The Top 10 Most Mysterious Creatures of All Times

3. The Loveland Lizard

In 1972, a police officer was driving at night along Riverside Road, when he saw what looked like a dog on the icy road. He pulled over, and shone his headlights on it. It suddenly stood up, jumped over the guardrail, and fled down the embankment into the Miami River. The officer described the creature as being 3 or 4 feet tall, with leathery skin, and a frog or lizard-like face. He returned to the police station and got another officer to go back with him to check out the spot later that night, where they saw scrape marks on the hill going down to the river.

The second sighting occurred two weeks later. Another police officer was driving into Loveland, when he saw an animal in the road. Thinking that it was an animal hit by a car, he stopped to move it. It suddenly stood up, but in a crouched position, then hobbled over to the side of the road, stepped over the guardrail, while keeping his eyes on the officer. The officer was so shocked at the creature he saw that he pulled out his gun and shot at it. His bullets missed and it escaped but his description matched that of the first officer.

Neither of the officers filed an official report of the thing, but word of their sightings leaked to the media, and the legend of the Loveland Frog was born. Investigators began to speculate about the possibility of a secret race of lizard men inhabiting Ohio’s rivers.