Jonathan McGowan at the Weird Weekend 2011

Naturalist and taxidermist Jonathan McGowan spoke about his passion for all things big cat at the Centre for Fortean Zoology's Weird Weekend 2011.

Jon - who loves nothing better than a good roadkill dinner! - has amassed an enviable collection of artefacts, photographs and other evidence of the presence of alien big cats in the United Kingdom.

Glen Vaudrey at the Weird Weekend 2011

The mastermind behind the CFZ's game camera drive for this year's Sumatra Expedition, Glen Vaudrey, explored the mythology of the Scottish water horse, also known as the Kelpie, at this year's Weird Weekend.

In folklore, Water Horses are described as being very similar to a long-necked seal. They are described as having a small head attached to a long giraffe-like neck with an equine mane (occasionally covered in hair) and having two sets of flippers, the rear pair at the very end of the body, giving the impression of a seal-like tail. Its body length ranges from 50–60 feet and the neck is 70 feet long.

Sound familiar? Think Nessie, Ogopogo, Champ and Morag, to name a few of the famous 'water monsters' that have found fame over the years.

Watch on...

Matt Salusbury at the Weird Weekend 2011

It's not every day you hear about someone hunting pygmy elephants (in the more benign fashion of hoping to document them rather than capture or kill them!).

Journalist and editor Matt Salusbury presented a talk about these pint-sized pachyderms at this year's Weird Weekend, and is also writing a book on the subject to be published by CFZ Press "as soon as I've finished writing it".

You can read more about Matt's work here.

Watch on...

Nick Wadham at the Weird Weekend 2011

Bugfest's Nick Wadham (pictured above with zoologist/author Lars Thomas and daughter Harriet) explored the myth and legend around giant bugs, and specifically giant spiders, at this year's Weird Weekend 2011.

Arachnophobes and those of a nervous disposition are urged to look away now...

Jon Downes and Richard Freeman at Weird Weekend 2011

Who better to introduce the wonders and mysteries of cryptozoology than CFZ Director Jon Downes and CFZ Zoological Director Richard Freeman?

Richard (pictured above with CFZ girl reporter and Weird Weekend regular Harriet Wadham) has traveled all over the globe hunting for 'monsters', as has Jon, and both have written extensively about their various cryptozoological passions.

Two finer fellows you could not meet. And they put on a damn fine Weird Weekend!

Watch on...

Prof Brian Sykes at the Weird Weekend 2011

The Weird Weekend 2011 came and went, and of course those of us who couldn't make it now have the enjoyable task of working our way through a series of videotaped presentations about cryptozoology and other fringe topics. What a treat!

This year's WW was graced with the presence of UK geneticist Dr Brian Sykes talking about David Hume, Joanna Lumley and the Abominable Snowman. He also threw in some material about the civil war, Nazis and...well, you'll just have to watch it.

Weird? Definitely!

Intrigued? Watch on...

Weird Weekend 2011 kicks off!

Weird Weekend 2011 *update*

It's going to be phenomenal in every way - so if you're in the UK, there's no excuse to miss the Centre for Fortean Zoology's legendary Weird Weekend! Speaking for ourselves, we're trying very hard to win the lottery at the moment so we can drop everything and attend. Failing that, well...it just doesn't bear thinking about!

This press release has just been issued, highlighting the fantastic line-up of speakers:

"For one weekend a year the tiny North Devon village of Woolsery becomes the weirdest village in the land. The largest gathering of scholars of esoteric natural history in the English-speaking world, is set to take place in rural north Devon.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology’s annual conference, the Weird Weekend, will see speakers from all over the country gathering Woolsery to discuss their work and discoveries.

The Weird Weekend,held over the weekend of the 19-21st August, now in its 12 year is the largest convention of its kind. This year’s speakers include one of the world’s leading geneticists Professor Bryan Sykes. Professor Sykes will be speaking on the yeti and samples of hair he has tested. Continuing the theme, cryptozoologist Richard Freeman will be talking about the Centre for Fortean Zoology’s latest expedition that took them into the Garo Hills of northern India on the track of the yeti.

Last year at the convention scientists announced that hairs found in local woodland were those of a leopard. These findings were later confirmed by DNA analysis. A world exclusive this year comes from Dr Darren Naish from Portsmouth University and Max Blake from Bristol University who will produce conclusive proof that over 100 years ago there were still mystery cats in Devon.

Other speakers include Fortean researcher Matt Salusbury who has been on the track of pigmy elephants in India, entomologist Nick Wadham on giant spiders, cryptozoologist Adam Davies on the orang-pendek, the mystery ape of Sumatra, and Glen Vaudrey on the waterhorse, a sea serpent from Scottish legend.

As well as monstrous creatures, other esoteric subjects are covered. Former police officer John Hanson describes UFO cases reaching back to the 1940s.

Other subjects include Ronan Coghlan on the labours of Hercules, and Henry Hartley on Fortean aspects of the modern Mayans.

As well as a series of talks there will be stalls, workshops and events.

The Weird Weekend raises funds for village charities dealing with children and for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the only full time organization in the world dedicated to the investigation of mystery animals.

The Weird Weekend takes place from 19th-21st of August.

For further details visit http://www.weirdweekend.org or ring 01237 431413."

Weird Weekend 2011 - Abominable snowmen et al

My God, how we wish we were en route to this year's Weird Weekend!

The line-up is looking nothing short of spectacular.

World famous geneticist Professor Bryan Sykes, of Oxford University is giving a talk on 'David Hume, Joanna Lumley and the Abominable Snowman' at this year's Weird Weekend.

And he's joined by Richard Freeman (The CFZ India Expedition), Matt Salusbury (Hunting Pygmy Elephants in India), Neil Arnold (Mystery Animals of Kent), Adam Davies (On the Track of the Orang Pendek), Max Blake and Dr Darren Naish (The New British Lynx) and Nick Wadham (Giant Spiders) to name just a few.

Get your crypto on and read more here.

Cryptozoology: Science or Pseudoscience?

From krakens to gigantic sea serpents, terrifying monsters of the deep have haunted the imaginations of generations of mariners.

Now experts in marine life claim sea monsters might actually exist. Because scientists are still finding new species of underwater life, the discovery of “marine monsters” is not impossible, a meeting in the UK heard last Tuesday.

“The huge number of ‘sea monster’ sightings now on record can’t all be explained away as mistakes, sightings of known animals or hoaxes,” said palaeontologist Dr Darren Naish of the University of Portsmouth.

“At least some of the better ones - some of them made by trained naturalists and such - probably are descriptions of encounters with real, unknown animals.”

One such example was reported in 1905 by zoologists Edmund Meade-Waldo and Michael Nicoll, who encountered a strange “sea serpent” off the coast of Brazil.

And in August 1848, the crew of HMS Daedalus saw a 60ft-long sea creature during a voyage to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.

At the time, biologists in London claimed it was most likely an elephant seal - or even an upside down canoe.

Dr Naish told the meeting of the Zoological Society of London: “Because large marine animals continue to be discovered - various new whale and shark species have been named in recent years - the idea that such species might await discovery is, at the very least, plausible.”

Some people have suggested present-day monsters might be plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles that lived at the time of dinosaurs. But this was dismissed by Dr Charles Paxton, of the University of St Andrews, who organised the meeting, entitled Cryptozoology: Science or Pseudoscience?

Cryptozoology is the “study of hidden animals” - or the search for creatures whose existence has not been proved, such as the Loch Ness monster and the Abominable Snowman.

“If there are prehistoric animals alive today it would imply that there’s something very wrong with our understanding of the fossil record,” he said.

Dr Paxton argues it is wrong to assume that all large animals living in the oceans have been discovered. “If the criteria is solely bigness, then this is not the case,” he said. “In 1995 a benthic ray, which lives on the ocean floor, was found that measured 3.42 metres.”

Eight large marine species have been discovered in the past 20 years.

LiveScience interviewed Dr Paxton about his passion for sea monsters in the lead-up to the talk.

While The Guardian attended the discussion and gave a detailed account of the evening.

Weird Weekend 2011 - be there or be square!

It's kooky and it's spooky, 

and even kinda freaky, 

it happens ann-u-ally, 

it's the UK Weird Weekend! 

(sung to The Addams Family theme, if you please)

Buy your tickets here.

Weird Weekend 2011

 

Yes, it's not far off - one of the UK's top Fortean events of the year - the CFZ's Weird Weekend!

This year's line-up so far includes:

Raheel Mughal: The mystery animals of Pakistan
 
John Hanson/Dawn Holloway: The Haunted Skies project
 
Glen Vaudrey: The Waterhorse
 
Paul Vella: Changing perception of UFOs
 
Max Blake/Dr Darren Naish: The new British Lynx
 
Henry Hartley: Fortean aspects of the modern Maya
 
Nick Wadham: Giant spiders
 
Richard Freeman et al: The India Expedition report
 
Jeremy Harte: TBA
 
Ronan Coghlan: TBA

More speakers will be announced in the next few weeks. However, we can announce that once again the children's area is being run by Clan Curtis from Seaham-on-Sea, and the animal handling will once again feature Bugfest from Yeovil (highly recommended for anyone who has ever felt the yen to stroke a tarantula!).

Advance tickets are only a recession-busting £20 a pop, so buy yours now!