The Gralien Report

The much anticipated new book by the late Mac Tonnies has been released by Anomalist Books, titled The Cryptoterrestrials: A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us. This book deals with a number of bizarre concepts, but placed forthright by Tonnies, accompanied by his usual intellect and powers of reason, they are afforded what is possibly the best interpretation of aliens as indigenous beings from Earth to-date. Nick Redfern, who in addition to providing the foreword for Tonnies’ book offered this excellent review, had this to share:

Mac was a very good friend of mine; and like all his friends I was shocked to the core when he passed away suddenly and tragically in October 2009, at the age of only 34.

But, I am pleased to say, Mac’s latest – and, inevitably, final – piece of work ensures that his memory, legacy and ability to think outside of the conventional ufological box will live on. That work is The Cryptoterrestrials: A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us.
Read the rest of this entry »

This image appeared over at the blog of John Downes, Still on the Track, purported to show an enormous rattlesnake captured recently in Florida. In fact, the individual who supplied Downes with the photos (identified only as “Paula”), reports that this is the largest Eastern Diamondback ever caught on record.

Along with the photos sent to Downes (which can be viewed at his blog), Paula provides the following information:

1) One bite from a snake this large contains enough venom to kill over 40 full grown men.
2) The head alone is larger than the hand of a normal sized man.
3) This snake was probably alive when George H. W. Bush was President.
4) A bite from those fangs would equal being penetrated by two 1/4 inch screwdrivers.
5) A snake this size could easily swallow a 2 year-old child.
6) A snake this size has an approximately 5 and 1/2 foot accurate striking distance.
7) Judging by the size of the snake, it is estimated to weigh over 170 pounds. How much do you weigh?

Read the rest of this entry »

A recent report appearing at the Haunted America Tours site describes an encounter reported by a truck driver in the vicinity of New Orleans, LA, this past Sunday morning. As he drove along in the early morning, he witnessed the creature, apparently a humanoid, as it darted along a nearby treeline. As stated in the HAT article, “the creature had dark or black skin covered in masses of ’skin or fins’ that looked like algae growing all over its body.  It seemed to have gills or matted hair that looked like gills on its face and head; two yellow eyes leered out from under a prominent forehead.” The creature has allegedly drawn a bit of interest from cryptozoologists in the area, and News Editor Rick Stokes with The Anomalist recently described the event as an encounter with “a creature that could have clawed its way to the surface of the Black Lagoon.”

This is one of a handful of reports of encounters passed down over the years that deal with strange, anthropomorphic lizard-like “people.” Arguably, the most famous of all “Lizard Man” reports deals with what was called “The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp,” a strange creature witnessed around the town of Bishopville, South Carolina, as well as various other swampy locales throughout the surrounding Lee County in the 1980s. However, earlier reports of lizard-like humanoids exist which (surprisingly) date all the way back to 1878! Have these “creatures” from the fringes of reality existed alongside us for longer than we realize?

Read the rest of this entry »

Below is a link to a podcast from one of my new favorite radio programs, “The Cryptid Factor” with Rhys Darby and David Farrier. Broadcasting Saturday mornings out of New Zealand, the show allows journalist-extraordinaire Farrier and the formidable Mr. Darby (of Flight of the Conchords fame) to get down to brass tacks with their truest passion: cryptozoology.

David and Rhys are great guys, and on this week’s edition they caught up with me to discuss “Sasquatch Language”:

Micah A. Hanks on “The Cryptid Factor”

Also, be sure and tune in to next week’s program as well, in which I was invited back to discuss giant deep-sea monstrosities and the enigmatic “Bloop” noise. Hopefully there will be other future appearances as well, since these guys have a very entertaining (and light-hearted) show. Don’t miss it!

I received word from my friend Nick Redfern this morning regarding a new film that his friends at Red Star Films have released, detailing a trip he made a few years ago to Puerto Rico, the “Isle of Enchantment,” in search of its most famous diminutive blood-sucking resident: the Chupacabra. Here’s what Nick has to say:

Back in late 2005, I traveled to Puerto Rico with good friend, Canadian Paul Kimball of Red Star Films, and his crew, which consisted of Paul’s brother Jim, John Rosborough, and Findlay Muir. The purpose of the week-long trek was to make a film – road-trip-style – that would see me and Puerto Rican Orlando Pla (a local expert on the beast) on a quest for the truth about the monstrous thing said to be roaming the island: namely, the Chupacabras.

Well, I’m pleased to say, the production – titled Island of Blood – is now available as a 3-part installment, which you can find at the link below this email. Enjoy… or be very afraid!

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the latest “poor lil’ bugger with mange found dead in Texas” story, this time as covered by CBS news correspondent Carol Cavazos. As stated in the CBS report, “The legend of the ‘chupacabra’ is no longer a legend according to some Texas residents claiming to have seen the animal.” Safe it to say, whatever this critter is, we’ve seen many like it before, and although this “chupacabra” is more likely to be a raccoon, the verdict, according to some experts, is still out:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

An NBC News affiliate out of Texas is reporting that the sudden, inexplicable deaths of dozens of livestock on an area farm may be linked to the appearance of a legendary cryptozoological monstrosity. WALB News 10 shares the following at their website:

The Garcia family of Horizon City says they were shocked to see 30 of their animals turn up dead overnight earlier this week. After looking at how they were killed, the only explanation they have is the Chupacabra.

The strange bite marks present on the dead farm animals seems to indicate two sharp fangs used to bite and suck blood from the creatures. Upon noticing the two-pronged bite marks, the Garcias said “The first thing that came to our head was the Chupacabras.”

Early reports of the Chupacabra in the Western world date back to a rash of reports from Puerto Rico in 1995, during which the classic “symptoms” of an alleged Chupacabra residence came to the attention of the mass media. However, the strange case of “The Vampire of Moca,” in which strange animal slayings of farm animals occurred in the Puerto Rican town of Moca in 1875, may actually predate the now-famous 1995 reports. Still, reports of “vampires” in the folklore of Latin American countries date back several centuries, and modern Ufologists have considered whether such reports might have some factual basis in the existing mythology surrounding what is now called the Chupacabra.

Read the rest of this entry »

There have been some strange waves smacking the shores of Loch Ness recently, but according to some, the lake’s most famous resident is no longer making them.

The Loch has long been the alleged home of one of the world’s greatest cryptozoological mysteries. Reports of Nessie, a plesiosaurian-monstrosity from pre-history, date all the way back to the seventh century, when Saint Columba, an Irish Monk, came to learn of a “water monster” in the nearby River Ness that had killed a man swimming across. In a display of Christian faith, Columba sent one of his own traveling companions into the waters, who was soon pursued by the creature as well. Making the sign of the cross, Columba ordered the monster not to harm the man, and the creature withdrew, submerging into the waters.

Now, in an article that appeared in the UK’s Daily Record, the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club president Gary Campbell has said sightings are becoming increasingly rare, and that he and the club members “would have been really, really worried,” had it not been for a single “credible” sighting in June 2009. “We were so relieved to have heard about this sighting,” says Campbell, who fears that if people begin to believe that Nessie might be sleeping with the fishes, tourism to the area could be affected. But is it really time to start playing funeral dirges, or are some of the experts who suggest Nessie’s untimely demise merely jumping the gun?

Read the rest of this entry »

Arguably, this year has been significant so far as developments in the ever-growing Mothman mythos. Of course, it was earlier this year that marked the passage of John Keel, author of The Mothman Prophecies, from this dimensional plane. Also (on a slightly more personal note), just prior to completing the manuscript for my upcoming book, I received a unique report from a friend in Atlanta detailing a strange sighting of what she called “Mothman.” Although I tend to view all this so-called Mothman-related activity as being more anecdotal than anything, today I was nonetheless interested to note some parallels in an article posted at Jon Downes’ website Still on the Track to popular descriptions of the winged-one. The following story, as related by one of his readers, details a variety of interesting Mothman-like points of interest:

‘We were in Pacifica MO, tonight around 11:30 and we noticed a massive flying creature, not once but three times. My son even noticed it on his own the third time. We were near a large cliff/mountain with some type of cave openings. We don’t live in the area, I can say for sure we turned onto a road called viaduct road, went past a fire station and continued on for about 1 mile before we first noticed it. It was brownish/grey and the body portion was at least the size of a large adult human. This creature was tracking us – in a circle pattern. We were driving an escalade with the blue color headlights, this may have cause interest in us. The third time around us we viewed it in front of the vehicle, around driver side and around towards the rear of the vehicle, the factory tinted windows did help it vanish into the sky from out point of view.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Redfern is in the news again… this time, being interviewed for a confirmation article issued recently which states that the famous Cannock Chase, a protected wilderness area in Britain, is indeed spooky. “Yes, having investigated sightings of big-cats, werewolves, Bigfoot-type beasts, over-sized snakes, wallabies, wild boar, and much more in the woods of the area, I know that the Cannock Chase is spooky!” Nick proclaims, referencing the article, which appeared in the English based Stafford Post. “Just a few days ago, I was contacted by Annette Belcher, one of the writers… who asked for a comment-or-two from me about this latest development; and which, of course, I was pleased to provide.”

Annette’s article reads as follows:

It’s official – the Chase has been hailed one of the spookiest places in the country. The beauty spot, which stretches through Stafford, is renowned for its werewolf sightings, according to a latest paranormal study. It is all revealed in the work of paranormal researcher Lionel Fanthorpe, 74, from Cardiff. The study looks into paranormal events in the UK during the past 25 years. The study provides a breakdown of Britain’s spookiest places and focuses upon unexplained incidents reported to the police and leading paranormal organisations since the 1980s. There have been 21 reported cases of werewolf sightings, with the Cannock Chase werewolf being the most renowned.

Read the rest of this entry »