Kelly Creatures and Ivan T. Sanderson
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 30th, 2012
I have previously highlighted the intriguing Kelly creatures in my book Mysterious America, and discussed them online recently, at Hopkinsville + Budd Hopkins / August 21st and P.S. Hopkinsville.
One of the 1955 creatures attacks. Illustration from Mysterious America.
Now comes notice that apparently unpublished photographs of Ivan T. Sanderson have surfaced in the John A. Keel collection being shared and posted by Doug Skinner. Doug has placed a great deal of work into a tribute site dedicated to the “unique writer and character, John A. Keel…in memory of a friendship of some nineteen years.”
For more from Doug, see here.
The photographs being shown are with Sanderson and a cutout of the Kelly creature. (I wonder in whose New York City apartment these pictures were taken?)
The artist of the Kelly creature being displayed by Ivan is Bud Ledwith. It is Bud Ledwith’s drawings that are most often reworked and used when talking about the Kelly creatures. Bud Ledwith’s sketches were made under the instructions of the eyewitnesses.
Sanderson, Keel, Ledwith, and later Budd Hopkins discussed and also used illustrations of the Kelly creatures and related entities to demonstrate points they were making:
Budd Hopkins is shown lecturing in the late part of the 20th century.
For thoughts beyond the general background of the case, see the discussions of the Kelly/Hopkinsville creatures in:
And…
The Cryptoterrestrials: A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and Aliens Among Us.
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.
Am I the only one who sees that the creature picture in this article has a very strong resemblance to Stick from the Disney movie “LILO & STITCH”?
Wow, the head of that cut-out looks even more like a owl than most depictions. Look at the ears! Totally wings.
Good catch Timmy! He does look like Stitch! It’s just great to see anything on Ivan T Sanderson again. To me this guy was a giant in the field of the obscure and Cryptozoology. Thanks Loren for keeping these memories alive and another rare treat for the older Crypto enthusiasts.
Awesome article and pics.