Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. It’s still spooky season, so I figured I share another Top 5 that fits that theme. This week’s Top 5 is recently spotted cryptids. Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist but whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. We’re talking the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. I don’t buy into cryptids. But they can be fun to speculate and since it’s still spooky season, let’s talk about the Top 5 recently spotted cryptids.
5: Nantinaq
What if Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) turned man killer? If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, you don’t have to look much further than Nantinaq. In fact, the Nantinaq is blamed for the abandonment of the Alaskan fishing village Portlock. The killings become so plentiful that people fled for their lives.
Nantinaq sightings began in the 1700s when Europeans conducted expeditions, and Native Alaskans began encountering the mysterious creature. The Nantinaq is believed to rip out trees from their roots and plant them back into the ground upside down. I don’t know how accurate these images are, and I don’t know if there may be another natural explanation for this, but that sounds weird.
The Nantinaq has also been known to kill huge moose and carry the moose on their back several yards. Discovery+ filmed a reality television series in Portlock. The series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, follows a team exploring the abandoned village. It aired at the end of 2021 and recorded the most recent sighting of the Nantinaq.
I may have to watch the Alaskan Killer Bigfoot. It’s most likely a trash docuseries, but a trash docuseries can be fun.
4: Dobhar-chu
The Dobhar-chu is a giant carnivorous lake monster that lives in Ireland. It most closely resembles a large otter. That can’t be too intimidating. Only its alternate name is Irish-Crocodile. The Dobhar-chu attacks in pairs and they are known to get aggressive with humans and dogs. And because the Dobhar-chu is a huge, nightmare fuel otter, it can chase its prey on land and in the water. Great.
There haven’t been as many sightings of the Dobhar-chu as there had been in previous decades. The most recent reports came from 2003 by an Irish artist and his wife on Omey Island, Connemara. The couple saw a giant creature with dark coloring and membranes on the feet to swim.
The Dobhar-chu sounds goofy but these artist renderings make them more formidable. I wouldn’t want to run into one of these things. Yikes!
3: Orang Gadang
We have another Bigfoot like creature, but Orang Gadang comes from Indonesia. Orang means person and gadang means giant. Since Orang Gadang are giant people, they stand between 7.5-12 feet tall and are covered with bushy dark hair. They’ve been spotted for centuries in Sumatra and Malaya. They can also be named Orang Tinggi (Tinggi meaning tall), so Tall Person and sometimes Hantu Tinggi or tall ghost.
The most recent sighting of the Orang Gadang occurred in 2013. Seven people were injured and sent to the hospital. One was in critical condition. The group had been attacked by 10 monkeys. The monkeys in question stood upright like gorillas and stood between four to five feet. Monkeys exist in Indonesia, but none of them grow to that height. The group described the creature as having “stub noses and glaring eyes.”
Who knows? This one could be true. A lot of primates, both extinct and living, have been found in Indonesia. Even hobbits. Yes. Hobbits were real and found in Sumatra, which happens to be where the Orang Gadang originate. Oh no!
2: Fresno Nightcrawler
Fresno nightcrawlers may be the oddest creature on this list. They only grow to about five feet with most of their heigh made up of their legs. In fact, they look like a walking pair of pants. The Fresno nightcrawler is also the youngest creature on this list. The first sighting occurred in 2007 with the most recent on April 25th, 2020.
The earlier sightings happened around Fresno, California, hence the name, but the most recent happened in two distant locations. The first occurred in Poland of all places. A man caught the creature on a handheld camera. But the most recent sighting happened in Billings, Montana. A home surveillance system spotted the creature at 9:45 PM in April, 2020.
Okay. This one is silly and sounds like it came from an old Dr. Seuss story “What Was I Scared Of?” where the main character repeatedly meets an empty pair of pale-green pants. “I said, ‘I do not fear those pants with nobody inside them.’ I said, and said, and said those words. I said them. But I lied them.” I kind of want this one to be true because it’s too silly. Shout out to Dr. Seuss.
1: J’ba FoFi
I had to include a large spider; my wife hates spiders. Love you. The J’ba FoFi, pronounced CHOO-Bah Foo Fee, has been spotted in the Congo. It weaves a trap-door like web to catch its prey. There are plenty of spiders in Africa that hunt this way, so that doesn’t raise eyebrows. What does is that the trap-door this spider weaves must be gigantic. The J’ba FoFi can grow as long as four feet.
J’ba FoFi sightings began in 1850 and remained plentiful until recent years. Many of the natives blame the lack of sightings on the J’ba FoFi becoming a vanishing species. Encroaching civilization and the rain forest being converted into farmland have driven the spiders from their natural habitats.
Some have posted pictures of a massive web system. I don’t know if this is photoshopped, AI, or another creature building this web system. Again, J’ba FoFi is supposed to be a trap-door spider, so webs like these, while impressive and large, must be the work of some other animal.
The most recent sighting occurred in March 2013. A video surfaced on YouTube of an alleged J’ba Fofi caught on night vision camera near a waterhole in Mozambique. The J’ba FoFi appears out of the darkness for a moment and scurries into the darkness on the far-right side of the screen.
I don’t know. Giant spiders, like the goliath birdeater, exist, but they only grow to a foot long. There may be a reason for this. Ahem, a spider’s body construct cannot maintain a body larger than about a foot. But a large spider could exist in Africa. That isn’t far-fetched.
So, which one of these cryptids do you wish are true? Heck, which ones do you think are true? And should I plan a trip to try and spot one? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
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