Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Possible explanations:
(1) A hoax by the teenagers, though the
initial investigators (Loren Coleman and
Walter Webb) thought the youngsters were
sincere.
(2) An escaped laboratory monkey, though
none was reported lost.
(3) A Red fox (Vulpes fulva) that had lost its
hair due to sarcoptic mange.
(4) A newborn horse.
(5) A yearling Moose (Alces alces), suggested
by Martin Kottmeyer. There is a permanent
breeding population of 200–300 moose in
Massachusetts, mostly west of the
Connecticut River, though some have
wandered close to Boston. In 1996, a young
moose cow crashed through some fences
around row houses near Boston College. A
calf would make an unexpected sight in the
darkness; however, some of the
characteristics do not match, and moose
were not as populous in 1977 as they are
now.
(6) A Merbeing, according to Mark A.
Hall, though it was seen in the woods.
(7) A paranormal apparition or unidentified
flying object (UFO) entity.
Sources: Jerome Clark, “The Dover
Humanoid,” Fate 31 (March 1978): 50–55;
Joseph A. Citro, Passing Strange (New York:
Houghton Mifflin, 1997), pp. 136–147;
Martin Kottmeyer, “Demon Moose,” The
Anomalist 6 (1998): 104–110; Loren Coleman,
Mysterious America, rev. ed. (New York:
Paraview Press, 2001), pp. 42–61.
Dragon (Asian)
Semimythical Beastof East Asia. One of the
four sacred animals of Chinese mythology.
Variant names: Chèn (Mandarin
Chinese/Sino-Tibetan), Chi lung (“wingless
dragon”), Chi’ih, Féi-yu, Fu-ts’ang lung (“treasure
dragon”), Jiao lung (“scaly dragon”), Kiao
lung, Kioh lung, Kura-mitsu-ha (Japanese,
“dark water snake”), Kura-okami (Japanese,
“dragon god of the valleys”), Kura-yama-sumi
(Japanese, “lord of the dark mountains”), Lóng,
Long-ma (Vietnamese), Lung (“five-clawed
142 DRAGON (ASIAN)
dragon”), Lung wang (“dragon king”), Mang
(“four-clawed dragon”), Naga, Qiu lung
(“horned dragon”), Riong (Korean/Altaic), Riu
(Japanese), Shen lung (“spiritual dragon”), T’ao
t’ieh (“glutton”), Tatsu (Japanese), Ti lung
(“river dragon”), T’ien lung (“celestial dragon”),
Ying lung (“winged dragon”), Yu lung (“fish
dragon”).
Physical description: A huge body with both
serpentine and crocodilian characteristics. Has
117 fishlike scales. Straight horns like a deer’s,
through which it can hear. Flat, long head like a
camel’s. Has a bladderlike swelling on the top of
its head. Bearded. Eyes like a rabbit’s. Ears like
a cow’s. Tongue and neck like a snake’s. The
male has a luminous pearl concealed under its
chin by a fold of skin. Long mane. Wings seen
only in mature specimens. Belly like a frog’s.
Four feet, with claws like a hawk’s. Footpads
like a tiger’s. Chinese dragons have four or five
toes; Japanese dragons only have three.
Behavior: Can fly without wings. Has the
ability to change forms. Sometimes guards treasure.
Lays a brightly colored, gemlike egg. Said
to have a 3,000-year growth cycle in which it
first looks like a water snake, grows a carp’s head
and scales, develops four limbs and a long tail,
sprouts a pair of horns, and finally grows wings.
A benevolent creature symbolizing authority,
strength, experience, wisdom, and goodness.
Originally the Chinese rain god, the Dragon
was associated with the Chinese emperor, ancestor
worship, fertility, and pools.
Habitat: Wells, rivers, lakes (in China); the
ocean (in Japan).
Distribution: China; Japan; Korea; Indonesia.
Significant sightings: The oldest known image
of a Chinese dragon is a rock painting dating
from 8000 b.c. that was found in 1993 on a cliff
in southwestern Shanxi Province.
In the fourth millennium b.c., a Dragon delivered
the eight mystic triagrams, Hae Pa Kua,
to a legendary emperor.
The Northern Song emperor Huizong in a.d.
1110 classified all Dragons into five families—
Blue Spirit Dragons, very compassionate kings;
Red Spirit Dragons, the kings of lakes; Yellow
Spirit Dragons, kings who receive vows favorably;
White Spirit Dragons, virtuous and pure