What Was It? Strange Winged Creature in Arizona

I received the following email from J.B.C. in Mesa, Arizona. They describe an unknown winged creature that was perched at their home. Tell us what you think this cryptid may be:

Hello, Lon and all;

I enjoy reading your blog, though I am not the type who sees a UFO or spiritual entity every time there is a shadow or flash, I am open-minded and respectful of others. I have had my share of strange experiences, and hardships, but now I am a happily "normal" wife and mother just about to turn 30.

The experience I'd like to share with you happened in the summer of 2002. I was 20, still living at home in a rental in east Mesa, Arizona with my 18 year-old brother and my mother. As you may know, Arizona has a typically 6 month long scorching, dry summer climate, and being a transplant from beautiful Northern Cali it was hard for us to adapt.

Anyhow, it was a hot summer night in late May or early June. My brother had just graduated high school and I was working full time during the day. We spent our evening talking and laughing and playing music, it really was a memorably enjoyable night. At about 10:30 I noticed that the front porch light had again burned out, as it had been doing for about 18 months prior to that. In fact, both of the lights over the driveway and 3 lights in our backyard were continually ceasing to function and it seamed I was always buying bulbs and expensive strobe light bulbs. I don't know if this is some how connected to what happened next.

First I must add that our front door was set back into the house with the garage protruding. Our front yard was much deeper than the backyard and was over shadowed by 3 velvet mesquite and a china berry tree, and various species of cholla cacti. So the street light did little to penetrate the den of darkness.

I turned the lamp light to my bedroom which was really an office nook right next to the front door, which had a large latticed picture window with run-of-the-mill blinds. I opened the blinds and the light flooded the wall of the garage. What I saw made my skin crawl. There on the stucco wall was some "thing". It was only about 10 to 12 feet from where I was standing. The only way to describe it was that it looked like a giant headless moth. I called my brother over excitedly. I clearly remember our conversation.

"What do you suppose that is?"

"I have no idea! It must be a bat of some sort."

"But we only have micro bats here in Arizona. And I have always heard that bats hang upside down."

"I guess it could be a giant moth. We do live in the desert."

"I thought moths were attracted to light. The lights are all burnt out again".

We talked for a moment and stood next to the glass panes adjacent the front door, the bedroom light illuminating all the while, and the "thing" did not stir or move. We decided it was about 18 inches to 2 feet long from blunt top to winged bottom. It was very clear yet very dark, almost black, no antennae visible. It hung on the wall like a moth but was about the size of a medium-sized fruit bat, which I believe only exist in Asia? It was about five or six feet off the ground. My mother came and had a look and shuddered and refused to stand near the door. We were both young and curious and my brother said "Let's go have a look at it then." We swung the door and security screen open and he took a step over the door jam. I was suddenly struck with an unreal, unearthly fear and grabbed his shoulder. He looked back at me and later said I had the most wholly terrified look on my face that he had ever seen. I am afraid and tingly even writing this. Without a word he stepped back inside and we locked both doors and closed the blinds and camped out in the living room, only going to sleep after several thoughtful conversations.

The very next morning at sun up I went out to the wall with a tape measure and my brother and mom stood at the door and directed me as to where and how high and how long this thing had been planted. There was no trace of anything, the dust on the stucco looked the same all around, no residue or anything. When they were both satisfied with the positioning I read the tape measure: 28 inches. My mother walked back into the house and has absolutely refused to speak of it since.

My brother and I are both keenly interested in animal/insect/plant life via books, and media, and I have taken an MCC course in Southwest biology, and neither of us have ever seen or heard of anything matching its description. My husband was raised here and said the only thing he could think of that size was an owl, but this was no owl. What was it? Perhaps it is a real animal we could not identify. Has someone had a similar experience or know what it could be? We are not exaggerating people, we are level-headed and analytical. Thank you for your time.

Best wishes,
J.B.C., Mesa, Arizona

NOTE: OK folks...any idea what this was? Possibly a young thunderbird or other cryptid? Described as headless...possibly a juvenile Mothman? Tell me what you think...Lon

A Recollection of Mothman-Like Accounts

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by a paranormal blogger who asked about the many Mothman-like encounter reports I receive and, in particular, which accounts I thought were the strangest. Of course I recounted the Conewago Phantom sighting and New Sighting of the Conewago Phantom as well as the The North Georgia Mothman. But there were two encounters that have stuck with me...one was reported directly to me and the other was a case reported by Prof. Ana Luisa Cid. I have once again posted those experiences:

The following account was referred to me by the Munroe Falls Paranormal Society. None of the report has been edited...Lon

MFPS was contacted by a person who had an extremely odd sighting of an entity here in Stow, OH an adjacent community of my hometown. Witness' wife contacted me with story and after several days of negotiation, witness agreed to meet with me, recreate the events and answer questions. Witness extremely hesitant, but wife persuaded him to give story. Night of 9/14/09 witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, but name and other vitals on record, was driving to work, 10:15pm, Northbound on Hudson Drive. As witness drove under the RT8 overpass bridge, just north of the Hudson Drive Applebee’s Restaurant, he sighted a 9-10′ tall solid black entity standing on the southbound side of the road. No discernible head or facial features noticed. Duration approx. 5-10secs. Distance approx 15-20′ from his vehicle.

Witness had the feeling the entity was watching him and was “there” for him only. No other vehicles/persons present during sighting. Immediately after turning his head back to the road, he looked in rearview mirror, entity no longer visible. Did not see entity depart or disappear. Witness became extremely upset and scared. Felt that he paled, and his eyes began to water uncontrollably. First thought was to turn around and go home, calling off of work. He tried to call his wife at home, but cell phone would not work, either from the programmed address book, or manual input calling. Kept getting “call failed”, which has never happened before. Cell phone continued to be affected all the way to the I-271 entrance ramp, approx. 8-10 miles up the road. Witness did make it to his job, but has since regretted not turning around and going home, due to his state of mind. The experience was traumatic in every sense of that word. It was a “bad” night for him at work.

Weather was clear, starry. No other known witnesses, no animal sightings. Other than the uncontrollable watering of the eyes, no other physiological or physical effects on his person. Other than the cell phone not working, no other effects noticed on inanimate objects, such as streetlights, car, or timepiece (watch). There was no religious interpretation, no known memory lapse, no dreaming related to sighting as of this report. Witness did report close encounter with UAO as a ten year old when he lived in Akron, other than that, no overt paranormal experiences were reported during his normal daily life. Witness tried to box his sighting into something prosaic. Closest he could come was an electric company canvas transformer covering, but on reflection, he’s certain that that was not what he observed. Entity too tall, too big for that. Witness stated that immediately after the sighting he became more and more agitated and scared the further he drove along. Distinct feeling that the entity was waiting for him and possibly following him, but he did not see it again, that night. No disturbances at witness place of residence. The following day on his way home, as he neared the RT8 overpass, this time driving over the bridge he went under the day before, as he approached the bridge area, his eyes began to water uncontrollably once again, as he drove over the bridge and his eyes continued to water, until he passed beyond the bridge, then his eyes began to clear up.

Witness provided me a pencil drawing of what he observed. When I first saw the drawing I was incredulous. The drawing bears an uncanny resemblance to the original drawing submitted by the original MOTHMAN witness of Point Pleasant WV, 1966. Witness willing to keep me informed of any further sightings or activity. I believe I have gained his trust, as I mentioned he wasn’t really interested in coming forth with this. My intuitive reaction is that witness is extremely believable and honest in his testimony. No outrageous embellishments to either his story, which I made him relate twice, nor to his drawing, which was really rather simple in nature.

So in the end, no answers at this point, but the eerie drawing he provided and it’s uncanny resemblance to the MOTHMAN legacy are very much intriguing. I will continue to correspond and follow up with witness periodically and will be anxiously awaiting to see if any other sightings are reported in this vicinity that might validate this entity’s appearance.

**********


Date: April 10, 2009

Mexico: State of Chihuahua Terrorized by "Man-Bat"
A Report By Prof. Ana Luisa Cid

***Creature has wings and its face is covered in fur***

According to information supplied by Ing. Francisco Prieto Torres, residents of La Junta, Guerrero (Chihuahua) have reported the appearance of a "Man-Bat".

They describe it as a very tall entity, standing some 2 meters tall, with two pairs of wings (one pair larger than the other). Its face is covered in fur and has red, bloodshot eyes. Also reported are a pair of small, kangaroo type hands that it held loosely, as though it lacked any strength in them.

The main witness is a young student at Universidad Regional del Norte, whose name is being kept confidential, and who claims that the strange humanoid chased him for 15 minutes on the evening of March 6.

The witness was driving a Liberty back to his home after his studies, when he saw a bulk on the roadway asphalt resembling a hunched-over man who seemed to be covered in a blanket. The figure suddenly stood up, taking two leaps forward and displaying a set of wings similar to those of a bat. The young man floored the accelerator in an attempt to flee, but the strange creature flew with great power, keeping abreast of the vehicle and looking in through the passenger window.

"Those were 15 minutes of maximum despair," he said.

This report has been made known on local radio and in the print media, such as El Heraldo de Chihuahua.

Ing. Francisco Prieto has already located the place where the young man's father works and he wishes to interview him himself. If this is achieved, he will be forwarding the materials to me to make the entire ordeal known. It should be added that the family is known for being respectable and are held in high esteem in the community. Local radio has reported that that a photo of the "Man-Bat" exists, although no further details have been provided.

Other Witnesses

Angela Mendez and Viviana Ledezma are two women who claim to have heard the humanoid squealing amid the screns of an apple grove near the Miñaca Cemetery.

The Authorities

A joint mission was undertaken by members of the Police and Civil Defense of the Municipality of Guerrero in the State of Chihuahua. Socorro Rodriguez Erives reported that after researching several locations it was not possible to find the whereabouts of this strange entity. According to initial reports, the flying entity had its lair in the caves of the mountainous area of the Miñaca region. Despite their best efforts, no trace of the creature was found. Many think that it was just a myth, while others associate it with "Mothman"

I will continue to report on this situation when word is received from Ing. Prieto Torres, who is looking into this Mexican case.

NOTE: I'm always interested in reading any strange encounters that you may have experienced...just forward a thorough and well-written account that can be used on the blog. Thanks...Lon

Spirit Rescue International™
Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance
Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind

The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum
*Join Our Group On Facebook*

Join Eric Altman and Lon Strickler each Sunday at 8 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing

Join the
The Social - Paranormal Network

A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH
THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION

ANOMALIST BOOKS
Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog

Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook



"The latest news from beyond the mainstream"
Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcasts!
Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!

Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!

CLICK THE BANNER TO USE YOUR
20% OFF COUPON CODE!

Amazing technology that allows us to print almost anything in light!

Update: What Was Seen Flying Before Russian Rocket Crash?

UPDATE: photo (above) that was published in the Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario) online edition

This photo was forwarded to me...it is supposed to be Karakoksha, the village near the rocket crash site

I received an interesting email this morning from Yevgeni in Riga, Latvia. I may regret posting this but here it is for you to peruse and judge. It has been edited for spelling though I left it mostly intact:

"My brother lives 3 kilometers east to Karakoksha in Altai Rep. Russia the area around where rocket crashed. Please be known that they had many sightings of two large birds about 1 week ago. They were not identified but were seen by people in area many times last week. A man says it was just like a mothman from US and because it had red eyes and bat wings and shaped like a human man. He say this mothman comes before bad times or disasters. Maybe this is what we have. I live in Riga, Latvia but am in contact with him each day. Yevgeni N."

Russian Altai Republic in dark blue

I also receive a email from a reader in Canada who saw a dark anomaly in a photograph (below) of the Progress cargo rocket that was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan...the same rocket that crashed minutes later in the Russian Altai Republic.

I have looked at other launch photos and have not noticed the anomaly. Below is a recent news report on the launch and crash:

Villagers around Russian rocket crash say they're sick

Villagers living in the vicinity of a Russian rocket crash are complaining of ill health possibly caused by toxic space debris, officials in Russia's Altai Republic says.

Eight residents of the remote central Asian Choisky district were found to have developed similar symptoms after a Progress rocket booster smashed into Taiga forest after a failed Wednesday space shot, staff at a local hospital said.

All lived in the vicinity of the village Karakoksha and were suffering from increased blood pressure, coughs and fever, Interfax reported.

A Progress cargo rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in neighbouring Kazakhstan on Wednesday evening left its planned trajectory and, breaking into pieces, crashed some 1,500 kilometers downrange.

The third stage of the booster struck ground in the Altai's Choisky district. An estimated 1.5 tons of highly-toxic liquid fuel was likely still on board, according to local news reports.

Exposure to the fuel could cause headaches, nausea and breathing difficulties.

Russian mission control officials sometimes rely on the help of residents of Russia's Central Asian and Siberian districts, the main landing area for Russia's space programme, to locate space objects returning to Earth.

But health officials denied there is a link between the Progress rocket's crash and possible health problems of Altai district residents.

"We have checked the area and waterways in the vicinity, and our tests have shown there has been no contamination," said Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief health inspector, in comments to Interfax. "These complaints must have some other cause."

The Progress rocket crash destroyed a Russian government GLONASS navigation satellite. The failure followed an August 18 launch by a Proton rocket, also from Baikonur, which caused the total loss of a Russian government communications satellite by placing it in an incorrect orbit.

Russia's national space agency has announced a wide-reaching investigation into the country's rocket fleet and the Baikonur cosmodrome, as a result of the two accidents. - timeslive

NOTE: If other images or information surfaces, I will update...Lon

What Was Seen Flying Before The Russian Rocket Crash?

This photo was forwarded to me...it is supposed to be Karakoksha, the village near the rocket crash site

I received an interesting email this morning from Yevgeni in Riga, Latvia. I may regret posting this but here it is for you to peruse and judge. It has been edited for spelling though I left it mostly intact:

"My brother lives 3 kilometers east to Karakoksha in Altai Rep. Russia the area around where rocket crashed. Please be known that they had many sightings of two large birds about 1 week ago. They were not identified but were seen by people in area many times last week. A man says it was just like a mothman from US and because it had red eyes and bat wings and shaped like a human man. He say this mothman comes before bad times or disasters. Maybe this is what we have. I live in Riga, Latvia but am in contact with him each day. Yevgeni N."

Russian Altai Republic in dark blue

I also receive a email from a reader in Canada who saw a dark anomaly in a photograph (below) of the Progress cargo rocket that was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan...the same rocket that crashed minutes later in the Russian Altai Republic.

I have looked at other launch photos and have not noticed the anomaly. Below is a recent news report on the launch and crash:

Villagers around Russian rocket crash say they're sick

Villagers living in the vicinity of a Russian rocket crash are complaining of ill health possibly caused by toxic space debris, officials in Russia's Altai Republic says.

Eight residents of the remote central Asian Choisky district were found to have developed similar symptoms after a Progress rocket booster smashed into Taiga forest after a failed Wednesday space shot, staff at a local hospital said.

All lived in the vicinity of the village Karakoksha and were suffering from increased blood pressure, coughs and fever, Interfax reported.

A Progress cargo rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in neighbouring Kazakhstan on Wednesday evening left its planned trajectory and, breaking into pieces, crashed some 1,500 kilometers downrange.

The third stage of the booster struck ground in the Altai's Choisky district. An estimated 1.5 tons of highly-toxic liquid fuel was likely still on board, according to local news reports.

Exposure to the fuel could cause headaches, nausea and breathing difficulties.

Russian mission control officials sometimes rely on the help of residents of Russia's Central Asian and Siberian districts, the main landing area for Russia's space programme, to locate space objects returning to Earth.

But health officials denied there is a link between the Progress rocket's crash and possible health problems of Altai district residents.

"We have checked the area and waterways in the vicinity, and our tests have shown there has been no contamination," said Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief health inspector, in comments to Interfax. "These complaints must have some other cause."

The Progress rocket crash destroyed a Russian government GLONASS navigation satellite. The failure followed an August 18 launch by a Proton rocket, also from Baikonur, which caused the total loss of a Russian government communications satellite by placing it in an incorrect orbit.

Russia's national space agency has announced a wide-reaching investigation into the country's rocket fleet and the Baikonur cosmodrome, as a result of the two accidents. - timeslive

NOTE: If there is further information I will update this post. Honestly, I think this is a lot of 'happenstance' but something may come of it. I do hope these large bird sightings, if true, become part of the story when more local interviews are conducted...Lon

Messenger, Harbinger or Omen?

I received an email last evening in response to several of the Mothman related posts made on 'Phantoms and Monsters'. I attempted to keep the content as original as possible:

Hello sir - a friend referred me to your articles about strange occurrences in West Virginia. The Mothman encounters stirred memories of an incident that took place when I was a girl.

The strange incident took place near Powellton, WV in December 1934 - I was 8 years old. At the time, my father worked for Elkhorn-Piney Coal. He and the other miners from our area would take a train to the mine each day.

The day before Christmas Eve my father mentioned an unusual sighting he and the others on the train had while traveling back home that evening. As they looked out towards the east they noticed a very large bird flying above the trees. My father was a very conservative man and didn't believe in any nonsense but this large bird really caught his attention. He described it as a freakish sized owl very dark in color. It also seemed to look at the train as it flew over the trees. Nobody on the train could figure out what it was. The mere fact that my father even mentioned it suggested that it must have been an extraordinary sight.

My father was scheduled off from work for 3 days during the Christmas holiday. On December 27th, he was getting ready for work but said he felt poorly. My mother was concerned because he had a high fever and awful chills. She insisted he stay home and telephoned the doctor. My father was reluctant on staying home and put up a good argument but my mother was not going to back down. She put him to bed and waited for the doctor.

Well, we waited for hours until the telephone rang. The operator told my mother that the doctor was at McDunn - there had been a horrible train explosion. She couldn't talk but said that the doctor's wife asked her to contact us. My mother was pale when she told my father what had happened. I remember they both started praying and crying. For years both of them thought the large bird was an angel sent by God as a warning and that my father's life was saved for a reason.

My father never went back to the mine. It turned out that he had contracted polio though he was very lucky since he survived it with only a slight limp. We soon moved away to a small town in Kentucky where my father found the calling and become a Pentecostal preacher. He told his story of survival to anyone who would listen until the day he died. Thank you sir, Emma

NOTE: the disaster that Emma was referring to was the Locomotive Boiler Explosion at McDunn. On December 27, 1934, a boiler in a locomotive hauling mine workers at McDunn in Fayette County, WV exploded, resulting in the death of eighteen miners.  Interesting story...Lon

-----

The witness from Communion With The Mothman wanted to answer inquiries from the readers:

Lon...I saw the comments to my post and wanted to respond without them knowing who I am. If it's OK with you I'll give you the responses and maybe you can post them.

First of all, the one said "..wait a minute. It was December when this happened...seems a bit odd to be camping at that time of the year." My response is that it was unseasonably warm and we were coming from an area that was hours away to the north. We also were used to camping in all kinds of weather and enjoyed doing this. In the 1960's a lot of people did this all year long. The other two remarked that the post was hard to follow, jumping around a lot. If they would tell me what they needed to know perhaps I could answer that for them.

The first time I talked to a neurologist about my childhood and how bad it really was, they wanted to know how I and the others had survived it all. I've had traumatic childhood amnesia most of my life and most of that "wasn't" caused by my home life. This is what my doctors told me. They knew what I'm just now dealing with in the form of memories that are resurfacing. People don't understand when they read something for fun. They don't understand that this did happen. This creature is real and there's more than one of them. Lon, thanks for being understanding.

Communion With The Mothman

I received this anecdote from a friend who has shared her paranormal experiences previously though none of the accounts have ever been posted on 'Phantoms and Monsters'. The following remarkable narrative may very well add credence to the Mothman phenomena and, frankly, I have no reason not to believe the account. I have not edited the original text except for a few minor errors. I would encourage reader comments and input:

Lon - I've had some experiences with Mothman since the end of Feb. and its still occurring. This isn't something that can be put in with the Mothman report from Middletown, Ohio of May of this year, at least in total.

-----

In 1967, two weeks before the collapse of the Silver Bridge, a phone call came to our house south of Lancaster, Ohio. It was from dad's friends in southwestern W.Va. Someone else in our house answered the phone and dad was busy watching the evening news so he yelled to whoever answered it to ask them what they wanted. The answer was that they had some trouble over in W.Va. and needed dad to come down. He asked what the trouble was and the person on the other end said it was a big bird. Well, we'd just seen a piece on this on the news and the anchor who reported it laughed about it. Dad laughed and said that was a good one and to tell the person this and then hang up.

A short time after the phone rang again. This was when long distance cost an arm and a leg so dad asked what was going on and again it was that they had this big bird that had done a lot of damage and they needed help to hunt it down. He took the phone call then and we all heard him saying, "All of my guns and all of my ammunition?? What the heck is going on down there?" There were a couple of okays and then I heard him ask why this man's daughter needed to talk to me. It was explained to me that this youngest girl had what they thought was an imaginary friend but asking to talk with me was a good sign that she was coming out of this mentally and emotionally and I was to play along. It was supposed to be for her own good. I was nine years old and she was maybe a few months behind me. I got on the phone and she asked if this was (my name) and I said yes. I asked what her name was and she said what it was. I'd met her once before and she was very introverted and really didn't mix with us. She showed us rocks and bugs but didn't really get involved in getting to know us. That's why I was shocked that this girl asked for me by name. I told her she had a good memory and she said it wasn't her memory that she got my name from! I thought, OK, she's a bit touched as they say, LOL.

I asked where she got my name in order to ask for me and she said it was her friend who was a man - but wasn't a man. I said, "Okay, who is this friend and what does he want with me?" She began to relate that in the course of talking one day he told her my name and said he wanted her to contact me and ask me to come down there to talk to him. I said I'd have to talk to my parents first. I got off the phone and dad wanted to know what was up with this girl. I said there was no way she knew my name. He asked where she got it then. I told him and he got a little alarmed and called their house to ask some questions about this man that 'wasn't a man' and who he might be. They assured him that it wasn't anyone near them as they were out on a quiet country road with only a few neighbors. She said this friend of her's wasn't one of them. They'd checked the woods where she said she'd met with him and never found any footprints or signs that anyone had been there with her. So, because this was urgent we packed up quick and headed down there from central Ohio.

We waited in line to cross the Silver Bridge across from Point Pleasant. A cross member on the top of this bridge on our side of the river was swinging back and forth as it was not attached on one end. The bridge clanged and made all sorts of racket when a car was crossing it. I was told to sit back and rest my eyes because the sunlight was very bright that day and I was getting hot. I felt my eyes get heavy - like I was slipping right into a comfortable rest. The next thing I knew I heard screaming and found myself horizontal above my brothers clawing at the window screaming to be let out that the bridge was going to go into the river. Dad got me calmed down and asked when this was going to happen. I had to rest, I was exhausted. So, I sat back slipped once again and again....found myself across my brothers with my siblings holding my legs and ankles to keep me from going out the window. I realized I was screaming again and clawing at the window. I asked what was going on and they all said I'd been OK and then suddenly lunged for the window to claw my way out while screaming hard. Mom said to beat me for it and so did my siblings. Dad on the other hand told them to hush while he walked me through what I was seeing when I woke up doing this.

I was in a vehicle and it was falling off that bridge into the river below and I saw every inch of the fall to the water and below the water even. I was horrified when it was slow enough for me to see all of this clearly. Dad asked if we'd get across OK that day and when we were supposed to go back home. I searched my mind and saw it was OK to cross. He had me tell him what would cause the bridge to fall and then show it to him on the other side once we got there. When he saw what I'd seen in my mind on the Ohio side before we got to the W.Va. side he was utterly horrified.

Structurally that bridge should not have been in use at all. I won't go into that part but to say that I got it absolutely right on each and every count. He was quiet all the way there except occasionally he would ask me when this would happen. I remember looking in my mind and telling him it would happen in about two weeks. Two weeks to the day we were sitting watching the TV when a news alert came across to say it had fallen into the river. Mom got a calendar right away and checked it to make sure how long it had been. She cried a bit and then asked me to come over to her. She thanked me for saving all their lives. I'd forgotten all about what happened two weeks prior because it was traumatic not just for my visions but for what happened at the people's house!

I hope this helps others, Lon, but I can't have identifying information come back to me about this for certain reasons. I will continue. We drove a long time before arriving and dad went in to talk to these people as we set up our tent to sleep outside. The man came out and said to put it away because we wouldn't want to be sleeping out there with the troubles they had down there. It didn't make sense to any of us how a big bird could be scaring these people that bad but they were scared badly. While the adults got the low down we kids went up into the woods to take care of the imaginary friend thing. The older kids checked everything out to make sure there was no one and nothing to harm us when they left. We were not far into the woods and it was not all that thick with growth. The driveway was pretty wide and it was a sunny day. They all left and I put my younger brother with her brother about 15 ft. from us at the edge of the woods. We all grew up in the woods so there was nothing any of us didn't know how to deal with if confronted with it. We were well practiced. I just wanted to get this over with but the girl was being timid. She said I'd think she was nuts. I laughed and said that sometimes people don't understand but they need to give it time to sink in. I gained her confidence and so she opened up.

She said "he" would scare me if I saw him straight on. I said there wasn't much that scared me anymore with three brothers that challenged my life at every turn. She looked worried and said he was special and didn't look like us. Well, I thought he was disfigured or something but no that wasn't it either. I said that sooner or later if I was to talk to this man I'd have to see him in order to understand what he wanted to tell me. I was thinking that maybe there was some wildlife around there that she wasn't familiar with that she couldn't see clearly so it had scared her. No, she said that wasn't it either. She said I had to promise not to look unless he said it was OK. I said I didn't want to be close to him then if I needed to take off in a hurry. She said I couldn't do that because it would upset him. I let out a Ha! and she just gave me a look and said this was very important to her because he'd been very nice to her and been a good friend when she had no others. Okay, so I appeased her a bit and said I'd play along and be extra nice so I could get this over with. She kept saying not to be alarmed and said she had been the first time she saw him. She said he was very big. I was thinking she must have lost it bad.

I saw movement and there was something looking like a very tall spindly marionette up next to these skinny tall trees. I asked her how she and her siblings had accomplished that. I was laughing but she was looking at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. Then it walked out from the trees without any visible support! I was like okay, there's got to be a sensible explanation to this so I asked if I could move forward after awhile to get a better look. I told her I could take this. Well, she asked him and said he said it was OK. Before that though he wanted to talk to my mind, she said. I thought, oh my God, she's really in La La Land, poor girl, stuck in the sticks of W.Va. and she's lost it! Well that thing moved again as if shifting from side to side in a standing position. That was human like. I begin to hear this man's voice in my mind and it's conversing with me. It's all like 'happy to talk to me finally' and 'so excited by my coming to see him' ...I thought I'd caught this girl's insanity and hit myself at the side of my head to shake this voice out of my head. She asked what was wrong. I told her! She said that was normal. I had news for her but not yet! I had been ordered to see what this was about. This voice seems to be rifling through all my memories like wildfire and then downloading high quality video....like being there in my mind about that bridge falling and other things in the future. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me so I tried to maintain my balance mentally by reminding myself that I was just playing along and this would all play out to be an elaborate hoax.

I inched closer and closer to the edge of this driveway and then a drop off where the bulldozer had shoved the dirt for it. Movement caught my eyes and I looked down to see these big orange bird feet! I thought, oh my God what is that doing in the woods! I took a very slow, very meticulous look up the legs attached to these feet and they looked stork-like. The feet shifted by one picking up and then the other doing it. It was human like in movement but also bird like. I let my eyes go very slowly up the legs, to the body, ick! and then the chest, also ick! because I could count the ribs! There appeared to be scant feathers on it's skin which was greyish. It was a mix of this bright green color and greyish brown. The more I looked the worse it got but I gritted my teeth and kept my thinking to a minimum. I looked at these wings folded behind it's back but yet out a bit to the sides. I could see through them a bit but they looked leathery and stretchy. I looked at the shoulders which in truth were topped with sharp bumps which I realized were from the wings being folded behind it's body. I inadvertently got a good look at it's head and a wave of revulsion hit me and I said I was going to just back up slowly to get a better look from a distance. I think it picked up that I was scared of it. I heard it in my mind again and it was upset that I was scared of it. I explained with my mind, crazy as that sounds, just thinking I'd seen some people who were disfigured in my time and this was scary too. I'd just have to get used to it. I did want to get out of there with my life unscathed. This was nuts. This thing wanted to chat with me and I wanted to go to the bathroom really bad. I told the girl this and she said we'd have to go to the house. He told her, and I heard it too, that he knew I was scared and he was very upset. Then, he got into a part of my mind that showed what I went through at home and somewhere else, a big building in a big city that I didn't remember except in bits. He was livid at me seeing the entire breadth of whatever that was about. I told them both out loud that this wasn't right for this girl or I to be talking to him.

He said his kind didn't want any of them mixing with us because it was dangerous for them. He'd shown me where they were from, and it wasn't this planet. I was feeling dizzy and my brother saw me stagger a bit. I said I had to go and this girl had to help me down to the house, so we were going to leave now and she and I were about to be in big trouble because I wasn't allowed to keep such a secret. I got out of the woods OK and got up against their garage and wet my pants. Then I felt like I was losing control of my body and was shaking all over. My brother went and got dad. I told him to stay close to the garage because it was out there somewhere and it was huge. He thought I was nuts but I told him sternly that this man that wasn't a man but was a huge creature with wings and big orange feet. He laughed and I said "I wasn't laughing and we had to get into the house."

We all got into the house and the girl was livid with me for saying I wasn't supposed to tell and now he was angry with her. My head hurt really bad. The adults got their guns out. Phone calls were made and in short order men with guns in pickups and cars came flying into their driveway. Dad wouldn't allow me to tell mom or that woman what I'd seen...no one. I wanted to cry but felt stunned, shocked, very hard. They got me cleaned up and we all sat trying to be quiet. We tried to listen to what was going on.

That was an awful experience. The men went into the woods leaving the women with guns. They soon came back as it was almost dark. We began to see these huge stick looking figures darting past the picture window out front and then the back windows, and the kitchen door and windows. There was more than one of them. All the guns got loaded and we were put into the middle of the house. There was clawing at the roof, siding and windows. This went on for hours and I finally just went to sleep. I was hot and probably in shock so I just went to sleep.

Everything eventually went quiet and it stayed that way for hours. I woke up needing to go to the bathroom. There was a window so someone had to stand there with a gun as I went. Something came to the window and began to claw at it. By then I didn't know what this was or why it was happening. I was given a magazine and put my whole mind on it and read. When I did this all stopped outside. I got tired and quit doing that while wondering what was going on and it began all over again. We could all hear the tin being torn off the roof. I went back to sleep and everything was quiet the rest of what was left of the night.

The next day we packed up and started home. Dad asked before we got to the bridge if we'd be OK crossing it. I looked in my mind and saw it was OK. They wanted to know this over and over again. I was sure. On the Ohio side of the river my brothers and sisters began to talk about what was going on. Something big swooped down at the car and began to claw at it. This happened off and on all the way home. We could hear this thing holding on to the top of the car!! Once home I was sent to my room and told to go to sleep. Well, I didn't. I was listening to what they were saying downstairs. One of my brothers ran downstairs and said there was noise on the roof. Dad told them to go outside and look to see what it was. My brother returned pale looking and said it was a huge bird like thing with glowing red eyes. Dad said that wasn't funny. My brother said he knew it wasn't but this was true. Dad went out and sure enough he came back to say yes it was true. They were all upset and I was up under the roof that was being torn off. My family was watching shingles coming through the air and landing on the ground out back and front. They got the guns out and I was told to lay down and go to sleep. It was OK for awhile but then it started again.

My brother came to me and said to look out my window. He told me to look at these little red glowing lights outside. They were eyes. I could see huge spindly wings out there walking around on the ground. It was like they were on their elbows. It was really creepy. Dad took a gun out and then I heard him yell to me saying they were going to hurt him if I didn't say he never hurt me. I said I wasn't allowed to tell lies and he asked me nicely to be nice for him. So, I did. I told them I was OK and I was with my siblings who were older and took care of me. He was scared and we could see several of them out there near him. We saw him back slowly into the door.

I felt they were in my mind asking what I wanted most in life. I remember thinking I just wanted to run around and have fun like other kids did. I went to sleep and it was quiet until about 2 am. I woke up to the sound of my older brother's voice asking what we were doing outside with these things and what were they. How did I get outside? My younger brother was behind me and we were running through what I thought was a tunnel on the lawn. I woke up more and saw it was these things lined up with their wings arched over like a tunnel and we'd been running through them! I was horrified and our older brother saw this. He said dad had sent him out and dad was hanging out the window telling us quietly that it was OK, we weren't in trouble but we should come in because it's really late. I looked at my brothers and asked what was wrong with dad. The older brother said dad was really scared to come outside because those things wanted to hurt him. I asked how he could tell! He laughed a little and said he'd never seen him like this before and said he'd woke him up and "asked" him to go out and get us back in the house. We both dropped our jaws and said, "He asked you?"

We went inside and went right to bed before we got beat for it. We never did and the next day it was like no one wanted to talk about it. My younger brother kept asking what those things were and wasn't it funny that dad was so scared of them. My head hurt. I was diagnosed with traumatic childhood amnesia in 1983 but I have a photographic memory. Okay, so I had no memory of these things until some years later. It was difficult to wrap my head around all of this, still is. Earlier this year, end of Feb. 2011 I started to again hear the voice of this thing in my mind. It showed me ripples in a pond. I didn't know what that was supposed to be for and I was busy working so I pushed it out of my mind. My mind was being pulled to Middletown, Ohio on the map. I thought OK, what's this about, spit it out, I'm pretty busy these days. No explanation.

This continued and still is happening even now. I was looking at other things about archeology and up comes information about the thunderbird, dragons, snakes, and how it applies to Native American culture. I'm Shawnee and a direct descendant of Tecumseh. I've still got this unknown 'man' in my mind and he seems to want to chat but I'm thinking these things eat people and people have been known to disappear after seeing these things. I'm thinking I was lucky and blessed to be alive after seeing it that close twice! So, Lon, if you would, say a prayer for me. I'm still very busy with work, photography for home inspections and craft work I have at home. Still from time to time this voice is in my mind. This thing wants to be friends with me but there seems to be something important he wants to convey to me.

I just keep shoving it out of my head. I'm not so sure this thing isn't evil. I mean it did kill a big dog over in W.Va. in 1967. It or they tore it into tiny bits and there wasn't much left of it. If you'd like to turn this into a report I'm sure it would take a lot of work to take out anything that would ID me in any way. I want people to be helped by knowing that these things are real. I can't explain what they are about but I know they are real. Thanks.

Reader Response: The Ozark Howler and a Big Apple Shape Shifter

I received the following email in response to Was It The Ozark Howler?:

I have seen this creature very close to Jasper, Arkansas. I have lived in the Arkansas Ozarks for over 20 years. I never knew what it was until recently doing research. And I do believe I know where they are. I first had visual sight of one was off HWY 65 on HWY 256, heading towards Welcome Home. When I saw it I couldn't believe my eyes, I had never seen anything like it, what shocked me the most and what was most memorable was the horns coming out of it's forehead, very much cat like, but it was it's face with it's horns that really shocked me. I drove as if in shock from a car crash not believing what I saw, until I started doing research on the subject. For over 10 years, in a remote region close to Mountain View, Arkansas, you can hear the howl every single night, usually after midnight. I never knew it was until I did the research, it is very elk like, almost like a horn, but definitely a howl. If anyone is brave enough I can show you where exactly to go to hear this, and where I made visual contact.

I also received several responses to my post Witness: The North Georgia Mothman, including the following email that describes a Mothman-like entity in the boroughs of New York City:

Sir - These are true experiences from my 60 year lifetime of strange experiences. I send you these that they may help me get in contact with the others that have had encounters with these things during the times I did. There were originally they posted at my first website in the early 90s. These are both about giant bird like entities that I encountered. The first one was when I was just a child circa 1958 -1968, then the another when I was in my early 20s. Both of which I had witnesses for.

Though I mainly speak about my UFO encounters there are other things that I experienced during my life time that are just as weird. I will start with a creature me and my brother Ralph called depending on how it appeared at the time it manifested different names. It was called Mr. Gonzwell , A Gonzwell , or just Gonzwell. This was during the time we where living at that hated tenement 1530 Brook Ave.

We both were very young and again told this thing was just a nightmare so it was relegated to the status of a Dream Demon as with all things I write I do not ask for belief for that does not really matter to me I know what I say here is true so what others may believe is of no importance to me.

I write this with hopes that some one reading it may have seen this creature and will get in contact with me. These encounters occurred from 1958 thru 1968. I will list here some of this creatures appearances and behavior.

Gonzwell was a large creature of human dimensions. It looked like a combination of a man, a bat and a bird. It was covered with a fine dark gray rat like fur and had huge owl like multi-spectrum iridescent eyes. If you looked into its eyes it would paralyze you. It had a eagle like beak, and huge bat like wings. The Entity seemed to be able to stretch its neck and shape shift. It would sometimes first appear as a large black bird, crow, or raven. At times it appeared as a tall silhouette of a man wearing a long black cape, or poncho wearing a wide brimmed bowler hat he only spoke when in this form. He would with anger speak of what man kind was doing to the world. Only in this form did we call it Mr. Gonzwell. It seemed mainly to come during the warmer months.

I seemed to be the main focus of this creature but Ralph had several encounters with it also. It like all the other creatures encountered while we live there would come to, and through the window of our bed room and stand there staring in, calling to you in your head to look at it. It seemed to be able to stretch is neck like an ostrich for at times it would seem not to move from its place in the window yet be able to get its face right up into your face.

It once told me this place was its home and it did not like what had been done to it. I was a kid I thought it meant it once lived in our apartment and died and was a ghost or a spirit that was haunting the alley like the other things that came to the window.

As with everything that happened to me I told my mother of this creature and she said it was just a dream but told me how I could defeat these monsters in my dreams.
She said to just tell them to leave you alone or you would wake up and that would destroy it. That worked fine in my nightmares and for awhile the household was able to finally get through a night of uninterrupted sleep without me waking them up screaming at the top of my lungs.

Then one night while my two aunts Dutes (Ruth) and Bob (Barbara) were visiting I had a "dream" encounter with Gonzwell. In it I found myself setting in the living room of our apartment alone with the shades up at night time. Our living room had two windows separated by a twelve foot wall at night with the shades partially lowered it made me think the house was watching me through these two huge darkened eyes faking sleep while in truth it was peaking at me.

Normally I would have immediately pull them all the way down to close these eyes. Suddenly in this dream the shades were up to the tops of the window and I could feel the cold watching on me coming from them. I went to pull the shades down but knew being short I'd have to stand up in the window to do it. But for me to do this meant that any one or anything standing out in the darkness of the roof would see me as I did so but I could not take the stare of darkness coming through them. As I started toward the window, the radio came on, and a male voice on it said "Gonzwell has been spotted in your neighborhood what ever you do, do not draw the shades it's the only way he can enter your home." Now I was in a pretty fine mess. Leave them up and let the terrible watching continue or pull them down and invite Gonzwell to enter.

My nightmares had finally reached a new level of cruelty to me one fear was used to force me to face the other. I sat still in that dream for what seemed hours terrified of the darkness watching me through those damned darkened windows yet horrified to draw the shades. Stupid nightmare huh? I know it sounds like that but if you knew the trauma I had and have of darkened windows you would understand the fear caused by the thought that some one or something was out there in the darkness watching me. That was and is still a deep terror I deal with to this day, though at least I can now walk to a darkened window and pull the shades with out almost dropping dead from terror. But to continue......

Finally if just to bring end to it I ran over and lowered the shade of one of the windows. A black spot appeared on it and began to grow until it filled it then as if it was a black opened door Gonzwell stepped from it. I quickly pulled the trump card that I had use with success for almost six months by then and screamed at it, "If you do not leave me alone I will wake up and that will destroy you!" "That won't help you now" was its only response and it started toward me. I woke up in bed with my two brothers Ralph laying beside me, and Chuck at the head of the bed.

I wasn't afraid, in fact I was invigorated, I had just defeated the King of the Dream Demons. Then I saw a black spot appear on the drawn window shade which then swelled into the same black doorway I had seen in my dream and through it stepped Mr. Gonzwell who then said, "I told you that would not help you now!" I screamed as loud as I could, "Daddy Daddy there is a man in the room, there is a man in the room!" "Mattie why don't you go in there and see what's the matter with that boy I got work tomorrow." was the only thing I heard him say. "Me?!" I heard my mother say" Didn't you hear him say there was a man in the room, you go in there, your the only other man in the house, I'm getting ready to go under this bed!" That's when came the familiar chorus I hadn't heard for six months or so before then...."Butch turn to the wall close your eyes and go to sleep!!!"

I look back to Gonzwell he was bending over my brother Ralph as if to reach for me.
I must have fainted because the next thing I remember was my mothers screaming, "Oh my GOD!" I sat up and looked in time to see her rushing Ralph out of the room. Then I saw where Ralph had been sleeping was covered with blood. During the night he had a terrible nose bleed. I thought I had hit him in the nose during my nightmare but there was so much blood it covered the corner of the bed where his head had laid.
It was to be years later when I got an inkling of what may have happened that night.

We moved soon after that but that was just because we were finally excepted into the new project that were opened. This was a real happening and have become one of those stories told about the table at every big family gathering. Not one will pass that my Aunt Ruth, Aunt Bob or my Aunt Gerlene who lived down stairs did not ask
"Butch do you still remember that night when you screamed there was a man in your room?" After we moved I thought that was to be the last I saw of Gonzwell but it was not...

I had not seen this creature for years then, when I was about sixteen, one night it entered my dreams and I just lost it and attacked it. In the dream I became a bigger version of myself that I called Posey ( my given name after my grandfather).
He wrestled Gonzwell to the ground and held it down and demanded for it to leave me alone its only response was. "I only want to be your friend." "The only way you can be my friend is to leave me alone " was Poseys answer.

That was the last time I saw Gonzwell and the first and last time I saw the bigger dream version of me called Posey. Years later I heard of the Mothman and read the book. The book describes a creature that was very similar to Gonzwell and to my surprise, and horror it was seen around the time we were having encounters with this Entity.

Years later I found out that the land that our homes were built upon was once sacred Native American burial grounds. Was that what Gonzwell meant about what it did not like about what we did to the land? Could it have been a nature spirit? I was to also learn years later that there is Native American in my blood line from my fathers side my Grand mother was Cherokee. When Ralph left the army he brought me a group of books he said I should read they were the works of Carlos Castaneda.

In the Teachings Of Don Juan I was first to hear of the Nagual form that some times comes out of people, a bigger version of themselves (Posey?). I also learned you had to wrestle and ally in order to defeat it, and was how I had finally defeated Gonzwell.

Then there was its statement once I had pinned it to the floor and would not release it, "I just want to be your friend." was it saying It wanted to be my ally?
Then many years later I learned of implants in the nose. Ralphs bleeding after the night Gonzwell came through the shade. They demolished 1530 Brook Avenue and for some reason have not yet built on the land there.

What was Gonzwell?

I don't know but the only connecting link I can see in these bizarre happenings is that the area in which it manifested was all once considered sacred lands. In fact all the areas I lived in, in the Bronx may have at one time been just that. Could this be the reason for the many kinds of encounters of Entities, sightings of UFOs, and strange phenomena that I had while I was living in the Bronx?

If that is so then why am I still dealing with the same phenomena now that I live in Brooklyn? This is something I think should be looked into by investigators of the paranormal. It's too bad that these lands were destroyed and built upon so long ago but it seems they have maintained their energy field or what ever it is that draws these things despite Man's ignorance, indifference to, and wanton destruction of these one time ancient and sacred sites. What do you think?

NOTE: I'm not going to comment on these revelations but I'm sure the readers would welcome your thoughts...Lon

Flying Cryptids: Anthology of Readers' Encounters

Dale A. Drinnon from the Frontiers of Zoology posted an interesting piece titled Thunderbirds in Indiana referencing the discovery of a huge feather and the 'flap' of large bird sightings in Indiana in the mid to late 1970's.

Cryptid birds and flying humanoids have been a keen subject for me since my encounter on the Conewago Creek, Adams County, PA in 1988. Since that incident there have been hundreds of flying cryptid sightings forwarded to me...be it an unusually large raptor, a pterosaur-type creature or a winged humanoid.


Below are a few interesting encounters forwarded to me by witnesses:

Strange Bird Witnessed Near La Pryor, Texas

I’m just writing to share this information hoping that perhaps someone else has experienced this because we’ve never seen anything like it.

On Monday 09 Feb 09 at approximately 2120HRS my parents and I were traveling eastbound on US HWY 57. We were approximately 4 miles west of La Pryor, TX when my father slowed down and crossed over into the oncoming lane to avoid hitting a deer that was feeding right on the edge of the eastbound lane on which we traveled. As my father re-entered our lane we came upon a very large bird, gray in color, with a wingspan we estimate to be about 8-10 feet wide and had no visible feathers. We estimate the wingspan based on the width of the car in which we traveled.

We were driving in a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer which is slightly wider than 66”. It appeared the bird was either resting on the road as we came up to it and it flew to avoid us, or the bird was flying very low to the ground and quickly gained altitude to avoid being struck by our vehicle. My father stopped the vehicle as soon as he could and we got out to look for the bird, but our search of the sky turned up fruitless. Thank you for taking the time to read our experience.

J. Burciaga, SSgt, USAF

-----

Unknown Flying Entity

The encounter occurred on July 6, 2005 at about 11:30 pm. I had a long day in San Diego then afterward going to the beach at Del Mar, CA for some surf fishing. I arrived at my home in San Marcos about 11:00 pm. After cleaning my fish and showering, I was very tired. I went out to my carport for a smoke and a look at the night sky. I looked north, thinking about a recent UFO sighting and wondering what it's all about. In the distance, at a couple hundred feet, I saw a faintly visible moving object that flitted from side to side. Whatever it was, it reflected light from the streetlights. It's side to side movement was so quick, I couldn't tell if it was one object or two. The object then zipped directly over my neighbors house across the street. By this time, I was certain I'd never seen anything like it. It continued to move side to side, in a space of approximately 50 feet. It then stopped and I observed it more clearly.

It may have had big "eyes" and wing-like appendages, and was probably 2 to 3 feet in width. It remained still and I could see wavering reflections from it's "wings" which were not beating like a birds, but showed shimmering reflections from the streetlights. I felt the hair on my head rise all the way down my back to my ankles! It appeared to be looking at me, as I smoked my cigarette. I felt threatened, and said out loud, "I see you!" Then it went from stationary to out of sight, right over my head in an instant. I came out from under my covered carport, and turned to follow it's movement. Immediately, it zipped into view directly above my head, obviously studying me! I could see really weird large and intensely dark "eyes". It seemed surprised by my looking right at it. It didn't like being seen. My apprehension rose even higher. It turned away and disappeared like a shot.

It had a birdlike shape, but was thicker. My impression was of reflections of the streetlights on wing-like appendages, and big dark eyes!

It wasn't a bird, bat or any familiar nocturnal creature. It's movements did not seem explicable in comparison to any creature that fly's by beating it's wings. The hills and mountains are so rugged and inaccessible near my home, that anything could remain hidden and make night time forays at will. I read about "thunderbirds" but I'm not sure if this was one of these.

-----

Large Flying Creature - Medina River, Texas

I received this email from a man who lives west of San Antonio, Texas near Medina Lake. He states he witnessed a large flying creature last evening (August 11, 2009). He has requested that his full name be withheld at the present time. (Note: edited for typos only)

Dear Sir. I witnessed a large flying creature this evening that I cannot identify. I found your site during a search. I'm apprehensive of mentioning it to any friends or family until I can get a grip on what this was.

I live west of San Antonio, TX near Medina Lake. Today, I was on a random outing to the area near the Diversion Lake dam. At about 7:30 pm, I was on my way back up the trail when I suddenly heard a loud awful scream coming from below the dam downstream. It sounded like an owl but lasted longer and was much louder. I stopped walking and watched downstream to see if I could catch a look at what caused the sound.

I then noticed a large flock of birds flush out of the trees near the riverbank. Then suddenly this giant flying creature swooped down into the river valley and just as quickly flew back up into the rocks. I continued to watch but did not hear or see it again. I call it a creature because it looked nothing like a bird. I was about 50 yards from it and would say conservatively that it's wing span was 15 ft. or so! It was dark colored and had a very long beak and a strange long thin tail. This sounds crazy, but it actually resembled one of those flying dinosaurs though the head was not as large and it looked like it had feathers.

I got back home and looked on the internet for examples of bird species but found nothing close. I'm not originally from this area and have never heard of anything like this. That is why I'm contacting you. Do you have an idea what it was? I see you have a website, maybe someone who reads your site could help identify it.

JJ

-----

Winged Manta Ray Shaped Cryptid - Near Ashton, WV - 12/3/2004


I received the following email in reference to my post The Mothman Cometh: John Keel's Reports on August 13th. Much of this was included in a piece written by Chris Holly, but there have been a few changes. Note...click images for larger version:

Hi Lon, thanks for responding so quickly. Here are my drawings and report. Chris Holly reported my story pretty much verbatim, so I will repeat it here for you in a slightly different form.

Date: Dec. 3, 2004

Time:6:00 - 7:00pm

Weather Conditions: clear and already dark. Moon hadn't risen yet

Location: Traveling south on Rt.2 in WV from Point Pleasant to Huntington WV. Near Ashton WV (see map)

A friend and I were traveling on Rt. 2 towards Huntington WV. I was on my way to set up my booth for an art show and my mind was occupied with the booth set up and show logistics. We had just gone over the railroad tracks outside of Ashton WV and were on a long straight stretch of road. There was distant oncoming traffic and the headlights were on. There were no cars behind us in sight. I was in the passenger seat and my friend was driving. I noticed a sudden movement in the sky over the Ohio River to my right in front of the car. It was a greyish, smooth, winged shape. the shape swooped in a figure 8 in front of the windshield and then was suddenly gone to the left of us. It didn't fly out of sight, it was just gone. This happened very quickly, but as I am a visual artist, it was impressed into my memory banks!

Size: Bigger than the car. The wingspread was wider than the 2 lane road we were on. The wings seemed to stretch wider somehow as it did the figure 8 swoop. It was never more than 25 feet away from us as it flew towards the windshield. We thought it was going to crash into the windshield! At one point during the swoop it was only about 5 feet off of the pavement.

Color: Grey, translucent like a jellyfish. As it banked and swooped I could see many angles of it and somehow it looked more transparent as it turned some parts to us. I immediately thought it was like a manta ray. The body was flattish like a manta ray or a bat. The wings were long and smooth and sort of pointed at the tip. I saw no texture or roughness on it, only smooth surface.

Characteristics: Only body and wings- no head, eyes, tail, or feet. It did not look humanoid in any way. On the other hand, it wasn't a bird either. It moved more like something in the ocean would move - Did not flap the wings like a bird, or flutter them like a bat, but stretched them instead. My friend (who alas passed away a year ago) said to him the wings looked ragged like there were pieces coming off of them.


He also said he got a good look at the underneath and it looked grey and smooth. This absolutely was not a machine! It was articulated like a living creature and seemed like something organic.

As I look back on this sighting, I wonder if it was something playing with us - It happened so quickly that the only scary part was when we thought it was going to crash into the windshield. It was so beautiful and strange! It reminded me of a sea creature more than anything else, maybe our air is like water to them.

The only other time in my life I have ever seen anything remotely similar was in 2000 in Clay Co. WV, driving along a one lane road along the Elk River (a river was present in both instance -I just realized) In that case, I was alone and for about a mile as I drove, I kept noticing a shimmer in front of the car about 15 feet ahead of the car. This was late morning in the summer. It preceeded the car at the same distance for several minutes, then I noticed a shadow on the road too, large and shaped sort of like a bird. I looked up out of the windshield and there was a large crow flying above me. But what I first saw in front of the car was not a shadow, it was a disturbance in the air in front of my car that looked like a heat mirage sort of but was very close. This was a curvy country road right by the river. I had never seen heat mirages on that road before or since. At the time I thought that it was just sort of weird, then very close to that time I had a very lucid dream that I was in my car flying over the river right near the place where I saw the shadow.


As an artist, my mind is open to many possibilities and explanations - I think the unseen world is just a small vibrational frequency away. As a child I was fascinated by fairies and nature spirits and spent a lot of time alone outdoors.

NOTE: though there have been several variations in describing the 'Mothman', this particular description is unique and most likely represents another cryptid or non-terrestrial entity. As well as the Mothman sightings, the area along the Ohio River (southern Ohio and southwest West Virginia) has had a large number of other paranormal events including UFOs, large apparitions and hauntings, native and folklore based creatures, etc...Lon

-----

Additional Ray-Shaped Cryptid Sightings in WV Ohio River Valley Revealed

I received the following email in reference to the Winged Manta Ray Shaped Cryptid post on August 16, 2010 (reposted below). I had heard that there was buzz in reference to this phenomenon recently....a few attendees at the 9th Annual Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, WV apparently mentioned new sightings. If anyone has witnessed anything unusual, please contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com:

This is a very interesting report. I've been researching ghost, monster and cryptid reports in West Virginia for a few years now. Wrote a wee slim book on the topic. We now have a growing body of reports and stories about an odd "ray-shaped" cryptid in the area. For my book, I collected a story (which at the time I thought was an excellent story but very unlikely--just too weird to credit much beyond its campfire value) about a man who encountered a huge ray-shaped thing straddling the road ahead of him. Initially it was visible only as two reddish-orange spots that he mistook for bicycle reflectors in the fog. When he honked his horn, the "reflectors" blinked at him, then the whole body lifted up off the road and sort of glided down over the hill to disappear into the fog-filled valley below.

There is a sighting reported in Bob Tweet's excellent "West Virginia UFO's: Close Encounters in the Mountain State" in which a boy in a car spots a white "furry" shape gliding along beside the car. It was described as being four feet across with no discernible limbs or separate head.

More recently, a woman and her daughter reported the "Horton Horror" near Horton WV. This was also a manta-shaped Something that glided along over or near their car.

There's an old story about something in the fog at Foggy Bottom (I believe this particular "Foggy Bottom" is an area near Wheeling, WV--since developed) in which a dog is lifted up above the fog and is whisked off--sitting on the top of something that glides away. Dog is never seen again. That story is presented as a sort of UFO encounter, but I think it fits the pattern forming for these other stories.

There are now at least three stories/sightings from near Point Pleasant and others up the Ohio Valley. Strange.

I have no idea what is going on, what people may or may not be seeing, but I think there are enough reports now to say that this represents SOME kind of phenomenon. Folks, we have an emerging Monster tradition! All fresh and relatively new! Something that is most definitely not another manifestation of "Mothman", but a phenomenon in its own right!

Hey! I'm excited! It's not everyday you get to watch a paranormal or cryptozoological pattern form almost right in front of your eyes!

Kurt McCoy
(author "White Things: West Virginia's Weird White Monsters" and self-confessed monster aficionado)

-----

Encounter With a Shape Shifter

I was with a group of people on Saturday, August 8th in Central Arkansas (out in the country) right before dusk. This area has one lane bridges with gravel roads and no road name signs. Many years ago this had been a Amish community. One of the people I was with had lived there when she was a child. We had returned to the area to go ghost hunting at a cemetery near her old home. None of us are drinkers or drug users and are all middle aged. We belong to a local ghost hunter's club, but this night, we were on our own.

We arrived well before dusk to make sure we had a good feel for our surroundings. I stepped out of the car and walked maybe 6 feet when I heard the sound of something quickly approaching me. It sounded like wings flapping, but not the same. Hard to describe really. It was on a much larger scale than I had heard before. I quickly turned around and saw this thing headed right for me. I was so scared I could not image what I was seeing. I screamed and hit the ground. It flew over my head and landed on the tree limb near me. I looked up and saw it looking down at me, I turned as my friends called my name and was running to me. When I looked back, I couldn't see it. My friends witnessed it as it flew towards me though they didn't see it in the tree.

It didn't look the same in the tree that it had looked while flying toward me. In the tree, it looked more like a large worm or snake but much, much larger. It looked as if it had wrapped it's self around the tree limb. A bird can't do that. I did look to see if there were any other reports like this area, but did not find any documented. I am now afraid to go outside before dusk in fear of seeing another one. I have never been scared ghost hunting. This thing was the most amazing, scariest thing, I have ever seen in my life. I pray I never see it again. Do you have any idea what this thing was? A shape shifter or a Thunderbird maybe? Or a demon? I have no idea.



NOTE: Sorry folks...this is the only post for today. I had a few errands to attend to and it took a bit more time than I expected. Thanks for reading...Lon

Spirit Rescue International™
Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance
Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind

The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum
*Join Our Group On Facebook*

Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and 'The Forkchop' each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

ANOMALIST BOOKS
Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog

Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook



"The latest news from beyond the mainstream"
Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcasts!
Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!

Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing

Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!

Join the
The Social - Paranormal Network

A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH
THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION

(410) 241-5974

Click to order John Ventre's new book

Phantoms and Monsters
Now Available on Kindle