The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word cryptid as “An animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti.” For the following witnesses to living cryptids, there is no dispute. In this series of National Cryptid Society’s case files, you will read what the witnesses have experienced in their own words.
Keep an open mind when reading these accounts, and also remember one’s perception and memory of an event can be influenced by the emotions felt at the time of the occurrence. The contributors to this series of articles are doing the best they can to recount what are in some cases very shocking and traumatic experiences.
If you have a personal cryptid sighting story you would like to tell us, our contact information is at the bottom of this article.
NCS Case File #37: Huge, Dark Creature in the Woods of Delaware
On July 13, 2017, an individual (who wishes to remain anonymous) took video of what appears to be a large, dark-colored creature laying on the forest floor at a park in New Castle County, Delaware. The witness stated that she said a prayer of protection prior to entering the woods that morning.
Upon encountering the creature from a distance, the witness states:
“…What the heck is that? I don’t know what that is. I’m not approaching it. I am getting the freak out of here, ’cause I don’t know what the Hell that is.”
The video was taken at 8:51 AM, using the full zoom of an LG smartphone model LGMS210 at 1280 x 720 resolution. Even at full zoom the subject in the video appears to be a large, black shape.
Here is an image where the subject is zoomed in on and darkened to show the shape.
Here is another zoomed in photo of the “face” where the background has been eliminated, contrast and brightness have been adjusted.
Here is a zoomed portion of the video. With the available software NCS has, we are unable to center the frame to take measurements in order to determine if the subject is making subtle movements (such as the “chest” area moving up and down during breaths).
Looking at the area around the subject in the video, the dark color of whatever is in the middle of the frame is also seen in some of the shadows around the area shown with the red arrows below.
We also see in the photo above that the dark areas other than the subject are in areas where sunlight is obstructed ( obstructed by an object such as leaves, etc) whereas the subject is not in an area where light would be obstructed or dissipated in such a way that it would shadowed in blackness.
Witness Statement
The witness in this case stated the subject in the video was a living creature that was looking directly at her. She described it as a “Dogman.”
“I heard a deer making huffing sounds & went to look for the deer, then I saw the dogman lying on the ground. Me being me, I wasn’t leaving without any proof of what I saw. I took a picture of it and a short video in case the picture was blurry, both with my phone.
I’ve never been so scared to be in the woods as I was that day. I know people have had worse encounters with them, But that feeling of dread was potent.
It definitely brings back memories of that scary moment. I had to take a break from it to stop the panic attacks. I chain smoked like crazy.”
The witness also stated that a friend of hers was able to identify two other explainable shapes in the footage that appear to be two luminous beings in the trees. The witness stated they appeared to be angels.
Discussion
The witness is adamant that the subject is a living animal, and that it was a dogman.
Although traditionally dogmen have been thought as a phenomenon that occurred primarily in Michigan and Wisconsin, similar creatures have been reported worldwide. One report we came across came from within the state of Delaware. The National Cryptid Society case files include larger than normal canine and dogmen as well.
NCS Case File #4: Large Wolf-Like Creature in West Virginia
NCS Case File #7: Unnaturally Large, Dark Dog in the Cornfields of Ohio
NCS Case File #16: Massive Dogman Wins Airsoft Battle in NW Wisconsin
Dogman sightings and similar encounters are prevalent in the Northeastern United States.
Due to the video quality and the fact that the camera is at full zoom, making a conclusive identification of the subject is difficult.
The witness account of a large, unknown creature is plausable.
Other possibilities include: a black Eastern Panther,
A black wolf,
As stated above, it is difficult to determine if the subject in the video is breathing. However, when one stumbles across a large animal in the wild, sometimes the animal will remain still, including taking smaller breaths which reduces the movement of the chest. You might call it a “movement profile” that is minimized until the animal can make an assessment of whether to fight or flee. For example, in July, some hikers in California came upon a mountain lion on their trek. If you look closely at the mountain lion, you can see how absolutely still it stays. The coloration of the big cat makes it apparent that the chest cavity is rising and falling with breaths, but if the cat were much darker, you would only see the profile of the animal, and it would be difficult if not impossible to see the rising and falling of the chest. It also appears the hikers were much closer to the mountain lion that the witness in this case file was to the unknown animal.
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If you have encountered a cryptid, strange animal or what you can only describe as a “monster,” report it to the National Cryptid Society HERE.
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Monsters In Print: A Collection Of Curious Creatures Known Mostly From Newspapers
This collection of over 170+ articles, direct from newspapers of the 1800s and 1900s, brings some of the most bizarre, amazing, and incredible stories of true monster encounters out of the past and into your hands! Presented with zero spin or bias, this book delivers just the facts and allows you, the reader, to decide for yourself if the stories within actually happened or not.
From the funny to the frightening, the sincere to the weird, there is something for everyone within these pages!
The National Cryptid Society 
In what woods was the dark creature seen in New Castle, Delaware? I live in Delaware but never heard of this. I’d like to check it out, maybe get a closer picture.
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