Cryptomundian Mystery Man Okay
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 12th, 2011
Frequent contributor “Mystery Man,” whose real name is Brent Swancer, lives in Japan and writes he is okay.
Brent Swancer, pictured near his home, with Mt. Fuji in the background.
Swancer is the source of several postings at Cryptomundo on Japanese cryptids.
Brent emailed me:
I’m located in an area called Kanamachi, which is in Katsushika ward in the northeast area of Tokyo prefecture. I’m literally right next to the Edo river just inside Tokyo prefecture on the border with Chiba prefecture. It’s a quiet residential area outside of the main city and thankfully we weren’t hit too badly. My main fear was that the whole area is basically built up on river sediment which is not the sturdiest place in an earthquake. But we weren’t hit that bad and my house is okay.
I had been at work when the quake hit, and as a result I spent the night at my school since all of the trains were stopped and it was mass chaos trying to get a bus. It was pretty frightening, actually. By far the largest quake I’d ever felt and it turns out it was the fifth largest ever recorded. Still, I had no idea how bad it was until I turned on the TV and watched the unfolding images of carnage and destruction. Really quite startling to see all of that happening more or less right in my backyard.
Japan is pretty well prepared for earthquakes, so the death toll really could have been much worse, but it’s still pretty dire.
The nuclear reactor situation is quite bad. They’re evacuating within 10 kilometers of the reactors [update, 15 km, now that one of the reactors has exploded and four others are in danger – LC].
To top it off, there’s a warning that the rain we have coming is going to be polluted with radiation and all of the junk from the fires. We’ll see how that goes.Brent Swancer
Indeed, the extent of all of this has not been revealed. Breaking news is that more than 9,500 people are unaccounted for in Minamisanriku, Japan, according to the Kyodo News Agency reports.
In happier times: Brent and his family at Disney World, Japan.
Cryptomundo sends out all our best to our readers in Japan and around the Pacific Rim. Let us know how you are doing.
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.
It’s really great to know you’re OK, M_M 🙂
Glad you’re alright–my best to you and yours.
Thank the powers that be for your safety and I hope that everyone there can get their legs under themselves quickly. There’s gonna be a LOT of work to do in the coming months. I wish you and all of Japan the best of luck starting now and continuing into the future.
Good to know. Am sure the resilient and industrious folk will work together to repair what is broken while learning how to make the next big event even less catastrophic. Just the same, keep your eyes peeled for giant green reptiles emerging from the subduction zones and 747 sized radioactive moths flying out of volcanoes.
My heart goes out to all the people displaced and injured by this catastrophe. I’m glad to hear you are okay and hope you come through these next difficult days with yourself and family unscathed.
Brent, glad you and yours are safe! Mystery Man is one of my favorite posters at this site.
God’s speed to the people of Japan!
I saw the heading for this one and thought, whaddaya mean, OK?
Sometimes adding two and two is harder than others.
Glad you’re OK. These things aren’t necessarily done when they’re done, though. This was a total shock to see. I have a colleague with Tokyo family, and they’ve gotten more disrupted than any of us need to on a routine basis, but at least no one’s hurt.
Keep us posted. So far, so good.
OMG ~ best wishes to you and your beautiful family! My heart is broken for the people of Japan, and I pray that things take a turn for the better soon. 🙁
Hello all. Thank you very much for your concern and words of support during this tough time. It’s good to know that my fellow Cruptomundians are there for me.
So far, I am doing fine and thankfully I am in an area that has (so far) escaped relatively unscathed. We’ll see how long that lasts, since large aftershocks are expected to continue for some time. I’m just trying to keep a clear head through all of this and figure out ways I can help those who do live in the devastated areas.
Life in Tokyo, where damage was relatively limited, has returned to somewhat of a state of apprehensive normalcy. People are going to work and going about there daily lives, but the trains are not running at capacity, gas is sold out everywhere, and many essential goods such as batteries and canned food are hard to come by. We are all nervous, but trying to go about our lives as much as we can.
Thank you all for your support, and lets hope those that were most affected by this tragic event can pull through this. There is a lot of work to be done.
As for cryptozoology, are the giant fire breathing lizards that have been emerging from the ocean over here considered cryptids if they are just radiation spawned abominations and not a naturally occuring species? 🙂
Have to keep one’s sense of humor through this.
Once again, thank you all.
M_M…
Certainly didn’t want to be the one to bring up the big “G”, but glad to see you’ve still got your sense of humor. I’m sure it will be some time before you can wake up without having to deal with this on a daily basis. Best of luck during the crises, and you know you can count on us if there’s need.