The Loveland Frog

The Loveland Frog is a reported frog or lizard-like humanoid creature reportedly spotted in and around the Loveland, OH, area from the 1950s-1970s. The sightings were rumored to have been investigated by both the local police and even the FBI.

Appearance: A 3-5 ft tall, bipedal frog or lizard-like humanoid having clawed and webbed hands and wrinkles and or scales on it's skin in place of hair. Other witnesses claim the creature looked like a giant frog. One witness claimed the creature appeared to be a large pet lizard, similar to a monitor lizard, which may have escaped from it's owner. To view drawings of the Loveland Frog, click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Lore: The first sighting of the monster(s) occurred in May, 1955 when an anonymous businessman driving alongside the river early one morning claimed to have witnessed three of the creatures. One of the creatures carried a device that looked like a metallic tube that emitted sparks.

Another possible sighting occurred on August 21, 1955, when Mrs. Darwin Johnson claimed to have been grabbed by a clawed and webbed hand while swimming in the Ohio river. Johnson escaped with scratches and a greenish palm print on her leg.

Perhaps the most famous and disputed sightings of the monster involved police witnesses. On March 3, 1972, an anonymous police officer claimed to have seen the creature in the middle of a road one early morning while on routine patrol. When the officer stopped his car and shown his light on the creature to get a better look at it, the creature reportedly stood up on it's rear legs and jumped over a nearby guardrail and disappeared.

Approximately two weeks later a different officer had his own sighting of the creature. Officer Mark Mathews, came upon the creature lying in the middle of the road. After getting out of his car to move what he thought was a dead animal, the creature attempted to flee. Officer Mathews claimed he shot the creature and that it was his belief the creature later died from either it's wounds or from the cold. There's one small problem, however. Officer Mathews described the creature as a large pet lizard, about three feet long. Mathews speculated that some one's pet either escaped or was purposefully abandoned when it grew too large.

So what was the Loveland Frog? Was it a mysterious and unknown creature? Or was it just a misidentified large pet iguana or monitor lizard? Interestingly, according to lore of the local Native Americans, the Shawnee, beings they refer to as "sawnahooc" (river demons) are reported to live in the area.

In honor of the sightings, the Loveland Area Chamber of Commerce hosts an annual Lovleand Frog Festival.



Loveland Frog

The Loveland Frog

Mrs. Darwin Johnson

The Loveland Frog

The Cryptid Zoo: The Loveland Frog