Crazy About CryptoMundo!
Bigfoot Lives – If Only Within the Pages of This Website
When it comes to urban legends that may or not be rooted in fact, I say, “Bring ’em on!” Bigfoot, the Lockness Monster, Mothman and a host of others — who’s to say that these mythical creatures aren’t the real deal? Providing a venue for believers and non-believers alike is probably the coolest — no make that way coolest site I’ve ever seen devoted to things that go bump in the night and that is cryptomundo.com .
According to stumbleupon.com, Cryptomundo is the number one cryptozoology site in the world. Cryptomundo, averaged nearly 2,000,000 page views per month from May to August 2007, from people around the globe. With numbers like that, it’s hard to wonder “what’s out there.” Most people reading the site are from North America, but is closely followed by folks in other English-speaking countries, such as Australia, the UK, and with good numbers from Singapore, Japan, and elsewhere.
Far from being a website that is the basis for someone’s fantasies, Cryptomundo.com is all about cryptozoology — which in a nutshell is the study of hidden or unknown animals. And lest you think the study of cryptozoology is a farce, think again: according to Quantcast.com , in 2007, you have 1,840,000 websites mentioning “cryptozoology,” 156,000 sites using the word “cryptid,” and 7,290,000 sites using the word “Bigfoot,” which covers more than just the cryptid Bigfoot, of course (some are about trucks and website domains). A more genuine reference point is that 2,750,000 sites mention “Sasquatch,” which today also covers popular cultural uses in comic books, golf clubs, and toys. The number of books on cryptozoology is amazing. So what can I say? You be the judge!
Now I don’t know a lot about cryptozoology but I know what I like and what I like most about Cryptomundo is the number of video and film clips that turn up from “armchair” and professional monster hunters around the world. A recent sampling sported film clips of sasquatch that were sent in from Texas, Michigan and Canada. Are they real? Who knows? I have to admit I find it intriguing to think that someone was out in the middle of no were with their video camera and they just happened to walk upon a 7 foot, 500 pound missing link. But hey — crazier things have happened.
Cryptomondo is broken down into over 50 categories from the Abominable Snowman to the Yowie (another name for Bigfoot). My favorite link? Breaking News – which on the day I submitted this article had news on the “Death of Nessie” to a Bigfoot sighting in New Mexico.
Any website is only as good as its contributors and Cryptomundo doesn’t pull any punches. The main conduit for Cryptomundo is Loren Coleman (www.lorencoleman.com) — one of the most respected and recognized professionals in the field cryptozoology. According to Coleman the steady climb from the very few people interested in Sea Serpents and Yeti in the 1950s, began with the “new age” of Sasquatch in the 1940s and early 1950s in Canada, then of Bigfoot in 1958 and 1967. The visible image of the Patterson-Gimlin footage had iconic symbolism for those that began to put a meaning to a new word from the late 1950s – “cryptozoology.”
The American Bigfoot Society (www.americanbigfootsociery.com) points out that beginning in 1995, the world wide web changed everything. Cryptozoologists, cryptozoologists-in-training, cryptowannabes, Bigfooters, random college students, Chupacabras fans, Nessie followers, Mystery Cat seekers, and people in general interested in these subjects found easy access via the Internet, and the cryptozoology community grew in leaps and bounds. Cryptozoology fans popped up all over the place. After reading materials online about these subjects and some creating their own websites, hundreds of people jumped into the field of cryptozoology with all hands and feet. Armchair followers found they could be actively involved, from researching old archives to gathering new reports. Websites could instantly broadcast news. Online diaries (early web logs, later blogs) and then videos of someone’s latest “fieldwork,” no matter the quality or outcomes, could go out to the whole world.
There’s way too much content on Cryptomundo to discuss in one short article but Cryptomundo.com makes for some fascinating reading and viewing. ‘Ol Gar gives it 5 stars. Check it out and maybe you’ll find out if Bigfoot really exists!
Takeaways
Cryptomundo.com treats it’s subject matter very seriously.
The study and search for mythical monsters is popular all over the world.
Cryptomundo.com is one of the most — if not THE most popular websites that deals with cryptozoology.
Did you know?
Bigfoot has been spotted and filmed countless times over the years and all over the world, but has yet to be captured
I’ve traveled the world as a Broadcast Journalist working for the American Forces Radio & Television Service in the United States Air Force. Now happily retired after 22 years of service, and currently living in Southern Italy with my wife and daughter. Gary Picariello
Associated Content
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.
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