This weekend, the city of Loveland, a suburb of Cincinnati, is hosting an inaugural festival to honor a notorious amphibian: the Loveland Frogman.
“Imagine about a three or four-foot-tall biped frog with what’s been mentioned as scaly or sometimes slimy skin,” described Brian Maxson, the owner of a barbershop in town.
He hasn’t seen the mythical creature himself, but knows the stories well.
“If you’re not familiar, think of Bigfoot or Mothman,” he said. “Cryptids are basically animals that are wrapped in folklore. There are stories that go back several decades. Some are recorded, but a lot of it is [passed down] word of mouth, person to person. And that’s how things get weirder as the stories change.”
Supposed sightings of the Frogman
The first recorded sighting of the Loveland Frogman was in 1955. According to lore, a businessman was driving close to the river, just down the road from Maxson’s shop.
“He saw three of these figures,” Maxson said. “And described them as 3- or 4-foot tall lizard looking things, green and scaly on the side of the road. When he stopped, they jumped toward the river. And that was the end of it.”
Decades later, in the ‘70s, two local police officers spotted something similar on two separate occasions.
“[The first] claimed it was standing up on its hind feet and it had some kind of stick or wand that was emitting sparks,” Maxson said. “And again, the thing took off down toward the river, and he didn't see it again.”
A couple weeks later, a second officer said he saw a similar creature. Though he later claimed it was nothing more than a large tailless iguana — perhaps a pet that escaped its enclosure.
Most recently, in 2016, a couple was playing Pokémon GO when they discovered a Frogman-esque figure.
“If you've seen Pokémon characters, you know that's kind of weird already,” Maxson said. “They saw this thing down by the water and they snapped a photo of it. You can find it online. It's interesting. You could argue one way or the other on it, but you definitely see the glowing eyes and what looks like a frog-type thing sitting on a rock.”
Celebrating the return of the Frogman
Whether or not the legendary Loveland Frogman is real, the city is celebrating its story.
“It's what makes us unique,” Maxson said. “I'm sure each small town and community also has their own unique thing. But we want to celebrate ours.”
This weekend, Loveland will host its inaugural Return of the Frogman event, complete with kids activities, a “laugh ‘til you croak” comedy hop and a movie screening featuring the cryptid.
For his part, Maxson is hosting a Frogger face-off at his barbershop, using an original 1980s arcade game.
The event is this Saturday, but if you can’t make it this year, fear not. It’ll be back every leap year.
