a blog post about fortean fiction

http://forteanzoology.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/just-note-on-fortean-fiction.html

breakthrough to Lake Whillans

Drill reaches Antarctica's under-ice Lake Whillans

By Jonathan Amos

An American attempt to bore down into Lake Whillans, a body of water buried almost 1km under the Antarctic ice, has achieved its aim. Scientists reported on Sunday that sensors on their drill system had noted a change in pressure, indicating contact had been made with the lake.A camera was then sent down to verify the breakthrough. The Whillans project is one of a number of such ventures trying to investigate Antarctica's buried lakes.

Read rest here :http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21231380

So exciting .I wonder what they will find.

Loren Coleman Blog

Loren Coleman has now stopped writing for Cryptomundo and is concentrating on his own blog here:
http://www.cryptozoonews.com/
Good luck with it  Loren. I am sure there will be lots of interesting stuff coming up.

 Cryptomundo will still be online as usual I presume.http://www.cryptomundo.com/
 Lots of choice for everyone to read can only be a good thing.

bigfoot sightings in UK and Alaska

PICTURED: Do these footprints belong to the Tunbridge Wells Bigfoot?

The unusually large prints were discovered just outside of High Woods, between Tunbridge Wells and Pembury, at the weekend.Sent in to us by a reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, it was speculated they could have come from the eight-foot tall Kentish Apeman.

see pics here :http://www.tunbridgewellspeople.co.uk/PICTURED-footprints-belong-Tunbridge-Wells/story-17985678-detail/story.html

Another Alaska Bigfoot sighting?

Looks like the legendary "Alaska Bushman" is at it again. According to the Delta Discovery, a family out egg hunting in the spring of 2012 have come forward to say that they may have seen the elusive Bigfoot during the trip.The family, unnamed in the story and from the small village of Kasigluk, described the creature as large, dark and hairy, and its arms hung to below its knees. At first, they said, they thought it was another person returning from egg hunting.

Read rest here :http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/another-alaska-bigfoot-sighting

In the news bigfoot sighting, komodo dragon attacks and naming all species before extinction

Legendary Bigfoot sighted near Kasigluk

By K J Lincoln

Read the story here :http://www.deltadiscovery.com/story/2013/01/23/in-our-native-land/legendary-bigfoot-sighted-near-kasigluk/817.html

The Most Infamous Komodo Dragon Attacks of the Past 10 Years
Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/01/the-most-infamous-komodo-dragon-attacks-of-the-past-10-years/#ixzz2IyrqmMJG

World’s unknown species ‘can be named’ before they go extinct

By Melissa Hogenboom BBC News

Most of the world's plant and animal species could be named before they go extinct, say researchers.Writing in the journal Science, the researchers said it could be achieved this century.This is largely a result of an increase in taxonomists - the people who describe species new to science.The scientists acknowledge that although there is an extinction crisis, they say the rates are lower than previously thought.Discovering and naming the world's species is critical for their conservation and can be done with only a modest increase in effort, the researchers stated.But they also recognised it will be difficult to maintain a high rate of discovery as it becomes harder to find rare species.Previous overestimates of the number of species - some as high as 100 million, led some in the scientific community to believe that it would be impossible to name all the world's species before they go extinct.

Read rest here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21162197

Wonder if that includes cryptids ? 

Follow up on the British Bigfoot and giant Manta Rays.

Remember the reports of the British bigfoot Sightings? See below if not

Bigfoot-like creature spotted in Tunbridge Wells

Forget the Beast of Bodmin and say hello to the Kentish Apeman.

By Richard Alleyne 22 Nov 2012

Residents of the upmarket Royal Tunbridge Wells claim they have a giant ape-like beast running around the nearby countryside. The 8ft creature, said to have "demonic" red eyes and long arms, was spotted by a walker in the woods beside the town's common. The man told the Sun he ran off after the beast roared at him. The “sighting” is one of several in the last six months, and locals are split as to whether it is the "real thing" or a prankster in fancy dress. According to community website Tunbridge Wells People, the Kentish Apeman was first seen on the 200-acre common 70 years ago during World War Two. Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9695107/Bigfoot-like-creature-spotted-in-Tunbridge-Wells.html

Now there is a follow up :
Tunbridge Wells Bigfoot: Londoners come to town to search for mythical monster.
Read more here :http://www.tunbridgewellspeople.co.uk/Tunbridge-Wells-Bigfoot-Londoners-come-town/story-17938846-detail/story.html


For those who like giant fish enjoy this:
In Pictures: Monitoring the world's largest manta rays
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21161721

A recap on the Almasty

In view of  the expeditions and interest lately in looking  for the Russian bigfoot  I thought I would recap some of the history of the sightings.

 Almasty or Almas, is apparently Mongolian for 'wild man', and is presumed to be a hominid which lives in the Caucasus and Pamir Mountains of central Asia, and also the Altai Mountains of southern Mongolia

The Almastys (Almasties?) are like humans in that they  they have 2 arms and 2 legs , except that they are covered with hair.

 "The hair is like that of a bear, and dark. I always saw them without clothing . . . they do not know how to speak; they only mumble or bellow. They are not afraid of people, only of dogs. They run very fast." That is how 67-year-old Koumykov Feitsa, from the village of Kurkujm, deep in the Caucasus Mountains, described the Almastys he used to see as a youth in the 1930s.

Sightings have been recorded in writing as far back as the 15th century. In 1430, Hans Schildtberger recorded his personal observation of these creatures in the journal of his trip to Mongolia as a prisoner of the Mongol Khan. There is the story of Zana, said to have been a female Almasty who allegedly lived in the isolated mountain village of T'khina, fifty miles from Sukhumi in the Caucasus Mountains. Captured in the mountains in 1850, she was at first aggressive towards her captors; but very soon became domesticated and was supposedly even able to assist with simple household chores.  

Nikolai Przhevalsky was said to have observed the animals in Mongolia in 1871 .

A reported encounter with a male Almasty in 1941, shortly after the German invasion of what was then the USSR. According to the story, a creature somewhat similar to Zana was found in the Caucasus Mountains region by a detachment of the Red Army under the control of a Lt. Col. Vargen Karapetyan. According to Karapetyan, the beast was very human-like, but was covered in fine, dark hair. Interrogation revealed the creature’s apparent inability to speak. The creature was later killed.

British anthropologist Myra Shackley wrote about Ivan Ivlov's 1963 observation of a whole family of Almas. Ivlov, a pediatrician, decided to interview some of the Mongolian children who were his patients, and discovered that many of them had also seen Almas.

 Russian researcher Alexei Sitnikov and his team reported an encounter that took place in 1993, on the journey to Lake Tonee.

On February 26th, 2003, the Russian journal Itogi (Balances) published an extensive article with the title 'The Soviet 'Snowman'.The authors reported that in 1986 Leonid Yershov, had found "Snowman" hairs in the Lovozero region on the Kola peninsular in an expected 'Snowman' bed. The hairs were handed over to the Murmansk Office of Forensic Medicine and the "complex analyse" came to the conclusion that the hairs came not from any known mammal from the region but from a vegetarian creature. 

Some say they are simply wild humans who have adapted to living in caves and keeping themselves to themselves.So the mystery continues. Are Almasty a relic hominid or an ape, or simply people who chose to live wild ? All are theories that have been put forward over the years. Maybe the next expedition will find some truth.

Is this bigfoot calling?

Bigfoot or animals? Strange sounds coming from swamp on Umatilla Indian Reservation (listen)

By Richard Cockle, The Oregonian

PENDLETON -- Baby foxes or Bigfoot?

The eerie late-night serenades began in November and emanate from a brushy swamp on the Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton. The cries range from high-pitched screams to basso profundo roars."It's causing an uproar around here," said Sylvia Minthorn, who lives in a tribal housing unit near the swamp, where she used to play as a child. She's seen grown men's hair stand on end when the shrieks commence.

Read rest and listen to sounds here: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/01/strange_sounds_coming_from_a_s.html