Top 10 Cryptids: The Montauk Monster and Other Legendary Creatures

There are some strange animals in the world, but there may be even more creatures out there that are very frightening, bizarre, and mysterious. The cryptids on this list are very strange, indeed, but it is still to be determined whether or not they actually exist:

Chupacabra

This scary creature is a Latin legend, and is most known for feasting on the blood of goats and other livestock. The first chupacabra attack took place in the 70's in Puerto Rico, where the death and draining of blood from the sheep of local farmers was first attributed to vampires or satanic cults. As more killings took place in other areas, however, people decided that there must be some kind of mysterious animal feasting on the blood of their livestock. Now sightings of this animal that has been described as a hopping reptile or hairless dog with glowing red eyes and fangs have been reported all over the world. Perhaps the scariest thing about the creature is that it could perhaps someday choose to feast on the blood of human beings.

Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti/Abominable Snowman

Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) and the Yeti (Abominable Snowman) are perhaps the most famous cryptids in the world. Perhaps this is because of their supposed human-like appearance and very large size. Bigfoot supposedly lives in wooded areas, where he is extremely elusive, usually only leaving behind his hallmark gigantic footprints. The Yeti, on the other hand, prefers the snow and ice and has been reported to be white in color to blend in with its surroundings. While no one has apparently been harmed by the creatures, they are very large, and it seems they could do a human being a lot of damage if they wanted to, which makes them more than a little frightening. If these creatures do exist, perhaps they are some kind of missing link that could teach us more about the origins of mankind.

Nessie/The Loch Ness Monster

While the human-like creatures above may be a link to our past, the Loch Ness Monster may be a living part of one of the most interesting eras in history, the time of the dinosaurs. Though some of the photographs of Nessie have been debunked and proved to be hoaxes and the lake scoured for a trace of this supposedly humongous beast, it still would be amazing to find out that this gigantic, but stealthy, creature from the age of some of the biggest monsters on earth is still swimming about in her giant fishbowl.

The Montauk Monster

The Montauk Monster is one of the most recent additions to the ever-growing list of cryptids that supposedly roam the earth. A carcass of this dog-like creature with an eagle-like beak has supposedly washed up on the shore of a beach in the Hamptons, but only one photo of it was taken by one of many gawking beachgoers, and a mysterious man supposedly carted off the corpse. So, like many of the tales of cryptid creatures, there's a little bit of evidence and a lot of unknowns.

Mothman

This man-sized creature with the head, body, and wings of a moth, the legs and arms of a man, and glowing red eyes reportedly made his first appearance in West Virginia in the 1960's. His characterization is of the paranormal type and his tale was interesting enough to become the subject of a book and an X-Files-like film, The Mothman Prophecies. The book and film surround the mothman with Men in Black, paranormal activity, UFOs, mutilations, poltergeists, and the collapse of a local bridge. If such a creature does exist, from what the movie tried to convey, its intelligence and brain power are far beyond that of our own.

The Jersey Devil

This creature was the subject of one of the very first X-Files episodes (though it changed the general look and origin of the monster), and it's easy to see why. It's been described in a variety of ways, but most consistently with hooves, wings, and a long neck. It's legend has been around since Native Americans lived in the New Jersey area, and it made it's home in a very barren, desolate area that many early American settlers were wont to avoid. But perhaps what makes the thought of this creature so frightening to so many is its similarities to the portrayal of the Biblical Devil; the thought that the personification of Satan could be roaming among us is pretty scary.

Dover Demon

This odd creature supposedly makes it home in Dover, Massachusetts, and descriptions of it are very similar to those of the infamous "greys" (the little, bug-eyed aliens). It, unlike other cryptids on this list, hasn't had a slew of sightings over the years, but for two nights in 1977, quite a few people reported sightings of this bizarre, creepy creature. It also got it's own X-Files episode, and, like the Jersey Devil, was portrayed more as a human-like creature. The fact that this legendary creature is so popular with the public in the area and no sightings of it have been reported since the initial ones make it a very interesting cryptid case, indeed.

The Dropa

The Dropa are a supposed race of aliens, alien/human hybrids, or pygmies that once lived in the Himalayas. Supposedly, a professor and his students were on an expedition there in the 1930's where they discovered the skeletons of a very tiny race of people with very large heads in a series of caves. They also discovered some strange stone disks that contained tiny hieroglyphs that could only be seen with a magnifying glass and told the story of the tiny alien race of the Dropa and how they crash-landed on Earth. Of course there is no evidence remaining of this tall tale, though there have been numerous reports of a bizarre-looking race of pygmies in the area. Even if this tale is not true, however, it does make for a very interesting story.

The Goatman

The Goatman is a supposed half man/half goat creature that first began terrifying young couples out for a little midnight parking fun in Maryland, but sightings of him quickly spread across the country. His appearance is similar to that of the Greek satyr of mythology, and he apparently also has the satyr's troublemaking demeanor. There's a research facility in Maryland that is often credited for the creation of the Goatman (the claim of genetic experimentation is very common in the field of cryptozoology). Unlike a lot of cryptids on this list, this one may be more dangerous to humans, with a few attacks actually being reported.

The Kraken

The Kraken is a legendary sea monster that sailors used to weave tall tales about. It was a giant squid that could easily wrap its tentacles around unsuspecting ships, dragging them into the depths of the ocean. Although this scary, powerful sea creature may not exist in such a gargantuan size, there are some incredibly large giant squid that populate the seas, and they could easily kill a human being if they so desired. The ocean is a great place for the birth of legendary creatures because, even today, much of it has been unexplored and scientists are constantly discovering new, bizarre (and sometimes frightening-looking) sea creatures.

While many of these creatures, if not all of them, probably don't exist, they do make for great stories. Humans like to be scared; they're intrigued by the mysterious and unknown; and it's just fun to imagine that there are crazy creatures roaming the world that we haven't yet discovered.

SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cryptids