AUTHOR’S NOTE
The history of mankind is filled with stories of monsters, some real and others imagined. The origin of werewolf legends have been traced to medieval cases of lycanthropy in Eastern Europe, the origin of vampires found within the deity myths of ancient cultures around the world. But while most such stories are legends, others remain tantalisingly within the realms of possibility. Separating the fact from the fiction is often difficult, but today’s proliferation of video cameras on mobile phones and explorers willing to traverse the harshest terrain in search of the impossible have vastly increased our knowledge of life upon this planet.
The vast majority of the creatures described within these pages are real. This might surprise some readers, but one only has to consider the dinosaurs to realise that it is possible for species to reach truly terrifying proportions without being considered either supernatural or the product of pure human imagination. From the magnificent silver serpent Regalecus glesne to the extinct ape Gigantopithecus; from dragonflies with wingspans equal to that of eagles to giant squid large enough to bring down sailing vessels: all were once considered fantastical legends yet all have now been documented either by direct observation or through the study of their fossilised remains.
Sasquatch remains to this day an enigma. No solid evidence of its existence has ever been presented, yet credible and knowledgeable witnesses continue to encounter some kind of ape-like creature in high mountain regions across the entire globe. Our species has endured enormous catastrophes throughout its history, from meteorite strikes to super-volcano eruptions to tsunamis and Ice Ages, and has prevailed. Is it so ridiculous to consider that another bipedal species of ape might have likewise prevailed in deep forests and mountains, far from human contact?
It is said that we know more about the moon than about our own oceans. Over three quarters of our planet is covered by water, little of the ocean’s mysterious depths explored by humans. Somewhere out there something lives that is unlike anything we have ever seen, because the sounds recorded by the United States Navy’s SOSUS network in the deep sound channel of the Pacific Ocean are also real. A creature with a mass some five times that of a blue whale would be an incredible sight to behold, and one that I hope will be found and documented someday along with so many others that might be waiting out there in the farthest reaches of our planet.
Dean Crawford
London 2013
About the Author
Dean Crawford began writing after his dream of becoming a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force was curtailed when he failed their stringent sight tests. Fusing his interest in science with a love of fast-paced revelatory thrillers, he soon found a career that he could pursue with as much passion as flying a fighter jet. Now a full-time author, he lives with his partner and daughter in Surrey.