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This is an alphabetical list of notable cryptozoologists and people associated with the field of cryptozoology, including prominent skeptics and hoaxers.
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Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a large, hairy mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Bigfoot is featured in both American and Canadian folklore, and since the mid-20th century has grown into a cultural icon, permeating popular culture and becoming the subject of its own distinct subculture.
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, or the Mokele-mbembe. Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids, a term coined by the subculture. Because it does not follow the scientific method, cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by mainstream science: it is neither a branch of zoology nor of folklore studies. It was originally founded in the 1950s by zoologists Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson.
A lake monster is a lake-dwelling entity in folklore. The most famous example is the Loch Ness Monster. Depictions of lake monsters are often similar to those of sea monsters.
Karl Shuker is a British zoologist, cryptozoologist and author. He lives in the Midlands, England, where he works as a zoological consultant and writer. A columnist in Fortean Times and contributor to various magazines, Shuker is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cryptozoology, which began in November 2012.
Loren Coleman is an American cryptozoologist, author and television personality who has written over 40 books on a number of topics, including cryptozoology. He is also the President, Founder and leading Director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. He has a background in social work and has also written on the topic of suicide, particularly the copycat effect.
The Minnesota Iceman is a sideshow exhibit and elaborate hoax that depicts a fake man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was displayed at shopping malls, state fairs, and carnivals in the United States and Canada in the 1960s and early 1970s and promoted as the "missing link" between Modern man and Neanderthals. It was sold on eBay in 2013 and put on display in Austin, Texas.
Jon-Erik Beckjord was an American paranormal investigator, photographer, and cryptozoologist interested in UFOs, crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot. Throughout his life, he owned three separate, small-scale museums that featured displays, mostly photographs, of alleged UFO, Nessie, and Bigfoot sightings. He made guest appearances on national radio and television shows, but was criticized by skeptics and fellow cryptozoologists alike for not providing substantive evidence to back up his claims of the existence of paranormal beings.
Raymond L. Wallace was an American amateur Bigfoot hoaxer.
Roy P. Mackal was a University of Chicago biologist best known to the general public for his interest in cryptozoology.
Richard Freeman is a cryptozoologist, author, zoological journalist, and WebTV Presenter. He is also the zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), and co-edits both the journal, Animals & Men and several editions of the annual CFZ Yearbook. Freeman has written, co-written, or edited a number of books, and has contributed widely to both Fortean and zoological magazines, as well as other newspapers and periodicals, including Fortean Times and Paranormal Magazine.
Bigfoot is an alleged human or ape-like cryptid in North America. Since the mid-20th century, Bigfoot has become increasingly relevant in popular culture and is the subject of film, television, advertising, music, literature and more.
Weird Travels is an American documentary paranormal television series that originally aired from 2001 to 2006 on the Travel Channel. Produced by Authentic Entertainment, the program features various paranormal subjects around the world, especially monsters and purportedly haunted locations around the world. The series is narrated by Don Wildman, who also hosts and narrates History's documentary television series Cities of the Underworld and Travel Channel's Off Limits.
MonsterQuest is an American television series that originally aired from October 31, 2007 to March 24, 2010 on the History Channel channel. Produced by Whitewolf Entertainment, the program deals with the search for various monsters of interest to the cryptozoology subculture and paranormal entities reportedly witnessed around the world. A spin-off show, MysteryQuest, which focuses on unsolved mysteries, premiered on September 16, 2009.
Boris Fyodorovich Porshnev was a Soviet historian known for his works on popular revolts in Ancien Régime France and a doctor of philosophical and historical sciences, working on psychology, prehistory, and neurolinguistics as relating to the origins of man.
Sam Shearon, also known under the pseudonym and credited / published also as Mister Sam Shearon is a British dark artist born in Liverpool, England. Specialising in horror and science-fiction, his work often includes elements inspired by vintage tales of monsters and madmen, dark futures, post apocalyptic genres including cyberpunk and industrial wastelands and classic literature including H.P.Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and the modern classics Clive Barker's Hellraiser and the Books of Blood all of which he has fully illustrated.
The Mysterious Monsters is a 1976 documentary film written and directed by Robert Guenette about the cryptids Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Yeti. It contained content from Guenette’s made-for-TV movie Monsters! Mysteries or Myths? that aired on CBS on November 25, 1974. That version had been produced by David L. Wolper in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution and was narrated by Rod Serling.
MonsterTalk is an audio podcast that was originally presented by the Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine but broke ties in 2019. Since 2019 it has been an independent podcast under the "Monster House, LLC" banner. The show critically examines the science behind cryptozoological creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and werewolves. It is hosted by Blake Smith and Karen Stollznow, and produced by Blake Smith. In 2012, MonsterTalk was awarded the Parsec Award for the "Best Fact Behind the Fiction Podcast".
Ken Gerhard is an American cryptozoologist and author often featured on various television programs. His works include "The Essential Guide to Bigfoot," "A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts," "Big Bird: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters" and "Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles and Other Winged Beasts." He is also the co-author of "Monsters of Texas".
Peter Cyril Byrne was an Irish-American explorer, author, media personality, and cryptozoologist, probably best known as a Bigfoot investigator. He, René Dahinden, John Green, and Grover Krantz have been dubbed the “Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery”.
