Werewolf sightings in the UK [phenomena]

[frameacloud]

Trigger warnings for this article: description of intimidating creature. Work-safe.

          From the Birmingham Post: A paranormal researcher's study on sightings by region shows that in the past 25 years in the UK, 21 werewolf sightings have been reported.  I'm surprised; that's not all that rare.  I expected that there would be lots and lots of ghost stories and UFO sightings, but I would have thought there would be maybe only two or three werewolf stories.  The study includes a supposedly famous creature called the “Cannock Chase werewolf.”¹
          This is subject matter quite at home in the cheesy supermarket tabloids (since it is a comment upon them), so I might as well take a look at The Sun's article about this study.  It which has a (simplified) map of the sightings by region, and has a little more to say about the creatures in question here: “Werewolves have turned up 21 times - all but one on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. A paranormal group visited Cannock Chase in 1975 - and several of them claimed they saw the snarling beast rear up on its hind legs and run into bushes.”²  That sighting might have been one described in Nick Redfern's Memoirs of a Monster Hunter: A Five-Year Journey in Search of the Unknown, but I don't have a copy on hand to check.  Anyone familiar with this?

- O. Scribner

Sources
1. Sarah Probert. “Werewolf sightings on Cannock Chase part of new paranormal report.” Birmingham Post. September 28, 2009. http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/09/28/werewolf-sightings-on-cannock-chase-part-of-new-paranormal-report-65233-24794080/
2. Nick Francis. “Where would you find a werewolf? Staffordshire, obviously.” The Sun. September 27, 2009. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2657171/Our-guide-to-Britains-spookiest-places.html

Comments

[baxil.livejournal.com]

Can't say anything about Nick Redfern's book, but he does have a blog and there's at least one post on the werewolf sightings in question (http://monsterusa.blogspot.com/2007/05/do-werewolves-roam-woods-of-england.html). He does a lot of quoting there from other newspaper sources so it might be a good start for further reading.

(Edit: fixing link)