Maine Mysteries

Sorry for one year of nothingness

2011-06-16T12:54:00.001-04:00

It's been a year since I last posted on this blog. I will be updating it this summer.

Gloucester Sea Serpent

2010-08-02T09:49:00.001-04:00

I found this delightful website that features dozens of creatures of cryptozoology and the paranormal. I also found it had extensive information about the Gloucester Sea Serpent that was extensively reported of the coast of Massachusetts and New England.

The Gloucester Sea Serpent was most widely reported from 1638 to 1877, which recorded many sightings. The Gloucester Sea Serpent is also featured on the right picture of our blog header.

Head on over to Unknown Explorers to read more about the Gloucester Sea Serpent and other Cryptozoological creatures.

Sea Serpent Off Boston

2010-08-01T09:49:00.000-04:00

Click here to read the short report that occurred of the coast of Boston.

Stories Anyone?

2010-07-26T20:26:00.002-04:00

I seem to be a little low on anything worth posting. As in the past year. If anyone has a story or link to share, it would be greatly appreciated!!

Eliza's Spirit

2009-08-06T13:58:00.000-04:00

BANGOR, MAINE
During the 18th century, a witch named Eliza lived is this home. Since her death in 1831, every family that has resided in the house was haunted by her spirit. In 1945, the house burned. Eliza’s spirit, however, continued to wreak havoc, often screeching during the night. Some brave souls have stayed at the site and have all met Eliza.

~Real Haunts.com

Maine Bigfoot Sightings

2009-08-06T13:50:00.000-04:00

There is a website called "Bigfoot Encounters." It contains several sightings and legends from Maine.

Go to http://www.bigfootencounters.com/ and click either "sightings," "Stories, Sightings, Encounters, Letters," and legends and look for Maine.

Two men see huge hairy animal near Poland, Maine

2009-03-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

YEAR: 1999

SEASON: Summer
MONTH: August
DATE: 15
STATE: Maine
COUNTY: Androscoggin County
LOCATION DETAILS: Up Rt. 11 from Mechanic falls to Poland, on the right side of 4 way intersection
NEAREST TOWN: Poland
NEAREST ROAD: Rt. 11
OBSERVED: August 1999
While returning from a trip at around 3 am at the corner of route 11 and north raymond road in Polan Me. androscoggin county. My brother-in-law was turning off rt. 11 onto the raymond road when he said "do you see that?" and I said what and he said "that big hairy thing in the bushes!" It was off to the left about 100 feet in the woods and big and hairy, I mean real big. We only caught a glimpse of t in the headlights. This is more comon than you may think, people up hear see this stuff often but the locals keep it quiet. I know of several other reports from this area.
OTHER WITNESSES: 2 Me, and my brother-in-law
OTHER STORIES: Yes 2 Class A and 2 Class B or more.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: Dark, no moon
ENVIRONMENT: Low population, wooded area between 2 large lakes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator John Perry:

This area has had a history of sitings dating back into at least the 1970's.
~BFRO

Wytopitlock, Maine Ghost Tales

2009-02-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

I lived in wytopitlock me from 1974 till 1986. I had a friend there that lived out near the end of 171 near route 2. He and I many times saw an old civil war troop walk the feild behind his house. I lived in the big green house. We had a ghost in the house he wakled the stairs late at night you would hear his heavy footsteps comming up the stairs he never hurt anyone in the house just walked the stairs. My lil peice of pitlock history.

Submitted by Harry Carll to Ghosts of America

Not everything in Wytopitlock, Maine is as it seems; there are strange things going down in this settlement during the night. Ghosts are so average in this town; loads of local residents don’t even think about it any longer. People who have never stayed overnight in this municipality will say to you it's lies, but there really are scary things occurring here in Wytopitlock during the night.

These are some of the spooky things that have happened here recently.

The ghost of an engine driver is known to have been made out on frequent instances trying to deposit a body in Palmer Deadwater in the early morning hours before sunrise.

The ghost of a badly mangled hunter pulling a dead wolf may regularly be made out around midnight drifting along Angus Brook. Regardless of what, it's a chilling phantom that any sensible person wouldn't wish to meet.
~Ghosts of America

Millinocket Lake UFO report

2009-02-18T14:23:00.001-05:00

FEB. 9, 2009 - Two brothers hauling firewood across a frozen Maine lake encountered a low-flying yellow light - 50 feet above the tree line - shining a light to the ground. The light soon turned to three red lights forming a triangle. The brothers moved to their camp, returning a few minutes later - only to encounter a single red light which appeared to follow them - while two more lights joined the first in the sky and seemed, at one point, to be surrounding them. When the brothers decided it was time to get out of there, their vehicle's engine shut down.

To read the full report:[Source]

Written by Michelle Souliere, Strange Maine

Ghost hunters haunt out of state

2009-02-18T11:49:00.000-05:00

Haunted happenings: Ghost team arrives to examine Lynn home

By Robin Kaminski / The Daily Item

LYNN - In a seemingly normal looking home on Averill Street, spirits from another time are said to haunt its halls.

Unexplained noises, visions of a young boy dressed all in white and the sound of breaking glass have become an almost daily and eerie occurrence for the mother and two daughters who live in the home.
...
Those ghostly premonitions prompted Bonnie to contact the Bangor Maine Ghost Hunters Association on a referral from her daughter in Maine, to finally get some answers and peace of mind.

A motley crew consisting of a former magician and three amateur ghost hunters - the Friday the 13th team was made up of Director Harold "Bubba" Murray, William Ammells, Cristal Murray and Michael Murray.

Established in 2000, Murray, a burly man originally from Lynn, said the investigations have taken the crew to numerous locations in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as Lynn and Haverhill.

Aside from the Maine chapter, there are also Lynn and Haverhill offices.

"They contacted me to see what was going on in their home, so we're here to see what we're dealing with," Murray said. "I don't usually come this far from Maine to investigate, but she really pushed for us to come. So, we're going to do a short term investigation (from Thursday night until Saturday) and then I'll analyze what we find."

...
To read the full article:[Source]

Unrecognized wailing heard near Scituate, Mass

2009-02-16T08:24:00.000-05:00

YEAR: 2000
SEASON: Fall
MONTH: November
DATE: 25
STATE: Massachusetts
COUNTY: Plymouth County
LOCATION DETAILS: Between 3A and Old Oaken Bucket Road in the woods that separates them.
NEAREST TOWN: Scituate
NEAREST ROAD: 3A (Chief Justice Cushing Highway)
OBSERVED: My dog was bothering me to go out ealry morning around 3 AM on November 25th 2000. It was very brisk out and I believe the weather was clear. Not sure about the lighting. As I was walking her, I could hear coyotes howling for a good few minutes from a distance and didn't think much of it. Then a few minutes later after it had stopped, I was about to walk inside and heard this loud wailing coming from the woods. It literally sent a chill down my spine. It definitely was not human and not anything else I would recognize. We don't have much wildlife bigger than deer and coyote. This went on till about 5:30 AM and kept me up. The wailing to me almost sounded depressing like it was upset or something. I told my friend's father a few weeks later and he told me that he was out walking his dog a few years earlier and said that he clearly saw something in the woods watching him. He never told anyone because he thought no one would be lieve him. This happened across the major road by the resevoir early evening.
ALSO NOTICED: Just the coyotes howling before.
OTHER WITNESSES: Nope
OTHER STORIES: Nope, but I also don't live there anymore.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: 3AM to 5:30 AM
ENVIRONMENT: Forrest with a brook near by.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Nick Maione:

I spoke with the witness and believe him to be credible. He described hearing a loud, deep wailing/groaning noise every few minutes. It went on for about two hours. He said it sounded human but that it was too loud.

The Eastern Massachusetts region has shown Bigfoot activity in the past. Unfortunately, there has been heavy real estate development in this area.
~BFRO

Not THE Crystal Lake...

2009-02-14T08:50:00.000-05:00

Written by Michelle Souliere, February 13, 2009

Happy Friday the 13th! With the release of the new Jason Voorhees movie this week, I wanted to celebrate the day with a little research (because I am just that weird). In this vein, I discovered that Maine not only has its own Crystal Lake, it in fact has TWO of them, one in Gray, and one in Harrison. One of them was formerly named "Anonymous Pond." Why does this make me laugh? I don't know, but there it is.

According to Maine's Lakes Environmental Organization, one Crystal Lake "is the only lake completely within the borders of Harrison. Mill Stream, which is the outlet of the lake, provided early village settlers with power to run both a grist and saw mill." [Source] The second Crystal Lake is has its own Crystal Lake Association, formed in 1970, whose website has some beautiful photos.

Back in 1963, the New Yorker, of all sources, reported on how Anonymous Pond (now Crystal Lake in Harrison) was about to lose its anonymity: "Incidental Intelligence: In Cumberland County, Maine, there is a body of water that has the arresting name of Anonymous Pond. Now some spoilsports are trying to have it officially called Crystal Lake, and it may become anonymous." [Source: John McCarten, Incidental Intelligence, The New Yorker, March 2, 1963, p. 24, read abstract here]

Anonymous Pond, though quiet in recent years, has a lively history, including one of Maine's first alligator captures. Yes, I said alligator! To quote Chris Dunham, over at All Things Maine, "The first [recorded alligator in Maine] was probably the one shot in Owlsley Cove, Anonymous Pond (Crystal Lake) in Harrison in November of 1895." You can read a full account here, but I will tantalize you with this tidbit: "The alligator was first seen by W. M. Shaw of South Paris. In company with other members of the Owlsley club he was returning from Harrison with a load of provisions when he noticed a large black object floating on the sunlit waters of the quiet little cove, near which the camp of the Owlsley club is situated. ... During Friday and Saturday the mysterious creature was occasionally seen by various persons, and shot at several times without apparent effect."

~Stange Maine

Tony Martin and his Bigfoot Fossil Footprints - May 5, 2007

2009-02-05T19:18:00.005-05:00

Tony Martin found what he believes are Bigfoot fossil footprints in Maine in 1975. He was rock houding in Coos Canyon, near Byrun when he found rocks resembling 12″ long footprints, weighing about 5 pounds each. His first reaction was to think they were petrified Bigfoot tracks.

An article in the Lewiston Maine Sun Journal shows Tony Martin holding one of his two footprint-shaped rocks.

Apparently many people he’s shown them to don’t agree either because they are too skeptical to care about anything concerning Bigfoot, or because they have alternate expanations for the existence of these possible Bigfoot fossil footprints.

The article cites one expert, Tom Weddle of the Maine Geological Survey. Weddle says that the rocks are probably about 400 million years old and made metamorphically from mica crystals and staurolite. He believes Bigfoot is a modern creature, not something that would have been roaming this planet 400 million years ago.

I am not a professional geologist, but will give my opinion on that anyhow. From what I’ve learned from Michael Cremo, author of Forbidden Archeology, humans have existed on this planet for millions of years. For example, he knows of the discovery of a Precambrian-era metal vase dating from 600 million years ago, as well as many similarly ancient discoveries. So I don’t buy the idea that Bigfoot could not have been around to create fossilized footprints in ancient Maine.

The article, by Kathryn Skelton, includes a short interview with BFRO founder Matt Moneymaker, regarding how he makes money and what he believes makes his $300 Bigfoot expeditions worthwhile.
~Bigfoot Sightings

South Berwick, Maine Ghost Tales

2009-02-02T13:27:00.003-05:00

There is an old farmhouse on Old South Road, So. Berick, ME that has many ghosts within its walls. I grew up there and had many personal encounters, not knowing the difference between ghosts and regular people as a child. There was a woman in a white dress with black polka dots that was always in the downstairs area between the bathroom and the living room. She couldn't walk through the door opening into the dining room because it wasn't there when she was alive. She had to walk to the end of the hallway and go through the doorway at the front of the house. When we played in the hay loft at the top of the barn as kids, there was hysterical (maniacal) laughter on the stairway so we would exit the loft thrugh one of the trap doors and climb down the ladder. Every morning every pan in the cabinets in the kitchen would clang, I would think my Mom was downstairs making breakfast so I'de go down and no one was there and the noise would stop upon my stepping on the threshold to the kitchen. There was a man with an undiscernable face that sat on the top of the car roof at night cross legged. He had on a red plaid shirt and jeans. He often came right up to the indos at night, I was face to face withhim in the window but still, I couldn't make out any details of is face. You could see a man walking around the bottom of the bed in the middle of the night just standing there looking at us kids sleeping.

Especially when it was lightening outside, you would get a brief ''good look'' at him, and it wasn't pleasant. I went back to visit the old farmhouse 5 years ago - and clearly, they all still remain in the house. It just seemed more ''sullen'' of an atmosphere without the 7 kids and parent who used to live there. They enjoyed us, and we, as kids, not knowing any different, spent time withthem. I used to be able to jump the whole length of the staircase from top to bottom, in slow motion, and land safely on the floor at the bottom. I was 5 or 6 years old and this was a long, semi-steep winding stairway. My little brother & sister used to try to copy me from a few steps up and would land much harder than I did from the top. All of this may seem strange - but it's true. Plus...there was much more.

~Ghosts of America

Sea serpents sighted off the coast

2009-01-19T07:35:00.000-05:00

By Sharon Cummins

January 08, 2009 6:00 AM

John Josselyn's natural history accounts of his 17th century voyages to the new world have informed historians and scientists alike, but some of his observations give pause.

Josselyn would have us believe that sea serpents inhabited the coast and that New England natives had come to respect their powers. A Massachusetts diarist referred to similar knowledge in 1641, but added that the Indians sometimes exaggerated to the Englishmen in sport.

"It pleaseth them to make ye white man stare," he wrote.

Sea serpents have been reported on our shores ever since. During the Revolutionary War, Capt. Little of the U.S. Navy spotted one in Penobscot Bay and a 100-foot specimen allegedly visited Portsmouth Harbor in 1796. According to hundreds of witnesses, the waters off Cape Ann were virtually teeming with sea serpents in 1817 and sightings in Maine were plentiful during the years that followed. On the rare occasion that one of these slithering devils was captured it always magically transformed itself before scientists could authenticate. Isaac Wildes of Cape Porpoise killed one in 1822, but by the time he got it to shore it had morphed into a 370-pound seal.

The editor of the Eastern Argus swore to the veracity of one Mr. Gooch of Kennebunk when the latter described an alarming encounter a few miles off Kennebunk's shore on July 21, 1830. Wells and Portsmouth fishermen had already reported being pestered by a sea serpent that week but none of them had had the courage to get as close to the beast as did Mr. Gooch. The two other men in his fishing smack rushed below when the monster approached, but Mr. Gooch remained on deck and returned the serpent's stare.

"He came within six feet of the boat," reported the fisherman. "He raised his head about four feet from the water and looked directly into the boat. He was about 60 feet long," continued Mr. Gooch. "His head was about the size of a 10 gallon keg, having long flaps, or ears, hanging down, and his eyes about the size of those of an ox, bright and projecting from his head".

It must have been a distant cousin of Gooch's monster that encircled the fishing boat of Clement Perkins and Thomas Cleaves of Kennebunkport at the mouth of the Kennebunk River in 1850. In a letter to the editor of the New Hampshire Sentinel, Perkins and Cleaves wrote, "The portion of his body out of the water we judge to be 80 feet, his form that of a large bamboo, the distance between the joints two feet, his motion undulating, velocity that of a common walk of man, his head resembling the bill of a duck."

Nine years later Mr. Gooch's neighbor, Capt. Boothby of Lower Village, reported seeing a sea serpent frolicking with a school of whales off Boon Island Ledge.

In the 1870s there was a sea serpent population explosion. Curiously, the species had mutated a preference for summer resorts. Hotels in Fortunes Rocks, Wells Beach and Saco sent out press releases all but promising that sea serpents were summering in plain view of their breezy, wraparound piazzas. In 1880, a correspondent from Kennebunkport's Ocean Bluff Hotel reported that Mr. Hiram Gooch, Skipper of the tourist yacht, Clara Bell, had pointed out a sea serpent to his delighted passengers. They couldn't quite see his head and his tail was underwater, but the commotion the creature made convinced them they had seen a genuine York County sea serpent. The Boston Daily Globe report tactfully suggested that any doubters should "come to this gem of seaside places to see and be convinced."

By 1900 every seaside hotel in New England employed a sea serpent. They swam to and fro along the beaches, each one bigger and more rambunctious that the last. Newspaper readers finally became a little suspicious when one of the serpents apparently had adapted to a lakeside resort habitat. A letter to the editor of the New York Times referred to the resort sea serpent as Leviathan the Counterfeiter. The jig was up. Sightings declined. Magical creatures from the deep fell out of favor, at least fore a while.

The hope of seeing a genuine sea serpent attracted hundreds of tourists to York County's coast again in 1967. Biddeford Pool lobstermen had hauled mysterious remains ashore that looked just as a sea serpent skeleton should look. The monster was embalmed and proudly displayed until a Biddeford High School science teacher remarked that it bore a striking resemblance to skeletons belonging to the shark family.

~Seacoast Online

Seguin Island Light Haunting

2009-01-02T13:13:00.005-05:00

Lighthouses tend to be lonely, desolate, eerie places, so it's no wonder that many of the old lighthouses that dot our shores have legends of long-time ghosts and hauntings, and the Seguin Island Light is no exception.
The Seguin Island Light was first built in 1797. The structure has was replaced in 1820, and again with the present structure in 1857. The light was manually monitored until it was automated in 1985. It is the highest elevated lighthouse in Maine, standing a little over 180 feet above sea level. It is located on a fairly barren island of rock jutting out of the sea, 1.6 miles from the nearest land. In winter, the sea is rough and hard to navigate, and the island is shrouded in fog with cold, high winds whistling through the creaking structures. No wonder then, that it is reported to be haunted by a former caretaker who was driven insane by the isolation there.

The story goes that a new caretaker brought his wife to the Lighthouse to live, and eventually bought her a piano to ease the monotony of life, Unfortunately, she could only play piano from sheet music, and only had one piece of sheet music on the island. She reportedly played the same song over and over until her husband finally took an axe to the piano and to her, and then killed himself. Reports of faint piano music coming from the island have been reported, along specters of a woman wandering about the island and a man working in the lighthouse.
Other apparitions reported at the lighthouse include a little girl who bounces a ball behind one of the bedroom doors, another lighthouse keeper, and objects being moved around inside the house.

The Seguin Island Light is a true historic relic with a long history that is accessible to private boaters. So many reports of odd occurrences have been reported here that it is well worth a look for those interested in the paranormal. It is open Memorial Day through Labor Day, and is accessible by boat from Bath, Popham Beach, or Boothbay Harbor.

For more information on tours, call Friends of Seguin Island, Inc., P.O. Box 866, Bath, Maine 04530. Phone 207-443-4808.

~Mystical Blaze - Ghosts of Maine

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T08:16:00.000-05:00

It's a new year. Thank you for your support. (However little it may be.) I hope that in this next year, Maine Mysteries will grow much more than it did this first year. February 2 is our "birthday." In this upcoming second year, I hope your contributions will continue. For this first year I'd like to thank the BFRO, Bigfoot Encounters, Wikipedia, Mark LaFlamme, Strange Maine, Loren Coleman, Ron Hubert, and Blogger for making this all possible.

Evening sighting by motorists on Tyson Road, off Route 100, outside Ludlow, Vermont

2008-12-30T14:53:00.002-05:00

YEAR: 2005
SEASON: Fall
MONTH: October
DATE: 8
STATE: Vermont
COUNTY: Windsor County
LOCATION DETAILS: It's off Rt 100 outside of Ludlow Vermont. It crosses some very heavily wooded, desolate areas.
NEAREST TOWN: Ludlow
NEAREST ROAD: Tyson Road
OBSERVED: My family and I went to Ludlow, Vermont for Columbus Day weekend since we enjoy the northeastern woods.We all enjoy observing the local flora and fauna in their natural settings and we often drive and/or walk the back roads looking for deer, moose, bear and whatever else we can spot. One evening we went "Moose Spotting" on Tyson Road since during a summer trip to the same area, earlier, we had observed eight moose in one evening.As we drove along Tyson Road I saw a large bipedal form cross the road in two strides. I asked one of my daughters, "Did you see that? Tell me what did you see." I purposely didn't say what I'd seen since I wanted to know if she'd seen what I'd seen. I wanted to be sure I had not imagined it.Very quickly she said, "I don't know what it was but it was real big, maybe eight feet tall, hairy and crossed the road in two steps."She saw the same thing I did. It crossed the road about 50 feet ahead of us and judging from the trees where it crossed the road I'd say her height estimate is accurate +/- 20%.My other daughter didn't see it since she was in the back seat and was looking out the side windows of the car.I still don't quite believe it but I know what bear, deer and moose look like in natural settings since I've been hunting for 40 years.It wasn't anything I had ever seen in the woods. It walked across the road in two strides, was heavily built, covered in short dark hair and, as stated previously, approximately eight feet tall.One more thing. The day before, we had driven the same area, didn't see anything at all, no fauna at all, but we did hear some very odd vocalizations that sound very much like the recordings available on your website.
ALSO NOTICED: The day before we had driven the same area, didn't see anything at all, no fauna at all, but we did hear some very odd vocalizations that sound very much like the recordings available on your website.
OTHER WITNESSES: There were three of us in the car. Only two of us saw it cross the road.
OTHER STORIES: I've been told that the locals just warn kids not to hang out there since "strange" things happen there sometimes. I don't know what strange things so I'm not sure if it's relevant.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was evening but with the moon and the headlights of the car we could see very clearly.
ENVIRONMENT: At that point the road is bordered by woods and swamp.

Follow-up investigation report:
I spoke to the witness by phone and he impressed me as articulate and sincere. He emphasized that he might have thought he was imagining the experience had his daughter not been in the front seat with him and corroborated all of his perceptions. He added a few details to the submitted report: 1) the figure turned its head toward the car as it crossed the road; 2) it resembled the figure in The Patterson Film, with the same pronounced arm swing, except that it wasn't as heavily built; 3) its head seemed "conical"; 4) its visible (nearer) hand looked "massive."
~BFRO

Stories from old-timers about "Wood Devils" in the deep woods, New Hampshire

2008-12-26T15:49:00.000-05:00

YEAR: 1930's

SEASON: Unknown
STATE: New Hampshire
COUNTY: Coos County
OBSERVED:
Many years ago I lived up in Coos county in New Hampshire. Some of the old men would talk about things called "wood devils" that live in the woods. There aparently were alot more of these creatures back in the 1930's than there are now.

These Wood Devils were tall and very skinny. They are grey colored and very hairy. I guess that people saw them mostly when they didnt expect to. They stay in the deep woods.

They can run very fast. When a person walked through the woods he would nearly walk into one before he spotted it. They hide by standing upright and still aginst a tree. As a person aproaches it it will stand against the opposite side of the tree. As the person passes it will move so that the tree is always between the person and the tree. If it cannot hide it will still stay perfectly still until it knows the person sees it. They make awful screams. They have a semi human shape, but their faces dont look at all human. I have never seen one, but the people who said they did were regular church goers and would strap their kids for lying. I dont think they would carry on discussions of things they made up.

~BFRO

Maine Paranormal - Weird Legends at the End of the U.S.

2008-12-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

It's among the oldest places in the U.S., so it’s apt to have its legends of the weird and creepy. Maine has numerous tales of something unworldly all over its lovely, ancient lands.

Among the freakier finds was the Mackworth Island Tree, on Mackworth Island – an area that has a rather sinister history involving the nearby deaf school. Eventually cut down to nine feet and gutted, there are mysterious faces carved into the tree, believed to be the work of native tribes. One national TV show touted it as a haunted tree, but plenty disagree on that description, as the place is a well-known, postcard-beautiful state park.

The tree is supposedly gone now, but nearby sits a small pet cemetery which has been the cause of some rumors. Apparently, a man living in the area lovingly buried his dogs and a horse there after they passed on, setting their graves within a stone circle. Tales have grown and then flown about the local area of sightings of phantom pets because of it. Photos here.

In the little town of Boothbay, on the southwestern coast, there is the Boothbay Opera House building, built in 1894, home to some fraternal orders over the years and now apparently has an ectoplasmic resident. It’s said to wander the second floor, something talked about since the late 40’s. Sometimes it manifests itself by playing the piano, according to witnesses in 1957 and then again in 1977. This has led some to believe the musically inclined spirit is a pianist who was employed there during its time as a theater in the 1900’s.

Kennebunk is host to a ghost at the Kennebunk Inn. Even the inn’s own website describes their unpaid former employee: “Another distinctive feature of The Inn's is its ‘haunted heritage. Rumor has it that Silas Perkins, one of The Inn's clerks who passed away in the mid-twentieth century, continues to inhabit his place of former employment - his presence being made visible occasionally by flying or falling wine glasses and other objects.”

The occurrences don’t seem healthy for the employees. One incident was supposedly witnessed by several guests, as a wine glass rose off the waiter’s tray and fell to the floor. The waiter took the rest of the day off. Goblets behind the bar move or fly off the shelf – one caused a lump on an employee’s head. Chairs move around by themselves. And one ghost hunter was apparently kept awake at night by a moaning, raspy voice, among other experiences.

Perhaps the ghost was a heavy smoker.

The inn dates back to 1799.

A creepy local tale in the rural areas of Bangor talks of an 18th century witch named Eliza who terrorized those who lived in her home after her death in 1831. The house burned down in the 40’s, but some say she still did a bunch of screeching on the site afterwards. It’s a popular tale that many have grown up with, but no one seems to know where the site actually is.

Bangor is also supposedly the site of the haunting of the Brady Gang leader, Al Brady, said to haunt the downtown area.

The Lucerne Inn in Lucerne, Maine, has rumors of ghosts. Which room is spook-filled differs with each telling.

The Marshall Point lighthouse in Port Clyde has a tale of two ghosts haunting the road leading to it. It’s said a teen was murdered by a dark-bearded man once, and you can hear the man running down the road in his boots.

A cottage in town has many tales of a woman haunting the vicinity as well.
~Source

Two sisters see dark, shaggy-haired, bipedal creature standing in middle of road

2008-12-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

YEAR: 1996 or 1997

SEASON: Unknown
STATE: Maine
COUNTY: Hancock County
NEAREST TOWN: Bucksport
NEAREST ROAD: route 46
OBSERVED: my sister and i were driving to school one morning a few years ago and straight up ahead we both saw something standing there in the road on two feet for sure, staring at us approaching. As we approached we could tell that the creature was about the size of a human, was covered with very dark, shaggy hair, and it was sorta hunched over with it's arms hanging down quite far. it just stood there about a foot ot two into the road watching us and then almost as qucikly as it had happened, it vanished into the trees.

when we drove by i looked into the forest to see if i saw anything, but couldn't see anything. we went to school and told a few friends and then told out parents later that night. we didn't think to call the police or anything at the time, although i wish we had.

when we tell people they never believe us because most people don't believe in "bigfoot". i'm glad that this sight is here so that someone might finally believe us. i know what we saw was real and i know that it wasn't a bear. bears are not shapped like humans and very rarley walk around on two feet

OTHER WITNESSES: it was just me and my sister and we were just headed to school

OTHER STORIES: i thought i should tell you about this even tho it might have been nothing.i was driving with my dad in Orrington maine and as we passed a road i saw something crossing it. i couldn't tell what it was because we went past so quickly but what i saw was very dark and tall. it is possible that this could've just been a bear, but it would've had to have been up on two feet.

i made my dad turn around and we went up the road driving very slowly looking into the woods along the sides of the road. we didn't see anything, whatever it was had vanished.

but now as i think back comparing that incident with the other that i had in bucksport, what i saw in orrington, although only for a second, seemed very similiar to each other.

i am not saying that i know or even think it was a bigfoot in orrington that day, but i do THINK that it certainly looked like the one i did see in bucksport. i didn't think much about that incident and had almost forgotton about it because i never had an explanation for it and because i was the only one who saw it so i had nobody to discuss it with.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was during the school year so it wasn't summer, and there was no snow, so i don't think it was winter. it was either fall or spring.

ENVIRONMENT: on a road with a lot of forest, near Whites apple orchard

Maine Bigfoot Sighting by Motorist

2008-11-28T16:16:00.000-05:00

YEAR: 1973 or '74

SEASON: Summer
MONTH: July
STATE: Maine
COUNTY: Penobscot County
LOCATION DETAILS: My sighting occurred in the southbound lanes of Route 95 just north of Bangor, Maine.

OBSERVED: I observed a large, hairy creature, either dark brown or black, striding swiftly across the southbound lanes from the treed median to the woods on the right side of the road. The creature walked smoothly and stood very erect. At first I thought it was a gorilla, then immediately realized that didn't make any sense; but it had too long arms for a bear, and didn't stand or move like one. At that time I was utterly perplexed and could find no rational explanation for what I had seen. I did not hear of Bigfoot until several years later when some photos were televised and I realized that this looked like what I had seen. I did stop the car and attempt to look across the low traffic barrier and into the woods where the being had gone, but could see no trace of it.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing

OTHER WITNESSES: My husband and 2 children were in the car, but were dozing. By the time I figured out what to say (as I knew it wasn't a bear, but a gorilla was incongrous) it was too late for them to see anything. I could look back across the meridian at a car traveling north, and expected it to stop if it had seen the creature crossing the other side; but it didn't stop.

OTHER STORIES: No. I have been curious ever since to know if there had been any similar sightings in northern Maine. But have just now found this means of communicating to others about my experience.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: This occurred in late July of 1973 or 74 in the early evening. It was still light and it was clear and dry

I would like to know if there have been other possible sightings in Maine.

ENVIRONMENT: At this point Route 95 goes through the Maine wilderness. Both sides of the road were heavilly forested. The median had trees and rocks and some bushes of various density. Shortly before the sighting I had noticed a few houses off in the distance through a clearing' so had noted that we were probably beginning to approach a more populated area as we were headed for a campground just above Bangor.

~BFRO

Series of Bigfoot sightings taking place over three days

2008-11-11T10:14:00.004-05:00

YEAR: 1973
SEASON: Summer
MONTH: July
STATE: Maine
COUNTY: Cumberland County

LOCATION DETAILS: (#1) Shiloh-Lisbon Falls Road area, in Brunswick, Maine; half-mile from the Huntington home, in Durham, Maine.(#2) near Durham Road, in the Jones Cemetery, Durham, Maine.(#3) River Road, near the Jones Cemetery, at the Durham-Brunswick, Maine line.(#4) "behind the Jones Cemetery." at the Durham-Brunswick, Maine line.

OBSERVED: (#1) Mrs. Huntington reported (after her own sighting - #3 - the following day) that her daughters have seen the animal three or four times. The first sighting consisted of four youngsters on bicycles seeing it. The three Huntington children (Lois Huntington, 13; George Huntington Jr., 10; Scott Huntington, 8) and their friend (Tammy Sairo, 12) were riding along the road about a half-mile from the Huntington home. They matter-of-factly reported an encounter with a chimp.

Mrs. Huntington would later tell reporters: "My 13-year-old daughter fell off her bike about three feet from him and all he did was cock his head and look at her." It was described as upright and chimpanzee-like. The quiet, intelligent, reserved Lois reportedly told the Maine Sunday Telegram: "I fell right down in front of him and all he did was look at me. I would have known if it were a hippie or something. But it had a regular monkey face. You have seen a monkey before, haven't you?"

(#2) A gorilla-like animal standing on its hind legs was observed two or three times by a James Washburn. Officers searching the area found moose and deer tracks. (Note by LC - Finding moose tracks anywhere in Maine is not unusual.)

(#3) Mrs. George (Meota) Huntington, 33, of Lisbon Falls Road, Durham was driving home from a baseball game when she saw the "ape" peeking out from the bushes on the Durham Road. It was twenty feet away, and made a "mad dash" on two legs into the heavily wooded area. The exact description of the "ape" was that it was a little over five feet tall, with a shaggy, black coat, and weighing about 350 pounds.

She says it had a "monkey face." "Chimp-like" was another way it was described. She coasted her vehicle so as not to scare it, but when it apparently saw her vehicle, then it ran into the woods. She reportedly saw it two separate times during this incident, as she returned with neighbors and sighted it again. She stayed in her car, as others searched the woods. She was sitting in her car, when she saw it again, peering at her from the crotch of a tree.

Soon after police were notified, the following arrived to begin a search - Androscoggin Sheriff's Department (a number of deputies), Cumberland County Sheriff's Department, the Maine State Police, and State of Maine Game Wardens. Altogether, over thirty officers in thirty police cars searched for the animal for two hours. (A helicopter was used in a search in the following days.)

Tracks found near a cemetery and not directly associated with the sighting looked human but had claws - they appeared to be of a bear. At first, that night, some officers brushed off the whole incident as a bear sighting. This would change. Huntington commented: "They make it out to a monster. I never said it was a monster."

(#4) By Friday, 27 July 1973, several more (unidentifed) witnesses had come forth saying they had seen "it". At 7:30 PM, Peter and Jean Merrill found a footprint behind the Jones Cemetery, the scene of most of the sightings. They said it looked like a chimpanzee print.

Androscoggin County Deputy Sheriff Blaine Footman (sic) examined the series of prints, and cast what was described as one which was "rather deep." Footman said it was about five inches wide with "the thumb part broken off. Whatever made it weighs 300 or 350 pounds and I can't tell you much more. It's definitely not a bear track. I don't know what's going on here and I'd rather not express an opinion."

(Reports of a gorilla suit not returned since March to a Portland area costume shop were mentioned in the press, but did not seem to be considered too related to these incidents by the central Maine authorities.

By Saturday, 28 July 1973, after many more phone calls from others confirming they had seen an unusual animal in the area, police were taking the sightings very seriously.)

(High level of reliability, according to Brent Raynes and David Downs who interviewed witnesses and investigated the case in 1973.)

OTHER WITNESSES: See above. Huntington's daughters and friend were riding bikes near their home. Washburn's activities are not noted. Huntington was in her automobile, returning from a local baseball game. Witness Information: Incident #1) Lois Huntington, 13; George Huntington Jr., 10; Scott Huntington, 8 and their friend Tammy Sairo, 12 Incident #2) James Washburn Incident #3) Mrs. George (Meota) Huntington, 33 Incident #4) Peter and Jean Merrill

TIME AND CONDITIONS: (#1) 25th, afternoon, (#2) 25th, nighttime, (#3) 26th, about 7:15 p.m., (#4) footprint discovered 27th, 7:30 p.m.

ENVIRONMENT: The State of Maine's land area is covered by 95% trees, and this area is no exception. The River Road area is heavily wooded and, as implied in the name, close to a nearby watershed. The location is sparsely populated with infrequent houses, a cemetery, blacktop roads, and wildlife preserves (for native birds, deer) nearby.

~BFRO

Belfast’s Muck Monster

2008-11-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

Megan Richardson’s article in a Downeast Maine newspaper will be remembered as the first media discussion of a little known Maine cryptid, Belfast’s Muck Monster. See the third paragraph from the end for more on that creature lurking in Kirby Lake.

"Prospect [Maine] — World-renowned cryptozoologist Loren Coleman visited Fort Knox over the weekend as part of the fort’s Paranormal and Psychic Faire, which also featured presentations on dowsing and paranormal investigation. Coleman was on hand for much of the weekend to answer questions and autograph copies of his numerous books.

Coleman started working in cryptozoology, which literally means the study of hidden animals, in 1960, after watching a science fiction movie on the Yeti (also known as the Abominable Snowman). His teachers told him not to waste his time reading about such creatures, which he said naturally led him to read everything he could about them.

Early in his career, Coleman wrote letters to people all over the country about the subject of cryptozoology. He soon started writing field reports in the Midwest, and investigated Bigfoot and mystery cat sightings. He was first published in 1969 and has since published 30 books. He has now done expeditions in every state except Alaska, and all over the world, including a two-week stay at Loch Ness, where he keynoted a symposium on the Loch Ness Monster and interviewed many witnesses who claim to have seen Nessie. Coleman’s work in cryptozoology has also drawn coverage from the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and National Geographic.

Cryptozoologists investigate animals that are noticed by humans but not yet acknowledged by science. Coleman said some good examples of animals that cryptozoologists have studied, and that are now known to exist, include the giant squid and the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Coleman said cryptozoology is a very popular subject worldwide, although very few people work in his field….He said the world’s most popular mysterious creatures are Nessie, Bigfoot, and the Yeti. However, here in Maine, some of the creatures asked about most often are the New England Sea Serpent, and the Maine Mystery Beast.

The New England Sea Serpent has been sighted less and less, said Coleman, because sea traffic is much more regulated today than it has been in the past. As recently as 1958, however, there was a sighting off Cape Elizabeth of a sea creature said to be more than 50 feet long. It was said to move toward the sound of a foghorn every time it went off. Coleman said this is a detail that is rare and gives more credibility to the account.

Coleman said about 80 percent of all sightings of any such creature are hoaxes or mistakes.

“I don’t believe in any of this. I accept or deny based on the evidence,” said Coleman.

That said, Coleman reported he has found footprints and has seen black panthers (the North American black panther has never been photographed or bred and is largely thought by the scientific community not to exist). Coleman said it is likely Bigfoot exists, and that these creatures live in family groups, as most sightings are of two adults and two children.

There are not many Bigfoot sightings in Maine, Coleman said, although footprints have been found in Sidney. There were reports of sightings in Durham in the ‘70s, and also reports in Rangeley and the Mt. Katahdin area more than 100 years ago. Coleman said because the Maine woods are home to other large animals, such as moose, it is possible that a Bigfoot type of creature could have lived in the Maine woods as well.

Among the large creatures that may be lurking in the Maine woods is the Maine Mystery Beast, not to be confused with the Maine Mutant that was discovered — and highly publicized — last year.

In the 1990s reports came in from the Turner area that a large creature was killing livestock and big dogs. Coleman said this Mystery Beast is likely still at large and is probably a black panther or other large cat.

The Maine Mutant was discovered dead on the side of the road last year, after reports that a wild beast had been chasing cats in the Turner area. The Maine Mutant became a worldwide phenomenon and was on the news in several countries. Coleman said it became a huge story because there was a body that could be studied and identified. Eventually, after DNA tests were done, the body of the mutant was identified as a feral chow, a dog that had been wild for a long time. The Maine Mutant had already been popularized, however, and you can still find T-shirts with a cartoon of the mutant’s head on them.

Of course, there may be some mystery beasts even closer to home than Turner. Coleman said he has heard stories of a monster residing in Kirby Lake, also known as The Muck, in Belfast, located on the corner of Miller Street and Lincolnville Avenue. Coleman said while it’s possible the rumors are the result of people wanting to make up their own local folklore, he has also heard that the creature is a giant eel.

Coleman said it is an exciting time in the world of cryptozoology, and that he has a lot of fun doing his job. He has degrees in social work and anthropology and spent years working at a university, although he quit in 1996 to pursue cryptozoology full time.

“It’s not about money,” Coleman said. “It’s about passion and adventure.”

By Megan Richardson, The Republican Journal & The Waldo Independent, Wednesday, July 25, 2007 “Bigfoot expert discusses local mystery beasts: Is Belfast’s Muck home to a giant eel? “

~Cryptomundo

Massive Maine Tidal Surge A Mystery

2008-10-31T19:01:00.000-04:00

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine—Meteorologists are baffled by rapid tidal

changes along the Maine coast, which damaged some boats and piers.

Witnesses say low tide turned and became high within a matter of

minutes on Tuesday afternoon [October 28, 2008]. The changes occurred

six or seven times. The National Weather Service says reports from

several locations indicated that water levels fell and rose from 4

feet to as much as 12 feet during the event.

In a public information statement, the weather service says the cause

"remains a mystery and may never be known."

It said significant rapid rises and falls in tide levels were

observed around 3 p.m. in Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Bristol. The

statement said rapid surges can be caused by the underwater movement

of land, most often due to an earthquake, or due to slumping of

sediments along a steep canyon or shelf, but no earthquakes were

reported in the area Tuesday.

A similar event occurred on Jan. 9, 1926, in Bass Harbor, the

statement said. [Local media reports that several boats were

destroyed as a result of the 1926 event.]
~Loren Coleman

Maine Sasquatch Siting, 1996

2008-10-28T16:11:00.001-04:00

YEAR: 1996 or 1997
SEASON: Unknown
STATE: Maine
COUNTY: Hancock County
NEAREST TOWN: Bucksport
NEAREST ROAD: route 46
OBSERVED: my sister and i were driving to school one morning a few years ago and straight up ahead we both saw something standing there in the road on two feet for sure, staring at us approaching. As we approached we could tell that the creature was about the size of a human, was covered with very dark, shaggy hair, and it was sorta hunched over with it's arms hanging down quite far. it just stood there about a foot or two into the road watching us and then almost as quickly as it had happened, it vanished into the trees. when we drove by i looked into the forest to see if i saw anything, but couldn't see anything. we went to school and told a few friends and then told out parents later that night. we didn't think to call the police or anything at the time, although i wish we had.when we tell people they never believe us because most people don't believe in "bigfoot". I'm glad that this sight is here so that someone might finally believe us. i know what we saw was real and i know that it wasn't a bear. bears are not shaped like humans and very rarely walk around on two feet
OTHER WITNESSES: it was just me and my sister and we were just headed to school
OTHER STORIES: i thought i should tell you about this even tho it might have been nothing.i was driving with my dad in Orrington maine and as we passed a road i saw something crossing it. i couldn't tell what it was because we went past so quickly but what i saw was very dark and tall. it is possible that this could've just been a bear, but it would've had to have been up on two feet. i made my dad turn around and we went up the road driving very slowly looking into the woods along the sides of the road. we didn't see anything, whatever it was had vanished. but now as i think back comparing that incident with the other that i had in bucksport, what i saw in orrington, although only for a second, seemed very similar to each other. i am not saying that i know or even think it was a bigfoot in orrington that day, but i do THINK that it certainly looked like the one i did see in bucksport. i didn't think much about that incident and had almost forgotten about it because i never had an explanation for it and because i was the only one who saw it so i had nobody to discuss it with.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was during the school year so it wasn't summer, and there was no snow, so i don't think it was winter. it was either fall or spring.
ENVIRONMENT: on a road with a lot of forest, near Whites apple orchard
~BFRO

UFO Sighting in Loring AFB

2008-10-25T08:01:00.000-04:00

On 10/27/75 security personnel spotted an unknown aircraft entering the restricted zone around the nuclear weapons storage area. The aircraft was also observed on radar from the tower. Multiple attempts were made to contact the aircraft on all military and civilian communication bands, with no results. The craft came to within 300 yards of the nuclear storage area at an altitude of 150 feet. The base went on major alert status. Tower radar tracked the object as it circled ten miles east-northeast of the base for forty minutes before suddenly disappearing. Ground observers from the 42nd Security Police said it vanished in the direction of Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada. The base remained on high alert all night. On 10/28/75, the next night, the object returned. It was seen to have an amber light and a white flashing light. At one point it appeared 150 feet over the end of a runway, then shut off its lights and re-appeared over the weapons storage area. Here it was seen at close range by a B-52 bomber crew that was working out of a launch truck. They described it as looking like a stretched out red and orange football, about four car lengths long with no doors or windows visible. It vanished when Security Police arrived. On 10/29/75, a National Guard helicopter was enlisted to help. There were representatives of the Canadian military participating as well, so that the chase could cross the Canadian border if necessary. Ground personnel began seeing the object and directing the helicopter by radio. The object was not showing on radar this night, so visual direction was necessary. The helicopter would go to the location directed and turn on its spotlights, but was never able to see anything even though ground personnel would tell them that the object was only 100 feet from them.
~UFO Sightings Over New England

Haunting South Oakfield graveyard

2008-10-20T17:41:00.001-04:00

This is a brief but excellent photo essay by Nate (a.k.a. Ravenwing) about the South Oakfield, Maine, cemetery that I found online at fourthirdsphoto.com

South Oakfield met decline and finally oblivion soon after the advent of the railroad, with a few farms holding on into the 1930’s, but is now wholly forested, marked only with a few cellar holes, and a small cemetery. Since moving here some 25 years ago, the South Oakfield cemetery has held a certain fascination for me.

If ever a place can be haunted, this place is. I don’t mean haunted in the ‘scary’ sense, but when I visit this little cemetery, the feelings of dreams unfulfilled, geographical isolation, and human despair seem thick in the air. It is quiet, peaceful, even beautiful in a way, yet an indescribably sad place. I went there the other day, my first visit in several years, and found it much as I left it, though if anything more lonely and perhaps a bit more dilapidated than ever.

It is rugged, and stony ground surrounded by forest, accessible only by several miles of rough and narrow gravel road over steep hills and across northern bogs.

Read full essay and view all the photos here: [Source] & Starnge Maine

Ghostly Encounters of One of My Brother's

2008-10-13T10:52:00.003-04:00

The following text could have been misheard or have been just a bit of fun.

My oldest brother was with one of his friends at a place where the friend's dad volunteered. It was a quiet place. Suddenly a vacuum cleaner turned on upstairs. The dad went to check it out. He probably did this because no one was supposed to be using it at this time. He simply came down and told the manager that he was never coming here again. Apparently the vacuum turned on without anyone touching it or being plugged in.

My brother was with the same friend at some later date at the friend's house. They were there alone. The house was positioned at the edge of a field on a hill. At the bottom of the hill/field was open forest. They heard a piercing scream. They looked down into the woods and saw a white figure with a gun screaming.

Leach's Point Devil

2008-10-11T17:01:00.002-04:00

2 Nuns, on sabbatical or retreat were walking at night along a road sparsely lit by the occasional street light, more then well spaced apart. The Summer day had been hot, and being out on the point, the ocean air had served to cool and move in a fog, once the sun had gone down.
It was more then blinding, it served to envelope many of the night creatures and there sounds as they scurried to secure their meals, while trying not to become others meals. It was a peaceful walk, the two friends enjoyed the pleasantness of the night air, and the brief conversation, avoiding the thoughts of returning to their full time jobs, in the big city at some southern commune or mission.
In a nights fog, you can always see at least some light, from the far ahead street light, one that serves to add a eerie glow to the surrounding and swirling fog. One of the nun's always carried a flashlight just in case, and swung it to the outside of the 2 as they walked, in case a passing car might swerve too close and not see them in time in the fog.
The Nun on the inside, suddenly paused in her stroll, and the other nun seeing this halted her own walk. The Inside Nun, since no names were mentioned, we'll call her Nun 1 made a quick shooshing sound, quieting the question about to be asked by Nun 2. "What had she heard? Why had she stopped?"
Before Nun 1 could whisper, the sound came again, a kind of low guttural growl followed by a metallic sounding scrape, as if something sharp had just been scratched across a field stone. Some creature, possible a rabid coyote or some other night predator was close, and not as usual to be scared off, like most night creatures, seemed to be following along with them, almost stalking them.
The 2 instinctively quickened their pace, moving rapidly towards the next street light, some 100 yards away in the fog. Branches and brush along the woods next to the road, began to crack and move quickly along side of the 2 now fleeing women. Just beyond the street lamp, probably 200 yards was the nuns retreat.
If they ran, they could make it. They both, being fit, quickened there pace, and moved first for the light, and then towards the house. As they reached the street light, Nun 2 stumbled on a loose piece of gravel, and went down. The flashlight in her hand skittering into the ditch, and going out on impact.
Nun 1 seeing her companion go down, stopped and turned to help her up, and she shouldered her as Nun 2 limped towards the street light abandoning the flashlight.
The pursuit noises had stopped since the fall, and no longer branches or noise from the woods met them through the swirling fog. Nun 1 let Nun 2 lean against the light post, and catch her breath, while she quickly examined her bleeding and scraped knee. Whatever had been in pursuit had seemed to have given up the chase.
After a minute Nun 1 said, "We can make it to the house, where we can take a better look at the knee, and maybe ice it." With that she draped Nun 2's arm over her shoulder, and began to lead her towards the house. Nun 2 stopped at the edge of the street lamps circle of light, and pointed in the direction of the house.
A dark shape was now charging towards them out of the fog. They could see clear enough the glowing red eyes, and that it was no coyote, since it came at them on 2 legs.
Nun 2 fell back, and from a sitting position, crawled back and rested against the street lamp. Nun 1 moved back into the light, and seeing her friend down and not moving, had no options, except to abandon her and run, or stay and try and protect her, with no weapon in hand.
The creature, for in fact it was a creature, stopped suddenly as it almost passed over the circle edge of light. It made the same growling noise, and both nuns could't quite make out what it was. Only that it was dark, and larger then a man around 7 feet, or more.
Nun 1 fell to her knees and began to recite the lords prayer, and Nun 2 joined in and together they prayed, to keep the creature from entering the light. They knew that it was no bear, or escaped circus animal, what was out there circling the barrier of light was an unknown.
Neither would admit to it being a devil, or mention bigfoot or some other such mythical creature, they just knew that if it came into the light they were dead.
The creature, with the glowing red eyes, continued to circle, looking for a weakness in the light barrier. At times, it would disappear, only to reappear in another direction, as if it was daring one of them to run for shelter.
The 2 Nuns prayed the rest of the night, and at first light, around 5 a.m. the creature had vanished. Still the 2 would not leave the safety of the circle of light. At a preset time, the street light went out, and both Nun's ran for the house. Not stopping to rest, they quickly packed and left the point, never to return. [Source]

Bigfoot/Maine Folklore

2008-10-09T17:38:00.000-04:00

If you want some info on Bigfoot in Maine, head on over to Strange Maine. Check back soon for updates

Camper hears screams while camping in Kennebunk, Maine, 1974

2008-10-06T20:03:00.001-04:00

YEAR: 1974
SEASON: Spring
MONTH: June
DATE: 25
STATE: Maine
COUNTY: York County
LOCATION DETAILS: I do not know if I could find it again.I only know that I took side roads off route 1 generally going west into the area known as the Barrens
NEAREST TOWN: York or Kennebunk
NEAREST ROAD: about 1 mi. from main highway
OBSERVED: In the spring of 1974 my girlfriend and I were returning from a motorcycle rally at Laconia NH.It was late at night and we decided to camp out.I found a small gravel road and we found a remote place to set up my small 2 man tent.This area is referred to as the pine barrens in the Kennebunk area of Maine.It has very thick scrub pine growth. About an hour or so after camping I could hear movement near the tent but was not too concerned because there is a lot of wildlife in the barrens.The movement got closer and there was this really pungent order.I thought "uh-oh it's a bear"but was still not concerned as black bears are mostly just curious and usually will not bother you.I should add here that I have spent a lot of time in the woods as my mother and father were both Maine guides and the woods was my life.I have heard all the noises that wildlife makes in different seasons.I consider myself a good tracker and know the habits etc. of most animals.
Then it happened:Whatever it was let out a scream that made every hair on my body stand striaght out and nearly gave me a heart attack.I am saying to myself"this is no bear."Now the girlfriend is awake and in hysterics.I am trying to quiet her so I can keep track of whatever it is.It moved close enough to the tent so I could actually feel it's movement through the ground and hear it breathing.This activity went on for about 20 minutes and it went away.After a sleeplees night and at first light I crawled out to investigate.I looked for tracks.
There were no clear imprints,only impessions in the grass and some broken ferns etc.
The impessions were about half again as big as my own.I wear a size 11.I followed the tracks and they ended at a cliff that was about 30 feet high.I wanted to investigate further but the girlfriend was haveing none of it and wanted to leave.I went back a couple of times by myself to that area but never found any further signs in the area.This all would have been disturbing enough but that year I was liesurly sipping a beer an watching a documentry on bigfoot with my girlfriend when they played a recording that was supposed to be a bigfoot scream.YOu guessed it...Hair straight out and and an exclamation from both of us of "Oh sh--!"If that was bigfoot then we have been very close to him.
OTHER WITNESSES: only my girlfriend and I.I was awake and she was sleeping until the scream
TIME AND CONDITIONS: around 1am,dark,clear and cool
ENVIRONMENT: thick scrub pine bordered by a small ridge

~BFRO

Clapsadle Carcass

2008-10-04T09:18:00.000-04:00

This one is from Connecticut.

Literally, in the wake of last summer’s Montauk Monster media circus, it was bound to happen again. Another carcass of an animal has been found on a sandy beach, and a local news outlet has attempted to turn it into a mysterious event.

Animals die and wash ashore all the time. Before the summer of 2008, there wasn’t really any news value to such stories.

But we report on the media, as well as the events, so here goes:

West Hartford, Connecticut’s NBC News 30 broadcast the news last week (see their video here) that an odd dead “mystery beast” had been discovered ashore in New London.

Bobbette Clapsadle was walking along the beach the last weekend in September with her family when she made what the news station called “the gross discovery.”

Her daughter snapped pictures (see one above and others in their slide show here).

“We weren’t sure at first. It was kind of covered in grass (and) was in the weed line. My son saw it first and was like, ‘Look at that!’ My husband walked over and said, ‘Oh my God,’” Clapsadle said.

Visitors to Ocean Beach were equally perplexed.

The news station noted some people think the carcass is of a pig, some believe thought it is a sea turtle, while others suspect it to be a raccoon. (I’m sorry, but I must wryly observe that these alleged folks who think these beached animals are turtles appear to not know the most elementary biology, namely that turtles don’t have teeth or mammalian skulls.)

By Monday, September 29th, the creature’s body was nowhere to be found.

~Cryptomundo

To read the full story, click here.

York County Sasquatch Siting, 1985

2008-10-01T17:50:00.001-04:00

YEAR: 1985

SEASON: Summer

STATE: Maine

COUNTY: York County

NEAREST TOWN: Acton

NEAREST ROAD: HWY 109

OBSERVED: I was gathering cut firewood on my grandmother's land in southern Maine. I heard a noise behind me and turned around expecting to see a moose as I was in moose country. At first I saw nothing and resumed my gathering, again I heard the noise, I turned to look and there it was about 30 feet behind me. Male or female I do not know. It was just standing there watching me, needless to say, I split. This happened in the summer of 1985.

ENVIRONMENT: CONNIFERUS WOODLANDS

~BFRO

Baffling reappearance of diaries

2008-09-29T20:39:00.001-04:00

BATH — Even decades after his death, mysteries still cling to former Bath resident Carroll A. Deering.

More than 87 years after his namesake schooner became one of the most famous ghost ships in American history, some of Deering's long-lost journals unexpectedly appeared beneath a bush outside Morse High School.

In the months after Deering's March 15, 1967 death, his house was broken into and logbooks from as far back as the early 1900s were stolen. Other mostly sentimentally valuable items also disappeared, including a complete set of books by Edward Rose Snow and a box full of old campaign buttons — as well as Deering's collection of antique muskets and a silver sword from the local Masonic Lodge.

Two weeks ago, Deering journals from 1932, 1962 and 1964 turned up in the proximity of Morse High School. Science teacher Eric Varney sent his students outside to find everyday objects in nature and write descriptions of those objects as part of a lesson on scientific research. What students discovered was a lesson on maritime history and, perhaps, the unexplained.
Freshmen Zach Fone and Wyatt Brackett each found one of the journals near a bush by the school's front entrance, and classmate Chris Fox discovered a third journal across the street near his house.

The students managed to track down Carroll "Pat" Moffatt, the grandson of Deering who resides in Florida but, by coincidence, is currently back in Maine for a brief vacation. Moffatt was fighting in Vietnam in 1967 when his grandfather's home was robbed, and according to Varney, "he never heard anything more about (the stolen journals) until now."

"My first impression when they called me was, 'No, they couldn't have,'" said Moffatt Friday, after he addressed the class to share memories of his grandfather. "I thought, 'Forty-one years later, it couldn't be them.' But when I saw them, I realized it was true — these are his journals.
"Obviously, they couldn't have been under a bush for 40 years," he continued. "That's what's got everybody confused. They couldn't have been outside all that time, they'd have been destroyed. But how did they get there? Nobody knows. Or somebody must know, but they aren't telling. Another mystery of Carroll Deering."

The first mystery of Carroll Deering surrounded the commercial schooner with his name. Deering's father, Gardiner G. Deering, ran one of Bath's prominent shipyards early in the 20th century and named a five-masted cargo ship after Carroll.

Less than two years after its 1919 launch, the schooner Carroll A. Deering was sighted aground on Diamond Shoals, an area off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. There was no sign of the 11-person crew, and then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover — who would later become U.S. President — launched an aggressive investigation into the disappearances.
"
What happened to the Carroll A. Deering? We'd all like to know," pondered Moffatt on Friday. "The crew aboard would like to know. The people were all gone. Nobody ever saw them again."...No answers to the mystery of the Carroll A. Deering ghost ship can be found in the man's recently discovered journals, however. Deering himself didn't serve on the boat bearing his name.

"The journals were just a day-to-day record of his life," explained Moffatt. "A list of people that came in and out of his house every day, or the events of the time, like when old sea captains died — stuff like that."

The details scribbled down by Deering in the browned pages may be routine, but their reappearance after 41 years is just as perplexing as what happened to the ship in his name.
Read the full story here: [Source]

Pineland Cemetary

2008-09-14T09:19:00.001-04:00

Pineland has long been a staple buzzword for Maine students of the paranormal and weird. Known throughout its history under various names, including the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded, this site has fascinated people because of its often tragic and emotional history. Stories circulated between friends included accounts of strange noises, ghostly cries in the night, and odd lights seen floating in trees.

Today the site houses the progressive Pineland Farms, and much of the grounds are open for public use as walking trails, etc. (I went hiking there a couple of winters ago, and it was stark and beautiful -- a few pictures here). It exists now as a sunny and cheerful place, active and well-populated, a blazing contrast to the bulk of its century-long history as a mental institution and work farm.

The Maine Ghost Hunters paid a visit to the cemetery at Pineland as part of their ongoing research into the site before embarking on a full-blown investigation, and recorded their meditations on the site in a blog posting.

At the beginning of August, 2008 TonyL and I (KatM) took a drive out to New Gloucester to observe the gravesites of the numerous patients who died while in the care and/or under the guardianship of the Pinelands institution. We’re still researching the matter but the history of Pinelands, as a mental health institution, really preceded its very name up until the most recent of times. The accounts of patient maltreatment, abuse, neglect, and abhorrent human condition that plagued the earlier days of this facility have given rise to notions that those who passed-on while confined to Pinelands never really left this place; and some may still haunt the location of their final resting spot.
Read full post here, with photos: [Source]

Strangemaine

Haunted Kennebunk Store

2008-09-13T12:26:00.003-04:00

Molly Lovell of the Kennebunk Post recently accompanied a new Maine paranormal group on a late night investigation of that classic of Kennbunk historic commerce, The Landing Store, at 157 Summer Street. Heading the investigation was the Coffin and Aiello Paranormal Society (CAPS). Hosting them was experienced Landing Store employee, Steven Burr.
~Strangemaine

While he never conducted his own investigation at the Landing Store, he told of circumstances that couldn’t be explained. While alone in the store one night he heard a man’s voice call his name.“It was deep and staticky, like it was coming through a ham radio,” he said. On another occasion, again while alone in the store, soda bottles would appear on the counter after Burr repeatedly put them back in the cooler.Some employees report baking sheets will fly off the shelf and on one occasion money in the store’s safe seemed to have disappeared only to reappear with no explanation. Despite this, Burr said he doesn’t feel frightened at the store.
[Source]

Happy September

2008-09-01T07:54:00.002-04:00

Yes, today is September 1st. It's only half a month until fall. Let's hope this fall is as good as last year's with all the clouds, fog, and leaves that died slowly. It was the perfect setting for something creepy.

New Brunswick's Black Bigfoot

2008-08-27T16:27:00.003-04:00

The New Brunswick Bugle-Observer reports on a possible Bigfoot sighting a few miles east of the
Maine-Canada border near Skiff Lake, NB:

It was shortly after 7 p.m Sunday evening, Aug. 17 [2008] and [Dale] Tompkins and his wife Valerie were travelling in the Skiff Lake area, heading home from a visit with friends at Second Eel River Lake. That’s when they spotted it – the creature they both firmly believe to be Bigfoot.…“We were a half to three-quarters of a mile from the Skiff Lake sign in a densely wooded area when we came around a turn and saw a huge figure on the edge of the road. It looked down towards us then it walked across the road ahead of us just about 250 meters away.”
What is being seen in the area is a “Black Sasquatch.” Specifically, it is described as a “pitch-black, sleek, hairy, approximately 8-and-a-half foot [tall] Sasquatch.”

There was another set of witnesses in a separate car who confirmed the Tompkins’ account when contacted by the newpaper, but they wished to remain anonymous.

The following disclaimer was expressed, which may become an oft-heard refrain in the coming months.

“We don’t want to be involved in what we feel people will only think of as a hoax.”

Valerie Tompkins considered someone may be playing a hoax on them and the couple from Saint John.

"If it was just someone dressed up, they sure did a good job,” she said.

Then she added in a firm tone.

"We believe we saw Bigfoot”.

Read the full story here.

~Cryptomundo and QuatchWatch

Some Good Ghost Books

2008-08-19T15:50:00.002-04:00

I have recently read some books on ghosts in Downeast Maine. They were Ghosts on the Coast of Maine, by Carol Schulte, and Dark Woods, Chill Waters, by Marcus LiBrizzi. The former is a little dull at times and the latter is quite exciting and can provide nasty chills if you read them on a cloudy day or late at night.

If you want to find out more about these books you'll have to look them up yourself because I'm too lazy to hyperlink right now.

Sonic boom source still a mystery

2008-08-19T15:44:00.002-04:00

NORWAY - Officials at military bases around the Northeast said Friday that their jets were not the cause of a large sonic boom-like noise heard in parts of Androscoggin and Oxford counties Thursday morning.

The Oxford County Regional Communications Center in Paris received several calls around 9 a.m. Thursday after the loud noise, but emergency responders were not able to determine a source. A dispatcher at the center said the noise may have been a sonic boom.

Lt. Col. Lloyd Goodrow, public affairs officer with the Vermont Air National Guard, said that while F-16 jets with the 158th Fighter Wing do train over Maine, they did not take off until 8:45 a.m. Thursday and were not flying over Maine that day.

The fighters are based in Burlington, Vt.

Goodrow said F-18 jets from a Virginia naval base have been training out of Burlington and were flying near Kennebunkport on Thursday, but would have been at a high enough altitude that a sonic boom wouldn't have been audible.

Goodrow said that while pilots sometimes do sonic runs, they are done at altitude or over the ocean. "No military aviator intends to break the sound barrier over populated areas," he said.

Goodrow said fighters sometimes inadvertently break the sound barrier during exercises, and that atmospheric conditions can allow for the sonic boom to carry for a long distance.

Evan Lagasse, public affairs specialist for the Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, said the 102nd Fighter Wing was transferred to the 102nd Intelligence Wing earlier this year. The base's F-15 aircraft were dispersed to other locations.

Capt. Mary Harrington, public affairs officer for the 104th Fighter Wing based in Westfield, Mass., said a flight of three jets was exercising Thursday off Atlantic City, N.J., but no planes from the base were over Maine.

David McKivergan, a SAD 43 board member from Rumford, said he saw three jets fly over his residence between 8:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Thursday. He said the jets remained in the air for 45 minutes, but he did not hear a sonic boom.

McKivergan said such flights have been occurring, though not on a regular basis, for the past two to three years.

John James, public affairs officer for the Brunswick Naval Air Station, said northern Maine and New Hampshire are partially covered by two low-level flying zones that have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for military flights.

James said the speed of sound is 761 miles per hour at sea level in standard temperature and pressure, and can be affected by temperature, pressure and humidity.

A sonic boom occurs when conical pressure waves off the front and rear of an aircraft are supercompressed, causing a sudden rise in pressure and a shock wave which causes the booming noise.

James said the sound doesn't necessarily dissipate with altitude, as it can be heard from aircraft traveling at 70,000 feet. James said no supersonic aircraft are based at Brunswick.

By M. Dirk Langeveld , Staff Writer, Sunday, August 17, 2008, Sunjournal

Possible Sasquatch Activity in Southern Maine

2008-08-14T20:36:00.003-04:00

Just a few hours ago, I could have sworn a heard a wood knock. Which leads me to believe all the more that there is a high possibility of some Sasquatch in Maine. This possibility is diminishing, however. This due to the recent spring of home building in the area. There is some good news, though. The Great Works Land trust and The Nature Conservancy have purchased half the town! (I jest.)

A Ghost Ship Tale From Rhode Island

2008-08-11T08:47:00.001-04:00

Rhode Island's rocky shores are as good a region as any to start since they became the site of one of the earliest recorded ship disappearances on the Atlantic Coast. In May 1850, the discovery of the mysteriously abandoned fishing schooner Sea Bird became the cause of much speculation on the waterfront.

The seas had been unusually calm for days when the well-founded fisherman abruptly sailed onto the rocks near Newport. Spectators who witnessed the grounding were disturbed that the mishap occurred on a bright spring day without seeming explanation. How could any crew be so ham-handed? The answer was simple. There was no crew. The large vessel was totally devoid of all humanity - a "ghost ship" by any definition. The would-be rescuer's concern turned to distress when they boarded the grounded vessel only to discover the only life aboard Sea Bird to be a dog, a cat and a parakeet!

Though the ship was totally deserted, a boiling kettle was found on top of a blazing stove and the table was neatly set for a meal for eight. Sixty dollars in easily visible coins and cash was found in the captain's cabin thereby ruling out any possibility of piracy, mutiny, or foul play. On deck, a small skiff was still secured in place on its chocks. Below, the odor of tobacco smoke still hung heavy in the crew's quarters, but otherwise there was no trace of a single person, nor so much as a vague clue to their fate. To a man, eight souls had simply vanished into thin air! What had happened? Why? How? Questions were many, answers few.

A review of the Sea Bird's records indicated her captain was John ; Durham, lately of Middletown, Connecticut. Reportedly a family man with strong ties to the Methodist church, Capt. Durham was never heard from again. The last entry in the captain's log indicated a peaceful voyage; the sighting of Brenton's Reef. several miles offshore shortly after dawn. The fish hold was filled with a fresh catch of cod, sea bass and mackerel. Later, the crew of a lobster fisherman signified they had exchanged "all well" signals with the Sea Bird only a few hours before she was found derelict and abandoned on the rocks.

The mystery of the Sea Bird unexpectedly soon deepened when a Spring squall lashed the Newport area while the ghost ship's ownership was being determined prior to a salvage attempt. When the skies finally cleared and the seas calmed Sea Bird was gone like her crew, never to be seen again! Drifting off of the rocky pinnacle that briefly imprisoned her, the vessel sailed off on her own into apparent oblivion. Like a ghostly apparition she had appeared out of nowhere, swung on the rocks impaling her for a few days, and then just as mysteriously vanished from sight altogether. Sea Bird was the first of many unsolved mysteries which occurred off the North American coast.

~BNET

The Ghost Dog Up the Road

2008-08-08T10:50:00.000-04:00

This is a two time occurrence of what appeared to be a ghost dog.

When I was three or four, my brother and I were outside one Sunday night in the church parking lot. The parking lot is 50-70 feet from my house, my dad being the pastor, we lived in the parsonage. There is a light, a very bright light, on the church corner on the opposite side of the church. This particular night was overcast and the church light was more dim than usual. Up the road, about 300 feet, sat a white dog. It was a large dog, like a shepherd. I asked my brother, "Is that Foxy?"
Which was name of the dog living a little ways in the opposite direction.
He said, "No, that's...."
We both ran inside.

Looking back on this event, I remember It was strangely illuminated. Not dazzlingly bright, but it had a bit of a blueish glow to it.

Before this occurred, about a year earlier, on the night my dog died, my other brother heard a dog run barking by the house. No one else head it.

Officials stumped by reports of rumbling

2008-08-06T08:30:00.002-04:00

In August 2001 (it's always August, for some reason,) hundreds across Androscoggin County reported seeing strange lights and hearing heavy rumblings from the summer sky:

Explanations for the freak phenomenon are few and far between. The light of Thursday morning brought no explanations for a widely reported phenomenon in the sky the night before. No commercial airplanes had flight paths through the area. The National Guard and local naval air stations reported having no crafts in the air here. Freak weather patterns were all but ruled out. Yet by Thursday afternoon, more and more people were talking about bright lights, rumbling sounds and rattling buildings. The reports came from all over the area. Dozens of reports. People from Lewiston, Auburn, Sabattus, Greene, Leeds, Monmouth and Minot called police or the newspaper.
"It was a long rumbling. It sounded like a huge, huge object," said 59-year-old Lynn Madelyn Bailey. "I was afraid to go out on my deck. It sounded like it was right over my house."

~Mark LaFlamme

UFO Sightings in Maine

2008-08-05T10:52:00.004-04:00

I was searching the web, just to find something to post. I happened to find this website. It has a good database and several other features, including sightings counts by county, etc. I noticed that York county has the most (listed) than any other county in Maine. I also noticed that of the reports listed, none of them passed 2000 in date. Did the government get tired of scaring people in Maine and making them paranoid? Or did our buddies in the sky decide that life here was far to relaxed and will return sometime soon in massive numbers in the sky? It makes one wonder....

Ponik

2008-08-04T09:29:00.002-04:00

"For centuries people in Scotland have talked about a monster lurking in
Loch Ness, called “Nessy.” It turns out, just a few hours away from Bangor there
is talk of a similar creature named “Ponik.”
Natives of the Canadian border
town of Pohenegamook first reported seeing a huge creature in the lake in 1873.
Some people even feared the waters.
Guy Leblanc is the mayor of Pohenegamook.
He, like everyone else in this modest town of 3,000, has heard the tales of the
monster of the lake.
“Prehistoric monster, stuff like that or it was walking
on the beach and flames were coming out of it’s mouth, that’s kind of the
folklure side of the legend,” said Leblanc.
Leblanc is one of several people
who claim to have laid eyes on the creature. He says he saw Ponik in 1990, when
he had taken some friends for a ride on his boat.
“I saw that kind of a wave
it was kind of special, cause no boat was on the water except mine,” said
Leblanc. “We saw a big big fish beside my boat. He was swimming. And he was very
nice. He swam about ten seconds for us and that was incredible.”
Leblanc
thinks what he saw was a giant sturgeon. Word of his sighting spread fast, and
soon others were coming forward claiming to have seen Ponik.
“That’s why that
legend never stops,” said Leblanc. “Always somebody every year saw
something.”
While some people describe seeing a giant fish, others have
reported seeing a more serpant like creature with a snake like body, humps,
flippers and a horse like head.
Still, there are those who think the
legendary Ponik is just that a legend.
While many people claim to have caught
a glimpse of the creature, no one has captured it’s image. In 1997, an area
business even offered a half a million doilars to anyone who could get a picture
of Ponik.
Despite that, Ponik has it’s own festival. And most people agree
that the mystery makes for good tourism business.
Leblanc hopes Ponik lives
in this lake as long as the legend has.
“We want him alive so the legend can
carry on,” said Leblanc. "

~Cryptomundo

Possible Sasquatch Activity in Southern Maine

2008-08-04T07:32:00.002-04:00

A few nights ago, my aunt heard a loud crack, like a gunshot, and sent my uncle up to my grandmother's house to see if everything was alright. Everything was fine, so he walked down the long dirt driveway back to his house. About halfway down, there was a loud, distinctive bipedal running and breaking of branches. It was so loud, my aunt could hear it from her house. The branches breaking were almost identical to the first.

Another thing noticed: Their dog, who is very protective male herding dog, wouldn't do over near the spot of the bipedal running while he will chase deer.

Was it Bigfoot or a nosy neighbor?

Description of an eel-like creature taken in a net at New Harbor, Maine, in 1880, By S.W. Hanna

2008-08-04T07:13:00.004-04:00

Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 1880 PAGE 407

In August, 1880, the following item appeared in the Sea-Side Press:

"S. W Hanna, of Pemaquid, caught what might be called a young sea-serpent in his nets the other day. It was about 25 feet long and 10 inches in diameter in the largest part, and was shaped like an eel. The head was flat, and the upper part projected out over the mouth, which was small and contained sharp teeth. It was dead when found,"

Mr. Allen noticed this newspaper item, and, having written to Mr. Hanna inquiring whether there was any truth in it, was favored with the following reply:

"The report you saw in the Press in regard to a marine monster being caught by me was correct. The fish was about 25 feet in length and from 8 to 10 inches in diameter, with a tail like an eel. The skin was not like a scale-fish, but more like a dog-fish or shark, though a great deal finer in quality. I did not save the fish for the reason that I did not know what I had caught. In fact, I considered it a streak of ill-luck rather than good fortune, having torn my nets very badly and otherwise bothering me in my business. The fish could have been grappled twenty-four hours after, it being in only 4 fathoms of water and it being a small shoal, with deep water all around it. A storm arose later, which made it impossible to do so." NEW HARBOR, MAINE, September 14, 1880."

Upon receipt of the above, Mr. Allen made a more specific inquiry, as follows:

"I am inclined to think that you caught a rare fish or animal, and I am interested to know more about it. Will you please inform me about its head? Was it like a snake's head? Did the mouth open like a snake's mouth? Were there any gills? Were there any fins near the head? Were there any fins on the back? Will you please draw with a pencil the general shape of the head and also the general shape of the whole body? I do not wish to give you too much trouble, but I think such a description is important. HARTFORD, CONN., September 17, 1880.

[Footnote* This account has been compiled from correspondence which passed between Mr. Hanna and J. M. Allen, of Hartford, Conn., and subsequently between Mr. Hanna and Professor Baird. The attention of the latter was called to the matter by Mr. Allen. -C.W.S.]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
408 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION.

Meanwhile Mr. Allen had written to Professor Baird, who also addressed a series of questions to Mr. Hanna. Under date of September 22 Mr. Hanna replied, giving the same in substance to both Mr. Allen and Professor Baird. The letter to the latter was as follows:

"To the first question I answer, yes. From the head to the tail (exclusive of the head) it did look very much like an eel. Second, the body was round or very near that form. From the head (exclusive of the same) toward the tail was about 12 or 15 feet. The tail was like that of a common eel.

Third, the color of its back was of a slate or fish color; belly, grayish to white. Fourth, there were two fins, one on either side, a little abaft the head. They were not stiff-pointed fins like the shark or sword-fish, but more like the side-fins of the cod or sun-fish, only they were in size to correspond with the fish. The top or dorsal fin was like the corresponding fin on the cod. I do not know whether it was stationary or closed, like the top fin of the mackerel and other fish of the same species.

To the fifth question I answer, no. All the fins there were on the tail were like those of the eel. Sixth, no. Seventh, there was no projection, elevation, or crest forward of the dorsal fin The skin was like that of the dog [fish], but very much finer. The head did resemble that of the shark, only more stunted, i. e., it did not lengthen out like the shark's. It looked more like the head of the sucker. The mouth was very small, not any larger than the mouth of a good sized dog-fish, with fine, briery teeth, and located at the extreme end of the head or nose. The fish was dead when caught.

Its mouth was open, and the smallness and location of the same attracted my attention more than any other part of the fish. Inclosed you will find a drawing, as near as I can recollect, of the fish. NEW HARBOR, ME., September 22, 1880.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. PAGE 409

On receipt of this letter and the drawing, Professor Baird made the following further inquiry:

"I notice you mark three strokes on the side of the neck as in the shark. Was this the case, or was there a small opening covered by a flap as in ordinary fish? I do not quite understand whether the snout projected beyond the mouth or not, or whether the mouth is in the under part of the head, or in the upper.

"Was there anything in the tail of the fish bearing a resemblance to that of the shark, or did you consider that the resemblance to the eel was more decided?

"You made a distinct fin just back of the head, while the third of the fish towards the tail has a fin running along the back and around on the under side. Does this correspond with your recollection?

"It is a matter of great interest to determine what the fish was. It was apparently something entirely new. "WASHINGTON, D. C., September 24, 1880."

Mr. Hanna then replied as follows:

"The three strokes on the side of the neck in the drawing are correct, corresponding with those of the shark. As regards the mouth, the upper part of the head did project a very little, but not more than from half an inch to an inch. The projection was not so great as in the shark, whose snout projects so that the mouth is cut off half the distance of the head back.

"There was nothing in the tail that had any resemblance to that of the shark. The inference that I drew from your letter is that I caught what the fishermen know as the swingle-tail shark, but such was not the case. I am a fisherman of twenty-five years' experience, and am acquainted with about every species of fish from the capes of Virginia to French Saint Peters [Saint Pierre, off Newfoundland], and I never saw a fish that resembled that one entirely. The shark family is very numerous in the waters of Maine, and there is hardly a day that we do not come in contact with them in some form or other. The swingle-tail is not very plenty here. I have caught one in my day, and have seen a half-dozen. The nurse-fish or liver-shark is another kind. It is a bottom fish, and rarely if ever comes to the surface. There is another member of the shark family that inhabits these waters, but is very scarce, having a shark's head, and the rest of the body like dogfish.

The tail of this strange fish corresponds in the drawing with my recollection. Being dead, I examined it some ten or fifteen minutes, hesitating whether to tow it to land or let it go. I decided if I landed it I should lose $20 that day in my business, and so could not afford to bother with it.If I had been nearer to Boston or New York, probably I should have saved it. "NEW HARBOR. ME., September 27, 1880."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. PAGE 410

The closing item of this correspondence was by Professor Baird, who, in thanking Mr. Hanna on September 29, said: "I am puzzled more than ever in regard to the fish. I would gladly have given a larger sum than you mention if I could have had it. Is it possible that any portion-the head, or even any of the bones-could yet be procured, as they would help to identify it? If any portion should. be found, I would be glad to have it sent to me."

Nothing further was heard from Mr. Hanna on the subject.

~Penbay

Cassie: The Casco Bay Sea Serpent

2008-08-02T08:52:00.002-04:00

Casco Bay is a deep inlet off the Atlantic Ocean in southwest Maine. Its wooded hilly islands are a popular vacation area and its icy waters are reportedly the home of a giant sea serpent like creature. Reports of this creature, named Cassie by the locals, can be traced as far back as the 18th century, with, as Bernard Heuvelmans points out, most of the sightings occurring between 1777 and 1877 in New England. Two thirds of these sightings were off Maine, though it would appear the Massachusetts reports attracted the most attention.

In 1751, in Broad Bay and in 1779, in Penobscot Bay, men fishing the Atlantic coastal shelf often reported the sightings of sea serpents. One of the earliest documented sightings that could be found, reported by noted cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, occurred in 1779, when Edward Preble, an 18 year old ensign, who would later become a commodore, had an encounter with a serpent like creature while aboard a ship called the Protector. On a clear and calm day Preble discovered a large serpent lying motionless near the ship. After inspecting it for some time, Preble was ordered by his captain to man and arm a large boat, Preble shoved off and headed for the creature. As he neared the serpent, it raised it’s head about ten feet above the surface of the water, looked at Preble, and began to move slowly away. Preble fired a round at the beast which caused the creature to swim off faster and disappear.

Another early account of Cassie occurred in May of 1780, when Captain George Little of Boston saw a 45 foot long serpentine creature in Broad Bay, Maine. Captain Little said the man sized head was carried about 5 feet out of the water. During June and July of 1818 others claimed to have seen a sea serpent in Portland Bay. In the 1900’s many sightings were reported off Woods Island, Maine, including a sighting by Mrs. F.W. Saunderson in 1912. Mrs. Saunderson, along with two dozen passengers aboard a steamer traveling from New York to Portland, Maine, witnessed an enormous head, long neck and barrel sized body appearing off the starboard side.
Saunderson’s reported that the creature rose about 20 feet above the water, remained erect for half a minute or so, its head turning slowly as it if to take a good look at its surroundings, and then slipped back into the water. In the late 1930’s and 1940’s encounters with the Cassie were also reported in Eastport, Maine.

Loren Coleman also interviewed several Maine residents who reported seeing Cassie as late as the 1950’s. In 1986 Coleman wrote the first published article in regards to Cassie, which appeared in the Portland Monthly. His article outlined several sightings and first hand encounters with the creature including an interview with an 81 year old man named Ole Mikkelsen, who reportedly had an encounter with Cassie on the 5th day of June, 1958.
Mikkelsen stated that his day started like any other, he woke up early and headed out to sea with his fishing partner. Around 6 am the men saw an object heading directly for them coming out of the haze, at first they thought it was a submarine, but as it came closer they discovered what ever it was to be alive. What ever the creature was came in and out of the water about 4 times as it continued to head for the two men’s boat, eventually coming up about 125 feet away and stopping, as if to look at them. The two thought of cutting their boats nets and making a run for shore, but lucky the creature made a sharp turn and disappeared into the haze, heading southeast.

Mikkelsen described the beast he saw as being light brown with a lighter underside and neck. He stated that the tail of the creature was like that of a mackerel’s and its body was well over 100 feet in length. The head of the beast stuck out of the water and was broader than its long neck; he could not see any discernible eyes or ears but was certain it could hear and see, stating that every time the Portland Lightship blew its foghorn the creature turned its head in its direction, inspecting the sound.

In recent years sightings of Cassie have been few and far between, researchers have suggested that noisy sea traffic may have caused the creatures responsible for early Cassie sightings to move to a more quiet location. This theory is backed up by the fact that other known marine animals, like seals and dolphins, have since moved on from the areas closer to the Maine shore and Casco Bay seemingly due to the area’s abundant sea traffic.

The Evidence
There is currently no physical evidence to support the existence of a creature like Cassie living in the waters off Maine.

The Sightings
In 1751, in Broad Bay and in 1779, in Penobscot Bay, men fishing the Atlantic coastal shelf often reported the sightings of sea serpents.

In 1779, Edward Preble, an 18 year old ensign, who would later become a commodore, had an encounter with a serpent like creature while aboard a ship called the Protector.

In May of 1780, when Captain George Little of Boston saw a 45 foot long serpentine creature in Broad Bay, Maine.

In 1912, Mrs. Saunderson, along with two dozen passengers aboard a steamer traveling from New York to Portland, Maine, witnessed an enormous head, long neck and barrel sized body appearing off the starboard side.

On the 5th day of June, 1958, Ole Mikkelsen saw an object heading directly for him and his friend while out in their fishing boat, at first they thought it was a submarine, but as it came closer they discovered what ever it was to be alive. What ever the creature was came in and out of the water about 4 times as it continued to head for the two men’s boat, eventually coming up about 125 feet away and stopping, as if to look at them.

The Stats– (Where applicable)
• Classification: Sea Monster
• Size: 10 to 100 feet long
• Weight: Unknown
• Diet: Unknown
• Location: Casco Bay and surrounding areas, Maine, United States of America
• Movement: Swimming
• Environment: Coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean

~Unknown Explorers

The Monstrous Sea Serpent of Gloucester

2008-08-01T10:17:00.001-04:00

They told me of a sea serpent, or snake, that lay quoiled up like a cable upon the rock at Cape Ann; a boat passing by with English on board, and two Indians, they would have shot the serpent, but the Indians dissuaded them, saying that if he were not killed outright, they would all be in danger of their lives...

The report by John Josselyn in 1638 is one of the earliest sightings of an animal that would haunt the coast of New England, and especially the port of Gloucester, for more than three centuries and be seen by hundreds of people. The report is of a creature that science says does not exist: A sea serpent.

The harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts is located just north of Boston on the lower part of Cape Ann which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Gloucester has always been a seafaring town. Its harbor is well protected from Atlantic storms, making it a destination for ships hauling cargo. In the 17th century fish abounded off the coast ready to caught by enterprising and brave men willing to go to the sea in boats. If any group of people should have known the sea and local inhabitants, it should have been the fishermen and sailors of Gloucester.

Obadiah Turner reported the following incident with a similar creature off Lynn, Massachusetts three years later.

Some being on ye great beache gathering of calms and seaweed wch had been cast thereon by ye mightie storm did spy a most wonderful serpent a shorte way off from ye shore. He was big round in ye thickest part as a wine pipe; and they do affirm that he was fifteen fathoms [90 feet] or more in length. A most wonderful tale. But ye witnesses be credible, and it would be of no account to them to tell an untrue tale. Wee have likewise heard yt Cape Ann ye people have seene a monster like unto this, whch did there come out of ye land mch to ye terror of them yt did see him.

Although sea serpent incidents occurred occasionally off the coast of Cape Ann and the rest of New England during the 17th and 18th centuries, it wasn't until the 19th century that the arrival of the sea serpent off the coast became a nearly seasonal phenomenon. The real action started in August of 1817 when two women claimed they had seen the creature swimming into the harbor. The same sea-serpent was seen at almost the same time by the Captain of a coasting vessel. A few days later Mrs. Amous Story said she saw what appeared to be a tree trunk washed up on the rocks of Ten Pound Island which lies in the harbor. As she watched it through a telescope, it moved and when she looked again, it was gone. William Row reported seeing a creature saying "its head was as broad as a horse or more so, but not quite as long." The same day Amos Story also saw the creature:

It was between the hours of twelve and one o'clock when I first saw him, and he continued in sight for an hour and a half. I was setting on the shore, and was about twenty rods from him when he was the nearest to me. His head appeared shaped mach like that of the sea turtle, and he carried his head from ten to twelve inches above the surface of the water. His head at that distance appeared larger than the head of any dog I ever saw. From the back of his head to the next part of him that was visible, I should judge to be three or four feet. He moved very rapidly through the water, I should say a mile or two or, at most, in three minutes. I saw no bunches on his back. On this day, I did not see more than ten or twelve feet of his body.

Two days later on August 12th Shipmaster Solomon Allen III saw the Gloucester sea serpent:

His head formed something like the head of a rattlesnake, but nearly as large as the head of horse. When he moved on the surface of the water his motion was slow, at times playing in circles, and sometimes moving straight forward.

The creature was even shot at two days later by ship's carpenter Matthew Gaffney from a boat:

I had a good gun, and took good aim. I aimed at his head, and I think I must of hit him. He turned toward us immediately after I had fired, and I thought he was coming at us; but he sunk down and went directly under our boat, and made his appearance at about one hundred yards from where he sunk...
Gaffney also mentions the motion of the creature through the water was "vertical, like a caterpillar."

There were eighteen sightings of the "sea serpent" that year. Most from Gloucester, but a few from different parts of New England. Most of the reports were very similar: A snakelike creature, sixty to one-hundred feet in length, with the head the size of a horse and the body the diameter of a barrel. Observers noted that the creature swam with a vertical motion and his body appeared as "humps" behind him. This report from Cheever Felch aboard the United States schooner Science:

His colour is dark brown with white under his throat. His size we could not accurately ascertain, but his head is about three feet in circumference, flat and much smaller than his body. We did not see his tail; but from the end of the head to the farthest protuberance was not far from one hundred feet. I speak with a degree of certainty, behing much accustomed to measure and estimate distances and length. I counted fourteen bunches on his back, the first one say ten or twelve feet from this head, and the others about seven feet apart. They decreased in size towards the tail. These bunches were sometimes counted with and sometimes without a glass. Mr. Malborne counted thirteen, Mr. Blake thirteen and fourteen, and the boatman the same number...His motion was partly vertical and partly horizontal, like that of fresh water snakes. I have been much acquainted with snakes in our interior waters. His motion was the same.

Reports off the New England coast continued strong through the 19th century. Twelve sightings in 1839, nine in 1875 and thirteen in 1886. A total of 190 for the whole one hundred years. Sea serpent reports became fewer in the twentieth century: A total of 56, and most of those before 1950.

So what was the Monstrous Sea Serpent of Gloucester? Most such reports are attributed to simple misidentification. Dolphins leaping in single file might look like a series of humps. The sixteen-foot-long elephant seal might look like a sea monster to someone unfamiliar with the giant seal.

In many of the Gloucester reports, though, observers first felt they were viewing something quite normal, but then changed their minds when they got closer (Opposite to what you would expect in a case of misidentification). For example, this report by John Brown, published in 1817:
...I discovered something about three or four miles distant, about two points on the weather bow, which appeared as a mast, as it rose and sunk in a perpendicular manner, once in about eight or ten minutes. I kept the vessel directly for it, and after look at it with my glass, I observed to my mate that i was a wreck, as I could see timbers &c.. sticking up, but as we approached nearer, I found what appeared like timbers to be a number of porpoises and black fish playing and jumping around a large Sea-Serpent, which we had supposed to be the mast.

Some sea serpent reports are hoaxes either perpetrated by individuals, or in many cases by newspapers. Hoax journalism is an art which was alive in the 19th century, but has almost disappeared today. While many of the reports have been found through period newspapers, others show up in private letters, which indicates they were not part of a hoax journalism story. Even in the case of the newspaper stories, many of the references to the Gloucester sea serpent seem to lack the kind of sensationalism that was often a part of hoaxed articles.

So how do we explain the many sightings at Gloucester and along much of the coast of New England? Was there really a sea serpent swimming along the shores?

The idea that there might be such a thing as a sea serpent is not as preposterous as it sounds at first. We certainly know that millions of years ago, at the time the dinosaurs ruled the land, giant marine reptiles, some 80 feet in length, ruled the seas. Some people have suggested that some version of these creatures managed to survive the great extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Era that killed dinosaurs. They think that the snakelike body reported might be the long neck of a Elasmosaurus or the back of a Mosasaur.

The Gloucester sea serpent might not necessarily be Cretaceous leftover, though. Plenty of sea-snakes are alive today living in tropical waters. While these are much smaller than any sea-serpent reported in New England, one water snake does nearly reach the sizes mentioned: The Anaconda.

Anacondas live in South American waters and have been reported at up to 37 feet in length with the girth of a telephone pole. They mostly live in fresh water and rarely venture into the open sea. However, is it so incredible to believe that there might be a cousin of the Anaconda which is twice the length and diameter and lives in the open sea?

If the Gloucester reports are genuine and accurate, why are there so few in twentieth century and almost none in the past few years? J.P. O'Neill, author of The Great New England Sea Serpent, theorizes that the deterioration of the once-fertile fishing areas off of New England by over-fishing may have caused the creature to find another place to eat, or even go extinct. Ironically that would mean that a hundred years ago there was once a population of sea-serpents, but now they are gone. The last sighting in New England was off the coast of Marshfield, Massachusetts in 1962. There were no reports in the 1970's or 1980's at all.

With careful protection of the fisheries, though, hopefully the population of fish may rebound. Will it be in time to help the Gloucester sea serpent, assuming of course that this creature ever really existed at all?

Perhaps there is some hope. In 1997, after over thirty years of silence, a report came from Fortune Bay, Newfoundland.
It turned its head and looked right at us. All we could see was a neck six feet long, a head like a horse, but his dark eyes were on the front of his face...
Perhaps the sea serpent is not dead, but just waiting to return to his summer feeding grounds near Gloucester harbor.

~Unmuseum

Sasquatch in New England

2008-07-31T08:59:00.000-04:00

It's highly possible for a large, hairy, bipedal, Sasquatch-like being to exist up here. There's more than enough wilderness for a few of them. There's enough meat and other foods for a large being like itself to exist. Haven't there been sightings since the early 1800's? How do you explain the Native American legend of the wood devils in New Hampshire, as well as the legends and encounters by Native Americans? Some people just don't think.....

The Bus Driver

2008-07-30T11:08:00.001-04:00

In Waterville, Maine, police were baffled by an unprecedented spike in all varieties of crime. Banks were robbed, companies were embezzled by faithful employees, the elderly were relieved of life savings by swindling grandchildren. Wives were killed for insurance benefits, jewelry was swiped from the hands of the dead at funeral homes, cars were stolen, painted and sold.
Some arrests were made and long investigations got underway. At last, police began to find a common thread in all of the madness. All money from the violence and corruption seemed to be funneled to one man, a non-descript fellow named Raymond Boomgardner who operated a small bus company. When the team of investigators swarmed on Boomgardner's home and office, they found that all traces of him were gone. All, that is, except for one sagging bus still caked with road dust. There were few clues found inside the crumbling vehicle, but on the back of it was a curious thing. There, painted with a peculiar gold tint and written in strange script was one simple word: OBEY.
Had Raymond Boomgardner found a way to mesmerize the people of Waterville into an organized madness to fill his own pockets? Was there something corrupt and magical about that one word with it's odd, gleaming letters? Such a thing was never proven and the bus driver was never found. The lead investigator on the case, one Sgt. Gary Forbes, has no further insights to relate. The day after the bus was found outside the abandoned office, Forbes quietly cleaned out the police evidence room, making off with cash and narcotics, and has not been seen since.

~Mark LaFlamme

The Amazing Loki

2008-07-29T11:13:00.003-04:00

The amazing hypnotist Loki came to Lewiston a few years ago to perform at our Independence Day festival. For a time, it looked like he might not make it for the festivities while he was recovering from bypass surgery.But by the Fourth of July, the world-renowned hypnotist was feeling better and he was in good form on the stage. He had subjects barking like dogs, performing goofy dancing and even disrobing at the mere utterance of one cue word from Loki.As darkness was falling, Loki called to the stage Lewiston's charismatic city administrator, who was seated in a chair.

After applause and tittering quieted in the crowd, the great hypnotist Loki leaned down and whispered briefly in the city leader's ear. At once a change game over the administrator. He jumped to his feet and began to flap his arms. Into the night issued the sound of guttural clucking and the renowned leader began to waddle around the stage, a six-foot-tall chicken in an Armani suit.Just then, the first round of fireworks was launched into the air. Following a bright flash of colorful light, the repercussions exploded like thunder.The great Loki looked up quickly, shock and horror across his face. Startled by the firework's report, he clutched hands to his chest, wincing in apparent pain. He staggered forward and fell to his knees, tottering briefly before falling face down. The great hypnotist was dead as he struck the stage.There was a commotion all around, but the city administrator only went on flapping and clucking and goose stepping around the stage.For nearly a decade, the honorable politician has spent his days with the demeanor and habits of a barnyard fowl, utterly unable to reclaim his human form without that one final command from the long-dead hypnotist Loki.

~Mark LaFlamme, Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Fishing Hole

2008-07-29T09:06:00.002-04:00

Just recently, a man returned to Lake Auburn to fish at the spot where his father used to take him as a boy. The man, reflecting with sadness that his dad had run out on the family early in his life, was deep in thought when he got his first bite.Reeling in the catch with the struggle and enthusiasm he remembered from childhood, the fellow is appalled at what he pulls from the water - the body of his long-dead father.

~Mark LaFlamme, Sunday, October 14, 2007

Maine Sea Serpent Sightings

2008-07-28T12:35:00.002-04:00

Saco, May 25. Orin F. Waterhouse and father of Saco, reports seeing a sea serpent eight miles from Wood Island light. It was black on the back, white beneath, and as large around as a hogshead. It came up twice, having its head fifteen or twenty feet above the water. The sea was so rough they could not see the length. He was seen in the vicinity of the place where the Portland fishermen recently reported having seen a sea serpent. [Daily Kennebec Journal, May 26, 1875]

Biddeford, October 10. The sea serpent of which so much has been said, made his appearance at Fortunes Rocks, yesterday, and was distinctly seen by a party of ladies and gentlemen from the city, being within one hundred feet of the shore. The monster appeared to be fifty feet in length. The head very much resembled that of a horse. He was moving south. [Daily Kennebec Journal, Oct. 11, 1879]

And now two Vinalhaven fishermen put in a bid for notoriety. They report the sea serpent seen 200 yards distant from their craft "snow white, big, round as a barrel, and 30 feet from hump to hump." [Daily Kennebec Journal, June 4, 1896]

The sea serpent's older brother was seen sporting around in Rockland harbor during the week, where its appearance made quite a sensation. It is described as perfectly white in color, estimates of his length varying from 15 to 50 feet. Some 10 or 12 feet of body rose from the water to a height of two feet or more as the sea monster rambled around in serpentine movement. There was very little lashing of the water, and none of the dragon like head, green eyes, and enormous spines and scales usually attributed to this summer resort attraction. [Daily Kennebec Journal, Sept. 16, 1904]

To be sure it is dead, but far better a real sea serpent dead on the shore than the unverified yarn of a live one out at sea. It came ashore with the tide near Old Orchard and truly it is a monster such as the oldest sea dog never saw before. If it isn't the sea serpent it is a nearer approach to it than anything the human gaze has ever been permitted to inspect at close range. It came in on the night tide. The monster has long been dead. Of the body there is only a pulp like form enclosed in a grayish colored hide, covered with long hair as big as grass blades. The flesh had been washed away by the action of the sea until the great skull was bare and the monster vertebrae uncovered so that some of them could be removed. The tail is missing, broken short off, and how long this part of the body was can only be speculated upon. To conceive of anything like symmetry of form this tail must have been from 25 to 30 feet long. Minus the tail it measured 42 feet. The big skull terminated in beak shaped jaws which were of flesh. These two jaw bones measure nine feet. Between the jaws was a rough-shaped bone of about the same length which formed a case for the tongue. The animal, when in good condition, must have been of serpentine shape and the body at the deepest point is not over five feet in diameter. Supply the tail to match the body, terminating at the one end in the long snout and you would have a serpent shaped monster from about 70 to 80 feet long with a circumference in the biggest part of not over 12 or 15 feet. Imagine this monster with its head and long beak erect and lashing the sea with its tail and you reproduce the appearance of the fabled sea serpent. The sea has cast up a good many curiosities along the beach at Old Orchard and along the coast of Maine, but never anything like this. [Daily Kennebec Journal, June 12, 1905]

The Mayor's Demise

2008-07-28T08:17:00.004-04:00

Three years ago, a former Lewiston mayor's body was exhumed to determine if poisoning was the cause of his death more than a century past. After much legal red tape, forensic scientists gained permission to unearth the mayor. There was much speculation, but no one expected to learn what they did when they pulled the mayor's rotting coffin from the ground. When the casket was opened, veteran officers and medical officials stumbled away from the grave in horror - the interior lid of the coffin was streaked with bloody claw marks gouged deep into the wood. The honorable mayor had been buried alive.

~Mark LaFlamme, Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Dead Writer

2008-07-26T11:22:00.001-04:00

In nearby Durham, a talented young writer battled an incurable disease until it ended his life just six months ago. His body was found in a chair before his typewriter, hands still on the keyboard.

Teary-eyed friends and supporters commented that the young man had lost his fight with death before he had completed his greatest tales. They buried him with his typewriter in honor of his achievements.

A week after the funeral, the caretaker at Mount Hope Cemetery hung up his keys and quit. He later confessed to a friend that he was trimming a hedge near the young man's grave site when he heard a sound from below the hallowed ground - clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack ... like typewriter keys.

Was the gifted young scribe continuing his art from beyond the shadow of death?

~Mark LaFlamme, Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Whispering Sister: A local legend

2008-07-25T10:04:00.004-04:00

There was a street lady named Cloris who was known to babble as she pushed her crammed shopping carts through the streets of Lewiston. Occasionally, she would stop a stranger and begin to rave about her sister - her horrible, horrible sister who whispered hateful things into her ear. The woman was wrinkled and her eyes were large and wild. She frightened and appalled many, especially when she raved about her whispering sister. A simple check of court documents showed that she had no siblings at all - no evil sister to whisper into her ear and to drive her to madness. The street lady froze to death in the streets one winter and because her death was unattended, an autopsy was ordered. Forensic physicians made a shocking discovery. When Cloris was born some 58 years back, she had developed inside her mother's womb with a twin. But as she neared birth, the infant Cloris absorbed the twin fetus into her body and only one baby was born. The autopsy revealed tiny fragments of that unborn twin in Cloris' brain - one tiny hand attached to a tiny arm, an eye that never fully developed and just the beginnings of a fetal mouth.Were the voices that drove Cloris to madness and left her raving in the streets whispered by her unborn twin sister after all?
~ Mark LaFlamme, Sunday, October 14, 2007

Is all really well?

2008-07-22T12:12:00.001-04:00

Seven years ago, a group of kids dared a pre-teen to explore an abandoned well behind an ancient barn in Sabattus. The well was at the far end of a long-forgotten cemetery and it was reputed to be haunted. The boy was eager to impress his friends, however. He agreed to be lowered into the well on a rubber tire attached to a sturdy rope. His friends, giddy with excitement, lowered the boy down and down and down into the dark hole until he disappeared into the blackness.After there was no sound from below and no movement on the rope, they hastily decided to pull their friend back up. But what they hoisted out of the well was not the young boy they knew as their friend - the lad's hair had turned pure white, his eyes were dark and wild, and he trembled with unimaginable terror. He babbled and cackled wildly and appeared to have aged decades in the few minutes down in the darkness of the well.The boy never recovered from his madness. He is said to shriek sporadically from his padded room in the county mental institution.
-Mark LaFlamme, Sunday, October 14, 2007

Strange Things in the Family

2008-07-10T09:56:00.001-04:00

My mother had a bunch of strange encounters with the paranormal.

She was asleep one night in her room (which she shared with her sister) when she heard someone walk from the darkroom into the attic. No one had been in the darkroom that night.

She and her sister were lost in the woods one time on a trail they didn't know. They had stayed in the same place for a long time (like one's supposed to do when lost). They watched a lady in a white nightgown hover across the trail.

My aunt saw a man in white by one of the woodpiles in her youth.

My other aunt had a dream about a lady with a lamp walking into an outhouse at night and the outhouse burned down, killing her.
This happened to someone in my family in the 1800's.

More recently, before I was born, my parents and brothers were driving home when they saw a huge ball of fire moving horozontally just over the trees.

Maine Sea Serpent

2008-06-28T08:07:00.002-04:00

According to Crypdomundo, the serpents seen off the coast of Maine were 300 feet long. Most sightings had the subject at 40 to 60 feet. Sea Serpent sightings in the Penobscot Bay took place in 1751, 1773, 1779, 1780, 1787, 1793, 1794, 1799, 1811, 1817, and 1818.

(Loren Coleman, http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/heuvelmans-solved/ , "Solving a Sea Serpent Mystery of Heuvelmans," accessed 28 June, 2008.)

My Brother's Various Encounters With Strange Things

2008-06-08T09:33:00.001-04:00

My older brothers were always out in the woods behind our house during the summer. They had many strange experiences.

Once they were out by the swamps not to far from our house. They were walking along when they saw a wooden totem pole. My brothers kept walking. When they returned to that same spot, the totem was gone.

Another time they were further out in the woods. They came across an old sign that had "RAIN" painted on it in blue. One of my brothers took a picture. When the photos came back, there was no sign in the picture. They never found the sign again and could never find that picture.

My brothers were out running on the trails near our house during the summer. It was a clear day with no clouds. Suddenly a winged shadow flew overhead. There was nothing there.

On the night that one of our dogs died, my second oldest brother heard a dog running past the house barking. No one else heard it.

My eldest brother was out running on the trails. He was probably three or four miles out. He heard a female voice calling his name from some marshy area.

My second oldest brother was running back from running up the small mountain near our house. It was nearly dark. He was almost back when a lady came running up the trail towards him. He said "Hi." and there was no response. She kept running up the mountain with four or five miles to go.

I'm sure there are many other stories I have forgotten or remain untold. I urge you to contact me with yours.

Maine Sea Serpent

2008-03-08T12:08:00.000-05:00

A sea serpent, 45 feet long and 15 inches in diameter, was reported off the coast of Maine by Captain George Little in 1780:
"I was lying in Round Pond, in Broad Bay, in a public armed ship. At sunrise, I discovered a large serpent, or sea monster, coming down the bay. It was on the surface of the water. The cutter was manned and armed. I went myself in the boat. We proceeded after the serpent. When within a hundred feet, the mariners were ordered to fire on him. Before they could make ready, the serpent dove."

Turner Beast

2008-02-18T07:40:00.009-05:00

TURNER, Maine - An animal found dead along the powerlines over the weekend may be the mystery creature that has roamed the area for years, mauling dogs and frightening residents. Or it could be a dog that has been running wild in the woods. It depends on who you ask. The animal was found along Route 4 on Saturday after neighbors say it was struck by a car while chasing a cat across the street. The carcass was photographed and inspected by several people who live in the area, but nobody seems to know what it might be. "This is something I've never seen before," said Mike O'Donnell, who lives near the area where the creature was found. "It's an evil looking thing. It looks like half-rodent, half-dog." Wildlife officials and animal control officers told about the find declined to go to Turner to examine the remains. By Tuesday, the carcass had been picked clean by vultures and there was not much left of the dead animal.But Loren Coleman, considered by some to be the leading cryptozoologist in the world, said one thing is clear: the creature found in Turner is not likely somebody's pet. "It certainly doesn't look like a chow or any kind of domesticated dog that I've seen," Coleman said after reviewing photos of the animal. "It may be a hybrid between a dog and a wolf." Since 1991, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a beast that defies classical description. Theories have ranged from a fisher, a coy dog, a hyena or a dingo to more fanciful ideas: some believe the local creature is Maine's own Chupacabra. In 2004, the enigmatic animal was blamed for attacking and killing a 16-year-old Doberman in Wales. Last year, it was a suspect when a Rottweiler was mauled in Greene. Others have reported seeing it or hearing the creature's screams in the night.Witnesses have said that the animal had eyes that glowed in the night. Others reported a high scream that chilled them. One woman considered moving out of her Litchfield home after hearing the animal's monstrous cry one night in 1991. Whether the creature found dead in Turner this weekend is the same one that spurred those legends could not be verified, though the descriptions of the animal were consistent with past accounts.Michelle O'Donnell said she spotted the animal near her yard roughly a week before the carcass was discovered."It was evil, evil looking. And it had a horrible stench I will never forget," she said. "We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it took off. I've lived in Maine my whole life and I've never seen anything like it." Down the road, Kenny Buck said it was his cat that was chased by the creature. The cat was found dead near Route 4 a day before the bigger, meaner beast was discovered."That's no dog," he said of the dead animal found near his property.Dana Johnson, a professional trapper known as "The Creature Catcher," examined the photographs Tuesday night. His guess: a black coyote with abnormal features.The neighbors who found the animal called a Maine game warden who told them he could not drive from Poland to Turner to inspect the remains. The warden told them it was probably a coyote and told them to research it online. They were advised to call Central Maine Power Co. to haul the carcass away, since it was found near the powerlines. Michelle O'Donnell said she researched the Internet extensively and could not identify the animal that way. She and her husband said they were more interested in finding out what it is than having it hauled away in haste."We've been hearing stories about this thing for years - about this thing that's been attacking, shredding and eating other animals," said Mike O'Donnell. "This is something that's not supposed to be out there."Coleman, the cryptozoologist who has been studying wildlife for 46 years and who has written 27 books on the subject, said he was bothered by the ears and the snout of the creature found in Turner. It reminded him of a case years ago in Northern Maine in which an animal shot by a hunter could not be identified.So perplexing was that case, wildlife officials sent away for DNA analysis. In the end, it was declared a rare wolf-dog hybrid. Since the attack that killed the Doberman in 2004 in Wales, several people from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods. Skeptics have insisted the creature is probably a coy dog, a fisher or a wolf. Those who have seen it, demand that it is none of the above.What was found dead in Turner over the weekend was described as charcoal gray and weighing between 40 and 50 pounds. It had a bushy tail, an extremely short snout and short ears. There were also curled fangs hanging over the lips.
"It looked," said Mike O'Donnell, "like something out of a Stephen King story."

~Mark LaFlamme, Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Sasquatch in New England

2008-02-02T11:03:00.000-05:00

Is it really there? Yes. According to the BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Online) the is at least 30,865 sq. miles of wilderness out there in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Also there is wilderness area in Massachusetts as well. Connecticut and Rhode Island also have some left. Even though Canada is a different country, it is bordering New England. So we have to add Quebec and New Brunswick. That is a lot of wilderness there. Of cousre there has been a history of sightings in this area. Visit any Bigfoot/Sasquatch website for more information. Will it ever be found? I don't know.