Nikolai Sucik
Nikolai Sucik has been actively exploring matters pertaining to cryptozoology since 1998, when he set out on a five month long, solo backpacking journey across Europe upon graduation from high school in his hometown of Brainerd in central Minnesota. Having long been fascinated by accounts of lake monsters from reading Peter Costello's book "In Search of Lake Monsters," Sucik would spend a full month exploring 'monster' haunts in Ireland, speaking with witnesses and recording otherwise previously unpublished accounts, as well as documenting sightings in Loch Shiel, one of Scotland's lesser known lakes that's produced sightings similar to those of Loch Ness. It was in Scotland that Sucik had the esteemed privilege to meet up with veteran serpent-tracker Jan Sundberg of GUST fame. During the brief time spent traveling together on Loch Ness Jan kindly shared a number of strategies to employ as a researcher, many of which Nicholas to this day credits in areas of success.
After Scotland and Ireland it was onward to the mountain lakes of northern Italy to research water monster traditions in Lago Como, Lago Maggiore and Lago di Orta. While in Como, Nick met with researcher Giorgio Castiglioni regarding the articles he'd written on cryptozoology for the local paper Il Corriere di Como.
After having returned from Europe, Nick joined the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantryman and was stationed in Hawaii. While performing archival research in Hawaii he came upon a long-forgotten newspaper article depicting an alleged photograph of an alleged unknown species of giant octopus.
In June of 2001 Nick met up with Jan Sundberg again along with Norwegian researcher Espen Samuelsan in Ireland to partake in GUST's Operation: Horse-Eel, an expedition assembled to search Lough Ree for its famed lake monster. During the trip Nick had the great honor of meeting and interviewing Peter Costello, author of In Search of Lake Monsters. The return trip to Ireland also allowed for follow-up research on the initial investigation Nick had done during his first trip in 1998.
Nick Sucik, Espen Samuelsan and Jan Sundberg in Athlone, Ireland for GUST's "Operation Horse-Eel" expedition to Lough Ree. (Photo ©Espen Samuelsan)
Not long after returning from Ireland, Nick came into email correspondence with Aleksandar Trivich-Lovcanski of Serbia regarding lake monster research. Like Nick, Aleks had considerable field experience in researching lake monsters and was able to shine a light onto cases of mysterious creatures reported within the Balkans that were otherwise unknown to the English-speaking world.
Upon being honorably discharged from the Marines in 2002, Nick set out on a two month journey across the western United States on his way home to Minnesota. Along the way he made special excursions to research a number of lesser known mystery animals, in particular lake monster reports in California, tentacled water creatures in Arizona and Oklahoma, a "wildman" seen in an area of the Navajo Nation and strange stories of aquatic humanoid creatures known to the Kiowan Indians as the Tonk-yahn-ree or 'Men Who Live in the Mud.' The trip included meeting with accomplished Kiowan writer and scholar Russell Bates, who provided considerable insite as to the rift between Western and indigenous zoologies.
The matter the Nick would come to spend most effort on though was that of the reoccurring sightings of "dinosaurs" in parts of Colorado. Focusing particularly on Cortez, located in the Four Corner's region where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet, Nick brought a few recent sightings he'd collected to the attention of the local newspaper who then published an article on the matter which promptly brought immediate response from a surprising number of readers who had been familiar with the alleged animal in question. It turned out that sightings of the so-called "dino-lizards" went back several decades though up till then there had never been any effort to look at the phenomenon collectively. This mystery has since received television-news coverage as well as begotten a segment on the Discovery Channel Kids show "Mystery Hunters."
In Spring of 2003 after noting how some accounts of unusual animal sightings in the Balkans that had been collected by Aleksandar coincided with Italian reports and traditions collected by Giorgio Castiglioni, the idea was formed to conduct a collective, comparative study on trans-European cryptozoology which evolved into Europacz.com.
Nick until recently has resided on the Navajo Nation of northern Arizona where he worked with Navajo families involved in the infamous Navajo-Hopi land dispute. Currently Nikolai is an Anthropology student at North Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Television Appearances
-RTE News [Ireland] July 6, 2001 "Search for the Lough Ree Monster"
-KSL NBC News [Utah, USA] November 4 and 6, 2002 "Dinosaur Sightings in Cortez Colorado?"
-Mystery Hunters [Discovery Channel Kids], "River Dino"
Research Cited
Newspapers
-Irish Times "International team to search for monster of Lough Ree" 14/06/2001
-Irish Times "Lough Ree searchers detect large animal in the water" 28/06/2001
-Cortez Journal "Mystery Reptile loose in county?" 30/7/02-Cortez Journal "Hunting the large lizard..." 3/8/04
-Durango-Herald "Have you seen dino? Reptile eludes search" 1/8/02
Books-Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology by George Eberhart; ABC-Clio Inc, 2002.
-Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology by Michael Newton; McFarland and Company, Inc, 2005.
-Paranormal Ireland by Dara deFaoíte; Maverick House, 2002.
-Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep by Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe; Tarcher/Penguin Publishing, 2003.
-Cryptozoology: Science and Speculation by Chad Arment; Coachwhip Publications, 2004.Magazines
-Fortean Times [various]
-Fate "Eight-armed Terror of the Deep" by Mark K. Bayless. November 2001, 54(11):10-14
-Strange Magazine "Menagerie of Mystery" by Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker, # 21.
Published Articles"Hawaii's Giant Octopuses," North American Bio-Fortean Review (NABR) #5, December, 2000.
"Unidentified Canids of North America," North American Bio-Fortean Review (NABR) #9, December, 2002.
"Bodies of Evidence in Celtic Culture and History," British Columbian Scientific Cryptozoology Club Quarterly, Issue 48, Winter 2003, pp.5-6.
"Bestie misteriose dei Balcani : serpenti volanti e uomini selvatici [Mysterious Beasts of the Balkan: the flying serpent and the wildman]," Studi della biblioteca comunale di Moltrasio, 3 (2003), pp.9-12. (Translated by Giorgio Castiglioni.)
