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Dr Helen Magnus, cryptozoologist and curator extraordinaire, and her wily team could justifiably spend a couple of seasons here in the UK. There may be 'abnormals' scattered around the globe, but I find it hard to believe that anywhere else in the world has the concentration of bizarre creatures to be found in Britain.

Cryptozoology tends to be split into two areas of study. The first deals with animals which are classified from fossil evidence, but are currently considered extinct. The classic, over-cited example of this type is the Thylacine (aka Tasmanian Tiger); the creature officially died out in the early twentieth century, though sightings of the Australian animal still occur today. OOP (Out of Place) creatures are also categorised under this heading, such as the hundreds of Alien Big Cats sightings reported in the UK each year.

The second area of research examines creatures for which no tangible evidence exists, but are carried down the ages in the form of folk stories and myths, or the witness reports are too fantastic to be readily accepted. The following recent story from Alloa is a case in point:

I was out walking with my dad, a friend and our dog in broad daylight. Towards the woods I saw what looked like a horse, but with a dog's bottom half... it was prancing around. Walking close to the creature was another man and his dog, and neither of them appeared to be able to see it. I looked away to tell my dad, turned round and it had vanished - no one else saw it and no one believed me. I later read that two women saw the same thing in 1975 in pretty much the same area...

Could an animal like this really exist? A type of hybrid that can manipulate light to conceal itself is more in the realm of SF than reality, but strange reports continue to come in.

Richard Freeman, Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, was kind enough to share with me his extensively researched list of dragon sightings across the UK. Many of the stories are not dated, and many specific details have been lost over time, but if the tales are to be believed to have a grain of truth, then the UK was once land of the lizard. The story of More of More Hall is typical.

When a winged, fire breathing dragon visited Wantley in Yorkshire, More of More Hall was called upon to slay the beast. Stronger than the average knight, More was said to have once killed his horse with his bare hands after the animal upset him (More also ate the creature, to avoid waste). Aware that he was about to face a formidable foe, More ensured his plate armour was covered with fifteen centimetre long spikes. Man and monster finally met on the battlefield - the fight between More and his winged adversary dragged on for two days and one night, before More had the opportunity to kick a spiked boot into the dragon's bottom, which killed it.

Although no recent reports of dragon sightings have landed on my desk, it doesn't mean that they are extinct (or ever existed). Cultural belief systems are often overlooked in reporting mechanisms - a report of a fiery UFO is more likely to be interpreted as an alien craft than a large fire breathing flying lizard, but interpretation doesn't make it so.

To be continued...

Further reading:
http://www.cfz.org.uk

The Paranormal Diary:

24 February

The Shrieking Pit at Northrepps (Norfolk)
Some say that the entity that appears in the pit is the spirit of a woman who took her life, while others believe it is something much darker that lures the unwary to their deaths.

St Mary's Churchyard, Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk)
Cursed by a monk after murdering the Duke of Gloucester in 1447, the ghost of Maude Carew is now said to appear once a year at 11pm..

26 February

The Old Court House, Hampton Court
Having died in the front room of this building, Sir Christopher Wren's footsteps can be heard on the anniversary of his death, pacing up and down the staircase.

Darren Mann
www.paranormaldatabase.com