Cryptid Creatures: The Two Different Kinds – Part-2

Part-1 of this article began as follows: “Just recently I was asked: which cryptid creatures do I believe are supernatural in nature, and which ones do I think are animals that we have yet to classify, but that are nothing but flesh and blood creatures? It’s a good and important question. There is no doubt at all that there are two types of cryptid in our midst. With that said, let’s first take a look at these distinctly different creatures.” There ends the extract from part-1. It was focused on animals that I fully believe exist, but that have nothing to do with the world of the paranormal, such as the Texas Chupacabra, Orang Pendek (a small ape seen in Sumatra), the Yeren (China’s equivalent of the Yeti), and Megalania, a large, presumed extinct, monitor lizard encountered in Australia. Now, though, I’m going to share with you some of the strange cryptids that I do believe have supernatural aspects attached to them.

I’ll begin with those controversial Dogmen that never seem to go away. Take a look at a drawing of the animals and the first thing you’ll think of is a werewolf. Except, there is barely a Dogman case on record which involves someone shape-shifting into such a creature (not that such a thing is possible anyway). Almost exclusively, the Dogmen (and, we presume, the Dogwomen, too) appear to be nothing less than some kind of upright wolf. That would be enough to raise the eyebrows of most people. But, what happens when – as you study the cases – you stumble on a very curious trend: the Dogmen are seen at sacred sites, such as ancient mounds. They turn up at crossroads and old bridges. Cemeteries, too. These are all locations traditionally tied to paranormal activity and supernatural entities. In my mind, the Dogmen are definitively supernatural in nature. Now, let’s take a look at Mothman.

For many researchers, the Mothman is perceived as being a creature of purely cryptozoological proportions. Others take the view that the Mothman was (and, perhaps, still is) something of a definitively supernatural nature. But, to get back to the matter of that question put to me, let’s see what the evidence, testimony and data provides. But, first a bit of background on the weird winged-thing is required. There can be few people reading this who have not at least heard of the legendary Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, who so terrorized the town and the surrounding area between November 1966 and December 1967, and whose diabolical exploits were chronicled in the 2002 hit Hollywood movie starring Richard Gere: The Mothman Prophecies, so named after the book of the same title written by Mothman authority John Keel.

As history has shown, when the Mothman was seen in Point Pleasant so were the creepy Men in Black. Not the MIB of the type that Hollywood gave us, but those pale, skinny, bulging-eyed “things” that are clearly supernatural in origin. Poltergeist activity was reported in Point Pleasant homes. Strange Women in Black surfaced and terrorized the locals. And it all culminated in the collapse of Point Pleasant’s Silver Bridge in December 1967, and that resulted in the deaths of dozens of people who unfortunately were unable to get off the bridge before it fell into the waters of the Ohio River. When I put all of these issues together it makes me conclude that Mothman is, without doubt, something supernatural. Now, let us take a look at yet another famous monster (or monsters): Nessie of Loch Ness, Scotland.

For centuries, the monsters of Loch Ness have been plaguing the people of Loch Ness. That much is made clear by the tales of the kelpies of Loch Ness. It’s important to note that not a solitary soul believed them to have been regular, albeit unknown, animals. Indeed, the unanimous conclusion was that the kelpies were deadly, paranormal monsters that had the ability to alter their physical appearances. Such theories, and fears, extended right up until the final years of the 19^th century – and made a resurgence decades later, largely thanks to the work of Nessie chaser Ted Holiday. And still on the issue of the final years of the 1800s, there is the not insignificant fact that none other than the “Great Beast” Aleister Crowley lived at Loch Ness’ Boleskine House. That Crowley – deliberately, inadvertently, or a bit of both – conjured up infernal, supernatural entities and helped create an air of malignant menace at the loch, cannot be denied and cannot be without relevance.

Something else which cannot be denied is the fact that when the term “Loch Ness Monster” was created in the 1930s, it prompted a multitude of reports that described the Nessies in wildly varying ways. Arthur Grant encountered a monster with distinct flippers and a long neck. Hugh Gray’s famous photo shows a creature that pretty much lacks any kind of neck; as for its head it’s beak-like. Lieutenant McP Fordyce’s monster had long legs (rather than flippers), walked on the land, and was somewhat hairy, rather than dark and serpent-like. Add to that the tusked and frog-like Nessies of earlier years and what we have is a modern incarnation of the old kelpie – a creature that could morph into multiple forms. The implication is obvious: the shapeshifting kelpies of old never really went away. They were merely upgraded for new generations and given a new name: Nessie.

from Mysterious Universe https://ift.tt/2Wjt4Yd