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MUSEUM ANNOUNCEMENT
AND RESEARCH REQUESTS |
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The International Cryptozoology
Museum
Portland, Maine |
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In August 2003, I brought a lifelong dream to life. This is to share
the
many items I have collected during the last half a century, with
researchers, scholars, colleagues, and the general public. I opened
the
International Cryptozoology Museum in a house I bought in Portland,
Maine,
under the spotlight of the media (see below), with a beginning
trickle of
invited visitors.
The museum is modestly beginning with sculptures and paintings
created just
for it, hundreds of CZ toys and souvenirs from around the world,
one-of-a-kind artifacts, a life-size, 8 feet tall Bigfoot
representation, a
full-scale, six-foot-long thousand dollar coelacanth model, 100
Bigfoot,
Yeti, Yowie, and other footcasts, fakes like jackalopes, Feejee
Mermaid &
furred trout, along with such Hollywood cryptid-related props as The
Mothman
Prophecies' Point Pleasant "police" outfit, the movie P. T. Barnum's
authentic 3+ feet tall Feejee Mermaid, the TV series Freakylinks' 22
foot
wide "Thunderbird", and some of Magnolia's falling frogs. Special
art and
sculpture creations by some of the leading cryptozoological artists
in the
world are featured.
Special Thanks and Wish List: The International Cryptozoology Museum
in
Portland, Maine, includes exhibits on the discoveries of "living
fossils,"
the successful cryptozoological stories. One of the most famous, of
course,
is the coelacanth. Many thanks to an anonymous individual who has
donated a
full 57-inch replica mount of coelacanth as produced by
Fantastic
Fish Mounts. Also, appreciation to an
anonymous
contributor for the Gigantopithecus skull; Caleb and Malcolm for the
sabertoothed tiger skull; Richard Noll, Zack Clothier, David
Bittner, Todd
Lester, Paul Cropper, Dean Harrison, Richard Brown, and others for
track
casts; and Dolores Phelps for many cryptozoo items representing the
cultural
impact of cryptozoology. There are many other "things" needed. If
you are
interested in donating to the Cryptozoology Museum, we are always
looking
for new material, from native artifacts and taxidermy mounts that
apply, to
cryptid specific exhibits and cryptozoological souvenirs. Wanted
plaster
casts of footprints, especially from the East and internationally
taken.
Please use the address below. Have an exhibit with your name on it -
as the
source of the donated item. Stay tuned for future details.
Please contact us or write to, |
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Loren Coleman, Director
International Cryptozoology Museum
PO Box 360
Portland, ME 04112` |
BIGFOOT!
The True Story of Apes in America
Now available on Amazon.com |
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ABCNews.com on Bigfoot and Cryptozoology
Museum
Wireless
Flash
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Loren Coleman
Director Cryptozoology Museum
PO Box 360
Portland, ME 04112 |
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Loren Coleman at the Piasa painting site, Alton, Illinois, 1999,
during a research and museum collection trip
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Footprints and Tracks Project
In the spirit of cooperation, the following is posted in the hopes that people
with valuable Bigfoot cast and footprint photograph information will forward it to
Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology, Idaho State University,
and Affiliate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Idaho Museum of Natural History.
 Meldrum
is convinced that there is a tremendous untapped source of information to be realized
in the form of photographs and casts of footprints discovered by various individuals
which have never been reported to or examined by a researcher such as Meldrum.
The assistance of readers is requested in locating and contributing to this data
set and thereby participating in and furthering his investigation. If you have
in your possession, or know of an acquaintance or relative who has original photographs
or casts of footprints, please contact Dr. Jeff Meldrum at your earliest convenience.
Furthermore, original newpaper photographs of casts and prints (such as those shown
here) would be useful as well. Meldrum has a number of poorly photocopied clippings
that have significant pictures of casts, but in their present state are not extremely
helpful. He is hoping to increase his files in this regard, and assistance would
be appreciated.
Dr. Jeff Meldrum
Dept. Biological Science
Campus Box 8007
Idaho State University
Pocatello, ID 83209-8007
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DNA Testing of Hair Samples Project
An important arena of research is occurring regarding the collection and testing
of hair samples, especially from Bigfoot/Sasquatch. The focus of such testing is
now on the acceptance of such hair samples for morphological examination through
the efforts of Dr. W. Henner Fahrenbach. Dr. Fahrenbach welcomes any samples, especially
since the presumptive positive ones broaden his regional database. DNA analysis on
Sasquatch hairs (all of which appear to look congruous from all different sites)
has come to a halt since the extracted DNA, even from fresh roots, turns out to be
so fragmented that no sequencing can be accomplished. However, the morphology is
the precursor to any other analysis, and the greater the sampling the broader the
foundation of the database. Hair samples should be sent to the below address in a
plastic baggie in a normal envelope. Expensive and fast mailing procedures are superfluous
and unnecessary. Please label the sample clearly with the date of collection, location
of collection, name and address of the collector and/or field investigator.
Dr. W. Henner Fahrenbach
Laboratory of Microscopy
Oregon Regional Primate Research Center
505 NW 185th
Beaverton, OR 97006
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The "Mystery Civil War Pterodactyl"
An internet rumor began in the late 1990s that this photograph was found squeezed
between the pages of a 1970s paranormal book purchased at a thrift store. For years,
Forteans had searched for the exclusive "Thunderbird" photograph seen and
remembered by zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson during the 1960s. Then, this newly discovered
picture raised the question of its relationship to the Sanderson "lost Thunderbird
photo." But something seemed wrong. The Sanderson stories told of a Thunderbird
tacked to the side of a barn in Tombstone, Arizona, or some other location in the
Old West. The photograph shown here, however, appeared to have captured a group of
Civil War soldiers, circa 1860s, with the remains of a pterodactyl. Was this the
long lost photograph, remembered by so many, but never found after decades of looking
for it?
 As
it turned out this photograph was a promotional tool of Orlando, Florida's Haxan
Production (producers of "The Blair Witch Project"), to develop interest
in their forthcoming fictional program, "Freaky Links." The series, first
broadcast on Fox TV, finally in 2000, involved the character "Derek Barnes,"
an investigator of the unknown.
The picture was a hoax and the pterodactyl was a prop created exclusively for two
episodes of Freaky Links. Fox is done with the prop, however, and this intriguing
pseudo-cryptid was acquired by Loren Coleman, and is now part of the collection of
the Museum--that is all 22 feet by 11 feet of it.
Photograph used with permission of Gregg Hale, Executive Director, Haxan Productions.
Credit, Fox TV.
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