THINK ABOUTIT ENTITY SIGHTING REPORT
Date: October 13 1811
Sighting Time:
Day/Night: afternoon
Location: Corphine, Kintyre, Scotland
Urban or Rural: –
Entity Type: bizarre creature
Entity Description: “The upper half of it was white, and of the shape of a human body; the other half towards the tail, of a brindled or reddish gray color, apparently cover with scales; but the extremity of the tail itself was of a greenish red shining color.” The head was covered with long hair and at times it would put it back the hair on both sides of its head, it would also spread its tail like a fan and while so extended the tail continued in tremulous motion and when drawn again it remained motionless. It had very long brown hair and its face was human-like, with very hollow eyes.
Hynek Classification: CE-III (Close Encounter III) Close observation with animate beings associated with the object.
Duration:
No. of Object(s): 1
Size of Object(s):
Distance to Object(s):
Shape of Object(s):
Color of Object(s):
Number of Witnesses: 1
Source: Jerome Clark, Unexplained!
Summary/Description: John McIsaac reported seeing sitting on top of a black rock on the seacoast a bizarre creature. “The upper half of it was white, and of the shape of a human body; the other half towards the tail, of a brindled or reddish gray color, apparently cover with scales; but the extremity of the tail itself was of a greenish red shining color.” The head was covered with long hair and at times it would put it back the hair on both sides of its head, it would also spread its tail like a fan and while so extended the tail continued in tremulous motion and when drawn again it remained motionless. It had very long brown hair and its face was human-like, with very hollow eyes.
That same afternoon, Katherine Loynachan stated that she was herding some cattle near the sea shore when she saw a creature sliding off one of the rocks and dropping into the water, surfacing six yards out. It had long black hair, white skin on its upper part, and dark brown skin on its lower, which was fish-like.
Investigative Analysis: The Kintyre Humanoid of 1811
The 1811 sighting near Corphine stands out in historical records due to the corroboration between two independent witnesses on the same afternoon. While skeptics often point to marine life such as seals or manatees to explain historical “merfolks,” several specific details in the McIsaac and Loynachan testimonies suggest a more complex anomaly.
Anatomical Anomalies
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The “Fan-Like” Tail: McIsaac provided a meticulous description of the creature’s tail, noting it could spread like a fan and exhibited a “tremulous motion”. This mechanical description is uncharacteristic of typical North Atlantic marine mammals.
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Facial Features: Both witnesses emphasized the human-like face. McIsaac specifically noted “very hollow eyes,” a detail that adds a haunting, gaunt quality to the entity that differs from the large, dark eyes of a common seal.
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Hair and Grooming: The report mentions long hair that the creature would “put back” on both sides of its head. This implies a level of manual dexterity or a specific grooming behavior that is rare in known aquatic animals.
Patterns of Evidence
The color transition described—a white upper body and a brindled or reddish-gray lower body—is consistent across both accounts, though Loynachan described the lower half as more fish-like. The “greenish red shining color” at the extremity of the tail suggests a bioluminescent or iridescent quality that is highly unusual for a creature spotted in the shallow waters of the Kintyre coast.
This case remains a cornerstone of CE-III historical reports because it involves a “close observation with animate beings” rather than a distant, unidentifiable object.
