November 17, 2011
The International Cryptozoology Museum, 11 Avon Street, Portland, Maine, has made the CNN’s 2011 list of “15 of the World’s Weirdest Museums.”
Here’s the description, as noted by CNN:
+++++++
Cryptozoology is the study of unverified animals, mystical creatures only rumored to exist by legend or belief, such as the Yeti or Loch Ness Monster.
For Loren Coleman, who has become one of the world’s leading experts on creatures that may not exist, “belief” is purely within the realm of religion.
Coleman has created a museum amassing a collection of purported specimens, relics and artifacts dealing with mythical creatures, including a life-size coelacanth and P.T. Barnum’s Feejee Mermaid, as well as a wealth of hair samples, fecal matter and footcasts of animals that probably have never walked the face of the earth.
Don’t Miss: A 2.5-meter, 130-kilo “Crookston Bigfoot,” probably your only chance to see the legendary creature with your own eyes.
International Cryptozoology Museum, 11 Avon St., Portland, Maine, United States; +1 207 518 9496; cryptozoologymuseum.com
++++
Needless to say, we disagree with CNN’s little editorial slights included above (e.g. “animals that probably have never walked the face of the earth”). But then, being recognized for what the museum is doing educationally and scientifically is half the battle.
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.
Filed under Breaking News, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Pop Culture, Public Forum, Reviews, Year In Review