Update: Belfast Lion

Charles Fort called it “The Wipe.” It is that hastily written story after some type of phenomenon is reported to quickly move affairs back into equilibration, so the status quo will be maintained.

With reference to the multiple sightings of a “large cat” on Belfast soil, after the search for the large felid failed, the official “Wipe” has now been put into place.

The Irish Times and other media sources for September 1, 2008, are reporting that the “Belfast ‘escaped lion’ was [a] large stray dog.”

“Police in Belfast have called off their search for an escaped ‘lion’ after it turned out to be a large stray dog,” stated The Irish Times.

“A police spokeswoman said officers now believed the animal in the park was in fact a large stray dog. ‘Police can confirm that there’s no stray lion wandering about in north Belfast,’ she said.”

“Belief” is an article of faith, and I see these statements about this being a dog no more trustworthy than the early reports that what was seen was a “lion.”

No “large dog” was produced. No owner was noted. The “large dog” appears to be as elusive as the “large lion.”

Loren Coleman 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.

Email • Facebook • Twitter •