Were Cryptids Mentioned in Holy Books?
Were Cryptids Described in Ancient Religious Texts?
Across time and culture, stories of strange beings have captured human imagination. From angels with eyes covering their wings to beasts with human faces and serpentine bodies, ancient religious texts brim with descriptions that seem to blur the line between the spiritual and the monstrous.
But what if some of those creatures weren’t purely symbolic? What if the cryptids we talk about today—Bigfoot, Mothman, the Loch Ness Monster, or the Yeti—were echoes of beings once recorded in sacred or mythological texts?
It’s a fascinating possibility: that the modern world’s unexplained sightings are not new at all, but ancient—preserved in scripture, myth, and faith.
Let’s take a deep journey through ancient writings, holy books, and world religions to uncover what the ancients might have known about creatures we now call cryptids.
Ancient Texts and the Language of Mystery
Long before television shows and thermal cameras, our ancestors told stories to make sense of what they couldn’t explain. Many of those accounts were not just folklore but recorded as truth in sacred writings.
When a strange beast appeared in the wilderness, it wasn’t labeled a “cryptid.” It was called a messenger, a demon, a guardian, or even an angel. Every culture interpreted the unknown through its own spiritual lens.
In the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the Vedas, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, creatures both divine and terrifying appear alongside humans—walking, flying, and speaking. While theologians often interpret these beings as symbolic, cryptozoologists see something more tangible: early encounters with the unexplained.
The Nephilim: Ancient Giants of the Earth
Perhaps the most famous mysterious beings mentioned in scripture are the Nephilim—the giants of the Old Testament. Genesis 6:4 describes them as “the mighty men of old, the men of renown.” Some translations call them “fallen ones,” born from the union of divine beings and humans.
Many cryptid researchers draw parallels between the Nephilim and legends of giant humanoids found around the world. Ancient bones of enormous size, giant tools, and oral histories passed down by indigenous peoples all seem to echo the same theme: giants once walked among us.
Were they divine? Were they a different species of early human? Or were they the ancient equivalent of today’s Bigfoot and Sasquatch legends—powerful, elusive, and only partially understood?
The Book of Enoch, an apocryphal text excluded from the traditional Bible, goes further, describing the Nephilim as corrupt hybrids who consumed humans, animals, and even plants until the earth “cried out.” The flood, according to that text, was meant to cleanse the world of their existence.
Could these giants have survived in remote areas, giving rise to Bigfoot sightings thousands of years later?
Winged Beings, Mothman, and the Seraphim
In modern times, sightings of Mothman—a winged humanoid with glowing red eyes—have made headlines from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Eyewitnesses describe something between human and avian, mysterious and intelligent.
But winged humanoids are nothing new.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Seraphim are described as fiery beings with six wings who appear before God’s throne. The Cherubim, too, are hybrid creatures—part human, part animal, with multiple faces and wings.
Even in the Quran, angels are said to have “two, three, or four pairs of wings,” while Hindu and Buddhist traditions depict Garuda, the divine eagle being, as a protector with immense strength and flight.
When people in ancient times saw something massive and winged in the sky, they didn’t call it a cryptid. They called it divine.
If Mothman-like sightings continue in the present day, it raises a question: were those “angels” and “omens” of the past the same entities we’re still seeing now—interpreted through different lenses?
Dragons and Serpents in Scripture
Few creatures appear more consistently across global religions than dragons and serpents.
In the Bible, the serpent in Genesis tempts humanity, while Leviathan—described in Job 41—is a monstrous sea creature that “makes the deep boil like a pot.” In Revelation, the “great red dragon” is a symbol of chaos and destruction.
In Eastern faiths, dragons are revered rather than feared. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scriptures describe them as powerful water spirits connected to rainfall and fertility. Hindu mythology tells of Naga, serpent deities who dwell in underground kingdoms and sometimes rise to interact with humans.
Across traditions, these creatures share traits with modern cryptids like the Loch Ness Monster or Ogopogo—massive aquatic beings, rarely seen, often linked to natural forces.
Were Leviathan and the dragons of Asia descriptions of the same type of cryptid—seen through different spiritual perspectives?
The Behemoth and the Cryptids of the Land
In the Book of Job, another creature is mentioned alongside Leviathan: the Behemoth.
Described as a massive beast that “eats grass like an ox” and has “bones like bars of iron,” Behemoth is often interpreted as a poetic reference to a hippopotamus or elephant. But many researchers find that explanation too simple.
The text emphasizes the creature’s size and strength, describing it as “the chief of the ways of God.” Some modern cryptid enthusiasts compare it to a prehistoric relic—a surviving megafauna species or something akin to a modern-day Bigfoot or Yowie.
Similar land-bound giants appear in other traditions too. Native American and Aboriginal legends tell of hairy, humanlike beings living deep in the wilderness—watchers and guardians rather than monsters.
If Behemoth was more than metaphor, it could represent humanity’s earliest written encounter with a terrestrial cryptid—one so powerful it made its way into scripture.
The Sirens, Mermaids, and the Mystery of the Deep
The oceans have always carried their own mysteries, and ancient religious writings are full of creatures that blur the line between human and aquatic.
In Greek texts, Sirens were half-woman, half-bird at first, later evolving into the fish-tailed mermaids that fill folklore today. But even in religious writings beyond Greece, aquatic humanoids appear.
The ancient Mesopotamian god Oannes was said to have emerged from the sea each morning, part man and part fish, to teach humans knowledge. In Celtic and Christian legends, mermaids appear as both omens and tempters, echoing themes of divine punishment and forbidden wisdom.
Modern sightings of aquatic cryptids—ranging from mermaids off the coast of Africa to unidentified humanoid figures in deep-sea videos—mirror these old descriptions with uncanny precision.
It raises the possibility that mermaids and Sirens weren’t invented—they were remembered.
Cryptids in the Quran, Torah, and Eastern Texts
While much focus is placed on Western scripture, other global religious texts hold equally fascinating mysteries.
In Islamic writings, stories describe Jinn—beings of smokeless fire who can appear as animals, humans, or hybrids. Some are benevolent; others are deceptive. In cryptozoological discussions, Jinn are sometimes compared to shapeshifters, Skinwalkers, or even shadow people described in paranormal encounters.
In Hindu texts like the Mahabharata, beings called Rakshasas are depicted as powerful, shape-changing entities who feed on flesh and haunt forests. Their behavior mirrors reports of aggressive cryptids or malevolent forest spirits found in global folklore.
The Buddhist Jātakas tell of giant serpents, flying creatures, and talking beasts—each representing lessons in morality but perhaps inspired by real encounters.
And in Jewish mysticism, the Ziz is a colossal bird, the counterpart to Leviathan and Behemoth, said to be so large it could block the sun.
All these beings—Jinn, Rakshasas, Leviathan, Ziz—exist within the world’s oldest spiritual systems, yet their descriptions overlap startlingly with creatures cryptid researchers investigate today.
Angels, Watchers, and Extraterrestrial Cryptids
One of the most intriguing theories in cryptid research is the idea that some beings described in religious texts weren’t of this world.
Angels appearing “in shining garments,” descending from the sky; chariots of fire; wheels within wheels—these are familiar Biblical images. But viewed through a modern lens, they sound uncannily like descriptions of extraterrestrial phenomena.
Could “angels” and “gods” have been advanced entities—either spiritual or physical—encountered by early humans who lacked the language to describe them scientifically?
In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet describes seeing a “wheel within a wheel,” covered in eyes and accompanied by living creatures that moved in perfect unison. Ancient alien theorists often link this passage to UFO or alien contact—but cryptid researchers see another angle.
Could these beings have been part of the same continuum as today’s unexplained entities—Mothman, glowing orbs, or interdimensional travelers?
Perhaps ancient texts weren’t just spiritual allegory, but historical records of contact with cryptid-like intelligences.
The Role of Cryptids in Spiritual Symbolism
Even if many of these creatures were symbolic, symbolism doesn’t mean invention. Ancient writers often layered meaning over real phenomena.
A dragon might have represented chaos, but its description could have come from something real seen in the sky or the sea. A Nephilim might have symbolized corruption, yet its size and strength were grounded in oral reports of giant humans.
Religion and cryptozoology intersect in one vital way: both are about faith in things unseen.
The persistence of these creatures—across continents, languages, and millennia—suggests a universal human experience with the unexplained. Whether divine, demonic, or simply undiscovered species, their stories endure because they touch something deep within us: the awe of mystery.
Ancient Illustrations and the Birth of Cryptid Art
Medieval manuscripts often depicted beasts alongside angels and saints. The Bestiary of Aberdeen, for example, contains drawings of unicorns, basilisks, and hairy wild men nearly identical to modern Bigfoot descriptions.
These weren’t fringe doodles—they were part of religious education. To medieval scholars, documenting the unknown was an act of reverence, not ridicule.
Each page was a testimony to belief that the natural world held divine secrets—some gentle, some monstrous, all purposeful.
It’s fascinating that centuries later, our cryptid photographs, plaster casts, and eyewitness sketches serve the same purpose: to give shape to the mysteries we still don’t understand.
Modern Faith in Ancient Beasts
Even now, cryptid enthusiasts and theologians alike continue to study parallels between religion and creature lore.
For some, Bigfoot isn’t just an animal—it’s a guardian spirit of the wilderness. For others, sea monsters and lake cryptids are remnants of biblical Leviathans. Some see in the Mothman or Chupacabra echoes of fallen angels or shape-shifting Jinn.
As technology evolves, the line between science and myth narrows. Satellite imaging, deep-sea exploration, and AI analysis of old texts have all revealed how much ancient people knew about nature—sometimes more than we give them credit for.
Maybe their so-called “myths” weren’t superstition at all, but testimony.
Were cryptids described in ancient religious texts? Maybe not by name—but certainly by nature.
From Nephilim to Leviathan, from Jinn to dragons, the creatures of scripture share striking similarities with today’s unexplained entities. They stalked the same mountains, swam the same waters, and haunted the same human imagination.
Whether you believe these beings were divine, interdimensional, or simply undiscovered, one thing is certain: the ancients saw what we still glimpse today.
And maybe, just maybe, they left us clues—not warnings, but reminders—that the world still holds mysteries too vast for even our modern understanding.
So the next time you read about a creature in the wild or a shadow on a trail camera, remember: people thousands of years ago saw something too. They just called it sacred.
