Encounters with the Unknown
Loveland Ohio Creature
by: Richard Mackey
This case was investigated thoroughly by OUFOIL investigators, who spent several hours with the two officers who saw this strange looking creature. Reported here are the accounts of those two nights which as of yet are not fully understood. Also obtained was a composite drawing of the creature.
The first account took place on a clear cold night on March 3, 1972. Officer Williams was driving on Riverside Road about 1 a.m. heading towards Loveland. Driving slowly due to the ice he saw what looked like a dog by the side of the road. Williams slowed his car to avoid hitting the animal in case it darted in front of the car.
As he stopped the car, the animal stood up immediately (slightly crouched) when the headlights fell upon its body. This dog turned out to be something out of a nightmare for Williams. With its eyes illuminated from the car lights, it looked at him for a few seconds then turned and leaped over the guardrail, and went down the embankment into the river.
Williams described the creature as 3 or 4 feet tall, weighing around 50 to 75 pounds, its body looked like a leathery textured skin, and had a face resembling a frog or lizard.
After the creature disappeared he called his dispatcher and notified him of what had happened and then proceeded to the police station.
Later that night, he and another officer returned to the area and checked the embankment with flashlights and saw where something had scraped the side of the hill leading into the river. No official report was filed.
Two weeks later, while driving on the same road, Officer Johnson had a similar experience. Driving out of Loveland, he saw something lying in the middle of the road. It looked like some kind of animal that had been hit and left to die.
Johnson got out of his car to put the animal over on the roadside until the game warden could be called to pick up the carcass. As he opened his car, the door apparently made some noise which caused this thing to rise up in a slight crouch position. (Like a defensive lineman) The eyes were illuminated from the car headlights. The creature began to half walk and half hobble over to the guardrail. However, as in Officer Williams story, this time the creature lifted its leg over the guardrail and while doing this, kept its eyes on Johnson.
As the creature went over the guardrail and down the embankment into the river, Officer Johnson took a shot at it, but missed.
The description given by Johnson was much the same as Williams, except he noticed that the creature was more upright than described earlier. He called the dispatcher, but no official report was filed.
These two officers are very capable and intelligent individuals. Their backgrounds on the force gives them the credibility needed to backup what they have reported. Williams statement was, “I wished this never had happened.”
During the investigation, one aspect was discussed at great length concerning the skin of the creature. The possibility was brought out by the investigators that the textured look could have been wet matted hair. Both officers agreed to this possibility, since neither got that close. Another thing, Johnson thought he saw a tail on the creature, but couldn’t be sure since everything happened so fast.
After several hours talking to the officers, the investigators checked area residents for any possible stories concerning strange looking animals. Most of the people had heard of stories concerning the area about something that has been around for years, but couldn’t give any clues to the investigators. However, they did run into a farmer who claimed to have seen a frog or lizard like creature during March of 1972.
These two sightings by the officers happened not far from the observations of the Branch Hill creature of 1955. This case was investigated by one of the countries top UFO investigators, Leonard Stringfield. This case can be found in his book, Saucer Post—3-0 Blue, on page 66.
These two cases are similar due to the description as being “frog face” creatures. Are these perhaps the same or similar creatures? Could there be a tie in these two cases? Whatever OUFOIL will continue to follow-up on any such cases, and release the story in this publication.
Note: Mr. Mackey and his associate Ron Schaffner were the two investigators who compiled this story.
Editor’s Note: This intriguing article originally appeared in The Ohio Sky Watcher, the June-July-August 1976 edition, the official publication of the Ohio UFO Investigators League, Inc. (now since defunct)
Ron Schaffer, one of the investigators in this case, happens to be one of our eZine subscribers, so I wrote to Ron for any updates on this intriguing case. He immediately replied, and we now learn the true identity of the officer who reported the second encounter. Ron wrote: “That story was written by Charlie Wilhelm. In the later years, Officer Mathews has recanted his story about the incident and his second story is published here:
www.xprojectmagazine.com/archives/cryptozoology/lovelandfrog.html
This ‘is not’ what was originally told to us back in 1976 and the original drawing [which was done by his sister, but I’m leaving her name out-B. Raynes] bears this out. It may be that Matthews just wanted to put an end to the story. I think Charlie sensationalized the story a bit too. So I believe we will never know the truth about it. One thing’s for sure. There is no way that a small lizard could survive very long during a cold winter night.” Ron added how one person “believes they may have seen a grey owl, which is plausible I think.”
