Lon Strickler's Blog, page 493

'Mothman' of Newton Abbot

I recently received the following account from UFO investigator Ken Pfeifer, which was forwarded to him by a colleague:

My adventure into the unknown began back in 1990. I remember it was very hot that year in Devon and the heat wave lasted for weeks. I think it was August. I'm not sure of the exact date but I do remember there being a hosepipe ban in Devon and other parts of the country. I remember the grass being dry just like straw.

I will never forget it. I was standing in the back garden of my old house when I just happened to look up and see something black far off in the distance. Whatever it was it appeared to be descending from the sky gliding through the air at great speed. It was heading in my direction and I was having real trouble identifying what it could be. It was too large to be a bird and it looked like it was the size of a large man. I was very perplexed as it got closer I thought it was a skydiver. This is where my life changed forever. The creature unfolded its large bat-like wings and began to flap them with tremendous force. I could hear a whooshing sound as the wings of the mothman type creature made contact with the air. I was holding a glass of Coca-Cola in my right hand and with shock I dropped it on the ground. I was so scared I did not know what to do. I just stood there gazing intently at the creature. Time seemed to slow down as the mothman flew right over me casting a large black shadow on the ground around me. I got a really good look at the creature. There was no visible head on its body and on its chest there were two large round glowing red lights which I thought were probably its eyes. I could see the veins in the wings of the creature. That is how low it had been over my head. Its body was black all over and it looked like it was wearing some type of tightly fitted all in one clothing that has the appearance of spandex which had seams that ran down both side of the legs. What really caught my eyes were the boots that it was wearing. They were heavy looking, well made and had extra thick treads on them. The boots had protruding downward facing triangles that were running down the sides of each boot. This mothman creature sure was very strange looking. I had never seen anything like it before. The mothman creature flew off directly over Newton Abbot town centre and off towards a wooded area where I then lost sight of it. I was left standing shocked, shaking and paralyzed by fear. What had I just witnessed?

After this mothman incident I have been encountering UFOs and other strange phenomena on a daily basis. I have witnessed things that should not exist. I have photographed many different types of UFOs all across Devon. I have even photographed USOs entering and leaving the sea off the English coast.

In previous reports I have wrongly stated that this mothman incident took place in 1993 but I now know I was mistaken. I found some Polaroid photos that I remember taking days after this incident and they have August 1990 written on the back of them. I now know this incident took place in August of 1990 and I only wish I know the date. All the best. - JM

NOTE: The witness included the image below:


Have you had a sighting of a flying humanoid or huge bat-like creature? Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated. You can call me directly at 410-241-5974 as well. Thanks...Lon Strickler
Mothman Dynasty: Chicago's Winged Humanoids [image error]

Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles & Other Winged Beasts [image error]

Weird Winged Wonders: The Twilight World Of Cryptid Creatures [image error]

The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story [image error]

The Mothman of Point Pleasant [image error]





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Snake-Like Humanoid in the Bathtub!

“Back in 2012, I went to the Dominican Republic to spend time with my parents. I'm a very social guy so I made friends with a lot of the Dominicans as well as Haitians in the neighborhood. One night, I was hanging out with my new friends and one of them decided to tell us what had just happened to a girl who we all recognized from the area. She was a prostitute, however in the Dominican Republic that's a way of living for some women so others know what they do for work.

Anyway, the story went like this: the girl was working a couple nights ago in a tourist area called Sosua. There she met a man from Europe who wanted her to spend the night with him and she agreed. Prior to that they were enjoying the night, drinking and partying at a bar. After drinking lots of beers, they left the bar and headed for the man's place. When they got to his place they had sex multiple times and she fell asleep, but woke up in the middle of the night because she didn't want to stay until the morning. However, she wanted to get paid for her services, so she looked around but the man was not in the bed with her. She thought he was testing her to see if she was a thief and would go through his things so she decided to leave the bedroom and go looking for him. She heard the shower running and decided to go into the bathroom. When she got inside the bathroom she saw a huge snake-like humanoid laying in the bathtub!! She was so terrified that she screamed and bolted out of the house forgetting her clothes and ran all the way back to her house in the middle of the night naked. This girl I recognized and she did not want to talk about the incident and she was so traumatized that she feared telling the story to people.” - CBT

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Grandma Had No Legs

“A couple years ago my cousin got sick and became really ill. She lived on top of a mountain. One day I slept over and I was walking upstairs to her room and I saw this old lady (her Grandma) near her door and I was like, “I don’t remember her being here.” She looked at me but she had no legs! She walked right into the door and didn’t even open it. I freaked out so bad and literally tripped going down the stairs. I went up to my cousin's mom and told her about it and we went up to her room and opened the door and there was nobody in there except my cousin who was sleeping. I told her about it and she said she only remembered us opening up the door to check on her. Till this day I believe in ghost. - Evelyn Grace

Baby Morphs Into Black-Eyed Reptoid

“I have never told anyone this but a couple years ago (2014) I used to work at a Thai restaurant that was right next to a Walmart. Once in awhile, when my break would start I would walk over to Walmart. One time, I was walking on the sidewalk about midway between the two buildings and a woman exited the Walmart with a young child in a stroller. As I walked past them I looked at the child and it looked over at me - and I’m not joking when I say this - the child’s face turned grayish/green, expanded somewhat on the sides and stretched out a bit in the front, it’s eyes turned black. It glared at me, and stuck it’s tongue out at me (this only lasted a couple seconds). It’s face and eyes immediately went back to normal and it looked away like nothing had happened. I instantly knew that it was mocking me and did it deliberately so that I would see it. There was no one else on the sidewalk. It happened very fast but I remember it very clearly and think about it every once in awhile even though it happened at least 5 years ago.

When it initially happened I thought the child’s face was shifting because it was about to throw up but then when it stuck its tongue out I realized that I had just witnessed it shift on purpose. I know what I saw and even remember knowing exactly what I was seeing as it was happening. I instantly knew that this thing had done this on purpose and it was not some slip up. I have never been able to get the image out of my head. The best reference I can give is from the movie “The Devil’s Advocate.” There is a scene where the women are trying on clothes in a store and as the one woman pulls her dress over her head to try it on her face morphs into a demonic shape for a couple seconds as she looks at the other woman. That is exactly what happened to me except it sort of looked reptilian/demonic at the same time.” - Philip Erdman

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Giant Hawk in Downtown Denver

“I saw a giant bird in downtown Denver several years ago. I was standing at a corner waiting to cross the street when I noticed it was starting to sprinkle a little. I looked up and it was one of those wind swept, partly sunny watercolor skies that you might see in dream or something. It was odd looking outside then. For that time of year anyway. I turned to look at the dark clouds over an office building about 20 floors high when I noticed this hawk-looking bird. At first I thought that's what it was. But then soared into a cloud that was pretty far up and that's when I froze. You know when you can see the proportions of something when it is next to something else that you know the size of. I looked at the building and the distance from the top of the roof to the clouds. This bird was huge and I stood there waiting for it to resurface from the clouds it never did. I will never forget the feeling that went through me when realized what I just saw." - brcmack

Bigfoot Accounts in Central Maryland

I received the following report in October 2013:

I was given your link by the local UFO community concerning Bigfoot sightings.

Around 2001 or 2002, I started working for the USPS as rural letter carrier in Westminster. I had previously worked for Westinghouse at it Oceanic Plant in Annapolis for 13 years prior to that. Northrop Grumman had purchased Westinghouse some year earlier. I was called to sign papers concerning my security clearance at Oceanic after I had told them I had found a job with USPS. So after signing the papers and listening to their debrief I headed home. On Route 97 a female woman was attempting to flag me down help. She looked like a member of my art group, so I pulled over. It was not the person I thought but she said that a Bigfoot had grabbed her friend and taken her into the woods.

Without thinking I went into the woods. About the time I realized it was exceptionally stupid to do so, I spotted the a girl being carried. They were so far in front of me, I would have not have said it was a Bigfoot. A few seconds later I spotted a military helicopter in the sky and it was circling. It got lower and I saw the crew man open the door and place a weapon on a mount. I had picked up a large stick. I tested it strength on a side of tree and needed to pick up another. After picking up the second stick I could see the crew man point at me and whatever was carrying the girl.

I became very frighten almost to point I wanted to run. However within seconds a blonde girl, who was naked from the waist down, came running towards me. She rushed past me and continued running. I know the copter was following whatever had grabbed the girl. When I made it back to the road, Maryland State Troopers had pulled over. The blonde girl was so frightened she ran out to her friend in the car. She was still naked from the waist down. On my way back I had spotted her clothing and picked it up.

The police detained us at the location. I listened to the girls tell their version, but later I was sent to my vehicle. Two troopers asked what had happened separately. Later one of the troopers came to my vehicle and said "your people want you to leave now." He made other comments suggestion I was still in the military (I am former Marine and cut my hair very short).

I used to workout at Choe's Hap Ki Do from 1985 till 1993/92 non-stop. I had a sparring partner who we later learned was an FBI agent. He had told us he worked for Social Security. I picked him up from where he said he worked on several occasions before class. After we found a weapon in his bag he said he was an FBI agent. He stopped coming to class after that. Well, he showed a few days after the Bigfoot incident and said that I had spotted a biker/survivalist who was wanted by the authorities. He was indeed a huge man over six feet tall and ugly as hell and that he was not a Bigfoot. I told them I was too far away to get a good look at it. Whatever was carrying the girl had shoulders so wide that the girl's waist could easily fit between his shoulder muscles and his neck with gaps on both side. This implied that whoever was carrying her was 7 to 8 feet tall.

I grew up in Randallstown and we had heard the Sykesville Monster stories. I've heard tree knocks almost every time I entered the woods as a youth. I did not know about tree knocks until a few years ago.

I also delivered mail at the Woodstock PO for about two years. Several of the customers claimed to have seen Bigfoot. When I was delivering back then there was a prime-ape sanctuary. I know of one incident when numerous Federal authorities were at that location because of a series of Bigfoot sighting. They were blaming the sanctuary on allowing one of the apes escaping and not notifying the authorities.

I still technically work for USPS in Westminster. I am in a non-pay status, but not Bigfoot related. It is long story. Last year on my new route a drunk driver went off the road and made circles in a farmer's field. A few days later I was told some youngsters made additional circles in other farmer fields. I was told lights had been seen above fields and this was the motivation of the kids. The police came and demanded that those farmers harvest their crop where they had circles. The formers were very upset with the demands of the Federal government. It seems the Feds were worried that news media would spot the circles and made a big deal.

The day the farmers harvested their crop a policeman from Taneytown, who lives in Westminster, stopped on my route and had me pull in front of his garage. The farmer who had a field behind his home was discharging his rifle in that direction. Eventually the local police showed up and I was able to continue on my route. I had a parcel for his home. He claimed that Bigfoot were stealing his corn crop. I was told to leave after dropping off my parcel. Several years earlier while on another route a farmer had clearly faked crop circles one day. A few days later another set of crop circles appeared. I was told they did not look like faked circles and was told to harvest his crop. While continuing on my route two customers claimed to have seen a very large Bigfoot.

I had reported a very clear sighting of three Bigfoot many years ago while lost in the Elkridge area. I attempted to report it to websites in Maryland. About a year later one site responded back and took my report. I told them I might have had other less clear events. They said having a second sighting would discredit my sightings. SN

NOTE: Since I lived in the area I'm going to try to decipher some of the information SN provided. The incident SN described in the Annapolis area actually did occur. I was told about this by a local BFRO investigator not long after it had happened. In fact, the BFRO investigator stated that there had been sightings in the same general area for many years. As well, this area is only a few miles east of the Patuxent Research Refuge; the site of the infamous 'Maryland Goatman' and other strange anomalies. SN's information about State and Federal/Military authorities is consistent with other incidents in and around the Baltimore/DC metro area. Unusual sightings (UFO and cryptid) are sequestered and buried. Any investigator who lives and works in this area knows that all too well.

The Sykesville Monster sightings are also fact. In the early to mid-1970's there were several encounters (3 documented) with a Bigfoot-like being in and around Sykesville, MD. When I started to investigate the sightings after my encounter in 1981, I discovered that there were at least 8 other sightings and encounters along the South Branch of the Patapsco River during the same period. Between 1981 and 2001, there were 4 Class-A sightings within the Patapsco River / Liberty Reservoir watershed according to the BFRO. Woodstock, MD had 2 documented sightings, one in 1972 and another in 1993. It seems like there are more Bigfoot in the Woodstock area since SN was told of other sightings since that time.

There have been reports worldwide of UFOs & Bigfoot seen in proximity together for quite some time. Many of these reports have come from Pennsylvania and continue to be investigated by Stan Gordon. These incidents of 'lights, crop circles and Bigfoot' in and around Westminster, MD are not surprising. I have received similar reports since the early 1990s. Lon

The Maryland Bigfoot Digest: A SURVEY OF CREATURE SIGHTINGS IN THE FREE STATE

Wood Knocks & Tossed Rocks: Searching for Sasquatch with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization [image error]

Monsters of Maryland: Mysterious Creatures in the Old Line State

Phantoms & Monsters: Unexplained Encounters [image error]

The Patapsco: Baltimore's River of History





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Alien Landing Crew Encountered in Devon, UK

I recently stumbled upon the following account:

The event I'm about to tell you happened in January 2005 at Devon, United Kingdom. Every Wednesday evening, my little brother and I got the chance to take our three dogs out for a walk (as I worked every day apart from them). On this particular evening, we decided we would walk somewhere different, so after about an hour of walking through different fields and taking different turns, we came to some woods. We should have really turned around by then, but we decided to go on.

It was starting to get dark, but we didn't care. We felt safe having the dogs around. After about 20 minutes of walking through the woods, we became aware that one of the dogs was barking hysterically and acting in a strange way; soon after, the other two began doing the same. My little brother and I became very frightened as we didn't know what they were barking at and we didn't know where we were. We soon noticed what they were barking at.

My little brother grabbed my arm and pointed out a huge beaming light in the sky. It was like nothing I've ever seen in my life! It was extremely bright, very silent and was moving very, very slowly. I knelt down holding the dogs and my brother very tight. I felt I had to try and protect them. The fact that I was 18 meant nothing. I was just as afraid as them. It took around 10 minutes to fly out of sight, and when it did, I was relieved. Up ahead, we could see the end of the woods, we walked very fast because by now it was very dark, which made the whole experience more terrifying. Little did I know it was about to get a whole lot worse!

The dogs got to the opening of the woods before us and soon began barking again. Instantly, my brother clung to me. We slowly approached the opening to which there was a huge field, but there it was: the enormous object what we had seen overhead was at the very bottom of the vast field. We crouched down and just stared. We didn't speak at all. This time there were no lights, just a cold-looking object. It was very far away, so we didn't feel that threatened by it, but then all of a sudden I noticed something emerging from the craft one by one.

There were around 8-10 beings. We were too far away to see their faces (thankfully), but they were quite clearly prodding the grass with something. The dogs were silent, just sat watching what was going on; they seemed as intrigued as we. I seriously couldn't believe what I was looking at. We sat watching them for roughly 10 minutes; that was, until my brother persuaded me that we should start to walk back. He was right, but although I was petrified, I just could not stop watching them. I kept thinking that I will probably never see anything like this in my life.

We eventually made it home. I could not even speak because I was so shocked. Our mum and dad surprisingly believed us, but not many other people did. I don't care because they didn't see it and we did, and I'm grateful for it, although I won't ever be going there again. I just know I will never ever forget it. - bow789

Strange Intruders and Leprechan Press

The Cryptoterrestrials: A Meditation on Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us[image error]

Real Alien Worlds: A Brief Encyclopaedia: Complete First Edition: Breakthrough research into life on alien worlds using advanced out of body ... species and their connection to human beings.[image error]

A Menagerie of Mysterious Beasts: Encounters with Cryptid Creatures[image error]

The Djinn Connection: The Hidden Links Between Djinn, Shadow People, ETs, Nephilim, Archons, Reptilians and Other Entities

Lon's Suggested Reading List - Books & Films / DVDs

Subscribe to the Phantoms & Monsters / Arcane Radio YouTube channel





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Massive Birds Observed in Alabama, Missouri and Kentucky

“I used to live in Springville, Alabama. About 8 years ago (2010), during a cold winter spell, I woke up early one morning and looked out my front window. About 30 yards away, I saw three extremely large black birds by the rear fence. Two were on the ground, walking around by the frozen pond. The third was standing on a fencepost with its wings outstretched, I think to catch the morning sun to warm up. They were all black with immense rectangular wings. The neck was long, very vulture-like, but thickly feathered. I grabbed my camera and tried to stealthily open the door to get a picture, but the birds all took off before I could get outside to get a picture. I grabbed a measuring tape and went down to get an idea just how big these things were. The one I'd seen on the fencepost gave me the best measurements. I traced the wingspan on the fence and determined the wingspan was 18 1/2 feet!!! I was raised in Kansas and had seen vultures, eagles and hawks all my life, but I have NEVER seen any bird that large. I've never seen them again. I hope the next time I do, I and my camera are ready.” Rick Lambott

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“When my nephew was around 10 years old, he was hanging out with his friend at his friend's house out in the country. They were outside by a car talking, when they noticed a large shadow above. They looked up and saw a large black bird. He said it was the size of a small plane. He is 30 years old now and is still amazed at what he saw. He had never heard about Thunderbirds. I told he had seen the legendary Thunderbird. This was in Northeast Missouri. I have never seen one myself. I told him he was lucky to see one." Sharrie F

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“In Frenchburg, Kentucky I witnessed a four-foot-tall woodpecker; red head, black, with four white rings around the bottom of the wings. It was in 1989, June. It had landed on top of a building across from the building I was walking out of! Where I live now." BK

Strangers at the Door

I recently came across the following account:

For context, I'm British and live in England and this story took place when I was 15 (I'm now 18) but it has bugged me ever since it happened. This is a very short story but one that has lingered in the back of my mind ever since it happened.

I was playing video-games on a Wednesday night and there was a knock on the door at about 11 pm which was out of the ordinary and in-of-itself a bit odd. My mum was the one who answered it but, since it was so late, I came out to see who it was myself. We have a square-shaped spiral staircase with platforms as you go up each step and there's a balcony at the top which I could look over. It was also dark so it would be hard to see me, especially from outside of the front door.

When my mum opened the door, there were two men who she described as sounding German, wearing black suits. They were pasty white, tall, clean shaven and quite bulky. They didn't say anything like why they were there, what they wanted or who they were, just asking if I was home. What got me was that they didn't just just go by my first name but also by my last name (Troughton, like the second doctor, which isn't very common). My mum, thankfully, said no and told them they had the wrong house.

My mum after she had closed the door, told me that they were still outside looking at our windows. She told me to stay out of sight since she thought they were eyeing the house to see if I was home or not. After about twenty minutes they finally left the pavement but my mum was convinced they'd be sat in their cars, still watching, so I hid a bit longer. It was really intimidating, especially considering I was 15 and had never done anything malicious.

This was 3 years ago and I've heard nothing since. I've always wondered who they were, what they wanted, or if it was even a malicious encounter. Nonetheless, it truly freaked me out.

To clarify, I'm not certain they were German, that's just what my mum said their accent reminded her of. They were pretty quiet so I barely heard them myself and only got a glance of them (in the dark outside the door).

Here are some pretty good theories:

- harmless prank by a friend, calling some religious group to my house (Jehova, Mormon, etc)

- I somehow ended up on a cult's list

- Deep Web could have led them to me somehow

Judge

NOTE: Very odd account. Doubtful that these were MIB, but I wouldn't discount it. The witness can't recall anything that would have initiated the visit. Weird. Lon

Appalachian Case Study: UFO Sightings, Alien Encounters and Unexplained Phenomena [image error]

Phantoms & Monsters: Unexplained Encounters [image error]

Raechels Eyes: The Strange But True Case of a Human-Alien Hybrid [image error]

Meet the Hybrids: The Lives and Missions of ET Ambassadors on Earth [image error]

Alien Underground Bases – Blue Planet Project 8 [image error]

Lon's Suggested Reading List - Books & Films / DVDs





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Avoiding MIB & High Strangeness

Lon,

I wrote about my encounter with what I suspect was with the MIB and the encounter with someone or something I had chased thought the woods one night.

Now I want to update on what transpired after that incident.

For a month everything quieted down then for three nights my security lights would go on three or four times late at night. This happened every third or fourth week. During these activities my security cameras only recorded slight movement just beyond the lights illumination. This went on for perhaps six months. One night my ten year old mongrel dog started growling and staring at the door and even went to the window but came back and sat near me whimpering.

One day my neighbors' ranch hands rode up the service road from the area where they grazed their cattle. They asked if I had seen any strangers around because one of their cattle was to give birth to a calf had disappeared and they searched the area for three days with no indications of the animals whereabouts. I told them about the activity around my home and was surprised to see their reaction. They mentioned they saw lights often in the forest and canyon a few miles away. To be honest, even though I loved my house and property I finally had enough. I sold the house and just about everything I owned and relocated to another country in SE Asia where I bought a condo in a major city and living peacefully and well.

Thanks for your website Lon, it is enjoyable to read.

Sincerely,

HO

NOTE: The witness is referring to Stay Away From MIB!

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Trucker Observes Light

“I used to be a long-haul trucker in late September of 2015 I left the Petro truckstop in Las Vegas in the evening to make my way to Denver. I was traveling east on a very remote section of I 70 in eastern Utah at around 3am. If you've ever traveled this stretch of road you know it is very remote with next to nothing between Green River Utah and Grand Junction Colorado. It was on this stretch of road that I observed a large glowing white light in the sky through my windshield for over an hour. It was too close to be a star or satellite and was not an airplane as it sat still then moved abruptly side to side and up and down before stopping again. The object seemed to be tracking my truck as I made my way through the canyons with almost no other traffic on the road at that time. It stayed right in my field of vision through curves switchbacks and elevation changes. However I never seemed to get any closer to it. The light eventually disappeared and never came back. All I know is it was not like any aircraft I had ever seen fly and seemed to know I was watching it." Bo Darville

Girls Attacked by Huge Black Bird in San Jose, CA

“The guy that said that he Was picked up and carried (the 1977 Lawndale, Illinois bird attack incident), I believe it! Something just like that happened to me and a girl named Ida around 1969 or 1970 in San Jose, California. We were walking across the street in front of her house, when a huge black bird (just like the bird described in Lawndale incident), came swooping down the hill at the end of the street, straight at us, and tried to grab us. I remember it shrieking when it missed us. I remember the whole street getting dark as it flew over us. I also had bad dreams about it afterwards. I remember telling my parents about it and they didn't believe me and told me to quit making up stories. I have always remembered it very vividly. It cared the holy sh*t out of me!!” KB

NOTE: Here's the Lawndale, Illinois account...Lon

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Law of Attraction

One night I was thinking to myself about an experience a roommate of mine in college told me. He told me how he remembered being about two years old and jumping up and down in his crib at night while his parents were watching TV in another room. He said that all of a sudden his closet door opened up and he saw a man-like figure. From what I recall of the story he described it as “static like” in form. Basically, a thin, shadowy, nondescript man.

He said he was scared stiff and the two just stared at each other for a long time. Then, all of a sudden my friend said “BOO” to the figure and the figure got scared and disappeared and the closet door closed. He said it was such a vivid experience that he remembered it even though he was so young.

Just as I remembered this story, you guys discussed the stick man, and how it’s sightings were more prevalent in children. Creepy!

This friend of mine was very special. He seemed to be in-tune with things. He also told me other stories, like how he dreamt about the 911 attacks the night before they happened (he was living very close to NY city at the time). He told me he never heard of Afghanistan before, but in the dream he had an intense feeling of hate for this country, so much so that when he woke from the dream he asked his wife “where’s Afghanistan? Is that a real country?”

There are other stories as well. There were a couple incidents where he would “manifest” things that he needed. One day he said to me that he would like to have a new leather jacket. The next day, we were moving into a new room at the college and in his room... there was only one thing left behind. In his closet was a brand new leather jacket. It was his size. I was shocked and thought he had planted it there to be funny. He shrugged it off and said “this stuff happens to me all the time”. Antonio

Expanded Perspectives

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Giant Bat-Like Creature

“In June, 2009, in the Midlands, I witnessed a large bat-like creature with a wing span of at least 15 feet and with a body at least 4 foot. I heard it before I seen it. I could see the membrane of the wings inflate as it pushed its wings down. It was all black that I could make out and flying about the level of my bedroom window 30 ft away from my position. Never saw anything like it before or since.” Wayne Newitt

The 'Dark Walker' - Greene County, PA

I received the following correspondence in May 2012. It was forwarded by 'John' a retired Federal employee who lives in northern Nevada and who wishes to remain anonymous. The story centers around an experience John had while living with his Grandfather. John later stated to me that the property was in a rural area of Aleppo Township in Greene County, Pennsylvania. He did not want to pinpoint the location but did say that he wanted the anecdote dedicated to his Grandfather - Samuel Hill, who he considers the most remarkable man he has ever known.

John seemed quite sincere in my opinion. He decided to come forth with the account after he had a rather strange encounter a few months ago (which he did not want to discuss). John did mention in his most recent email that he was 81 years old and a veteran of the Korean War. He also stated that he truly felt his Grandfather's actions were taken in defense of his family:

When I was a boy my mother and I lived with my grandfather who had a farmhouse in a rural location in southwestern Pennsylvania. My grandfather was a handyman who also worked a small blacksmith shop in his old barn. My grandmother had died before I was born and my father had also passed away while serving overseas in the U.S. Army.

Beginning in the summer of 1946 we noticed strange howling sounds coming from the woods that surrounded the property. The activity came at night and was very frightening when the howling came close. The sounds didn’t seem to bother my grandfather though my mother and I were shaken when it would begin. The sounds continued off and on for about a year but we never noticed any animals. My grandfather and I would hunt for deer and squirrel in the woods during the colder months but we never saw signs of unusual animal activity.

One late afternoon in the spring of 1947 I was helping my grandfather in his shop when I noticed something moving around the edge of the woods near an area where by grandfather had a few junk cars and other items. It was about 200 feet from our location but I clearly noticed someone or something moving around. I told my grandfather to look. He walked to the door, lit his pipe and said nothing. After a minute or two he turned around and got back to work. About that time this thing moved into the woods and disappeared. I couldn’t judge how big it was but it sort of reminded me of a magazine picture I had seen of a large ape that was said to inhabit in the Asian jungles.

Later that evening I told my mother what I had seen. She was shocked because she knew I wouldn’t lie to her and that the howling sounds had been closer lately. I also told her of my grandfather’s response when I pointed the creature out to him. She immediately stood up and walked into the sitting room in order to ask my grandfather what it was. He started to shake his head slowly and said that he was hoping that we wouldn’t ‘see it’ because he was worried we would be scared and leave him.

After assuring him that we’d never leave him my mother again insisted that he tell us what this creature was. He looked away, took a deep breath and said ‘it’s a Dark Walker’ and said that it had lived in the woods for many years. He said the native Indians called it ‘Stone Spirit’ and they thought that it was an evil spirit who would appear when someone was about to die. The last time he had seen the ‘Dark Walker’ was the night before my grandmother died. My mother was skeptical of the ‘harbinger of death’ angle but she sensed that there was something unnatural nearby.

The howling continued each night though we hadn’t seen any signs of the ‘Dark Walker’. One warm evening we were sitting on the back porch. There were a few howls but it seemed like the sounds were further away. We were listening to the radio when all at once my grandfather stood up and looked out towards the barn. He turned to me and said 'John, go get my pistol and ammo - hurry now'. I ran into the sitting room and grabbed the .455 Webley revolver and a handful of bullets from the old steamer trunk. I handed it to him and watched him load the gun. He then picked up a hatchet and slid it in his pants belt. 'Now both of you get into the house – now!' We were in the kitchen looking through the screen door and watched my grandfather walk slowly towards the barn. We saw him turn and walk out of sight into the dark. I decided to grab my shotgun and keep it nearby. After a minute or so we heard three gunshots and a blood curdling scream emanate from the woods near the barn. Then it suddenly stopped and there was complete quiet. We were frozen and wondering if we should go look for my grandfather. A few seconds later we heard him yell ‘stay in the house until I come back.’

I heard the pickup truck start up. I looked out the storage room window and saw my grandfather drive to the back of the barn and park. Several minutes later he backed up and drove by the side of the house out onto the road. I could see that there was something in the back covered up with a tarp. It was getting late so my mother told me to go to bed.

The next morning I came downstairs and sat beside my grandfather who was reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. My mother was sitting at the other end of the table staring at my grandfather. Not long later she said ‘well dad, tell him’. My grandfather put the paper down and looked at me. ‘I killed the Dark Walker’. That was all he said. My mother told me not to tell anyone and that the matter was closed.

We never talked about it again. My grandfather lived another 15 years and my mother stayed with him until his dying day. When I grew older I moved away and raised a family. I would return home to visit each summer – and never heard another howl. John

NOTE: I asked John if he thought the 'Dark Walker' was a Bigfoot or hominid. He responded by stating that he wasn't sure. He thought it seemed more animal-like than human and that it moved lower to the ground...at least during the brief time he observed it. John mentioned that there were Shawnee legends of similar creatures but he never found a reference to a 'Stone Spirit'...Lon

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