Ivan T Sanderson
“Cryptozoology” meaning the study of hidden or unknown animals, has always been of great interest to me. The field of cryptozoology not only covers unknown animals but also extinct species possibly still surviving, and animals outside their geographic ranges, such as big cats in England and Australia.
Although it is considered a pseudoscience by the scientific elite, to me cryptozoology harks back to the Victorian Era and the golden age of natural history study and discovery.
Indeed there were many ‘cryptid’ sightings made during the Victorian era that have yet to be explained, from Percy Fawcett’s encounter with the 62 ft ‘Cobra-Grande’ to
reports of giant ground sloths and the giant spider sighted by "R.K. Lloyd and his wife in the jungles of the Belgium Congo in 1938 with a leg span of nearly 3 feet across, plus many more.
Two of the great pioneers in this field where scottish zoologist and writer Ivan T Sanderson and the Belgian-French scientist and writer Bernard Heuvelmans, often referred to as the father of cryptozoology. His 1958 book “On the Track of Unknown Animals” is considered the ‘Bible' of cryptozoology and the most influential work in this field ever published.
He also published “ The Last Dragons of Africa” about surviving dinosaurs and wrote other works on relic hominids.
Ivan T Sanderson is my favourite cryptozoologist and a pioneer in this field. He invented the word cryptozoology and penned a number of classic works on subjects such as the abomidable snowman and wrote the book “Things and More Things” in which he
documents his encounter with the Congo dinosaur. He was attacked by the Kongamato in Africa which is described as some type of giant bat or pterodactyl-like creature.
Although it is considered a pseudoscience by the scientific elite, to me cryptozoology harks back to the Victorian Era and the golden age of natural history study and discovery.
Indeed there were many ‘cryptid’ sightings made during the Victorian era that have yet to be explained, from Percy Fawcett’s encounter with the 62 ft ‘Cobra-Grande’ to
reports of giant ground sloths and the giant spider sighted by "R.K. Lloyd and his wife in the jungles of the Belgium Congo in 1938 with a leg span of nearly 3 feet across, plus many more.
Two of the great pioneers in this field where scottish zoologist and writer Ivan T Sanderson and the Belgian-French scientist and writer Bernard Heuvelmans, often referred to as the father of cryptozoology. His 1958 book “On the Track of Unknown Animals” is considered the ‘Bible' of cryptozoology and the most influential work in this field ever published.
He also published “ The Last Dragons of Africa” about surviving dinosaurs and wrote other works on relic hominids.
Ivan T Sanderson is my favourite cryptozoologist and a pioneer in this field. He invented the word cryptozoology and penned a number of classic works on subjects such as the abomidable snowman and wrote the book “Things and More Things” in which he
documents his encounter with the Congo dinosaur. He was attacked by the Kongamato in Africa which is described as some type of giant bat or pterodactyl-like creature.
Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman talking about the Victorian era
Ivan T Sanderson - pioneer of Cryptozoology
Sanderson started his work on fortean topics after serving in World War II. After leaving the military, he went on to write several books about the topic of cryptozoology. His interest in esoteric and fringe subjects was due in large part to some experiments and projects carried out by the government during the war and also to a life long interest in the works of Charles Fort.
Among his accomplishments in the field of cryptozoology was his detailed observation, with fellow cryptozoologist, Bernard Heuvelmans of the famous Minnesota Iceman, a man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was owned by the showman, Frank Hansen, who displayed it at state fairs around Minnesota in 1968. Both Sanderson and Heuvelmans concluded it was a genuine
creature, noting "putrefaction where some of the flesh had been exposed from the melted ice." Heuvelmans wrote a scientific paper about the iceman and even named it as a new species with neanderthal affinities, Homo pongoides, and theorised it was shot and killed in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. It was described as male, human-like, 6 ft tall, hairy, with large hands and feet, very dark brown hair about 3 - 4 inches long, and a flattened nose. Some have suggested the creature was a Bigfoot or Yeti.
Another highlight of Ivan’s fortean zoology career was his encounter with what may have been the famed dinosaur of the Congo rainforest, that occurred in 1932 whilst travelling with animal collector Gerald Russell along the Mainyu River which is surrounded by equatorial rainforest. His description of the hair-raising event follows;
“Sundown was approaching as we entered the gorge. Gerald Russell was in the lead canoe with Bassi; I followed about a hundred feet behind with Bensun. There were deepening shadows in the gorge and all along its towering vertical walls at water-level were the arched tops of huge caves.......When we were about in the middle of the mile-and-a-half long winding gorge, the most terrible noise I
have heard, short of an on-coming earthquake or the explosion of an aerial-torpedo at close range, suddenly burst from one of the big caves to my right. ....I started to paddle like mad but was swept close to the entrance of the cave from which the noise had come. Thus, both Gerald and I were opposite it’s mouth; just then came another gargantuan gurgling roar and something enormous rose out of the water, turned it to sherry-coloured foam and then, again roaring plunged below. This “thing” was shiny black and was the head of something, shaped like a seal but flattened from above to below. It was about the size of a full-grown hippopotamus – this head I mean”. -[Things and More Things]
Another cryptid encounter he had whilst in Africa was with the Kongamato, reportedly a pterodactyl-like creature or a species of unidentified giant bat. Sanderson himself described it as "the granddaddy of all bats" after being attacked by the creature whilst trying to retrieve a fruit bat he had just shot which had fallen into the water. The following describes the event in Ivan’s own words, "Then I let out a shout also and instantly bobbed down under the water, because, coming straight at me only a few feet above the water was a black thing the size of an eagle. I had only a glimpse of its face, yet that was quite sufficient, for its lower jaw hung open and bore a semicircle of pointed white teeth set about their own width apart from each other. When I emerged, it was gone. ... And just before it
became too dark to see, it came again, hurtling back down the river, its teeth chattering, the air "shss-shssing" as it was cleft by the great, black, Dracula-like wings."
Sanderson wrote the classic work “Abominable Snowmen Legend Come to Life”, an in depth study into the Bigfoot phenomena. He also penned at least another 11 books on General Natural History topics. Three classics of this genre were Animal Treasure, Caribbean Treasure and Living Treasure. Another of his classics is “Book of Great Jungles”. This tome, illustrated with more than 140 photographs, maps, engravings and drawings, many done by Sanderson himself, is a blend of travel, adventure and natural history chronicling many of the great jungles of the world. Sanderson died of stomach cancer in 1973 but his legacy lives on.
Among his accomplishments in the field of cryptozoology was his detailed observation, with fellow cryptozoologist, Bernard Heuvelmans of the famous Minnesota Iceman, a man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was owned by the showman, Frank Hansen, who displayed it at state fairs around Minnesota in 1968. Both Sanderson and Heuvelmans concluded it was a genuine
creature, noting "putrefaction where some of the flesh had been exposed from the melted ice." Heuvelmans wrote a scientific paper about the iceman and even named it as a new species with neanderthal affinities, Homo pongoides, and theorised it was shot and killed in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. It was described as male, human-like, 6 ft tall, hairy, with large hands and feet, very dark brown hair about 3 - 4 inches long, and a flattened nose. Some have suggested the creature was a Bigfoot or Yeti.
Another highlight of Ivan’s fortean zoology career was his encounter with what may have been the famed dinosaur of the Congo rainforest, that occurred in 1932 whilst travelling with animal collector Gerald Russell along the Mainyu River which is surrounded by equatorial rainforest. His description of the hair-raising event follows;
“Sundown was approaching as we entered the gorge. Gerald Russell was in the lead canoe with Bassi; I followed about a hundred feet behind with Bensun. There were deepening shadows in the gorge and all along its towering vertical walls at water-level were the arched tops of huge caves.......When we were about in the middle of the mile-and-a-half long winding gorge, the most terrible noise I
have heard, short of an on-coming earthquake or the explosion of an aerial-torpedo at close range, suddenly burst from one of the big caves to my right. ....I started to paddle like mad but was swept close to the entrance of the cave from which the noise had come. Thus, both Gerald and I were opposite it’s mouth; just then came another gargantuan gurgling roar and something enormous rose out of the water, turned it to sherry-coloured foam and then, again roaring plunged below. This “thing” was shiny black and was the head of something, shaped like a seal but flattened from above to below. It was about the size of a full-grown hippopotamus – this head I mean”. -[Things and More Things]
Another cryptid encounter he had whilst in Africa was with the Kongamato, reportedly a pterodactyl-like creature or a species of unidentified giant bat. Sanderson himself described it as "the granddaddy of all bats" after being attacked by the creature whilst trying to retrieve a fruit bat he had just shot which had fallen into the water. The following describes the event in Ivan’s own words, "Then I let out a shout also and instantly bobbed down under the water, because, coming straight at me only a few feet above the water was a black thing the size of an eagle. I had only a glimpse of its face, yet that was quite sufficient, for its lower jaw hung open and bore a semicircle of pointed white teeth set about their own width apart from each other. When I emerged, it was gone. ... And just before it
became too dark to see, it came again, hurtling back down the river, its teeth chattering, the air "shss-shssing" as it was cleft by the great, black, Dracula-like wings."
Sanderson wrote the classic work “Abominable Snowmen Legend Come to Life”, an in depth study into the Bigfoot phenomena. He also penned at least another 11 books on General Natural History topics. Three classics of this genre were Animal Treasure, Caribbean Treasure and Living Treasure. Another of his classics is “Book of Great Jungles”. This tome, illustrated with more than 140 photographs, maps, engravings and drawings, many done by Sanderson himself, is a blend of travel, adventure and natural history chronicling many of the great jungles of the world. Sanderson died of stomach cancer in 1973 but his legacy lives on.
Ivan T Sandersons research into USO'S
