Mystery Fish Photo

When the following photograph was first shown at Cryptomundo four years ago, there were only a few hundred of you reading this.

A year ago, 30,000 readers per day, with 3000 registered users examined it. Now, in April 2009, I want to celebrate our passing 11,000 registered users of Cryptomundo with this old favorite. Some days, 1.9 million people read these pages. Cryptozoology is alive and well as an active quest.

There is no reason not to revisit this lovable topic of Cryptomundians. If you haven’t seen this mysterious postcard before, you might be interested in leaving your opinion. If you’ve had your say before, you might want to take a new look.

Get that enhancement software uploaded, pick up your magnifying glasses for another look at the “Mystery Fish Photo.” If you are new here, take a moment with this one.

As oldtimers here may recall, despite speculations, theories, thoughts, rumors, ideas, hypotheses, and claims, this longest standing mystery at Cryptomundo has never been fully solved.

The Mystery Fish postcard, first noted here on November 29, 2005, has never been identified, as to exact location or species. New people sometimes have new ideas. Lots of new readers may not be familiar with this Cryptomundo mystery. So here goes….(if you are a seasoned Cryptomundian, please have patience; a new look might really help).

Due to research (see below) on the type of postcard it is, there was a determination that this specific item would have been produced between 1904-18.

The location seems to be in the Pacific; perhaps it was taken in the Philippines. Or maybe even Florida? Or the Caribbean?

One reader said this might be during WWI, in the south of France, because of the uniforms, but what of those palm trees? Where are these trees found? Can you identify the kind of trees?

Due to several requests for a closeup of the head of the mystery cryptid on the postcard, here’s a computer enhancement.

Over 500 comments, most of them extremely thoughtful and detailed, can be found at the above noted entries, and yours are welcome anew, here, below. To date nearly 5,000,000 views of the Cryptomundo “Mystery Fish” photo have occurred.

The earlier discussions noted the date was between 1904-1918 for this postcard. For example, here, you can view the entire back of the postcard. Various pieces of research exactly determined that the diagnostic direction of the triangles give forth with a specific range of when these postcards were produced. While the men and the fish could have been photographed before 1904, it seems they could not have been photographed and appeared on this card after 1918.

The window of time for the producing of the card stock is, therefore, most probably, between 1890 and 1918.

The postcard has become such an enigmatic icon that it was incorporated by artists into the design on the front of my new edition of Mysterious America.

“We surpassed 11,000 yesterday. Now if only each one would donate $10….even $1!” ~ a remark by Cryptomundo founder Craig Woolheater to me, on April 9, 2009.

Save The Museum: An easy-to-use tool is available merely by clicking the “Donate” button below (remember, the upper righthand “Cryptomundo” button is for the admin of the blog and that money does not reach the museum or me). Thanks everyone!

You may directly send a check or money order if in the USA, or, if outside the USA, an international postal money order written to

International Cryptozoology Museum
c/o Loren Coleman
PO Box 360
Portland, ME 04112

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.

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