Please help me give a warm welcome to the latest CFZ-USA representative, Andrew Gable, who will be covering Pennsylvania, Maryland and wherever else he chooses!
As Andrew tells us in his own words:
"I've been interested in monsters for as long as I can remember. The interest was initially due to one thing -- Godzilla movies. When I was young, I loved these things (and still do). So I soon seized on dinosaurs. Here were, after all, real Godzillas!
"This broadened into readings about mythological monsters. I also developed an interest in ghosts and such due to my father's interest in the Civil War and frequent trips to Gettysburg battlefield. I'm sure some of the interest was also due to my grandfather, an avid hunter and outdoors man.
"Over the next several years, I voraciously devoured anything on strange phenomena I could get my hands on. I recall early terror at the thought of alien abductions and spontaneous combustion. One book I read over and over again was Loren Coleman's Mysterious America. I loved this idea of supernatural-tinged cryptozoology.
"When I was 19, I wrote two articles for the now-defunct Cryptozoology Review. I soon fell out of the cryptozoology loop, though, as certain personal matters arose.However, now these problems are resolved, and after I submitted some information to Loren Coleman for the Paraview edition of Mysterious America and saw my articles cited in another book, I re-entered the fold with a vengeance.
"I was determined that two articles, a book review, and a few bits of information would not be all I was known for. The bit about Mysterious America also had another effect -- it revitalized my interest in supernatural-tinged cryptozoology, and the idea that not all of it is rigidly biological -- that thinking, I'm sure, is part of what led me towards the CFZ in the first place.Currently, I'm focusing on local pieces of cryptozoology lore.
"Pennsylvania (and Maryland) have quite a bit of stuff going on, from Bigfoot sightings in the western part of the state to Thunderbirds in the north. Sightings of mountain lions are also common, although the state game commission won't recognize them -- almost a futile effort under the weight of hundreds of sightings.
"Special interests of mine in the field include the giant birds seen throughout the state, and all manner of cryptical dogs and/or wolves. I also have a special interest in the sightings of reptilian cryptids -- whether giant snakes, giant lizards, or simply out-of-place animals. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a skeptic (I'm not dismissive of reports) but I do find that I tend to try to find other explanations before I jump to a label of mysterious.
"I think many reported sightings are due to people simply not realizing what animals really live around them, or to out-of-place creatures.
"My e-mail is orangsantu@gmail.com.
"I also run two websites, The CryptoWeb at http://cryptoweb.infogami.com/ and my blog on local crypto is at http://masksofmesingw.blogspot.com.
"You can also find me on Facebook."
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