The Alabama Leprechaun

Most of the time, the infamous leprechaun is found in Ireland. Yet in 2006, one television crew for WPMI near Mobile, Alabama went to investigate as a crowd gathered. They claimed to have seen a leprechaun hiding in a nearby tree. A small (very) amateur sketch was produced and combined with interviews with local residents, this sketch became a huge story. Especially on this little upstart company that never went anywhere called YouTube. Most believe this was a prank, and some believe it was playing off of racial prejudices. A follow-up interview was done in 2015, where the crew spoke to a man who claimed to be the first to see the leprechaun. He essentially treats it like a groundhog, once tweeting that “the leprechaun was at 70% visibility.”

Anubis In Illinois?

No, we’re not going to discuss the latest potential blockbuster. Rather, this story is about a claimed encounter. A former U.S. Navy member named Emma wrote to author Linda Godfrey about a weird experience she had while stationed in Illinois at Naval Hospital Great Lakes. In 1993, she and her future husband Jon and friend Jim were assigned shore patrol. Yet when Emma radioed Jon at 3:00 AM and he did not respond, she went to find him. She found him with his mouth agape, and in front of him, she saw a bizarre figure. When she later saw a cartoon drawing of the Egyptian God Anubis, she claimed this was what she saw! It had large, green-yellow eyes and long arms. It even puffed like a cat when Jim showed up. Which is odd, considering Anubis resembled a jackal.

2012 Utah Bigfoot Sightings

Based on collected data regarding where the best biomes are for the Bigfoot to live, Utah is certainly a hotbed. Which might be why there have been so many reported sightings. Two from 2012 stand out the most. In October 2012, a group of siblings was hiking in Provo Canyon when they spotted a bear in the woods. Wanting to capture the moment, they started filming. Right as they did, it stood up on two legs and hikers ran. Also in 2012, a large animal was spotted in the woods in the Utah Hills. As a hiker approached it, the animal stood up and started throwing rocks at the hiker. This is apparently considered normal behavior for a sasquatch. Both sightings leave a lot to be desired. Plus, they do know bears stand up on two legs all the time, right?

The New Zealand Taniwha

This is one of those times when we can buy into mythological monsters being real. In 2014, New Zealand engineer Pita Witehita was using Google Earth to view Oke Bay. Suddenly, he spotted something odd. When viewing a specific section, he saw what seemed like a giant sea creature from Maori legend. Known as the Taniwha, the Maori people tell stories of what they can do. Almost dragon-like, Taniwha are said to be guardian spirits for the people. The government has even worried about the creatures, proven in 2011 when the Auckland City Council wanted to build a railway that went right through land inhabited by the creatures. Maori advocates asked if they were considering any protection for the Taniwha, to which a council member claimed they were letting off the “T-Bomb.”

Dogman Sighting

The Dogman is one of the mythological monsters that does not get a lot of attention compared to others. Yet it is rumored to have been plaguing Michigan natives for several years. The first sighting was in Wexford County back in 1887, when a few lumberjacks spotted the Dogman while working. Since this point, several sightings have been reported throughout Michigan. Those who describe the creature claim it has a dog’s head with the torso of a man. Depending on who you ask, it’ll have either blue or amber eyes. Yet most agree its howl sounds a lot like a human scream. While it could be other animals, it’s tough to dispute that this creature existed or still exists.

Slapping Water Sasquatch

Most people do not expect to see a sasquatch, especially the infamous Bigfoot in a place like Tampa, Florida. Yet mythological monsters have shown up in unexpected places many times. In 2015, two men were canoeing in a Tampa swamp expecting to see alligators in the area. Suddenly, they heard a noise on the bank where they thought gators might be congregating. When they found a way to get closer to the bank, they did not see an alligator. They claim to have seen a hairy beast grabbing something out of the water before it walked away. Creepy stuff!

Dragons Over China

It is no surprise that when you talk about potential mythological monsters showing up in China, a dragon would be at the top of the list. The infamous creature is heavily connected to the region and has been for over a thousand years. In August 2014, two Jilin University students were walking out of a library when they spotted something weird on their cell phone camera. Appearing to be 33 feet long, red, and flying…complete with four legs and a tail…they were seeing what would obviously be a dragon. Recorded footage from the students made its way online, yet it’s hard to really make out what they claim to have seen. As if it’s a complete hoax or something.

Loch Ness Monster Sighting From World War II

When it comes to mythological monsters, very few carry the same level of fame that the Loch Ness Monster possesses. In 1943, a man named C.B. Farrell of the Royal Observer Corps was said to be keeping an eye out for potential German bombers. He was stationed at Loch Ness! One morning, Farrell was scanning the skies when he noticed a large animal in the loch. This made him take out his binoculars to see it better. When he did, he spotted a 4-foot-long finned neck. The soldier assumed the creature was eating breakfast at that point, and he even saw it duck its head back in the water. Then went back up to the surface again. Weird, right?

The Falling Bigfoot

It’s not very common that one can say they spotted anyone from the mythological monsters list in such a compromising position. In 2019, a few hikers in Frisco, Colorado were taking a break when they saw something odd in the mountains above them. At roughly 11,000 feet of elevation, they saw this mysterious creature fall off the mountain. Curious to see what it was, the hikers immediately decided to go and check out where the creature would have likely fallen, but the creature wasn’t there. They did. manage to see footprints as well as handprints in the snow. They decided to avoid following, but this also meant the monster lived!

The Scottish Unicorn

Edwin Godoy Bigfoot Encounter

Edwin Godoy was serving at Fort Lewis back in 1978 when he encountered a sasquatch-like creature. He and his platoon returned from a military exercise around 8:00 PM one evening when their truck lost power. Now unable to start it, Godoy was ordered to stay behind with the vehicle while the soldiers walked back to the base to get assistance. After midnight, Godoy noticed a huge hair-covered figure with red eyes, swaying back and forth. Only 300 meters away, it spotted Godoy and began running toward him. He fired at the creature, hitting it and causing it to run off. Godoy claims human-like footprints were left in the area, as well as pools of oily blood too. That resulted in scientists coming to check out the area and examine Godoy himself. He has since had other paranormal encounters, which seems really odd.

The Baba Yaga

Traffic Cam Sasquatch

If you want to ensure people buy into what you’re selling, you need proof. Anytime you want to prove mythological monsters are real, you need to do exactly what the Washington Department of Transportation did. They placed a traffic cam near the Sherman Pass, which seemed to catch Bigfoot standing and even walking around in the snow back in January 2020. Of course, one could easily say that even though this is convincing enough proof…perhaps it was not Bigfoot. It could be just someone walking around in a costume that knew the camera was there. Mythological monsters like Bigfoot are perfect for hoax footage.

The Legend Of The Melon Heads

Many people in Ohio are big believers in the Melon Heads. They aren’t described as creatures, but rather humanoids with bulbous heads. Yet they rank as mythological monsters because of their appearance and the fact that they attack people when they emerge from hiding. Back in the 1970s, people claim to have come across them as they roamed the woods in Northeast Ohio. The legend of the Melon Heads begins with Dr. Crow, a man scientist that performed procedures on orphans that showed up on his property one day. Their brains swelled and caused their heads to deform. Tired of being abused by Dr. Crow, they burned his house to the ground, killing the crazy scientist. They have survived in the woods ever since. Untrusting of other humans, they attack any they see.

The Spring-Heeled Jack Encounters

It is easy to get Spring-Heeled Jack confused with Jack the Ripper. However, Spring-Heeled Jack came first. He’s certainly among the list of mythological monsters while the Ripper was just a real serial killer. SHJ was first seen back in 1837, and sightings have since been reported all over the United Kingdom. He apparently has a bizarre appearance complete with clawed hands and eyes that resemble red balls of fire. Considered diabolical in his appearance as well, he wore a black coat and helmet. Yet some say he’s tall and thin with a gentlemanly appearance. It is claimed he can bring out blue and white flames and had sharp metallic claws as fingertips. He’s also able to make amazing leaps, giving him his name. Yet all encounters seem to be missing true details or context.

Camp Pendleton Sasquatch Sighting

In the Fall of 1968, four marines from Camp Pendleton saw a sasquatch-like creature during nighttime training. The witness submitted his report of the encounter in 2001 anonymously. The marines were waiting in a dug-out hill, a little after midnight. The group heard something coming up the side of the mountain. The marines told whoever it was to stop, but that was when they saw it. The witness claimed they saw a huge monster, around seven feet tall and three-and-a-half feet wide. It also had a pointed head with long hanging arms. The marines were terrified and waited silently as the monster walked off. It’s hard to say that these four men were just seeing things, but what they did see might not have been Bigfoot. It could have just as easily been a bear by this description.

Kraken Sightings

For centuries, we always assumed that the Kraken wasn’t real. It made total sense to only categorize it among the mythological monsters that seamen told tall tales about when they came ashore. It was always described as a large squid or octopus of some kind, which seemed so crazy. Keep in mind, they also told us stories about mermaids and other sea monsters that were just being referenced to make them sound cooler. However, we have now proven that giant squids do actually exist. It is also proven that they do not mind attacking anyone in their territory. Yet most of these creatures aren’t nearly as large as the Kraken has been reported to be. That tells us either there were potentially larger squids centuries ago, or they did see very large squids and created a myth to make them seem much larger.

‘Finding Bigfoot’s’ Multiple Encounter Stories

The Animal Planet show, Finding Bigfoot, ran for 9 seasons somehow from 2011 to 2018. “Researchers” on the show examined a lot of sasquatch encounters worldwide. Did they find Bigfoot in all that time? Obviously not. Yet to be fair to the show, they did interview several people with relatively good evidence. This resulted in several videos or pictures where one could potentially believe Bigfoot or some other sasquatch was present. Most of the time, this “evidence” was never really enough to prove anything. In spite of this, the encounters many of the people claimed they had including some videos were absolutely insane. If nothing else, this show brought out some incredible stories. The problem is that they never truly lived up to the title of the show, as Bigfoot was never found in 100 episodes.

Where Do We Find this Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:

Smithsonian Institution

Associated Press

The Telegraph

ABC News

Google Earth

Animal Planet

The Mirror

Huffington Post

Study.com

AL.com