio Bigfoot Encounter / Other Cryptid News

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:33 PM PDT

The following was forwarded to me by Jason K. in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Jason states that his landlord (Chuck) had an encounter with what he describes as a wolfman on August 5th in Baraga County, Upper Peninsula, Michigan on his way to Lake Teddy. I contacted Jason to inform him that a similar creature had been seen by a reader (Rhonda) and her son in nearby Tioga, Baraga County in the Autumn of 2008 (which is posted below). First is Chuck's account of his recent experience:

I was driving north on Craig Lake Rd. towards Teddy Lake. As I approached Nestoria Rd. I noticed something move off the edge of the road into the woods. It was around 6:30 am and a little bit dewy and foggy at that time but I definitely saw something move. I stopped at the intersection and watched across Nestoria Rd. I first thought is was a moose but this it was too agile.

I took a slow left turn and looked to my right into the woods. I didn't see anything so I looked forward and sped up. Immediately, this animal ran out of the woods in front of my car and jumped across the road to the south side. I mean it took 3 long strides and was gone - almost like it vanished through an invisible wall!

I was shocked. I continued driving for a few minutes but had to pull off and stop. I was literally shaking from head to toe. I sat there wondering what that was. It was on all fours and had back legs like those of a large man. It had jet black fur and looked like a very large wolf other than the back legs and the human-like rump. There was no tail. The profile of the head and snout were that of a wolf. It didn't make a sound.

I made it to the lake and drove back home in the same direction on Sunday.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Dogman reports in Michigan and Wisconsin. In fact, there have been a few similar sightings in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Here is Rhonda's account:

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - Last fall, my son and I were driving on US-41/M-28 towards Three Lakes in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (where I live). The beast ran across the highway near Tioga Creek. I had not heard of this before reading Phantoms and Monsters, but this is exactly what we saw. We are familiar with all animals living here. Moose regularly cross in front of drivers, so we watch the sides of the roads carefully. We were very puzzled and thought it might be some mutant wolf and could not figure out what we witnessed. It ran fairly fast about 50 feet in front of our truck. It was so strange because the front of it was much higher up than the back, larger than a wolf. Very strange to see it on your website.

NOTE: I contacted the witness and asked for any further detail of the sighting. This is what I received:

It did not look exactly like the video or drawings I saw, but VERY close. The side view shape of the animal was almost like an ape shape, with the front legs longer than the back legs which made it run funny. It ran like a bear runs, with the exception of the back legs being shorter if you can picture that. The front, from the angle I saw, looked like it must of had a wide chest. The head appeared wolf-like, but it definitely was NOT a wolf. The color was brown and black mixed. The hair seemed med-long, like a wolf, and I remember thinking it might of had mange, must of had patches of hair missing.

I was telling my son, who is 13, about what I had found on your site and asked him what he remembered. He gave the same description, how very strange and out of place it was. He said that this spring he saw the same type of thing on a logging road near our house (I do remember him telling me that at that time) and it was the same thing. He was riding his dirt bike (we live in an extremely remote area) and it ran across the trail. I know where he is talking about because I pick berries there and do get a weird feeling like something is watching me. A neighbor told me that area is "Bigfoot Central", which I did not know or believe. But after doing further research today, there are a lot of reports of strange creatures in this area that go back many, many years.

Who knows what it is, but as long as it's not hurting anything, I hope it is left alone. I am very familiar with the wildlife. I do hunt and know my tracks. I have not seen any strange tracks, but now will really keep my eyes open. Please keep me informed if you get any other reports from my area. Rhonda

NOTE: Here's a link to another similar account in Wisconsin - Wisconsin Dogman Sighting and Strange Encounter in Cheboygan County, Michigan. Approximately two year ago, the infamous Gable Film was proven to be a hoax....but there have been several credible sightings of this cryptid. What are your thoughts? Lon

Just the Facts? - Orange 'Goo' Identified, Undersea Volcano Prediction and UFO Abducts Shark

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 10:48 AM PDT

Orange 'goo' found near remote Alaska village identified

Scientists have identified an orange-colored gunk that appeared along the shore of a remote Alaska village as millions of microscopic eggs filled with fatty droplets.

But the mystery is not quite solved. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday they don't know for sure what species the eggs are, although they believe they are some kind of crustacean eggs or embryos. They also don't know if the eggs are toxic, and that worries many of the 374 residents of Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo community located at the tip of an 8-mile barrier reef on Alaska's northwest coast.

There's been at least one report of dead minnows found in the lagoon of the village the night the eggs appeared last week. Residents also are worried about the community's dwindling reserves in village water tanks even though the orange mass has dissipated from the lagoon and Wulik River, city administrator Janet Mitchell said.

"It seems to be all gone," she said. "But if they're microscopic eggs, who's to say they're not still in the river?"

Scientists also don't know why the unidentified eggs suddenly emerged on the shores of Kivalina last week. Villagers say they've never seen such a phenomenon before.

"We'll probably find some clues, but we'll likely never have a definitive answer on that," NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.

Samples are being sent to a NOAA laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, for further analysis. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation also sent samples Monday to the Institute for Marine Science at the University of Alaska.

Kivalina residents live largely off the land, and many are worried about the effect on some wildlife and plants from the goo, which turned powdery once it dried — and probably went airborne. Mitchell said some people went berry picking over the weekend, but couldn't tell if the goo was on the fruit, called salmonberries, which are the same color of the eggs. The caribou are in the region now, but she doesn't believe the migrating animals pose much risk as a food source.

The eggs were found on at least one roof and in buckets set all over the village to collect rain water. City Councilwoman Frances Douglas said the gooey, slimy substance was widely spread in streaks along the Wulik River and the lagoon, which is a half mile wide and six miles long. Orangey water was reported from as far away as the village of Buckland, southeast of Kivalina.

Douglas estimated the volume of eggs she could see "in excess of a thousand gallons, easily."

The weather last Wednesday, when the bright substance emerged, only intensified the effect, according to Douglas.

"We had an overcast sky, so it really, really stood out," she said. "You couldn't miss it for nothing."

Even village elders don't recall anything like it, said Douglas, who has lived all her 44 years in Kivalina. She remembers temperatures were colder in her childhood, gradually rising over the years. She wonders if that has anything to do with the invasion of the eggs.

"With climate change, anything can happen, I guess," she said.

Speegle called the climate change theory "purely speculative." - msnbc

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Inland Shark Discovery Follows UFO Sightings

by Chris Capps - The idea of discovering out of place animals is nothing new in itself, but after witnesses discovered a shark that had somehow made its way some 50 miles inland from the nearest body of water it may be worth noting that the area has seen an elevated level of UFO activity in the past few weeks. New Hampshire is no stranger to unusual events, but this one just might be the strangest so far. What could have carried a shark 50 miles inland and deposited it in the middle of the New Hampshire Woods?

The macabre discovery was made near Milton when residents came across the unusual smell of the decomposing shark. After informing authorities, the shark was examined by local fish and wildlife authorities to determine if it was a threat to the local environment. Deciding there was nothing overtly dangerous about the corpse and nothing unusual - aside from its peculiar location - it was left where it was found. But when we look at the recent string of UFO sightings in the area the story takes a stranger turn. - continue reading at Inland Shark Discovery Follows UFO Sightings

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Scientists predict eruption of undersea volcano

US scientists said Tuesday they have for the first time successfully predicted the eruption of one of the world's most active undersea volcanoes off the coast of the western state of Oregon.

Scientists from Oregon and New York have been monitoring Axial Seamount, 250 miles (400 kilometers) out to sea, since it last erupted in 1998, and predicted it would again before 2014.

On an expedition to the area on July 29, researchers using a remotely operated robot discovered a lava flow that was not there the year before, and began noticing that the entire area looked unfamiliar.

"When we first arrived on the seafloor, we thought we were in the wrong place, because it looked so completely different," said Bill Chadwick, an Oregon State University geologist who co-authored a 2006 study that forecast another eruption by 2014.

"We couldn't find our markers or monitoring instruments or other distinctive features on the bottom."

The team was using bottom pressure sensors, the same tools used to monitor the sea floor for potential tsunamis after an earthquake. A couple of their recording instruments soon turned up, and scientists determined that the eruption happened on April 6.

The team was excited at the discovery, but cautioned that most volcanoes remain highly volatile.

"Forecasting the eruption of most land volcanoes is normally very difficult at best, and the behavior of most is complex and variable," said Scott Nooner, a geophysicist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

"We now have evidence that Axial Seamount behaves in a more predictable way than many other volcanoes."

Researchers were watching the level of the volcanic crater, or caldera, rise after its last eruption at a rate of about 15 centimeters (six inches) per year as it inflated with accumulating magma, and predicted it would erupt again when it reached its 1998 level.

"The acid test in science -- whether or not you understand a process in nature -- is to try to predict what will happen based on your observations," Chadwick said.

"Now we can build on that knowledge and look to apply it to other undersea volcanoes -- and perhaps even volcanoes on land." - rawstory

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Angolan journalist arrested for reporting on 'mass fainting'

Angolan police arrested radio journalist Adão Tiago for reporting on a bizarre nationwide wave of mass fainting.

Since April, more than 800 people, mostly teenage schoolchildren, have fainted after complaining of sore throats and eyes, shortness of breath and coughs.

Amid news reports of unidentified toxic substances, Angola's interior minister ordered an investigation into the cause. There have been claims that the media is to blame for creating mass hysteria.

Tiago was detained in Luanda over a 29 July report on Radio Ecclesia about the fainting of some 20 students at a local school where he happens to teach English. He was released after 23 hours of questioning.

Mohamed Keita, the Africa advocacy coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said Tiago's arrest of "highlights the Angolan government's obsession with controlling information... instead of focusing on addressing a very serious national crisis." - guardian

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Bongo returns home

It's a monkey miracle — Bongo has been found! An Upper East Side couple grieving over the loss of a stuffed toy monkey they've raised like a son the past decade went bananas with joy on Saturday night after being reunited with their beloved Beanie Baby. "I never gave up hope — I prayed, mediated, and now he's with us again," said Bonni Marcus, 47, who along with boyfriend Jack Zinzi, 58, were devastated after losing Bongo on their way to a restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on August 1.

The 8-inch-tall doll was found on Tuesday by Luis Barreto, 61, an unemployed Park Slope man, who discovered it atop a parking meter. But unaware that it belonged to the couple and had gone missing — and finding it irresistibly cute — Barreto brought it back to his Sterling Place home, where he displayed it on a stereo speaker. Bongo was only reunited with his "parents" after they returned to Flatbush Avenue by Sterling Place on Saturday to hang more fliers pleading for its return, and Zinzi approached Barreto and some other men hanging out on the street and told them about Bongo and the reward.

Barreto realized he had Bongo and headed with the couple back to his pad for an emotional reunion. Marcus, who teaches English as a second language at a Manhattan private school, Rennert Bilingual, said she "felt Bongo's presence" even while approaching the apartment. But she said she had to closely examine the monkey to make sure it was Bongo. She confirmed this through the doll's identifying marks, including a "burn scar" she had accidentally given the stuffed animal five years ago after a lit ash from a cigar she was smoking blew onto it. "I was devastated and gave up smoking after it," she said.

The couple then presented a cash-strapped Barreto the $500 reward they publicly promised for whoever found Bongo — but only after having to beg him to turn the doll over. "I fell in love with Bongo and wanted to keep him," Barreto said. "He looked real to me and is cute." Ultimately, he said he caved in after seeing how heartbroken Marcus was and being promised he could visit the doll. Bongo will also be reunited with his identical Beanie Baby brothers - named Doe, Ray and Me - who Marcus said, "were also suffering."

Ohio Bigfoot Encounter / Other Cryptid News

Posted: 10 Aug 2011 09:57 AM PDT

Unidentified flying objects, little green men, spirits of those who passed away and legends of haunted houses don't interest Marc DeWerth because he's never encountered any of them. What does interest Marc is Bigfoot, because he claims he's seen one and that it was right here in Ohio.

Marc is an Ohio Bigfoot Investigator and is affiliated with the Ohio Bigfoot Organization. Not nearly as elusive as Sasquatch, Marc made an appearance in Fostoria to speak at the Rotary Club about his "time-consuming hobby."

"Bigfoot is about being passionate about it," Marc said.

And he is. While he has had an interest in the creature since he was a teenager, his sighting came in 1997 while hunting for badger dens.

"I always said if I ever saw one, I'd walk right toward it, but if you saw what I saw..." Marc remembered.

Marc said the creature, covered in black fur, paced him as he was walking back to his vehicle. When he saw it, he tried to get a camcorder out to record it, but was unable to get as much evidence as he wanted. However, he did see the creature bump into a branch with its head.

Later, when he returned to the area with some friends, he found the branch by locating the markers he had left to indicate where he saw the creature. The branch was measured at 8 feet 11 inches off the ground.

Because of his background in zoology, Marc said he was interested in the creature for a variety of scientific reasons and decided to contact the Muskingum County Watershed District. To his surprise, the person he spoke with wasn't surprised about Marc's discovery. In fact, the representative claimed there had been numerous sightings in that area within the past 20 years of not only the black creature, but a red-furred one, as well. The reddish creature was assumed to have been a female, according to Marc, due to its smaller size.

"People are seeing stuff and it's stuff you can't explain," Marc said.

Whether a person catches a glimpse of something in a wooded area, sees something cross in front of their vehicle or sees something looking into their window, there is still very little physical evidence.

"Sometimes you start questioning yourself," Marc said.

Marc explained for all the calls and reports he hears, only about 10 percent of them are somewhat legitimate. He believes in Bigfoot without a doubt, but said the 90 percent of the reports that are hoaxes or jokes dilutes the genuine few reports.

While Marc saw the creature in southern Ohio, there has also been a report of a Bigfoot in Fostoria, near Van Buren Road. According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization's web site, a report came in to them from June 1993. Because of the dry weather, according to the report, wildlife came toward town to drink from either the creek or reservoirs.

"From what seemed to come from the creek and reservoirs area was an eerie cry that sounded like a sick cow. This cry so primal and terrifying it made the hair on the back of both of our necks stand strait[sic] up with fear. Instantly the birds were mostly quiet, their singing replaced by the sound of every dog with in a mile radius, barking wildly at the top of its lungs. My father, a veteran hunter of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio had never heard anything like this before in his life. We tried not to think about it and made sure all the doors on our house were locked before driving off to Fremont. Years later now, I am visiting your website and listening to sound clips of Bigfoot. And one made my heart stop, it was the exact same scream we heard so long ago," the report states.

The witness later said there were stories from friends who hunted about the sounds following them through the area and that this sound occurred at approximately 5 or 6 a.m.

The witness and his father were later questioned and the father explained he had heard plenty of outdoor animal noises before in his life, but never one like he heard that morning and certainly none that caused the response this one did from the dogs in the area.

Marc said the creatures are family-oriented, with reports of adults and juveniles, intelligent and very advanced and do not want to be discovered. When asked why no bones of the creatures had been found, Marc explained it was his belief they had been found, just misidentified. Marc showed the group at the Rotary Club various pictures of other evidence and displayed a copy of a lower mandible of a Gigantopithecus, an extinct genus of ape, that some people believe is closely related to the Bigfoot.

As for this area, Marc said Ohio is one of the top sites to have sightings, which shows the creatures are nomadic in nature, considering the sightings across the country which used to be focused in the northwest corner in states such as Washington and Oregon.

"I've had some very weird reports at this part of the state in the winter," Marc said.

The creatures are opportunistic, he said, and with the very rich soil in the area for agriculture and the high deer population, this area is high in food sources for a creature of Bigfoot's size. As for the lack of evidence, however, Marc said it has more to do with the fear of being discovered and possibly harmed.

"The sightings don't last long. It's not like they stand around and 'Let's hold hands,' or something. They're more scared of us than we are of them," Marc said.

For anyone who is concerned about seeing Bigfoot, Marc said that person should not be afraid to come out and talk about it. He said to be prepared if you do see one, though, because it's a shock.

"It's intimidating. Trust me, you better have something to hold onto, because your legs will turn to rubber real quick," Marc said.

Marc also advised not to shoot at the creature, although there are some groups dedicated to hunting it.

"Don't ever be aggressive toward them because they'll be aggressive back," Marc explained.

For anyone who would like more information on the Ohio Bigfoot Organization or on Bigfoot in general, contact the Lorain County Parks District, Columbia Reservation, at 440-236-3254. Marc said there is an upcoming program in September where he will speak. Also, for anyone who may have information on a possible sighting, contact Marc by e-mailing him at madbigfoot@aol.com. - reviewtimes

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Follow Up on a Recent Nessie Sighting

....I have been to Loch Ness and visited their shop to have a chat with them about their experience. Firstly, they said the Inverness Courier article was an accurate enough account of what they had seen. I then asked them if there was a possibility it could have been a boat or some other familiar vessel seen on the loch to which they replied no.

Both witnesses came across as people who thought they had genuinely seen something and were not practical jokers or liars. They also rejected with a sigh the accusations levelled at them by anonymous comments on the Courier website that it was the tourist season and so it was time to put out some lies to boost trade. I quite agree with them, it is a nonsensical and libellous thing to say and unfortunately whenever a sighting is claimed from March onwards, this tired excuse is wheeled out by cynical observers. However, I did buy some stuff in their store and before anyone plays that cynic card, I was intending to buy some food for the drive home and theirs was the most convenient place to stop! - continue reading at Follow Up on a Recent Nessie Sighting

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Yeah...it's a badger

After capturing the attention of thousands worldwide, an Alexandria roadkill mystery could be solved.

Rumors and speculation about mysterious roadkill could end soon after a retired biology professor examined the carcass Tuesday morning.

"I wouldn't be concerned that it's some kind of alien, imported species or anything like that. It has all the characteristics it needs to be a badger," retired Professor Emeritus from the University of Minnesota - Morris, Dave Hoppe said.

The animal with only a few tufts of hair and five long claws on its front paws was found on Highway 86 in Douglas County last week.

After a Wednesday KSAX report, news of the curious creature took off, capturing the imaginations of people worldwide and interest from dozens of media outlets and TV stations. Guesses ranged from a badger, to a skunk, a wolverine, a foreign dog, a wolf, a genetic mutation or even proof of the mythical chupacabra.

The creature was moved to the Glenwood Department of Natural Resources office for further examination and officials soon said they thought it was a badger, but couldn't be positive.

KSAX contacted Hoppe, who designed and taught classes on vertebrate classification while at U.M.M., and visited the Glenwood office Tuesday to examine the carcass and give his expert opinion.

Hoppee measured the size of the animal in relation to its tail, and examined its teeth, claws and legs, and said he's 95 percent sure it's a young badger, but said it's more difficult to know how it got to it's current, hairless condition.

"If you've got some fully formed hair, it's more likely that the rest of the hair was there and fell out, than that just in a few places, a fully formed patch would grow. That's why I like the mange hypothesis," Hoppe said.

Hoppe said the large amount of parasites likely contributed to the animal's hair loss and it's lighter color could be due to extended periods spent in the sun.

"It's probably emaciated. It hasn't had a good meal in a long time. So, I thinks that's part of the misshapen (carcass)."

Hoppe could not rule out deformities or abnormalities with the creature and said it's no surprise that it's gained so much interest.

"We're impressed with the freaks of nature," he said. "I've got a shelf over at UMM that has all kinds of different freaks that people have brought in over the years; a two-headed pig, a two-headed turtle, a snake with no scales ... The interest people have in that which might be abnormal is normal in itself."

D.N.R. officials said they don't have any further plans of examining the carcass, eliminating the likelihood of any D.N.A testing, but that they'll keep part of the jaw bone for future reference. - ksax

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