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Sit back and enjoy this special edition of Monster X Radio: Animal Extant, Relict Plesiosaurs with special guest Scott Mardis.

Monster X Radio: Animal Extant is a show about general cryptozoology and possible relict extant species that may still roam among us. Hosted by Mike Richburg and Dorraine Fisher, each episode will explore the possibility of the existence of mysterious unknown creatures and those perhaps thought lost to time. Future episodes will focus on the Mokele Mbembe, The Dogman, Lake Monsters, Megalodon, Giant Birds, Large Melanistic Cats, The Jersey Devil, The Chupacabra, and many more.

Scott Mardis has been an active field investigator of the Lake Champlain “Monster” since 1992. He is a former sustaining member of the defunct International Society of Cryptozoology and a former volunteer worker in the Vertebrate Paleontology Dept. of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences (1990-1992). He co-authored a scientific abstract about the Lake Champlain hydrophone sounds for the Acoustical Society of America in 2010. He currently lives in Bradenton, Florida.

Mike Richburg was born and raised in South Carolina, where he had an encounter with a Swamp Ape in 1978 that had a profound impact on the course of his life. Mike has since been very involved with Cryptozoological Field Investigation, interviewing eyewitnesses and investigating such things as The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp, The Fort Motte Devil, The Dogman, Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, The Rimini Goat Thief, Giant Birds and Snakes, just to name a few. Mike is very much at home in the swamps of the American Southeast, and frequents places few others would. Mike previously was a part of The Big Thicket Watch, and CryptoLogic Radio.

Dorraine Fisher lives in Florida. She is an author, photographer, and team writer and associate for the research group, The Crypto Crew, who's written numerous articles on the subject of cryptozoology.

(The above taken from Monster X Radio.)
Thanks
~Tom~

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


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From the move The Giant Spider

While there are many cryptids I wouldn't mind chasing after, the Congolese giant spider, also just known as Giant Spider, is not one I'm interested in pursuing. Spiders in general make me squirm ...ugh.

The Congolese Giant Spider is a cryptozoological creature that is said to exist in the Congo, possibly representing a new species of arachnid. It is considered a cryptid and only in recent years has received publicity." said Robert B. Durham.

These Giant Spider are described as having a brownish body similar to that of a tarantula, with a legspan of four to six feet. I hope I never get to see one up close. The claim is that younger Giant Spiders have yellow coloring and it turns brown as it matures. I also don't want to see a young one.

While the idea of a large spider with a legspan of 6 feet may seem very far fetched, there has been a number of sightings.

Many sightings have been reported from Africa, especially in the Congo.

1938: Congo: Reginald and Margurite Lloyd were driving a Ford truck through a trail when they reportedly spotted a spider as large as a monkey. It resembled a tarantula, but had an estimated leg-span of 5 feet. Their daughter, Maurgurite Lloyd, would later relate this story in the 1990s to William Gibbons.

William Gibbons is a researcher who researched the Mokele-Mbembe , which is reported a living dinosaur, in the Congo.

1942: Papua, New Guinea: An Australian soldier at the Kokoda Trail said that he encountered a puppy-sized spider inhabiting a 10 to 15 foot sized web. It was described as being black with a bulky body, as well as hairy like a tarantula.

Now, here is a sighting that I don't like, yeah it's fine to have these killers elsewhere but not in the good ol USA. But at least it was a long time ago.


1948: Leesville, Louisiana, United States: William Slaydon and his grandchildren were walking north on Highway 171 to church when he motioned them to stop. After hearing a rustling in the bushes ahead, a spider described as the size of a washtub emerged and crossed the road. One of the grandchildren later told this story to his own son, Todd Partain, director of the documentary film "Eyes In The Dark: The Sasquatch Experience."


2001: Cameroon: Timbo, chief of the Baka tribe in Cameroon, tells William Gibbons that in November 2000 a J'ba Fofi (Giant Spider) had built a nest near their village.


2011: Amazon:  British cinematographer Richard Terry travelled to the Amazon to investigate reports of giant spiders in the June 13th episode of Man v. Monster. At a remote village, he was informed that giant spiders lived in holes deep within the jungle. These spiders measured roughly four feet in diameter.

Now, this next report is much more recent and once again in the United States. Sorry Missouri, I will not be visiting anytime soon.

2013:Missouri: A man named L. Smith spots a giant spider while he was fishing. The j'ba Fofi (Giant Spider) had grabbed his water canteen, then had crawled away very fast. L. Smith said that the incident only lasted a few seconds, and describes what he saw as a large hairy spider with long legs. He also said that it "moved like a spider catching it's prey."

That would be one spot I would never fish at again.

According to Baka natives, these spiders they call J'ba Fofi, build lairs of leaves and spin webs between two trees. They say the giant spiders prey upon birds and other small game. The Baka natives also claim the giant spider is now rare thanks to habitat destruction.

Well, that is one spider that I don't think I will ever try to find. I'll just stick to dumb spider movies where the spider dies in the end.


(source: wikipedia)   


Thanks
~Tom~

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.



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Brosno Dragon - The Brosno Dragon, also known as Brosnya (Russian: Бросня), is the name given to a lake monster which is said to inhabit Lake Brosno, near Andreapol in West Russia. It is described as resembling a dragon or dinosaur, and is the subject of a number of regional legends, some which are said to date back to the 13th century.

Many people treat the existence of Brosnya skeptically and still say that the creature may be a mutant beaver or a giant pike of 100–150 years. Others conjecture that groups of wild boars and elks cross the lake from time to time.

There are some more scientific hypotheses concerning Brosnya. One of them is a gas version saying that when hydrogen sulfide goes up from the lake bottom it makes water boil up; this boiling in its turn resembles a dragon head. But the amount of hydrogen sulfide must be considerable to produce this effect. Other version says that there is a volcano in Lake Brosno that makes ejections on the water surface from time to time. It is well known that there are several fractures at the bottom of the lake, the depth and the direction of the fractures cannot be defined. It is not ruled out that the volcano crater is inside of one of the fractures. This explains why the volcano, if it actually exists, has not been discovered yet. (limnic eruption - A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in which dissolved carbon dioxide (CO₂) suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans.)
 
Fishermen say that the underwater world of Lake Brosno has a structure of several levels. From time to time, burbots and yellow perch can be found in the lake. For example, herring can be found in a lake in Peno District in the Tver Region. Some consider it strange that sea fish may live in the lake at all. Smelt shoals can be found in Lake Brosno as well. The phenomenon of Brosnya can be explained from the physical point of view: huge smelt shoals are reflected on the water surface through refraction of light and produces the effect of a huge reptile head. Physicists say that any mirage appears in hot weather. Indeed, witnesses say that they came across Brosnya in summer. However, the origin of the rumors of this strange monster remain a mystery.
 
Legends
Rumors of a strange, giant creature living in Lake Brosno have existed for several centuries. One legend says that the lake monster scared to death the Tatar-Mongol army that headed for Novgorod in the 13th century. Batu Khan stopped the troops on the sides of Lake Brosno to rest. Horses were allowed to drink water from the lake. However, when the horses ventured down to the lake, a huge roaring creature emerged from the water and started devouring horses and soldiers. The Batu-khan troops were so terrified that they turned back, and Novgorod was saved. Old legends describe an "enormous mouth" devouring fishermen. Chronicles mention a "sand mountain" that appeared on the lake surface from time to time. According to another legend, some Varangians wanted to hide stolen treasure in the lake. When they approached the small island, a dragon came to the surface from the lake and swallowed the island up.

It was rumored in the 18th and 19th centuries that the giant creature emerged on the lake surface in the evening, but immediately submerged when people approached. It is said that during World War II the beast swallowed up a German airplane. Today, there are lots of witnesses who say they chanced to see Brosnya walking in the water. Locals say that it turns boats upside-down and has to do with disappearance of people.

- Source: wikipedia -


This is very a similar story to the Loch Ness Monster and to Mokele-mbembe, but with the Mokele Mbembe we are talking about it being in the Congo. The Congo is largely unexplored and very difficult to traverse.


So do you think the Brosno Dragon is a real creature? if so , what do you think it could be?

Thanks
~Tom~


This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet



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If I described to you a creature that had a 10 foot long neck, a 10 foot long tail and a 30 foot long large round body, what would you guess it to be? I'm sure most of you would say that it was a dinosaur. Well this is what has been described by numerous witnesses for over 100 years.

Deep in central Africa in the Congo there is said to live a dinosaur, the pygmies of the Likouala swamp region call the creature mokele-mbembe, which translated means "One that stops the flow of rivers."

The creature has also been described as having grey to brown skin with no hair and as spending most of it time under the water. The creature is said to sometime travel in search of food or to other near by swamps and rivers, resulting in some of the reported sightings. The locals say that Mokele-Mbembe will over turn boats and kill people by biting them or hitting them with it tail but it is thought that the creature is herbivore, plant eater.

So I'm sure you are asking "where is the evidence?" or "is there any evidence?"  well there is some evidence that we should consider.

First lets consider that sightings have been reported for over 100 years now, with the earliest record dating back to 1776. There has been and continues to be expeditions in the region searching for the creature.
The next evidence we should consider is the odd Tracks. The tracks are described as a rounded shape about 3 foot in diameter having 3 toes with claws and having a stride distance of between 7-8 feet.
Here is a photo of a possible track


Dinosaur track?

There is also some possible video evidence that needs to be considered as well.  In 1992 members of a Japanese film crew allegedly filmed video of Mokele-mbembe. As they were filming aerial footage from a small plane over the area of Lake Tele, intending to obtain some shots for a documentary, they noticed something in the water and shot about 15 seconds of video. Here is a still frame from that video.


But that is not all, there have been many more expeditions into the Congo looking for Mokele-Mbeme, one in 1992 by William Gibbons produced 2 photos of unidentified objects in the water. Gibbons claimed one was the head of the creature.

Many experts have looked into the tales of Mokele-Mbeme and those who did not just dismiss it as folklore, stated it could be a sauropod dinosaur. When locals were shown a picture of a sauropod dinosaur they said that picture is of Mokele-mbembe.

Even, Ivan T. Sanderson, The man who coined of the word cryptozoology, Saw what he said and wrote to be the Mokele-Mbeme. Sanderson seen the creature dive back into the water and he stated that it's head was as large as a hippo.

So could it be possible that a dinosaur or group of dinosaurs are still living?  But before you make up your mind completely consider that it is estimated that about 80 percent of the Congo remains unexplored.
So maybe there will be a real Jurassic Park someday, and talking about movies, the movie Baby: Secret of the lost legend, starring William Katt, was based on sighting reports of the Mokele-Mbeme.

Thanks
~Tom~


[Sources: Wikipedia, mokelembembe]
[sauropod Photo: oakdome]



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