{"id":260915,"date":"2010-02-01T11:25:03","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T16:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"1775 at http:\/\/atlasobscura.com"},"modified":"2010-02-01T11:25:03","modified_gmt":"2010-02-01T16:25:03","slug":"international-cryptozoology-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/260915","title":{"rendered":"International Cryptozoology Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/atlasobscura.com\/globe\/north-america\/us\/maine\">Maine<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/atlasobscura.com\/globe\/north-america\/us\">US<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/atlasobscura.com\/categories\/museums-and-collections\">Museums and Collections<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Loren Coleman first started pursuing unusual, often inexplicable animals in 1960, and has since become one of the world&#8217;s foremost experts in the field of cryptozoology.  The discipline, as defined by the master himself, &#8220;is the study of hidden or unknown animals.  These are usually larger zoological species that, to-date, remain unverified by science, such as Yetis, Bigfoot, Lake Monsters, and Sea Serpents, as well as hundreds of other yet-to-be-found animals (cryptids) worldwide&#8230; It also encompasses the study of animals of recent discovery, such as the coelacanth, okapi, megamouth shark, giant panda, and mountain gorilla.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the years, Coleman has amassed an unrivaled collection of specimens, replicas, and artifacts relating to famous and lesser-known cryptids, including the eight-and-a-half foot tall, 300-pound &#8220;Crookston Bigfoot,&#8221; a life-size coelacanth, P. T. Barnum&#8217;s Feejee Mermaid, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>His newly established International Cryptozoology Museum preserves and presents the collection to the public in a fun and educational manner, while acknowledging that cryptozoology is a &#8220;gateway science&#8221; capable of giving rise to the next generation&#8217;s interest in more popularly-accepted exploratory and research-oriented disciplines.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, as Coleman asserts, it&#8217;s not really an issue of whether or not one &#8220;believes&#8221; in Yetis or the Montauk Monster; for belief &#8220;belongs in the providence of religion.&#8221; Coleman focuses on exploring the unexplainable with an open mind, gathering evidence before accepting or denying any larger theory.<\/p>\n<p>To commemorate the 50th anniversary of his initial foray into cryptozoological fieldwork and in observance of Obscura Day, on Saturday, March 20, Coleman has generously agreed to lead a small band of interested, open-minded souls on a tour of his collection!  Limited spots are available, so reserve your place now!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.atlasobscura.com\/files\/imagecache\/place_main\/place_images\/2630488483_f450f681ac_o.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"  width=\"280\" height=\"373\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine, US | Museums and Collections Loren Coleman first started pursuing unusual, often inexplicable animals in 1960, and has since become one of the world&#8217;s foremost experts in the field of cryptozoology. The discipline, as defined by the master himself, &#8220;is the study of hidden or unknown animals. These are usually larger zoological species that, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}