Loveland frog

[[File:Loveland frog.png|right|thumb|165px|If it exists, it's chuffing huge!]]{{cryptid}}
''Not to be confused with {{wpl|the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka||.}} Nor [[Pepe the Frog]].''

The '''Loveland frog''' (aka the '''Loveland lizard''') is an alleged frog-like [[cryptid]] that has the body of a human and the head and face of a frog with green, leathery skin and webbed feet.  It is alleged to stand at around 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and walks upright.<ref>[http://www.unknown-creatures.com/loveland-frog.html Unknown creatures]</ref> It's named after its alleged location in Loveland, [[Ohio]].<ref>[http://www.newanimal.org/loveland.htm Cryptid Zoo]</ref>

==The totally true first sighting==
The first sighting of the Loveland Frog(s) involves a salesman (or businessman) who spotted some of them near a bridge in 1955. 

{{Quotebox|“The salesman watched as the three frog-people talked amongst themselves, each oblivious to their observer. The salesman noted they all seemed to be about three and a half feet tall, with leathery skin and webbed hands and feet. They had bulging eyes, wide mouths, and deep grooves on their heads instead of hair. 
Suddenly, one of the figures noticed the salesman. They pulled out a wand and waved it, sending a spray of sparks flying in the air. The man sped away, the first witness to the Loveland Frog, with the peculiar smell of alfalfa and almonds trailing behind his car.”}}

Of course, “the salesman’s name has been forgotten”<ref>[https://theportalist.com/the-loveland-frog The Strange Case of the Loveland Frog, Ohio's Amphibian Cryptid, The Portalist, Natalie Dalea, July 29, 2020]</ref> and “this first account does not give an exact location or road”.<ref> [http://weekinweird.com/2012/07/24/classic-cryptid-legend-loveland-frogmen/ Classic Cryptid: The Legend of Ohio’s Loveland Frogmen, Week in Weird, July 24, 2012] </ref> Perhaps there was also the peculiar smell of [[Cannabis|marijuana]] in the air...

==Next sightings==

One March night in 1972, a police officer named Ray Shockey reported he saw a weird creature at Riverside Drive/Kemper Road near a boot factory. That same month, Officer Mark Matthews witnessed the same creature. Figuring that no one would believe he witnessed a weird creature, Mathews decided to 
take blurry photos
 shoot and kill the creature, which he took and showed to Shockey. Shockey confirmed it was the same creature he had seen earlier: a large iguana that had lost its tail (which was why it looked weird). 

Matthews claims he told this encounter, including the part where the creature was discovered to be an iguana, to a writer about urban legends. However, [[Cognitive dissonance|for some mysterious reason]] [[Confirmation bias|that will likely never be solved]], the writer omitted the part where the creature was killed and discovered to be a regular animal. This caused Matthews to outright call the story of the Loveland Frog a hoax. <ref>[https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/loveland-community/officer-who-shot-loveland-frogman-in-1972-says-story-is-a-hoax Officer who Shot Loveland Frogman in 1972 says Story is a Hoax, WCPO, James Leggate, August 5, 2016]</ref>

Matthews stated, “There is absolutely nothing to the incident that relates to monsters or the paranormal. This entire thing has been habitually blown out of proportion… It was and is no 'monster'. It was not leathery or had wet matted fur. It was not 3-5 feet tall. It did not stand erect. The animal I saw was obviously some type of lizard that someone had as a pet that either got too large for its aquarium, escaped by accident or they simply got tired of it. It was less than 3 feet in length, ran across the road and was probably blinded by my headlights. It presented no aggressive action.” <ref>[http://www.xprojectmagazine.com/archives/cryptozoology/lovelandfrog.html| The Loveland Frog, X Project Magazine, Davy Russell, March 1, 2001]</ref> <ref>[https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4473 The Loveland Frog, Skeptoid, Ryan Haupt, June 30, 2015]</ref>

==Recent sightings==
After having been 
nonexistent
 in hiding for decades, the Loveland Frog was apparently sighted by some people playing Pokémon Go,<ref>[https://www.fox19.com/story/32688947/legend-of-loveland-frogman-lives-on/ Local legend: Does the Loveland Frogman live on?, ''Fox 19'' Now, Jason Scott, August 4, 2016]</ref><ref>[https://www.wlwt.com/article/the-loveland-frogman/37871711 The legend of the Loveland Frogman, ''WLWT5'', October 5, 2021]</ref><ref>[https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/05/loveland-frogman-spotted-again/ ‘Loveland Frogman’ Spotted Again?, ''Snopes'', Brooke Binkowski, August 5, 2016]</ref> who took video evidence of their sighting, which depicts an unmoving frog shaped creature with shining and unblinking eyes.

It’s possible that the Frogman in the video simply depicts a Wilson and Fisher Solar Frog, an unmoving frog shaped ornament with shining and unblinking eyes.<ref>[https://strangeandspookyworld.com/2016/08/09/create-your-very-own-loveland-frog-hoax-for-under-20-00/ Create Your Very Own Loveland Frog Hoax for Under $20.00, ''Strange and Spooky World'', James A. Willis, August 9, 2016]</ref>  (Or perhaps the aforementioned {{wpl|the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka|Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka|.)}}

No word yet on if it can defeat Bulbasaur.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Cryptozoology]]
[[Category:Ohio]]

Categories: Cryptozoology, Ohio