An Interview with Loren Coleman
Any researcher of the paranormal or fan of the supernatural in Massachusetts is building on a foundation set by Loren Coleman. Although his name is synonymous with cryptozoology, many of his writings have influenced the field study and methodology of ghost hunting. A hard line scientist who does not put weigh into hauntings and demons, he has spent the better part of forty-five years bring to light the odd animals of the world.
His connection to Massachusetts began in college. After studying at Simmons College he did his post-maters work at Brandeis in Waltham. He was working as a reporter in 1977 when his proximity and approach won him national fame on the Dover Demon case. It was around this time he began referring to the area in southeastern Massachusetts as the Bridgewater Triangle, although it was not until the publication of his book Mysterious America in 1983 that the world found out what he had known for years, something was not right in Massachusetts.
His work has forced him to ride the line between truth and urban legend, and his writings have included such famous Massachusetts cases as the Killer Clowns and the odd animals of Bristol County. Mr. Coleman has also done extensive work in the field of sociology, studying youth and the effect of media on America. His book, The Copycat Effect, is a collection of connections between the tragedies we see on television and the ones happening next door. He writes about the close relationship our new media outlets, the creation of our ideals and the movement of our emotions.
Are there any cases or investigations in Massachusetts that have not hit the mainstream radar yet?
Of course there are but I won’t necessarily know what they might be. I find that many local and regional phenomena are ignored by the local media because they are taken for granted or thought to, of course, be silly folklore. For example, the giant frog or frogman of Silver Lake or the reported of a headless horseman in Dover are not of interest to the mainstream.
In an interview you once said the Dover Demon was one of the most interesting cases you were involved in. Why is this and have any of the circumstances changed in the years since the occurrence? What do you believe the demon was?
I thought it was an interesting case because it was so well-documented, investigated and mysterious. The eyewitnesses have grown older, the mystery has grown deeper, and the international acclaim has amazed me. I still have no idea what the Dover Demon is or was.
Why are places like the Bridgewater Triangle such magnets of activity? How might possible “window areas” or vortexes be originally formed?
Researcher bias may be behind some concentrated areas of unexplained activity, but some “triangles” or “windows”, as Vincent Gaddis and Ivan Sanderson felt, might be due to unknown geological forces. I have no explanations for the reasons behind vortices. As a Fortean, I am quite happy to point out mysteries, bring them to the attention of others, without coming up with explanations and theories on matters that appear to be beyond my ability to explain them.
How do you approach an investigation when there might be a legend, local or more universal, attached to it?
I always begin with the sources, as best I can, of any local sighting, which needless to say, are the eyewitnesses. They need to be investigated deeply. If there is tangible and measurable phenomena, then, of course, those have to be investigated scientifically. If there are additionally folklore and legends, I take this as a clue there is historically an understanding about other forms of phenomena in the area that have not been fully investigated.
How do you approach an investigation where there might be a strong religious aspect to the case?
The only reason a case might have a strong religious aspect would be because of the bias of an eyewitness, an investigator, or a chronicler. I would take those factors into an examination of a case, and judge it on its merits. The framework of a phenomenon, whether occult, religious, pagan, ufological, parapsychological, and so forth, often has little to do with “what” the actual phenomenon is.
How are you and other cryptozoologists viewed by the mainstream scientific community and how does this change your approach to investigating?
Cryptozoology is gaining wider and wider membership in the ranks of those in academia and other scientific communities. The view of others has done little to change my approach, which has always been down-to-earth, global, attempted with little cultural bias, and extremely scientific.
Which do you like better; the field or the library?
I like both equally well.
How does the copycat effect influence the investigation of paranormal activity and unusual animals?
Understanding the influence of the media on cryptozoology events issues from the same arena as my work in human-involved copycat incidents. It is an influence of the media, for example, that this question would be framed using the word “paranormal” even though I do not apply that to my work or to cryptozoology.
The case of the killer clowns in the eighties has been one of my personal favorites and my story about it has generated a lot of feedback. How does the copycat effect the creation of legends and urban legends?
The phantom clowns sprang up separately around the country without the influence of behavior contagion or the media copycat effect. I still do not claim to understand what was behind the phantom clowns’ independent birthing throughout the USA.
How has the teaching of cryptozoology changed the way it is viewed and its acceptance my mainstream science since you taught your first class in 1990?
There has been few classes taught in cryptozoology, and I would assume, therefore, there has been little influence that they have had in academia. The discovery of Homo floresiensis had a bigger impact in establishing cryptozoology as a mainstream science.
There has been a link suggested between violent criminal activity, such as murders or high profit disappearances, and the Satanic calendar. You predicted, in a way, that a case like Red Lake would occur. Do you give any credence to the calendar theory and what do you believe might be its place in the clusters you write about?
The significance of the pagan-Satanic-neo-Nazi calendar is great, specifically in the mind of school shootings and other seemingly neo-Nazi criminals. The influence of the twilight language is on the landscape of much that I have written about in some of my books.
How do you feel about your own status as a trailblazer in the field and now a mythological figure in your own right?
I do not believe I have ever been called a trailblazer or a mythological figure. Thank you. I’ll have to think about those words. I am a cryptozoologist, so, yes, I have popularized cryptozoology in my articles, books, blogs, talks, and documentary appearances. I have
Achieved my objective of sharing what I discovered exploring what I enjoyed doing, that is, conducting investigations of unexplained events and mostly, pursuing cryptozoology, literally the study of hidden or unknown animals.
You do an excellent job in your writing of presenting information and making connections, but never stating what you believe something might be strongly enough to blind the read to other ideas. Is it hard to maintain this distance from you topics?
No, this is the Fortean point of view. It is the way I approach all investigations, and coming up with a final theory is not always possible. I want to leave the door open for others’ thoughts, as well, and stimulate critical thinking. However, reaching a conclusion something is a fake, a hoax, or a joke, sometimes is possible for me. I am not afraid to disclose those, when discover them.
Although they are often linked to each other, ghost investigations and cryptozoology are two very different things. How do you believe they are similar and how are they different? Have you ever faced a case that blurred the line between the two?
“Belief” is the realm of religion. I don’t answer questions that come to me with that assumption being there. I am interested in cryptozoology because it has tangible evidence, usually with a zoological and anthropological component. I am not interested in ghosts and do not conduct or engage in ghost work.
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