
Cryptozoology Reports from the Paranormal Database
Cryptozoology tends to be split into two areas of study. The first deals with animals which are classified from fossil evidence, but are currently considered extinct. The classic example of this type is the Thylacine; the creature officially died out in the early twentieth century, though sightings of the Australian animal still occur today. OOP (Out of Place) creatures are also categorised under this heading, such as the hundreds of Alien Big Cats sightings reported in the UK each year.
The second area of research examines creatures for which no tangible evidence exists, but are carried down the ages in the form of folk stories and myths, or the witness reports are too fantastic to be readily accepted. The following list is a collection of both types of report.
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Sea Horse
Location: Gower Peninsula (West Glamorgan) - Waters of Fall Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: This creature possessed a long neck, which was the only part of the beast above the water line, down which a lengthy mane ran. The total length of the monster was estimated to be nine metres. |
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Guardian Griffin
Location: Griffydam (Leicestershire) - Old well
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This mystical beast once set up home at the well and attacked anyone who tried to draw water. A wandering knight fought the creature, killing the part lion, part eagle beast with arrows from afar. |
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Hopping Roo
Location: Guiseley (Yorkshire) - Hollings Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 27 April 1989
Further Comments: Three motorists reported seeing a 1.5 metre tall kangaroo jumping down the road. The creature narrowly missed a car and vanished over a wall. |
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Fox-Headed Creature
Location: Hale (Lancashire) - Rivington Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 30 April 2012, 05:00h
Further Comments: Sue Langham reported seeing a creature around the size of a small dog with a fox-like head and muscular body. The witness said the animal was making the sound of a 'strangled wolf'. Earlier in the month the creature (or something similar) was spotted along Belmont Road. |
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Wild Man
Location: Hangley Cleave (Somerset) - Barrow
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: One man reportedly saw a large hairy creature with pale eyes, which resembled a man. Other sightings have come from a nearby quarry. One theory is that these creatures are the ghosts of Neanderthals. |
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Long Creature
Location: Helensburgh (Argyll and Bute) - Eastern part of the beach, mouth of the Clyde
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: February 1962
Further Comments: Seen as it crossed the beach and vanished into the sea, the creature was said to have a head around a metre in length. Large footprints were left in the sand. A strong unpleasant smell also remained in the air, and the witness's dog was in an 'upset' state after the sighting. |
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Monster Pursuit
Location: Herne Bay (Kent) - Coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Summer 1935
Further Comments: Crowds of holiday makers watched several boats chase a sea serpent across the bay. The creature was said to be brown and yellow in colour, and about twenty feet (six metres) long. It managed to evade and escape the pursuers. |
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Grampus
Location: Highclere (Hampshire) - Church
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A tree in the churchyard was home to a Grampus, a kind of water loving animal like a dolphin. After upsetting the locals (by harassing their teenage daughters), a priest was called in and banished the creature for a thousand years. |
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Wallabies
Location: Highnam (Gloucestershire) - A40
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 23 July 2012
Further Comments: Police warned motorists to watch out for wallabies on the road, after several reports of the small marsupials were made by motorists. |
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Long Sea Monster
Location: Hilston (Yorkshire) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1945
Further Comments: Two sightseers watched a fast moving long creature in the sea here, with a small head and several humps, travelling northwards. |
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Scapasaurus
Location: Holm (Orkney) - Deepdale
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: December 1941
Further Comments: The rotting corpse of a basking shark that washed up on the beach was mistaken as a Scapasaurus or sea monster, killed by depth charges. |
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Boar
Location: Holmrook (Cumbria) - Forest
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Wild boar have been reported living in this area of woodland. |
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Bigfoot
Location: Hopwas (Staffordshire) - Woodland
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 24 January 2015, 19:15h
Further Comments: According to the local press, a man walking his dogs through this woodland encountered a seven foot (2.13 metre) tall hairy biped. The creature walked across the track ahead of the witness and could be heard moving through the undergrowth. |
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Water Horse
Location: Hoy (Orkney) - Pegal Burn
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This creature would attack anyone using the bridge over the burn at night. |
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Water Horse
Location: Hoy (Orkney) - Runsigill Hill, Radwick
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The water horse that lived on the hill would attack people travelling along the road to Longhope. |
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Soft Landing
Location: Hoy (Orkney) - 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. |
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Thick Necked Creature
Location: Hull (Yorkshire) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1927-1930s
Further Comments: While travelling along the coast in heavy fog, the crew of a steamship spotted what they first mistook for a mast jutting out of the water. The 'mast' then moved to the side of the ship, the men realising that it was the neck of a large creature. It then drew a large black body from out the water, then dived and vanished. Sightings of the creature continued for several years. |
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Headless Bird Man
Location: Hythe (Kent) - Sandling Park
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: November 1963
Further Comments: A group of teenagers ran from a creature that emerged from behind a tree and approached them. It was described as man shaped but headless, completely black, had webbed feet, and a pair of large bat wings. Prior to this, they had watched a mysterious light flickering about the sky. |
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Sea Folk
Location: Inchkeith (Fife) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area around the island was said to be home to many mermaids and kelpies. |
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Four Metre Eel
Location: Inchnadamph (Highland) - River in the area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: November 2003
Further Comments: This oversized eel (or eel-like creature) was seen swimming in the river - locals have claimed the creature has been around for the last ten years or so, both here and by Loch Assynt. |
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Coiled Serpent
Location: Instow (Devon) - Water between town and Bideford Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1911
Further Comments: This creature was seemingly disturbed by a passing boat and swam away, revealing rows of black fins that ran down the side of its twenty to thirty metre long body. |
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First Nessie Sighting
Location: Inverness (Highland) - River Ness
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: AD 580
Further Comments: Contrary to popular belief, it was in the River Ness and not Loch Ness that St Columba drove away a water monster which had attacked and killed a local man. When told about the attack, the Saint asked one of his followers to swim across the river to fetch a boat on the opposite bank. As the creature surfaced to eat its latest victim, St Columba made the sign of the cross and the creature fled. |
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Kangaroo
Location: Ipswich (Suffolk) - London Road
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 12 September 2011, around 16:00h
Further Comments: A driver and passenger reported seeing a young kangaroo travelling along a busy Ipswich road. |
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Water Horse
Location: Island of Mull (Argyll and Bute) - Loch Poit na h-I
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This saltwater beastie is said to swim these waters. |
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Resting Creature
Location: Isle of Arran (Ayrshire) - Unknown beach on the island
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: July 1931
Further Comments: This sea monster was observed resting on rocks - it was described as looking like a seal, though it had a parrot-like beak and was bigger than an elephant. |
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