The Paranormal Database

Black Eagle

Location: Isle of Skye (Highland) - Exact area not known
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: Scottish chronicler Martin Martin wrote about a black eagle that hunted deer. The eagle was not the largest bird in the area but would bring deer down by grasping their antlers and flapping its wings in front of its prey's eyes. The confused deer would then injure itself, allowing the eagle to feast on the prone animal.

Cro Sith

Location: Isle of Skye (Highland) - General area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After attempting to round up Cro sith, fairy cows that normally live under the sea, a farmer was found dead after the fairy herdsman turned up and reclaimed his cattle, leaving only the trampled body of the farmer behind. Another cryptid that has made its home on Skye is the Biasd na Srogaig, a large creature that lives in lochs, possesses a single horn emerging from its forehead, and has long legs.

Rotating Light

Location: Isle of Skye (Highland) - Loch Brittle
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1910s
Further Comments: This creature, which sounds very much like a bizarre submarine, possessed a long 'neck' that had a shining light from the top, which turned from side to side.

Great Auk Returns

Location: Isle of Skye (Highland) - Not known
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1850s
Further Comments: Years after shooting a mystery water bird, a hunter said the creature may have been a Great Auk. If correct, this is certainly the last sighting of a Great Auk, decades after it was declared extinct.

An old photograph of the Isle of Skye.

Fillan

Location: Isle of Skye (Outer Hebrides) - No exact location documented
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1690
Further Comments: Martin Martin documented a small worm that lived between the flesh and skin, known as either a Fiollan or Fillan. It was about 2.5 centimetres in length, as wide as a goose quill, and it had little legs either side of the body that enabled it to crawl around under the skin. Once there, it would cause tumours and abscesses.

Heavy Breather

Location: Isle of Soay, Skye (Highland) - Sea around the island
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 13 September 1959
Further Comments: While fishing off the coast of the island, two fishermen reported coming across a large reptilian creature, the size of a cow, though it appeared much larger beneath the water level. The witnesses were so close they could quite clearly hear the creature breathing.

Halibut-Tailed creature

Location: Isle of Yell (Shetland) - Thirty miles off the coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1833
Further Comments: Three (or six) fishermen claimed to have caught a ninety centimetre long mermaid while at sea. The creature had arms around 23 centimetres in length with webbed fingers, and while it had blue eyes and nostrils, no ears or chin could be seen. It possessed a tail similar to a halibut and had two fins on its shoulders. After listening to the creature wail for three hours, the fishermen threw it back into the sea.

Sea Monster

Location: Isles of Scilly (Cornwall) - 30 miles NNW of islands
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 11 August 1976
Further Comments: Travelling to Kinsale (Co Cork) in his sloop, Patrick Dolan spotted a worm-like creature, some twelve metres long, with a two metre neck lifted above the water. The creature remained visible for 20 minutes.

Transforming Water Horse

Location: Keoldale (Highland) - Loch Meadaidh (Referred to as Loch Meudaidh)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A woman managed to escape a water horse which had taken the form of an attractive man after spotting sand in his hair. Looking back as she ran, the woman could see the furious creature tearing up the earth. At least one batch of cut peat remained uncollected after a rumour began that the water horse had returned to the area.

The sea off Kessingland, Suffolk.

Long Beast

Location: Kessingland (Suffolk) - Off coast
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: July 1912, and 1978
Further Comments: A sea monster, sixty foot in length with thirty 'blobs' running along its back, has been seen three times during the twentieth century. The first sighting was documented by the daughter of author H. Rider Haggard, which she described in a letter to her father on 20 July 1912. The most recent sighting occurred in 1978. It has been speculated that the creature was a procession of seals leaping in and out of the sea.

Bassie

Location: Keswick (Cumbria) - Bassenthwaite Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1961
Further Comments: A humped creature between twelve and thirteen feet (3.7 - 4 metres) long, with a head like a python featured in a couple of newspaper reports. This sighting should not be confused with reports of 'Eachy', a known hoax attached to the lake in 2006.

Mermaid?

Location: Kilconly Point (County Kerry) - Sea
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1960-1962
Further Comments: A mermaid which was spotted several times in this area was described as a 'normal' woman, leading one to conclude that maybe she was..?

Old postcard showing the coast of Kilkee, Ireland.

Beast with Horse's Head

Location: Kilkee (County Clare) - Off coast and near location known as Diamond Rocks
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1850 and September 1871
Further Comments: A sea monster spotted several times during the nineteenth century was reported to have a head like a horse, a mane of seaweed, and a large body which was hidden under the water.

Bruckee

Location: Kilkishen (County Clare) - Shandangan Lough
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: A demonic badger known as a Bruckee was said to live in this area. One witness who claimed to have observed the creature said it was hairy, brown and had eyes the size of turnips.

An old photograph of the lakes at Killarney.

Pale Eel-Thing

Location: Killarney (County Kerry) - Upper Lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 16 September 2009
Further Comments: Cryptozoologist Jonathan Downes and his wife spotted a nine-foot (2.74 metre) long, pale eel-like creature swimming in these waters. One piece of folklore says the fairy queen of Kerry created the lake to punish a former lover.

Bloodied mermaid

Location: Killone Lake (County Clare) - Waters of the lake
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Every forty years, exact date unknown
Further Comments: A mermaid who frequented the lake would often steal wine from the crypt beneath the church (or the cellar of Newhall, depending on the storyteller). She was stabbed (or shot) when caught but managed to drag herself back to the lake before dying. The waters are said to turn red with her blood every forty years.

Photographed Monster

Location: Killykeen (County Cavan) - Lough Erne waterway
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 1999
Further Comments: After brushing against a swimmer, the creature thought to lurk in this lough was accidently photographed by local man Sean Walsh. The beast has been described as over two metres long with a spiky head. Others have speculated the creature is not a monster but a Wells catfish or a pike.

Slain Creature

Location: Kilmoluaig (aka Kilmoluag), Tiree (Argyll and Bute) - Loch Bhasabol and farm (no longer standing)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A water horse which took the form of a man was killed by the brothers of a woman who it tried to court.

The lough ran red with blood.

Mistaken Horse

Location: Kiltubrid (County Leitrim) - Lough Caogh (aka Blind Lake)
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A lad working on the fields near the lough spotted a stray pony and tied it to his harrow (a large rake). Unbeknown to the boy, the pony was in fact a water horse - the creature bolted to the lough, taking the lad with him. The lad's screams brought people running to the area, but it was too late - the lough was red with the boy's blood.

Ape-like Bear

Location: Kings Nympton (Devon) - Woods near the village
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1978
Further Comments: A party of three boys out exploring came across a large creature with green eyes, like those of a cat. Its body resembled a bear, though it stood upright like an ape.

The Thing of Delamere

Location: Kingsley (Cheshire) - Delamere Forest
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1974
Further Comments: Many locals reported a dog-like creature in the forest here, standing sixty centimetres tall. While the beast was described as having a tail like a fox, it looked more like an Alsatian dog.

Mermaid

Location: Kinlochbervie (Highland) - Craigmore
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century (or 1900?)
Further Comments: A report exists of a seven foot long mer-creature being seen here, bathing on the rocks.

Black Fish

Location: Kirkcaldy (Fife) - Harbour area
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: September 1874
Further Comments: A ship managed to bring a strange black fish to shore. The fish measured seven foot (2.1 metres) in length, half of which was a horned head with a mouth filled with sharp teeth. When the side of the fish was pieced, several flounders escaped. The black fish was set free.

Not a Seal

Location: Kirkwall (Orkney) - Inganess Bay
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1904 / 1905
Further Comments: Two children out picking whelks were shocked when they encountered a mystery sea creature at the water's edge. They described it as being black in colour and far bigger than a seal.

Long Necked Creature

Location: Kyle of Lochalsh (Highland) - Water separating Skye to mainland
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 1893
Further Comments: A married couple in their yacht encountered a serpent with a neck as tall as their boat's mast. It moved towards them, but slowly sunk beneath the water before it came too close.