Mermaids

Location: Deerness - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: These women of the water were seen dozens of times during the last twenty years of the nineteenth century.

Vanishing Twitchers

Location: Eynhallow - Exact location unknown
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 14 July 1990
Further Comments: Two birdwatchers that vanished without trace on the island after arriving with 86 other people were thought by locals to have been taken by merfolk. An extensive search by the coastguard could find no trace of the missing people.

Bleeding Ears

Location: Eynhallow - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Another local legend says that the ears of corn which grow here bleed if cut after dusk.

White Horse of Clumly

Location: Hestwall - Clumly Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Stormy nights
Further Comments: Both horse and rider were killed in an accident as they galloped back home, the rider having just disposed of a body. Now the pair only appear when the environment is right.

Angry Little Men

Location: Hoy - Cliff top at Torness
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 1940's
Further Comments: Seen by a witness throwing themselves off the cliff edge in a mad dance, the witness said that these small men looked 'primitive', with long dark hair.

Disappearing Collie

Location: Hoy - Former lodge of Melsetter House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970
Further Comments: This phantom dog slowly disappeared as it approached the witness down a corridor in their holiday home.

Soft Landing

Location: Hoy - Scapa Flow
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Attack in 1850s, diver sighting unknown
Further Comments: A young lad sitting on the rocks claimed he was attacked by a sea monster with a horse's mane - it tried (unsuccessfully) to clamp its teeth around his legs. Many years later, a diver reported descending to investigate a sunken German ship, only to realise he was standing on the back of a large sea monster that had made its home in the wreak.

Island Covered in Buildings

Location: Isle of Sanday - Off coast of island, in sky
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1840, 1857
Further Comments: This island, covered in fantastic white buildings, has appeared twice in the sky just off the coast. On one instance it remained viable for most of the day. Some people believe it to be the Fairy Isle, while others say it was a mirage of a part of Norway.

Tailed Sphere

Location: Kirkwall - Northwest of Kirkwall
Type: UFO
Date / Time: 25 January 1985
Further Comments: The Kirkwall coastguard reported a very bright spherical object with a tail, moving north west to the south east. The object then split in two. The Aberdeen coastguard reported seeing the same or similar two objects a little later on.

Hogboy

Location: Maeshowe - Area around the cairn
Type: Other
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century
Further Comments: Hogboy was the name of a hogboon, a dark and moody family spirit which lived in the cairns and became upset if milk was not offered to them after a birth or marriage in a family. This particular hogboon was blamed for several deaths of people and animal on a nearby farm, after the farmer ploughed up a burial mound.

Whale like Creature

Location: North of Island - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1537
Further Comments: Fishermen reported a whale with characteristics of a boar in the sea in this area.

Swelkie

Location: Pentland Firth - Swelkie Point
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Story date unknown - possibly Viking?
Further Comments: The whirlpool that forms here is thought to be created by the turning of a mill stone to grind salt, ensuring the sea remains salty. Some say the wheel is turned by a sea witch, while others name the grinders as Fenia and Menia, two local giants.

Dog Faced Beast

Location: Pentland Firth - Waters of
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1919 / 1920s
Further Comments: The body of water was home to a sea creature with a long thick neck and a small head similar to that of a dog. It swam under one witness's boat.

Tall Creature

Location: Pentland Skerries - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1937
Further Comments: Observed by a lone lighthouse keeper, this sea monster was seen to rise almost ten metres clear of the waves. A smaller creature had been seen fifteen years earlier by a fishing boat crew and a holiday maker.

Candle Light

Location: Pierowall - Noltland Castle
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to birth or death in family
Further Comments: Once owned by the Balfour family, a ghostly light flickering at the castle window still shines when a birth or death occurs in the family. Deaths are also announced by the howls of a shuck-like creature, while the ghost of a creature with enormous strength stalks the ruins. This paranormally busy castle was also home to a helpful brownie named Broonie who ensured boats remained safe during storms.

Scaly Horse

Location: Shapinsay - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1902
Further Comments: A creature with the body of a horse was observed by several fishermen, who reported it had scales like a fish, and a spotted effect over its body.

Glowing Lights

Location: Skara Brae - Pictish village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: No one ever went close enough to discover whether the lights that darted over the area were ghostly torches or will o' the wisps.

Camel Headed Creature

Location: Skerries of Work - Sea in the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1910
Further Comments: The arrival of this creature was introduced by a school of whales leaping from the water and fleeing the area. The head and neck of the sea monster reached out of the water at the height of a small sail boat.

The Stronsa Beast

Location: Stronsay - Beach
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1808
Further Comments: This grey, seventeen metre long creature was first seen floating dead in the sea, before a storm washed it on the beach. It reportedly possessed six legs, and had a mane along its back and tail. Another storm which hit the island soon after the discovery destroyed the corpse. The creature was finally declared to be a rotting basking shark carcass, though the body was five metres longer than the largest basking shark ever recorded.

Red Water

Location: Westray Papa - St Tredwell's Loch
Type: Other
Date / Time: Prior to royal event
Further Comments: The waters of the loch are said to turn red just prior to news that will greatly affect the royal family.

Troll Home

Location: Whaness - Dwarfie Stane
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: This stone, thrown into location by an angry giant, became the home of a passing troll.