The story made my “Top 20 Cryptozoology Stories of 2002,” published by The Anomalist, January 2003, archived at The Cryptozoologist.
January 12, 2012
Flashback/Ten Years Ago Today: Reports coming out of the Philippines told of five “huge, black creatures” swimming in the Tikis River, near the former mining village of Buhawen, scaring Aeta families, on January 12, 2002.
Aeta natives first spotted the 7-foot long, 3-foot wide mysterious creatures in November 2001, when they were mistaken for floating logs.
The strange creatures have been seen swimming in the river below Labuan, which is enclosed by tall, thick bushes. Since the monsters’ heads and tails were not seen, no one could venture what these locally named “Pinatubo Monsters” could be.
Two tribal leaders were requesting that “biasang tau (scientists)” come and assist them end the mystery surrounding what the creatures might be.
As far as we know, during 2002, no scientists volunteered to go look.
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The story made my “Top 20 Cryptozoology Stories of 2002,” published by The Anomalist, January 2003, archived at The Cryptozoologist.
The report became an episode for Destination Truth, Season 2, Ep. 10: “Episode 210: Ahool/Pinatubo Monster.”
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 CryptoZoo News, Eyewitness Accounts, Lake Monsters, Year In Review