Men of Cryptozoology: Matt Bille

Happy Birthday, Matt Bille. You are 51 years young today, and you are being spotlighted on Cryptomundo.

The world of cryptozoological television programs was introduced to Matt Bille during the fall of 2008. He was interviewed as an on-camera expert on mystery bears for an episode of The History Channel’s “MonsterQuest” series. For years before, Matt toiled away on individual cryptozoology and other projects in the twenty years before his appearance. For a half decade, Matt wrote and edited the cryptozoology newsletter Exotic Zoology, from 1994 to 1999. (This name, as I have mentioned before, alludes to the book of material on cryptozoological works by Willy Ley, a hero of Bille’s who happened to be interested in rocket science and romantic zoology.)

Professionally, Matt Bille is a defense policy analyst and freelance science writer living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A former U. S. Air Force officer (1982-1994), specializing in ballistic missiles, guidance programming, and command & control, he holds a Masters in Space Systems Management. He has published numerous papers and articles on space technology.

In his other field of interest, cryptozoology, he published his first book, Rumors of Existence, in 1995. His first nonfiction book was about the world’s rarest and least known animals and the many new discoveries made in the 20th century, and was published by Hancock House.

His second nonfiction book was on space history. Entitled The First Space Race: Launching the World’s First Satellites (2004), it was published by Texas A&M, under sponsorship from the NASA Chief Historian.

A linked sequel to his first work, his third book, Shadows of Existence, appeared from Hancock House, in 2006. Like his first tome on cryptozoology, this one also covers recently discovered animals, species thought extinct which have been or may be rediscovered, and unconfirmed mystery animals of all types.

Next, Matt returned to his public efforts on behalf of space. Matt presented with Kris Winkler to the AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites on “Microspacecraft and the Vision for Space Exploration,” in 2006. On the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launch, he published (with Erika Lishock), the article “Sputnik – the Human Story,” in Questmagazine.

Then, he appeared on the opening panel of the American Astronautical Society’s Annual Conference in Houston, presenting, “50 Years of Space History: A Resource for the Future,” in 2007.

Matt interests are many, with specialties on space, cryptozoology, and national defense, which he continues to write about at Matt’s Sci-Tech Blog.

Right now, he is finishing a novel (topic unknown), while collecting items for his blog, source volumes for his library, and other original material for his next zoology/cryptozoology book, which has the working title, Edges of Existence. He is shooting for it to be published in 2015.

Otherwise, he keeps aware for local accounts around the Colorado Rockies of sightings of “African lions” and undiscovered bears.

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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