The Loveland Lizard (Frog)

On May 25, 1955, at approximately 3:30am, an Ohio man was driving along the Miami River near Loveland, Ohio, when he spotted a strange site by the road.  The man claimed to have seen what appeared to be three bipedal creatures with lizard or frog-like faces crouching by the road.  One of the creatures was seen to be carrying what resembled a wand that gave off sparks.  The creatures, having been spotted, jumped into the nearby Miami River.  The man did file a report with local police, but no evidence of the strange trio was ever found...

...until nearly 20 years later.  On March 3, 1972, a police officer driving along Riverside Road around 1 am spotted what he thought was a dog lying on the icy road.  The "dog" then reared up into a standing position, where the officer could see that it had the face of a frog.  It stood 3-4 feet tall, and weighed approximately 50-75lbs.  It then jumped over the guardrail and down into the Miami River.  No official report was filed, but another officer did join the first at the scene and confirmed scratch marks on the side of the guardrail.

Nearly two weeks later, another officer had a run-in with the creature.  Coming along the river road into Loveland, he saw what looked like a dead animal in the road.  He stopped to move the carcass out of the way of traffic, when the beast stood at a crouch.  The officer shot several rounds at the beast, which apparently unharmed, climbed over the guardrail toward the river and out of sight.  Again, no official report was filed.

It wasn't until the X-Project Magazine was doing a story on the Loveland Frog that new details that had been previously omitted came to light.  An officer by the name of Mark Mathews was contacted, and verified to be the officer of the second 1972 sighting.  Mathews claimed that the story was blown out of proportions.  He DID see a lizard-type creature that early spring night, but it was only around 2-3 feet, and was NOT bipedal.  The lizard, which Mathews believed to be an escaped or abandoned pet, possibly of the monitor family, was indeed shot at.  Mathews believes the animal was injured in the shooting, and died shortly after it made its escape.

The idea of an escaped or abandoned monitor lizard certainly can explain the March 1972 sightings, but what of the 3 creatures spotted in 1955?  Some people believe that the Loveland Frog (or Lizard) is actually still roaming around the Miami River area.  There's an old Shawnee tale of a creature known to the area as the Shawnahooc, or River Demon, that terrorized the little Miami River area.  When the Shawnee shot their arrows at the creature, it reared upright, and dove into the river.

X-Project Article