The Loveland creature case was first investigated thoroughly by two OUFOIL (Ohio UFO Investigators League) 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.
The first account took place on a clear, cold night on March 3,
1972. Officer Williams (named changed) was driving on Riverside
Road at about 1:00 AM heading towards Loveland. Driving slowly due
to ice on the road, 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 cruiser.
As he stopped the car, the animal stood up immediately (from a slightly crouched position) when the headlights fell upon its body. This dog turned out to be 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 guard rail and went down the embankment into the Little Miami River.
Williams described the creature as 3 or 4 feet tall, weighing around 50 to 75 pounds. Its body looked like looked 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 the 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 (named changed) 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 raise 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 guard rail. However, this time the creature lifted its leg over the guard rail and while doing this, kept its eyes on Johnson.
As the creature went over the guard rail and down the embankment, 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 then described earlier. He also called dispatch, but did not file any official report. However, the local press did catch wind of the stories.
These two officers are very credible and intelligent individuals. Their background on the police force gives them the credibility needed to backup what they 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 talking to the officers for several hours, the investigators checked are residents for any possible stories concerning strange looking animals. Most of the people had heard stories concerning the area about something that has been around for years, but could not give any clues to the investigators. They did run into a farmer who claimed to have seen a frog or lizard creature during March of 1972.
These two sightings by the officers happened not far from the observations of the Branch Hill Creatures of 1955. This case was investigated by one of the country's top UFO investigators Leonard Stringfield. The 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-faced" creatures. Are these perhaps the same or similar creatures? Could there be a tie in these cases?
Author's note:
Richard Mackey and Ron Schaffner were the two investigators that
complied this story.
From The Ohio Sky Watcher, Summer 1976
© 1976 Charles Wilhelm
Reprinted with permission of author
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