Une représentation du Mokele Mbembe, littéralement « celui qui arréte la riviére », chassé par les pygmées.NEWS WORLD, New York, NY - Dec. 12, 1961 CAGO — A University of Chi- jologist said Friday he believes, on fi he discovered in ongo, that dinosaur-hke creatures stall roam equatorial Africa Ruy Mackal, who returned from a four-week expedition, said he discov ered some footprints in the African gles that lead him tu believe there inosaurs I'm more convinced than eve Mackal sand. “I saw the tracks wil own eyes” Mackal, however, admitted the tracks could have been made by 4 giant lizard, which, he said, would be a “pretty spectacular find” in any case. Mackal, who has been at the Univer. sity of Chicago for 33 years, said the creature he is seeking would beas large asa hippopotamus or a small ele- phant, with a snake-like head and tail, belonging to the fanuly of saluroped Biologist finds ‘dinosaur’ prints in Congo jungie dinosaurs, which includes the bronto- suurus. |e said the animal probably weighs 30 to SO tons, ‘The footprints were fi joula River near the Co geof Dgeke. rthe wolese vile Mackal said natives of the area have long believed in such u cre: ing 11 MiaReie-Mmibemibe. | he cid iviikely lives in the swamps adjacent to the river “The tracks were 9 or 10 inchesin diameter,’ said Mackal, who. sought the Loch Ness monst decade. “At first we thought it was an elephant foutprint, but the brush on ull sides of the trail was squashed and flattened. Noelephant does thi It could have been a crocodile, 17 (But) the branches were broken 5,6 inches off the ground, Ne known crocodile is that large.Scientists seek forgotten worlds CHIC \GO (AP) — Roy Mackal has wandered through steamy, unin habited jungles searching for dino- SUS, aiid he's journeyed to distant waters fooking (or sea. monsters. Now he and his fellow scientists aare joining forces, hoping to redis: cover forgotten worlds Mackal 1s among a unique group of scientific Sleuths who hope to prove that sauropods, apemen and the Loch Ness monster roam Karth. The scien tists belong to the recently formed In ternational Society of Cryptozoology, an organization of about 300 members formed to explore the science of un known. of unexpected animals The society — primarily for seien- lusts — includes paleontologists, biolo- gists and anthropologisis from France, Chuna, South \rica and the United States: They represent some of the biggest and best institutions of the science world: the Smithsonian, the Darwin Museum in Moscow, the Peking Natural History Museum What they have in common is a spirit of adventure and a desire to probe reports of creatures believed to have vanished eons ago. We're interested in solving mys- teries — regardless of the outcome,” said Mackal, a University of Chicago NOS Mackal holds model of dinosaur. AP Loserphoto biologist, society co-founder and a di- rector of the Loch Ness monster in- vestiyations. Many of the mysteries have been controversial for decades. But J. Richard Greenwell, society secretary:treasurer. aid. “People haven't ‘been communicating with each other. There's been a gap be- tween whal’s represented in the field and the scientific community. The society will bridge that gap” WISGONSIN STATE JOURNAL, Madison, WI Auge 27) 1962 GR: R. Heiden ‘That's not to say “all these ant mals exist,” Greenwell said “It should be investigated just ke any other controversial topic Mackal and Greenwell do not see themselves as monster hunters, ‘We know monsters don exist” Greenwell said. “But the larger the anumal, the more resistance there 1s to ils existence on the part of scientists If an anumal i 2 oF 3 feet, they shrug their shoulders After 1010 12 feet, peo- ple begin applying the label monster. But i's entirely in their minds. Some of the creatures that in true them most last known wereto have walked Earth millions of years ago. One may be the sauropod. dino- Saur — oF mmiueig mbembe, 4s this animal has been dubbed by villagers 1m the Congo. Mackal and Greenwell journeyed there in search of a red: dish-brown creature that witnesses desenibe as being 30 feet tall with a Jong neck, head, tail, heavy legs with claws and, sometimes, a mane, ‘They did not see the animal — which fits the deseription of a dino- saur extinet for 60 million years — but did spot unusual footprints. “Tt was preity damn exciting.” Mackal Sard, Still, he said, that's not proof “If Uns is a real animal. it could be a large lizard” Mackal said. “We al- ways assume there is a simple, non- sensational explanation We have to be pushed. We're not stuffed sturts. But we do keep our feet on the ground” So the Society, which hopes to or- ganze expeditions financed by contre butions, will seek evidence and study photographs, sonar trucks, footprint casts and lissue and hair samples ‘The scientists know the chances of discovery are extremely remote Mackal said that his years of prob- ing have not been without success Once, on a boat during his Loch Ness probe, he said he spotted a large black arumal that broke through the water. “1s shan was black with wnakies. It was twisting left to night.” he said Mackal is convinced that the ani- mal was a primitive whale. Such sightings are not the only in cidents that are encouraging. Aer all, Mackal said, the gorula was ac- cepted only inthe 18s and the pygmy hippopotamus in 1913. In 1978, the megamoulh, a new species, genus and family of the shark, was found. The society has several reports of “unexpected animals” it wants to in- vestigate, including octopi spanning 190 feet and sea serpents that may represent primitive whales known a3 archaeoceles, believed to be extinct for 20 million years. ‘And the society will probe tales of the yet the sasquatch, the alma oF the wildman — all versions of haury, human-like creatures reported in Ue Himalayas, the Soviet Union, China and the United States 19