The truth is out there about cryptids: animals that many claim exist without definitive proof of their existence. The United States purportedly has several famous cryptids, including Bigfoot, the chupacabra, Mothman, and the Jersey Devil.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines cryptozoology as “the study of and search for animals and especially legendary animals (such as Sasquatch) usually in order to evaluate the possibility of their existence.” Although sometimes compelling pictures, videos, and eyewitness accounts exist of several mysterious creatures allegedly lurking within U.S. borders, ironclad evidence of their existence remains as elusive as the cryptids themselves.
How many of the following U.S. cryptids do you believe are real?
Bigfoot
Bigfoot is a hairy, bipedal, human-like creature with large feet that purportedly lives in the American Northwest. The Sts’ailes First Nation has a legend about such a wild man, which is where the word “Sasquatch” comes from.
Numerous photos, footprints, and videos exist of bigfoot, the most compelling of which is the Patterson–Gimlin film taken in 1967 that purports to show a female bigfoot in Bluff Creek, California. Nearby Willow Creek boasts a Bigfoot Motel and Bigfoot Museum, the latter of which features plaster casts of footprints, photographs, and pop-culture artifacts of Bigfoot.
Despite no definitive proof of the existence of bigfeet, the charismatic cryptid has become a cultural icon and the subject of movies such as Harry and the Hendersons and 2024's Sasquatch Sunset.
Mothman
The Mothman is a black, 10-foot winged creature with red eyes that was first seen by two gravediggers in Clendenin, West Virginia in 1966. A year later, locals reportedly saw the Mothman flying over the Silver Bridge before it collapsed, killing 46 people.
Point Pleasant, West Virginia has an annual Mothman Festival and a statue of the creature in its town square. John Keel's 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies helped the cryptid's legend grow and was adapted into a film of the same name starring Richard Gere.
One possible candidate for Mothman sightings is the sandhill crane, which has a red-capped head and a wingspan of over six feet. If you startled this big bird in the dark and it took off quickly, you can understand how one's imagination might run wild.
Chupacabra
The chupacabra, which is Spanish for “goat sucker,” is an alien-looking cryptid with glowing red eyes and fangs that drains livestock of their blood. The first chupacabra stories originated in Puerto Rico in the 1980s, but today people in Latin America and the American Southwest tell tales of the chupacabra and sell souvenirs depicting the creature.
People have proposed several candidates for the chupacabra — everything from extraterrestrial pets to giant vampire bats. One Texas family caught what they claim is a chupacabra, which is more likely a dog with mange.
Jersey Devil
The Jersey Devil, sometimes called the Leeds Devil, is said to live in the forests of Pine Barrens, New Jersey. According to legend, a woman named Mother Leeds gave birth in 1735 to her 13th child — a baby with a tail, wings, and hooves that flew up the chimney.
Locals today describe the Jersey Devil as a creature with a horse's head, long back legs with hooves, two short front legs, glowing red eyes, and bat wings. If real, this purported cryptid celebrated its 289th birthday in 2024.
Dover Demon
The first reported sighting of the Dover Demon occurred in 1977 in Dover, Massachusetts, a small town near Boston. Three teenagers spotted a creature on the side of the road and shined their car's headlights on it to get a better look. One describes seeing a thin creature with spindly arms and legs, a watermelon-shaped head, and two lidless eyes that looked like “orange marbles.”
The Cree Indians have a legend about Mannegishi: little people with round heads, no noses, and spidery limbs who play pranks on travelers. No one is sure what the teens spotted in 1977, but some suggest it was a snowy owl hunting small rodents at night.
Thunderbird
The thunderbird is a mythical supernatural creature that Native Americans say protects people from evil spirits. The flapping of the thunderbird's powerful wings sounds like thunder and lightning shoots out of its eyes.
Throughout history, the image of the thunderbird appears on totem poles, pottery, artwork, masks, and jewelry. Some tribes consider the California condor — the largest flying bird in North America — a flesh-and-blood representation of the sacred thunderbird.
Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp
A teenage boy first spotted the Lizard Man in 1988 when the young man blew a tire and pulled over to change it in Scape Ore Swamp, South Carolina. The teen described a seven-foot-tall Lizard Man with red eyes, scaly skin, and three fingers on each hand that attacked his car, ripping off the side mirror and clawing the top of his vehicle. Two weeks later, police found another car in the area with similar damage, including chrome trim that looked chewed off.
The town of Bishopville, South Carolina has embraced the Lizard Man legend. There is even a billboard that proudly proclaims “Home of the Lizard Man.” If you're driving in the area in a car with shiny, tasty-looking chrome, take heed!
Bessie
Bessie is a serpentine lake monster dwelling in Lake Erie first sighted by the captain of Felicity in 1793. The captain reported seeing a five-meter serpent thrashing near his sailboat. People have sighted Bessie — also known as the Great Snake of Lake Erie, the Lake Erie Monster, and South Bay Bessie — many times up until the 1990s.
Although Bessie remains a popular local legend, she never got the attention of her famous cousin, Loch Ness' Nessie, probably because no convincing photos or videos exist of the Lake Erie Monster.
Bessie is likely a case of mistaken identity. Top candidates include a giant eel or a lake sturgeon, the latter of which can grow over 6 feet long, weigh 200 pounds, and live from 50 to 150 years.
Lake Champlain Monster (Champ)
If the United States has its equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster, it is the Lake Champlain Monster, aka Champ. The freshwater Lake Champlain lies mostly between New York and Vermont. The Indigenous people of the area describe the creature living in the lake as a large, horned serpent. By the early 1990s, hundreds of people had reported seeing Champ. The most famous picture is the 1977 Mansi photograph, which many experts dismiss as a log bobbing up and down in the water.
Like many water monsters, what people describe as Champ is probably a large gar or sturgeon. Locals keep the legend alive, however, and there is even a historic marker honoring Champ on the shore of Clinton County, New York.
Loveland Frogman
A businessman first spotted the Loveland Frogmanin 1955 in Loveland, Ohio. He described the creature as a four-foot frog that walked on its hind legs. For historical reference, the popular movie Creature From the Black Lagoon, which featured the amphibious-looking Gill Man, premiered one year prior to the Loveland Frogman sighting.
Other sightings of the Loveland Frogman have occurred in the years since, including a 1972 incident that was later discovered to be a large, tailless iguana that escaped captivity. Regardless, Loveland adopted the Loveland Frogman as its official city mascot in 2023.
Skunk Ape
Think of the skunk ape as Bigfoot's cousin who lives in Florida. Spotted in the southeastern United States since the 1940s, the skunk ape is said to emit a foul stench — a characteristic also attributed to bigfoot, so BO must run in the family.
Although several better-than-expected pictures and videos exist of the skunk ape, none are convincing enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that either it or its cousin Bigfoot are actual cryptids and not escaped primates or people in ape costumes having a laugh.
Flatwoods Monster
Like the Mothman, the Flatwoods Monster also hails from West Virginia. In 1952, seven people — six of them children — reported seeing a monster in a tree in the hills above Flatwoods after a bright light streaked through the sky. The eyewitnesses reported a creature about 10 feet tall with a red body, green face, and claws for hands. More specific details are missing because of the dense mist reported at the time.
Local news picked up on the story and a legend was born, but there is probably a reasonable explanation for what the people saw that doesn't involve UFOs or cryptids. The streak in the sky was likely a meteor, and some experts suggest that the creature in the trees was a barn owl casting a long shadow and distorted by the reported mist.
Hodag
When it comes to cryptozoological hooey, the hodag takes top prize. This purported creature spotted by timber cruiser Gene Shepard in 1893 in Wisconsin is said to have “spikes all the way down its entire length of its body” with a “fistful of needle-sharp pointed spears at the end of his tail,” and “fangs that would rival a saber-toothed tiger.”
Shepard kept up the charade for years, claiming to have captured a hodag and kept one in his barn. When a reporter from the Smithsonian pushed for Shepard to provide evidence, he finally admitted to the ruse.
Folklore or straight-up hoax, the city of Rhinelander still has the hodag as its city mascot, and statues of the cryptid line the streets downtown.
