Cryptomundo » World War III and Cryptozoology

World War III and Cryptozoology

Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 17th, 2006

Jeremiah 10:22: Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

Dragon

As the world seems to be rushing onward to World War III, let us pause, for a moment, to consider what impact this Armageddon might have on cryptozoology in the Middle East.

On July 13th, Jon Stewart of the Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” said he got up, had a nice egg and cheese sandwich, a cappuccino, turned on his television, and, as Annie Wu at TV Squad noted, realized World War III had begun. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told Tim Russert of NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, July 16, that the current Mideast crisis equals the beginning of World War III. Some people seem startled that these folks would be using the phrase, World War III. I have not been.

It should be no surprise really. Other people are thinking about this, no matter what your political background or reason. I worked over the weekend to pull together my thoughts for this blog, and couldn’t figure out whether to entitle it “World War III and Cryptozoology” or “Cryptids and World War III.” Frankly, I decided it was something I could not ignore on Cryptomundo, especially as cryptozoology will be swept up in these events, as it has been in the past. In July 2006, there has been a shift in the winds of war and let’s not avoid that fact here.

Timing

Perhaps I should have waited for an official war to be declared. But why? War scholars and historians can debate someday when and where World War III began. Was it really on July 12th, when rockets began zipping back and forth between Lebanon and Israel? Was just after World War II, when Palestine was not given to the Palestinians by Jordan and Egypt? Was it sometime specific in the last three weeks, when soldiers were kidnapped in the south and north of Israel? Did it begin in the last six years, with the commuter train bombings in India on July 11th (please note, 7/11), or with the bombings in London (on 7/7/05), in Bali (on 10/11/04), or in the US (on 9/11/01). You can read about my thoughts on the use of twilight dates (containing “sevens” and “elevens”) in my book, The Copycat Effect, and we need not dwell on that here.

Many a writer will wax and wane in prose about their tribulations on the rockets flying about in the Mideast. I am not here to concentrate on bemoaning the fact of war, which I am clearly against as a form of final human endeavor. I mourn the plight of all humans who will become involved in a wider and wider conflict. But that is beyond the scope of what I wish to discuss today, here at Cryptomundo.

Some will not understand this, thinking cryptozoology is merely an exercise in intellectual adventure, but I have other thoughts on the matter.

“But, if there is an underlying oneness of all things, it does not matter where we begin, whether with stars, or laws of supply and demand, or frogs, or Napoleon Bonaparte. One measures a circle, beginning anywhere,” as Charles Fort said.

I think some consideration of even a field like cryptozoology, in the greater scheme of things, gives us insights into how the coming of World War III might affect all of us. Call it blogging metaphorically, if you will.

I personally feel this breaks down into three major arenas of concern: the death of humans (as viewed through those cryptozoologists who have or will be killed), the impact on current living animals (which, to me, includes cryptids) in the region, and the destruction of historical evidence of ancient cryptozoological matters there.

The Death of Cryptozoologists

First we must confront the notion that there will be the real death of cryptozoologists in wartime, and the work of cryptozoology. Safety of intellectual pursuits suffer in wartime. But people actually die too. Indeed, I already interpret the killing of one cryptozoologist as an early death in this widening war.

Jordi Magraner, 35, the famous Spanish zoologist and cryptozoologist, was assassinated, when his throat was cut on August 2, 2002. This occurred in his house in the north of Pakistan, along with his 12-year-old servant, Wazir Ali, also found with his throat slit.

Magraner, encouraged at the beginning by Bernard Heuvelmans, for 12 years had been on the track of Barmanu (which means literally “the big hairy one”) in northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. From 1992 through 1994, during his trek to the Shishi Kuh valley in the Chitral region of Pakistan, his expedition investigated the Barmanu, heard sounds and found footprints.

But in recent years, curiously, Magraner became a secretive semi-permanent figure living along the Pakistani-Afghan border. Rumors circulated that some in the village where Magraner lived thought he was a spy because of all of the communication equipment he had. Was he a victim of war?

Death of the Cryptids

Next, animals will be killed in a broadly escalating Mideast war. It always happens. Tigers were routinely killed in the jungles of Vietnam during the Southeast Asian conflicts. From 1996-1999, over 100 rare gorillas were killed in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sometimes we hear many years later that cryptids and unknown hominoids have been killed or captured in war zones.

There is the case of the killing of a gul’bi-yavan - the Tajik name for a wild man - in 1925 on the Pamir mountains. The incident was described to the Commission of the Academy of Sciences by KGB General Michael Topilski.

The military doctor Vazgen Karapetyan is shown checking a captured kaptar - the local name of wild man - in Daghestan, Caucases, in 1941, during World War II. The creature died in captivity. Karapetyan gave this information about his encounter to the same Commission.

The Mideast is the site of continued reports of cryptids, whether they be unusual felids, surviving Neanderthals, or aquatic monsters (e.g. in Iraq’s Tigris River or Israel’s Sea of Galilee). All cryptids will be in danger, of course, but we probably won’t hear about it during the war.

It is uncertain, at this writing, where all this fighting will lead, but it could have a severe impact on people, animals, and cryptids in Israel, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, and other areas of ancient Palestine and Arabia, as well as farther afield in Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

The Fragile Past

As an ancient record, in spite of any religious feelings you may or may not have, the Bible certainly can be viewed as a window to what has happened long ago in the land of the Jews, Christians, and Arabs. Biblical scholars have dealt with the fact, for them, that the Bible is filled with creatures that appear to be part of cryptozoology. Websites such as “Cryptozoology: The Biblical Bestiary,” contrasts the two religiously-based points of view about sightings of unusual beasts recorded in the Bible, with each other:

The Church View:
The strange creatures described in the Bible are either visions or just overstated or excited descriptions of normal animals
The Bible View:
The strange creatures described in the Bible are clearly described in a natural context and appear with the accurate descriptions of other well-known creatures.

As the above-noted site mentions:

One of the more prominent ancient writings clearly presenting evidence of anomalous creatures is also the world’s longest running bestseller, the Bible. In the pages of the Bible are found dragons, unicorns, cockatrices, and leviathans.

A story of interest to hominologists is that of Esau, “born of a separate nation” in northwest Mesopotamia, as told in Genesis 25. I am not saying that the children of Esau still live in caves in the Middle East, but what I know is that archaeological sites and ancient monuments have a way of being destroyed in world wars. It would be unfortunate, during this time when more fossil finds and new records are producing answers, to see the ceasing of new explorations, due to danger and destruction.

Esau

Image of Esau from a quilt by Marilyn Belford 2002.

Genesis 25: 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.

As a concrete example of the kind of items that may be destroyed, I merely point to the Ishtar Gates, pictured at the beginning and below.

Ishtar

Monuments and museums contain incredible pieces of art in the Mideast. Shown here is the Sirrush in bas-relief in the Pergamonmuseum. The Sirrush is a creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon. It resembles a scaly dragon with hind legs like an eagle’s talons and feline forelegs. It also has a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snakelike tongue and a crest. While not matching any known creature, the cryptid Sirrush could have been a genuine animal. Bernard Heuvelmans relates it directly to the Mokele-mbembe of central Africa.

When the Ishtar Gate was discovered in 1902, interestingly it showed the real-like depictions of lions, rimi (aurochs = bulls), and the pictured curious creatures, the sirrush. Scholars since then have debated what they were, but cryptozoologists certainly have been open to the idea they may have been giant unknown monitors or large reptiles of uncertain species.

For our discussion here, let me just leave it that dragons are about in the Mideast, and the fire-breathing ones need to be calmed so the ones on walls are not eradicated.

Jeremiah 51:37: And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 7:15 am and is filed under Breaking News, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoology. You can follow responses via our RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.

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15 Responses to “World War III and Cryptozoology”

Shawshank responds: July 17th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Extremely thoughtful and wide-ranging piece, Loren. Bravo.
Judy Green responds: July 17th, 2006 at 11:41 am
A most interesting, insightful, well written post, Loren, on a subject that should be considered by all, all over the world. Once historical objects are destroyed, they can never be replaced and the same can be said of the cryptids. By only a few dying, they may be relegated to the realm of the extinct, never to be seen again. What a tragedy and what scary times we are in.
Ken Gerhard responds: July 17th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
In addition to the two incidents that Loren mentioned above, I believe there are also a couple of other instances in Asia where unknown hominids became casualties of war during the last century. There is also an account of a nearly complete Plesiosaur carcass that washed ashore in Scotland during World War II. Unfortunately, these bodies are usually discarded during wartime, since priorities are obviously elsewhere. There is certainly nothing good about war, but these upheavals do seem to create opportunities for hard, physical evidence.
wizard55 responds: July 17th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Interesting, about the Scottish WWII plesiosaur carcass. I just read up on it here.

The Gourock Carcass I believe is it.

Are there any other casulties of war?
buckmudbone responds: July 17th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
As an active marine in Africa (Somalia) some kids tried to sell us a weird monkey they had killed. It was very skinny and wiry. I had never seen one before nor did our African counterparts. It was taken by the Somalias. I looked in every book and website I could, trying to id it but saw nothing like it. It had orange eyes and a short tail. Wish I had taken a picture. But war does lead to the destruction of Unknowns!
twblack responds: July 17th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Well that was a GREAT PIECE written by you Loren. I hope along with the millions of others that WW3 is not upon us. But the facts are not in our favor.
shumway10973 responds: July 17th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
It is unfortunate that it has led up to this (whether wwIII or not). there is a story I read about a german u-boat captain saying he killed something that looked like a dinosaur while attacking an allied ship. he said that if they hadn’t just sank a ship, they would have stuck around and checked it out, but the allies had ships moving in fast, so they beat it out of there. Also, didn’t Marco Polo say he saw a “dragon” along the spice roads, I believe somewhere around northern Iraq or Iran? Who here remembers the cartoon that warner bros. put out during WWII where the eldest animal told the babies (no humans) about what “man” looked like? Kind of appropriate, wouldn’t you say?
MomandAsh responds: July 18th, 2006 at 5:17 am
Hello Loren! Great piece! God is the original cryptozoologist. Thank you for this story.
Mnynames responds: July 18th, 2006 at 8:07 am
I recall reading about a British sea captain that sighted an unknown sea creature in northern waters during WW I. He ordered his crew to use it for target practice. Then there is the suspicion that the Minnesota Ice Man may have been shot in Vietnam and smuggled back in a body bag…
Jeremy_Wells responds: July 18th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
I hope that in a few years time Loren we can all look back on this and, if not laugh, at least breathe a collective sigh of relief that you were wrong about the oncoming WWIII…

I hope and pray, though experience and history tells me that it is inevitable, that things will cool down before they escalate.
Jeremy_Wells responds: July 18th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
buckmudbone,
More details please.
cor2879 responds: July 18th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
I’ve read before how Marco Polo reported that the Chinese Emperor’s chariot was pulled by a pair of dragons. And of course medieval history is filled with dragon encounters. Are they all made up? Anyone who has spent much time researching these subjects has seen the medieval paintings of dragons that can be matched up to known skeletal remains without stretching the imagination very far at all. And didn’t Daniel kill a sirrush or dragon of some sort in the temple of Marduk (this would be in one of the non canonical Old Testament books). Don’t get me started on all the historical references to dragons Loren. It’s something of a passion of mine even within the realm of Cryptozoology
Up until 1923 there were English dictionaries that listed the word ‘dragon’ as being a rare but real creature…

Let’s hope and pray that we are not headed for WWIII!!!
U.T. Raptor responds: July 18th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
It’s worth noting that the word translated as “dragon” in the Bible can also mean “jackal”, “whale”, and a generic “monster” among other things…
kidkarysma responds: July 20th, 2006 at 2:58 am
I recently discovered this website through paranormal.about.com and I must say I am blown away by the high level of writing on this site. Not just by great cryptozoologists like Loren Coleman, but also by the folks leaving comments. This site is a true gem.
MontanaJon responds: July 21st, 2006 at 8:56 pm
I really enjoyed this piece. People in this world would rather shoot at each other for reaons that they really do not understand themselves, and destroy important artifacts and ruin the lives of others in the process. If more people would take the time ot think rather than trying to be the most powerful, maybe the world would be a better place.

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