Loveland Frog
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on August 12th, 2006
The Loveland Frog is one of those strange creatures that pops up occasionally, generally in a specific locale. The creature was supposedly sighted by a police officer in 1972. As you will read below, the police officer apparently stated that the incident had been blown out of proportion and it was not a bipedal frog-like creature, but in fact was a large lizard, less than 3 feet in length.
The Loveland Frog is a creature (frog-like, obviously) that’s been sighted in Loveland, Ohio on multiple occasions. It has the face of a frog and crouches like a frog, but has the ability to stand upright. The sightings are generally of the creature scared and running away, but on at least one occasion, the witness claimed to be have been physically attacked.
The Loveland Frog (AKA the Loveland Lizard) is a bipedal 50 lb. frog-like creature who’s been seen on several occasions in or around Loveland, Ohio. One sighting occurred on March 3rd, 1972, by a police officer. The officer was on duty cruising in his patrol car, when on the side of the road he saw what he first thought to be a dog lying there. Conditions were icy, and to avoid possibly hitting the animal, the officer slowed down and came to a stop.
As he did, the ‘dog’ got up on two legs and sprinted past the front of the patrol car. In the headlights the officer got a decent look. Rather than searching for such a strange creature alone, the policeman left the scene and returned with backup. This time they didn’t see the creature, but did find signs of it leading into a river. The sighting by the officer is described by him as follows:
"The creature was three to four feet tall, 50 to 75 pounds, leathery skin, possibly wet – matted hair on its body that made it look textured, possible tail, a head and face like a frog or lizard, and could leap over the roads’ guard rail."
In 1955, another Ohio man claimed a sighting. He said he was driving along the Miami river, and saw three of the creatures congregated together. He also claimed they had wrinkles on their heads instead of hair, and one was holding a wand-like spark-emitting device. This is the only sighting thus far implying the creatures to be technologically sophisticated.
Source: Heckler Spray: Awesome or Off-Putting
The sighting from 1955 may have been spurred on by the release the previous year of the Universal Studios classic, The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
Everyplace you will read about the Loveland Frog, the famous story is similar in that two credible (unnamed) police officers encountered a large, bipedal frog-like creature near Loveland, Ohio. While preparing the Loveland Frog entry for the X-Project Magazine, numerous "credible" sources were consulted. Despite the detailed and mass circulation of this story, it was brought to my attention as being completely inaccurate and exaggerated.
In an e-mail interview with retired officer Mark Mathews, the second police officer that saw the bizarre creature in March 1972, he states, "There is absolutely nothing to the incident that relates to ‘monsters’ or the ‘paranormal’. This entire thing has been habitually blown out of proportion…".
Mr. Mathews continues with his first-hand account of what he saw:
"It was and is no ‘monster’. It was not leathery or [had] wet matted fur. It was not 3-5 feet tall. It did not stand erect. The animal I saw was obviously some type of lizard that someone had as a pet that either got too large for its aquarium, escaped by accident or they simply got tired of it. It was less than 3 feet in length, ran across the road and was probably blinded by my headlights. It presented no aggressive action."
Mr. Mathews pointed out more discrepancies in this famous story. He shot at the creature, as no one had believed his partner’s sighting a few nights before. Despite being hit, the lizard still escaped and Mathews suspected it either died of the wound or eventually died from the cold weather. The dramatic, commonly described scene of the lizard standing erect and stepping over the guardrail while keeping its watchful eyes on Officer Mathews in fact, never happened.
Mr. Mathews may have explained away the mystery of his strange sighting 29 years ago, but what about the other numerous reports of a strange reptilian creature in the Loveland, Ohio area such as the 25 May 1955, sighting reported by an Ohio man who was driving along the Miami River in Loveland, Ohio? He claimed to have seen three strange bipedal creatures with frog-like features and wrinkles on their heads instead of hair. According to his report, one of the creatures held a device that gave off sparks.
Source: X-Project Paranormal Magazine
For additional information, see the Loveland Frog Project.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
this one has always intrigued me. a bipedal amphibian! That would be something to see. Although the device that gave off sparks would concern me if I were that man. There have been reports, myths, legends, etc… of lizard men. The first emperor of china was suppose to be one. There has been reports of lizard men in the deep south. I, myself, do not hold much credibility to conventional thinking of evolution (of course that kinda leaves me with a creation stand point), but if these creatures are real, that would really make the “experts” from every side rethink our whole existance.
Shumway,
Any documentation of the lizard men in the deep south anywhere? I’d not heard that, and would be curious to read whatever might be out there.
This post also reminds me of what a great film “Creature From the Black Lagoon” was. That was a beautifully filmed movie by producers and directors who understood shadow and light, and used water as the intriguing and incredibly effective filter that it can be in the hands of competent people.
Pretty nice costume and special effects for the era, too.
mooppoint,
Loren posted information on the Lizard Man here on Cryptomundo last December.
Also, see my new post here on Cryptomundo titled Lizard Man of South Carolina.
I grew up right near Loveland OH……if you can find references to it anywhere, there was also an incident in the Ohio River in either the 50s or 60s where a woman who was swimming with a friend reported being grabbed by something unknown in the river. Supposedly when she came out, she had a large green outline of a handprint across her leg.
Not to throw a possible fly in the ointment, but if I’m not mistaken, I seem to recall reading about the other officer saying that Matthews had changed his story years later, but what he told everyone he saw at the time was not a simple lizard, but the mysterious creature as described. He said Matthews was embarassed over the incident, and tired of answering questions from the curious.
When I was younger, I always considered the Loveland Frog Men and the South Carolina Lizard Man as likely alien visitors, finding that far more probable than bipedal amphibians/lizards with no fossil evidence whatsoever having survived to the present day. I still find such a possibility extremely unlikely, but I have to ask a question – If these are aliens, why do they always seem to be naked, carrying no technology (Sparkling wand aside), and living in the woods? Heck, even some of the so-called Greys appear naked. Somehow, I doubt even the actors on Star Trek could avoid laughing at the notion that they’ve all developed beyond the need for clothes.
I’m familiar with this story, I’ve read some literature about the loveland frog like creature. It’s very interesting the way they describe it. If it’s real, what a find it would be. Eyewitnesses have seen it so maybe it’s out there? But maybe a video of the frog like creature will be taken sometime? A frog that walks on two legs, what a sight that would be.
Sounds like it could be just a Myth than the real deal. Although it would be something if these type things were real. Never know!
Haven’t really heard of this one much, but it sounds like one you need to keep your wits and research skills about you
I’ve heard of this story of the 3 frog men near the town of BRANCH HILL, OHIO. The guy who saw them, ROBERT HUNNICUTT, said they looked like trolls with tight fitting clothes. I don’t mean to be funny but I think they were creatures from another dimension and they got here by the strange dark object they had that emitted blue flashes.
Thank you, Craig. Much appreciated!
All this about lizard men and not a single David Ickes reference? What is happening y’all? I take a week off Cryptomundo to focus on work and y’all start slacking… 😉
I live in Rising Sun, In (on the Ohio River). Over the summer I was driving into town on Hwy 56. It was early morning and I was gazing at the river when I saw something. It looked like a large frog head with fur. I slowed down to see because there is usually a bunch of debris floating in the river. This was no debris. It actually looked as though it was moving its head in the direction of my car. I was kind of stunned at first and I wish I had turned around to investigate. I came home and told my husband and kids. It’s been on my mind these last few months so I decided to search the web for anything pertaining to the Ohio River. I came across this website. I know I saw something that day, just don’t know what.
I think its a cool story, but like a couple of people have said, it sounds more like extraterrestrial activity, especially with the “glowing wand”.
Even if the original description is un-true, a new species of reptile is equally intriguing.