Pop Cryptid Spectator #2
Pop Cryptid Spectator #2: News, observations, and commentary on the parade of cryptids in popular culture.
Author Archives: Sharon A. Hill
A meteor falls in Pennsylvania, and lands in ice cream
A rock hit a car in a Walmart parking lot in Lehighton, PA in 2023, busting the window and landing in a half gallon of ice cream. A group of open-minded scientists agreed to take the case and identified the rock as a genuine meteorite.
Pop Cryptid Spectator #1
Pop Cryptid Spectator #1: Observations and commentary on the parade of cryptids in popular culture.
Arguing over the science of mystery animals
Was cryptozoology ever scientific? Discussion about cryptids reveals ideas about the public perception of science. Arguments continue about what cryptozoology was and should be.
Pop Goes the Cryptid: Explained
Introduction to the world of Pop Cryptids, showing the evolution of cryptozoology from a scientific field to a popular culture scene where “cryptid” is any weird, sentient thing.
Flat earthers go to Antarctica
What happened when a pastor from Colorado, Will Duffy, takes flat earthers to Antarctica in what is called “The FInal Experiment”?
Idaho Mystery Boom Chasers
Wild ideas are circulating via social media regarding mystery booms reported in Idaho. Thanks to platforms like TikTok, doubtful ideas about skyquakes are raging online.
Lost Monster Files is a cryptid bust
A recap and summary of Discovery’s cryptid show Lost Monster Files and its failings regarding science, education, and entertainment.
Modern problems with scientific naming: Example – Bigfoot
A new article in the Journal of Mammalogy calls out the problem with poor naming practices of new species in our internet age. “Bigfoot” is the perfect bad example.
The Ketchum Project: What to Believe about Bigfoot DNA ‘Science’ (2013)
Reprint of 2013 article detailing the proposed but illegitimate publication of Bigfoot DNA results by Melba Ketchum, and her circus of pseudoscience.
Lost Monster Files Thunderbird episode flies in the face of reason
Lost Monster Files show examines the claims of thunderbirds in Pennsylvania and, once again, fall far short of a coherent presentation.
Made you look! Zoos create cryptids
Zoos are using hoaxed or dubious photos to drum up business.
Lost Monster Files produces some abominable research
The second episode of Lost Monster Files on Discovery channel is a confusing mash-up of old and mis-information about “abominable snowmen” in British Columbia.
Earthquake Lights Revisited – More Evidence Emerging
Recent research, mostly from Japan and China, adds evidence to support the idea that earthquake lights are a result of electrical interactions between the lithosphere and the atmosphere.
Lost Monster Files – Carolina Chupacabra review
The new Discovery show Lost Monster Files debuts with a cast of non-experts playing scientist and jumping to conclusions about hybrid dogs in North Carolina and Texas based on questionable evidence.
Purple heart amethyst geode
Geodes are cool natural clusters of crystals inside rock bodies. One example of an amethyst geode from Uruguay formed in a heart shape.
Fishy images of a glowing red sea
Glowing red areas of the sea spotted by pilots are posed as mysterious. But since 2022, we are pretty clear about the source.
Unfortunate media trend to make oarfish the doomsday fish
Oarfish have an unfortunate and false association with earthquakes. A recent find of a dead oarfish associated with a small quake in Los Angeles made headlines as a doomsday fish.
Triangle Trope of Vermont: Bennington
The Bennington Triangle in Vermont has a foundational narrative of real life murders, disappearances, and an abandoned village. A corpus of exaggerated tales grew from it.
Strange Times for 4 August 2024
In the news: The werewolf/dogman stuff is still steadily rolling out and gaining momentum. A new crop circle cost the farmer some significant damages. And, an excessively exaggerated “haunted” location now has another kooky claim.