Conrad Bauer - Paranormal Creatures Investigating Cryptozoology

Paranormal Creatures

Investigating Cryptozoology

Conrad Bauer

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Every culture on earth has its own tales of the paranormal. While many are stories of ghosts and supernatural events, the existence of paranormal creatures is an idea which has also spread to almost every culture. With such a vast array of differences in the world of flora and fauna, the myriad of potentially mystical creatures created by our ancestors has passed down to us. Now, we find ourselves familiar with everything from werewolves to the Tasmanian tiger. Some of these animals are flights of fancy, others are real species which have been driven to extinction. But all over the world, you will find people who are certain that they continue to exist.

In this book, we will be travelling the world and searching for the truth behind some of the planets strangest, deadliest, and most fascinating paranormal creatures. In fact, there is a whole branch of science dedicated to the pursuit. It is named cryptozoology. The goal of cryptozoology is to peel back the curtain and discover the truth about the myths, legends, stories, and even hoaxes that exist around the world. For anyone intrigued by the natural world and the human psyche, these creatures provide a captivating history of human culture and how it differs across the planet.

From the Loch Ness Monster to the giant anaconda, there have always been rumours of something strange and deadly lurking beneath the surface of our knowledge of the natural world. Could it be possible that we have missed some of the worlds strangest creatures despite them existing right in front of us? Are all of the stories simply myths and elaborate hoaxes? Is there a grain of truth to even the most outlandish stories? Read on to discover the reality behind some of the planets strangest paranormal creatures .

One of the first questions you might have is what exactly is cryptozoology? Etymologically speaking, the word derives from Greek, translating to the study of hidden animals. But its not just the animals that lurk in the difficult-to-find places that the field concerns itself with. Instead, it is fascinated by those creatures which lurk on the edge of reality. The creatures involved often referred to as cryptids - can range from animals which are considered extinct but might have survived, all the way through to the creatures of myth and legend. As well as the cryptids more grounded in reality, we can also count those who are passed down in the form of stories and tales. It can even include those animals who are known to exist, but are documented in locations far from their usual homes, such as the folkloric big cats which lurk the English countryside. Cryptozoology exists on the fringes of science, where the paranormal crashes headlong into reality. Because of this, many traditional zoologists refuse to recognise it as a legitimate science. Due to the fleeting nature of the evidence involved, we often have to rely on anecdotes, stories, and recollections to piece together anything close to the truth.

We can trace the modern version of cryptozoology back to Bernard Heuvelmans, a Belgian naturalist working in the mid-twentieth century. Heuvelmans wrote a book detailing his search for unknown animals, tracing his own interest in the subject back to a nineteenth century scientist called Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans who spent time searching for sea serpents. According to Heuvelmans, the discipline should be undertaken with a strict adherence to scientific standards, despite the difficulty in obtaining evidence on these hard-to-find animals. But with this rigour, it was important to combine a willingness to explore new possibilities, to track down the nuggets of truth in millennia of folklore. This meant that paranormal animals such as the Wendingo should be treated with the same approach as the kelpie. If we are to discover the truth that lurks behind such creatures, the search to discover the reality behind the legend is not something to be scoffed at by the traditional sciences.

Ever since the fifties, the concept of cryptozoology has become more and more ingrained in the publics minds. In addition to the growth of technology that has allowed us to investigate cryptids and paranormal activity, the explosion in international communication and the ease of access when it comes to all sorts of anthropological information means that we can compare and contrast cryptids from around the world. We can see that stories such as the Himalayan Yeti bear a great deal of resemblance to the Sasquatch of North America. Where these myths, legends, and accounts of the paranormal intersect, we can often find the grain of truth which is so essential to cryptozoology.

There are examples of animals which we had previously thought to be mere legends which have since been documented. Of all the examples, one of the best is the okapi. Before the European colonisation of Africa and before Western explorers moved into the continent to document everything they saw in the name of science, there had been rumours of an antelope which lived in the forests, an antelope with the markings of a zebra. It was dismissed as legend for many centuries until it was finally documented extensively by Henry Morton Stanley during an exploration of the Congo. After it became a confirmed new species, the okapi became the recognised symbol of the group known as the International Society of Cryptozoology. A similar tale exists about the Komodo dragon, a creature many thought to be a folkloric giant lizard. The mountain gorilla, too, was initially dismissed as being a flight of fancy. But investigation and documentation by interested parties eventually led us to discover the truth behind the legends. Finding this truth is one of the essential tenets of cryptozoology.

But that is not to say that cryptozoology is not without its critics. Due to the very nature of the subject matter, there is an increased need to rely on evidence of a dubious quality, evidence of a standard that would be rejected by most scientific disciplines. There is a determination by some of those involved in the field to pursue interests in creatures that many other scientists are sure do not exist. Because of this willingness to believe in the figures of myth and legends, many in the field open themselves up to an increased amount of influence from hoaxes and mistruths. While the majority of scientists are certain that we as humans are far from having documented every single species, they remain sure that the existence of larger undiscovered species is harder to believe. Many smaller species of beetle, for example, are discovered every year. But the potential for something as large as the Loch Ness Monster to have remained undetected for all these years is slim.