Truth behind the terrifying mythical monsters around the world – from the superhuman Bigfoot to a bloodthirsty ‘goat-sucker’
BOFFINS believe that after years of searching, they finally have proof that the Loch Ness Monster is real after capturing the the huge eel-like creature on video last week.
But there have been hundreds of other sightings of terrifying monsters around the world whose legitimacy is still being questioned.
One such beast is the Honey Island Swamp Monster in Louisiana.
The horrific creature is said to look like a seven-foot man with grey hair and yellow eyes, who reeks of a disgusting smell.
It became famous in America in 1974 when large webbed footprints were found by the swamp near the body of a wild boar whose throat had been ripped open.
And incredibly, images which some claim show the monster were found on a reel of Super 8 film belonging to a wildlife photographer — but they only came to light after the photographer's death.
Sceptics say the footage is just a hoax — but sightings of some other beasts have never been explained.
Ape beast
Name: Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Appearance: Giant ape-like man covered in fur with enormous feet
Bigfoot or Sasquatch is probably one of the best-known mythical creatures on Earth, with chilling sightings of the beast dating back at least to the late nineteenth century.
The creature is said to be a huge, muscular gorilla-like animal between six and nine feet tall and covered in dark hair.
Its name comes from large footprints which were discovered by a bulldozer operator in Bluff Creek, about 300 miles north of San Francisco, in 1958.
Even though it was later revealed that the footprints were a hoax, people still believe in the monster.
Bluff Creek is also where the famous grainy video clip of Bigfoot was shot in 1967, which has been the subject of a raging debate between enthusiasts and sceptics ever since.
It was even revealed in 2014 that more Americans believe in Bigfoot than the Big Bang Theory as there's been over 1,000 recorded sightings.
Last year, conspiracy theorists went berserk for a video recorded in the Canadian wilderness which they claimed proved that Bigfoot was real.
Goat-sucking vampire dog
Name: Chupacabra
Location: All over the world, first seen in Puerto Rico
Appearance: Varies, but usually some kind of dog-like body with a spiny back
Chupacabra, which literally means "goat-sucker" in Spanish, is a monster said to drink the blood of livestock animals.
The first sighting was revealed in Puerto Rico in 1995 when Madelyne Tolentino says she saw a creature with black eyes, the skin of a reptile and spines running down its back.
She caught a horrific glance of the beast in Canóvanas when 150 pets and farm animals were killed by a mystery predator in August.
In most cases, the animals had been completely drained of their blood through small puncture wounds in their chests.
Since then reports of the Chupacabra have cropped up all around the globe including in India, Russia and the Philippines.
In 2016, pitchfork-wielding villagers in Ukraine claimed to have killed the vampire-like beast.
One local, Ivan, said he slayed the monster while it was raiding his barn.
He said: "The Chupacabra was hunting and I killed it.
"It had been scaring local people for a long time. It was eating our chickens and rabbits."
The American Loch Ness Monster
Name: Champ/Champy
Location: Lake Champlain, USA and Canada
Appearance: Massive water snake
Nessie isn't the only lake-based monster to capture the imagination of terrified locals.
Champ or Champy is a giant monster said to swim beneath the surface of Lake Champlain, which is split between New York, Vermont and Quebec.
Over 300 sightings have been made of Champ, with the first recorded in 1878.
A sailor named Captain Crum said he saw "an enormous serpentine monster" which he reckoned to be around 187 feet long with three teeth and eyes the colour of peeled onions.
He added that the creature had a "belt of red" around its neck and a white star on its forehead.
P.T. Barnum, the historical figure played by Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman, even offered a reward to whoever brought him the monster.
Interest in the lake snake exploded in 1977 when Sandra Mansi snapped a picture of a huge creature sticking out of the water, and dozens of other images supposedly of Champ have been captured since.
In 2010, an article was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal describing the discovery of sound measurements in the lake consistent with killer and beluga whales — neither of which are known to live in Lake Champlain.
Underwater big cat
Name: Underwater panther/Mishipeshu
Location: Michipicoten Island and Great Lakes, Canada
Appearance: Scaly lynx with a spiked spine
The underwater panther or Mishipeshu is one of the most important mythical beings to the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands around the Great Lakes in the USA and Canada.
It has the head and claws of a giant Lynx-like cat, but has scales all over its body and has sharp spikes along its tail and back.
The underwater panther is known for guarding huge copper reserves in the Great Lakes, with the copper on Michipicoten Island considered especially sacred property of the beast.
A seventeenth century missionary called Claude Dablon told a tale of four Ojibwe people all being ripped apart by the underwater panther for taking its precious metal.
Corpse-eating badger
Name: Rompo
Location: Africa and India
Appearance: Skeletal body with the arms of a badger and the legs of a bear
Rompo is one of the strangest mythical creatures reported anywhere in the world.
It's thought to have the head of a hare but with human ears on top a of a skeleton-like body, dragging itself around with the arms of a badger and the legs of a bear.
Most disturbing of all, it only feeds on human corpses, making a soft low noise as it does so.
When it finds a body, witnesses claim it circles the dead person several times before it begins feasting.
It's also claimed that the Rompo's skin changes colour, turning green when it moves among bushes and trees.
Although sceptics think the Rompo is actually an old world porcupine, encounters with the beast have been logged in both India and across Africa.
Hell creature terror
Name: Jersey Devil/Leeds Devil
Location: New Jersey, USA
Appearance: Goat-headed flying beast with hooves and the wings of a bat
The Jersey Devil or Leeds Devil is a terrifying bat-winged kangeroo-like creature with the head of a goat and cloven hooves.
It's said that the devil moves quickly and cries with a high-pitched blood-curdling scream.
The legend of the Jersey Devil began in 1735, when New Jersey resident Jane Leeds cursed the baby in her womb when she found out she was pregnant for the thirteenth time.
Then, on the stormy night when the child was born, it changed rapidly from a normal baby into a nightmare creature with a forked tail.
Witnesses present at the horrific event claimed the devil child screamed and growled before flying up the chimney and off into the woods.
And then 200 years later, in 1909, hundreds of sightings were reported in local newspapers about sightings and attacks of the Jersey Devil.
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Cops say they shot at it without effect and schools were closed in the Delaware Valley because of the widespread fear and panic.
At the time, vigilante groups even took up arms to rid their communities of the beast.
The fearsome legend lives on in the terrifying 13-storey Jersey Devil rollercoaster set to open at Six Flags in New Jersey next year.
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