Hobgoblin At Hobbs Point
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 10th, 2008
In the 1967 movie Five Million Years to Earth, a new subway excavation in the Hobbs End section of London unearths an apparent extraterrestrial craft. The scientists involved in the unraveling of this drama soon discover this part of London on Hobbs Lane has a long history of poltergeist, haunting and apparition activities. One keen young researcher discovers an old street sign near the diggings, and she notes the spelling is “Hob’s Lane,” not “Hobbs Lane.” “Hob,” it turns out, is another name for “devil,” or the “Devil,” if you prefer.
Some words do not appear to be what they so calmly convey. “Hob,” for example, is an alteration of Robin or Robert, as in Robin Goodfellow, a rustic, a clown (lest we get too far from the phantom clowns). Robin Goodfellow, sometimes called Puck, was/is a tricksy house sprite or elf in popular English fairy lore. And Puck is sometimes called hobgoblin. Even the descriptive verb “hobble” refers to the word’s origins, as the classic view of the Devil shows cloven hooves.
~ “The Name Game,” Mysterious America, page 275.
Who knows what the woman overlooking Hobbs Point really saw on a recent morn? Experts always have an opinion. Let’s read of her encounter before we swim to any conclusions.
Carol Morgan saw something strange in the waters off Hobbs Point, Pembroke Dock, from her home at 5 Connaught Way in Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom. It happened a few days ago, we are told.
Early on a recent morning, Morgan was preparing lunch to take to her work at Pembroke Leisure Center. Suddenly, she saw an unusual shape in the water. At first, she figured it was a very large plastic container covered in green algae, but when it moved she reached for a telescope to get a closer look.
I caught sight of its face and it looked like a pot-bellied pig. It then pulled itself onto the slipway and seemed to be foraging for something. After a short while it sauntered into the water and that was the last I saw of it.
It was several times larger than [a] dog, more like the size of a small cow. ~ Carol Morgan told the Western Telegraph.
It was only after she saw a couple walking a dog on the slipway a few moments later did she realize the actual size of the creature.
So what was it? What exactly did it look like? All we have is what’s above.
Was it a swimming pot-bellied pig? A dog in the water? A merbeing? A dolphin? A sea serpent? A lost cow? Or a sea cow?
Marine experts say the possible sighting of a manatee in waters is further evidence of climate change.
* * *
Manatees, or sea cows as they are also known, are largely restricted to tropical waters with the nearest populations to the UK found off west Africa and the Caribbean. Pembrokeshire-based marine biologist, Francis Bunker, says it is possible that the manatee was carried here on the Gulf Stream currents. “We do after all get tropical sea beans and the occasional coconut washed up as well as sea turtles from the Caribbean, so why not a manatee? If it is a manatee I think it could be a first for UK waters.”
To his knowledge there are none in captivity in the UK which could have escaped.
Bathers need have no worries about venturing in the sea, as manatees are strictly herbivorous, feeding mainly on seagrasses.Western Telegraph
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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.
To bad she didn’t think to grab a camera also. Interesting sighting.
And ‘puck’ comes from the Cymraig word “pwcca” for what the English would call a ‘brownie’, which makes one think of Isla Flores 😉
When various peoples converted to Christianity, the spirits and gods they previously feared or worshiped usually became known as demons, which is likely the connection to ‘hob’. The critter in legend likely existed prior to the conversion of the English by the Irish monks.
Could she have seen a seal or sea lion (in addition to the previously suggested manatees/dugongs/sea cattle)?
I also agree this is an interesting sighting—cool beans.
The scientist speculating that it’s a manatee seems to be making some pretty baseless, perhaps even irresponsible, leaps in logic.
I think the film you mean is “Quatermass and the pit”. It may be known by the other name elsewhere. Very scary movie when I was a young`un!
That photo with the cow jumping out of the water. That’s it. Has to be. 🙂
Hmm, the article states she thought it was something plastic with green algae. Do manatees usually have green algae growing on them? I know turtles can have it on their shells, but shells are more bone then blubber/flesh.
After reading the comments on the moose in New Zealand (ie. a Moose once bit my sister), I couldn’t help but laugh at the mention of coconuts.
Somebody show her pictures of manatees, and see if that is what she might have seen…of course she also refers to it “pulling itself” which implies it did not have legs, to me…but then she says it “sauntered” into the water…so who knows….
I do know what movie you are referring to, and actually it goes by both titles…Five Million Years to Earth is the American release title…it IS a pretty good movie!
“It then pulled itself onto the slipway and seemed to be foraging for something.”
If I understand correctly what the witness said, the creature actually got out of the water, puttered around for a bit, then returned to the water, not to re-emerge.
Do manatees come out of the water and onto land? I was under the impression that they didn’t. And this certainly doesn’t seem to be typical behavior for a pot bellied pig, though I have seen nature documentaries showing wild pigs swimming.
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about these two creatures can confirm/correct my current understanding. Thanks.
Really fat bulldog?
i’m sure the coconuts were actually brought over by European Swallows. or is it African Swallows? or did the coconuts merely migrate?
so am i to assume that the top photo is a pot-bellied pig? (i’m doing a lot of assuming these days) what a hideous face. do they get as big as small cows? i’m off to find clips of swimming pigs…
I agree with Drew S. about the scientist interviewed. Must have tenure. What an idiot. Given the location, my best guess is a grey seal but a harbor seal fits. Less likely would be a female hooded seal. No big mystery here.
Chris Orrick
As far as I’m aware, manatees do NOT leave the water like seals. Perhaps she saw an out of place elephant seal or walrus?
I am heading down to Pembroke this weekend to investigate for the CFZ the potential connections between the “manatee” and a sea serpent seen on more or less the same spot in March 2003. Even more intriguing is an odd “merman” creature which was seen nearby in 1782 that was described in great detail at the time. It will probably turn out to be a seal but should be interesting anyway.
Very cool. I suppose it could have a logical explaination, but I always want to hope that it doesn’t. That it will be something new =)
I found a link to “Quatermass and the pit” online if anyone’s interested, here.