From Frog to Man to Wizard: Local and Extralocal Perceptions of the Loveland Frogman 

Background

In Spring 1955, a maitre d’ driving towards Branch Hill in the early hours of the night saw a group of strange humanoids standing on the side of the road. One of the creatures shot sparks into the air with a wand and disappeared into the night. Notably, he said their mouths were frog-like. In 1972, a police officer saw a similar frog-like creature on the side of the road near the Little Miami River. Two weeks later, another police officer saw a similar figure and shot it. Though, there have been a handful of reports of the sighting of this figure, lovingly deemed the Loveland Frogman, he has lived on within the lives of the people in Loveland and the cryptozoological community as a whole. 

Despite the over 50 years of Frogman myth and storytelling, there has been an increase in media and community-based involvement with the creature since the mid-2010s. Conventions (cons) are certainly not new to the fan community, however, the Loveland Frogman Festival had its first event in the spring of 2023, bringing in members of the community and farther reaches of the country to celebrate the cryptid and the cryptozoological community. 

Objectives

Understand the driving factors for attending the Frogman Festival, and by extension cryptid themed conventions. Similarly, what is the communal value of conventions and how do these conventions relate to local and extralocal identity?

Methods

• Preliminary research was conducted at the Return of the Frogman Festival (October 12, 2024; Loveland, Ohio) and at Cryptid Con (November 23, 2024; North Lexington, Kentucky). 

• The primary data was collected at the Frogman Festival (March 1-2, 2025; Loveland, Ohio). 

• Data was collected through online Google Form survey spurred by in-person interaction, aided by a QR code at survey booth, and participant observation. 

• The survey consisted of 9 questions– ranging from multiple choice to short answer–, and it received 138 individual responses.

• Participant observation consisted of 12 hours of attendance.

Findings

Describes the relationship between citing personal experiences versus knowledge of the Loveland Frogman and Mothman. Participants were asked to describe the Frogman and iconic cryptid Mothman. Their responses were scored based on their knowledge (low, medium, or high). 

Discussion

• There is a distinction between cryptids and cryptozoology. Cryptids are the figures themselves while cryptozoology is the investigation and classification of those figures. It has been recently believed by cultural observers that cryptids were moving away a science-like cryptozoology, but our surveys describe otherwise.

  • Media is very much grounded within investigation into mysterious or cryptozoological figures.

  • Personal, although with more exceptions than Media, is mostly grounded within people validate their own experiences or interests.

• However, according to Baudrillard and the theory of Simulacra and Simulations, the festival does still operate within the idea of this separation of cryptids and cryptozoology.

  • Many festival-goers did not cite much knowledge of cryptids, but expressed more knowledge of the Mothman over the Frogman.

  • Primary purpose of the event was purchasing merchandise.

    • Much of the merchandise was cutifying or portraying cryptids in a comedic light.

  • Despite this, the speakers and survey respondents were much more interested in cryptozoology and proving the existence of cryptids than the event seemed to portray.

    • In this way, separating the two ideas allows these festivals to operate within the current moment, but also still operate within the common ideas of cryptozoology. They have molded themselves to fit within two ‘separate’ communities.

• Cryptids, especially cryptid-themed festivals, still operate under the notion of Reenchantment.

  • Cryptids, especially those related to certain places (i.e. Loveland), allow people to ‘reenchant’ their world in a way that they feel modern, scientific society does not allow them.

  • Cryptids are Genius loci (spirits of a place), and so, they facilitate community reenchantment.

References

Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. University of Michigan Press.

Laycock, J. (2008). Mothman: Monster, Disaster, and Community. Fieldwork in Religion, 3(1), 70-86. 

Acknowledgements

I want to thank Dr. Card for his support and advice, and, more importantly, offering the project to me; the Miami University Anthropology Department; my mom and dad for going along with me to all of these festivals; Molly Hearsch and Kathryn Keeley for acting as research assistants; and, Jeff Craig for supporting my research and putting on a great festival. 

NACE Competencies

• Communication

  • I had to learn how to communicate my project to people that may not be familiar with ethnography, but also learn how to communicate my findings.

• Critical Thinking

  • Analyzing survey results is not a simple process and required a lot of critical thinking to figure out what was there.

• Equity and Inclusion

  • Anthropology is naturally an equitable and inclusive field, but by asking people for their opinions and thoughts, you must learn to treat everyone, and every response, the same.

• Professionalism

  • Attending the event required professionalism, and even more importantly, analyzing each question required even more professionalism.