April 13, 2007

1977: Year Of The Creature

After I posted this morning’s blog “Flashback: Thirty Year Ago – South Dakota Bigfoot,”” about a Bigfoot flap taking place in 1977, Scott Maruna at The Anomalist commented: “Come to think of it, there were a lot of flaps going on that year.”

Indeed, there were.

Dover Demon

The anniversary of the Dover Demon sightings (April 21-22, 1977) is rapidly approaching. On April 21, 2007, I’ll be a guest on the “Dover Demon” 30th Anniversary Special (“Dover Demon” is a chapter in Mysterious America), from 10 pm to Midnight, on the Eastern Spooky Southeast broadcast, on WBSM-AM, 1420 AM, New Bedford, Massachusetts. Later in the year, I’ll be giving a “Dover Demon” illustrated presentation at the “Mass Monster Mash” in Massachusetts in October 2007.

The March 2007 issue of TAPS Magazine (see ad to the right) has an update article about the Dover Demon and a companion “Coleman’s CryptoCorner” article with my top ten choices for the cryptids reported during 1977.

That year had, besides the Dover Demon, a series of livestock killings by a mysterious Black Panther in Ohio (beginning April 25, 1977), and the Lawndale Big Bird near-abduction (July 25, 1977) in Logan County, Illinois. Bizarre beast encounters took place so often thirty years ago, 1977 became known as the "Year of the Creature" because there were so many Bigfoot and other creature sightings occurring, especially in the Midwest.

As I mention in the TAPS article, “Year of the Creature” was coined by David Fideler, then the editor of The Anomaly Research Bulletin, and reinforced by concurrent, coincidential remarks by Ohio researcher Ron Schaffner.

Yes, Scott, there were a lot of flaps going on in 1977!

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

Filed under Alien Big Cats, Bigfoot, Books, Breaking News, Conspiracies, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Dover Demon, Evidence, Eyewitness Accounts, Lake Monsters, Living Dinosaurs, Lizard People, Loch Ness Monster, Media Appearances, Mystery Cats, Ogopogo, Out of Place, Pop Culture, Sasquatch, Sea Serpents, Skunk Apes, Swamp Monsters, Thunderbirds, Windigo, Year In Review, Yeti, Yowie