The Loveland Frog-men are legendary humanesque frogs described as standing roughly 4 feet tall, having leathery looking skin, and having webbed feet and hands that were spotted in Loveland, Ohio. A local man  was the first to report seeing three frog-like man sized creatures on the side of the road in 1955, and two police officers also claimed to have seen similar creatures on a in 1972.

The story of these fascinating -and quite possibly nightmarish- creatures begins in May of 1955, on a stretch of road that runs along the Little Miami River in Clermont County, just on the outskirts of a small town known as Loveland, Ohio.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., an anonymous witness claimed to have drove up upon three, bipedal, quasi-amphibian creatures grouped together on the side of the road. The man immediately pulled his car over to the curb and watched these creatures for what he believes to be between 3 and 5 minutes. During this time he noticed that these strange creatures stood roughly between 3 and 4-feet tall, were covered with leathery skin, and had webbed hands and feet. Their most distinguishing characteristic, however, was their distinctly “frog-like” heads, which the man claimed bore deep wrinkles where there hair should have been. The heads also appeared to attach directly to the body at the shoulders, meaning that the creatures either had no neck, or the neck was not visible due to the leathery like skin around the creatures head and shoulders.

Thus begins the truly bizarre and interesting legend of the Loveland Frog Men.

At about 1:00 am., on March 3, 1972 (almost17 years after the first sighting) a police officer (who chose to remain anonymous) stated that he was traveling along Riverside Road going in the direction towards Loveland when he witnessed the same creatures reported over a decade earlier.

The officer claimed that he was driving slowly, due to the substantial amount of ice on the road, when he saw what looked like a dog sitting by the curb. Suddenly, the animal darted in front of the cruiser, forcing the officer to slam on the brakes in order to avoid a potential collision. Once the cruiser came to a sudden halt, the headlights fully illuminated the creature. The officer is quoted as saying; “In the span of seconds this crouching, frog-like creature, stood up on it’s two back legs which were much longer than its front two, it turned and stared back at my vehicle, then quickly scrambled over the guard rail and hurried down the embankment, finally disappearing into the Little Miami River.”

Much like the first witness, the police officer described the creature as being 3 to 4-feet tall and possibly weighing in the area of 50 to 75 pounds. He also stated that its skin had a leathery texture and that the animal’s features resembled those of an overgrown frog mixed with the body of a man. Another officer investigated the scene later that evening. He saw no sign of the creature visibly, but reported that there were definite and distinct “scratch” marks on the guard rail where the animal purportedly crossed as well as a few deep tracks leading down the embankment.

The second sighting occurred two weeks later when another police officer by the name of Mark Mathews had an encounter of his own. According to the filed report by officer Mathews, while he was driving into Loveland, he spotted what he believed was an injured animal lying on the pavement, possibly a large wet dog or coyote. Mathews climbed out of his cruiser with the intention of removing the animals carcass from the already ice slicked road, when the creature abruptly sat upwards into a “crouched” position.

Taken aback by the Frog Man’s monstrous appearance, Mathews immediately unholstered his revolver and took a shot at the creature, which then proceeded to quickly scramble over to the side of the road and step over the guardrail — all the while keeping a watchful eye on the officer. Mathews’ “Frogman” matched the first officer’s description down to the last detail.

Later that same year, a third sighting was reported by an area farmer who stated that he saw four large frog-like creatures while inspecting his fields, which were located adjacent to the Little Miami River. The farmer claimed that the eyes of the Frogmen were large and circular, their skin was a “pale greenish-gray” and that their mouths were wide and filled with teeth. Just like all the previous sightings, the monsters stayed true to form and made their escape back into the river, from where they have yet to be seen again.

-The Pine Barrens Institute

*Image Credit: Google