RANDALL BEACH: Could it be? Looking for Bigfoot and other cryptids of the wild

When Loren Coleman, billed as “America’s foremost cryptozoologist,” strode into New Haven’s Institute Library, he had to wade through a sell-out crowd, probably a first for the library’s “Amateur Hour” series.

Why was it standing-room-only? Bigfoot.

Everybody wants to know everything there is to know about that legendary cryptid.

Perhaps you’re wondering: what is a cryptozoologist? And what’s a cryptid?

Coleman, whose gray beard and calm, scientific demeanor indicate he is not a nut job, defined cryptozoology near the beginning of his presentation last Tuesday.

“It is the study of hidden or unknown animals,” he said. “Animals that have not yet been verified as a species.”

“What bothers me,” he added, “is that the media often defines it as the study of animals that don’t exist or just the study of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster.”

Both of those are cryptids, which are yet-to-be-found animals.

Coleman stated at the outset: “I am a skeptic.” He demands to see plenty of hard evidence before believing any of the many claims of creature sighters.

“I try to interview the witness first,” he told us. “I try to understand the human element. The creature is important to me. But I’m never blown away by a piece of evidence. I always look for the motive.”
For instance, he investigated the claim by a veterinarian in Texas she had discovered a being that was “part human, part primitive.”

“My standard is: no data, no discovery,” Coleman said. “And why is she saying ridiculous things like ‘These are angels from heaven’?”

Joshua Foer, the New Haven-based writer who conducted the public interview of Coleman at the library, noted Coleman was asked to solve the riddle of “the Montauk monster,” a hideous carcass that washed up on the shore of Long Island.

more here: New Haven Register