Various sightings across the region in the mid 1990s describe the Sheepsquatch as a large, furry or woolly white creature, usually a quadruped, although sometimes bipedal. Finally, on December 15th, 1967, the Silver Bridge crossing the Ohio River in Point Pleasant suffered a sudden collapse, resulting in the death of 46 people. Whatever this thing was, it was intelligent enough to know what a doorknob or, in this case, a door handle is for. Denver and I spoke breifly about the report and he had also had contact with the witness. The rolling hills and deep forests of Appalachia are home a wide array of natural flora and fauna, and perhaps unsurprisingly, are also a hotbed of monster or cryptid sightings. Cryptid Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Or maybe, whatever this is a form of energy that manifests itself in strange ways. [2], The next day at work, Cockrell said nothing to his co-workers about the monster. Sometimes they can aid in holding down or moving something that is holding their interest but the are limited in their ability to manipulate their surroundings with paws alone. Though a number of individuals have claimed they saw this monster over the years the most well-documented case is that of coal miner Frank Kozul in 1929, who reported seeing the beast while walking to his home in Fairmont one night in July through the woods on Morgans Ridge somewhere in this vicinity. Frederick was unable to break away from the embrace as the creature pierced his skin with the thorns on its fingers. The game takes place in an alternate future, post apocalyptic Appalachia. The counties with the most sightings are Boone, Kanawha, Putnam and Mason, with a surge in sightings taking place in Boone County during the mid-1990s. The sculpture is adjacent to the Mothman Museum which opened in 2005 and offers exhibits related to the first "Mothman sightings" of the 1960s and Mothman's transition from rumor and superstition to a regional cultural icon. The confluence of the Monongahela River and Paw Paw Creek in Rivesville, West Virginia is the site of one of the most famous alleged sightings of what has become known as the Ogua, a word supposedly borrowed from the Delawares or Shawnees. Notable examples include: Painting based on the witness' descriptions, The Flatwoods Monster from The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Flatwoods Monster Forms (1952) - The Flatwoods Monster Forms (2002), Flatwoods Monster from Ninja Baseball Batman, The Flatwoods Monster as potrayed in the Popular and arguably awful game Fallout 76. Creatures like the Ogua, Sheepsquatch, Grafton Monster, Flatwoods Monster, and Blue Devil have also received their fair share of notoriety in the state over the years. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Author John Keel's 1975 book. Mothman, The Grafton Monster, The Wampus Cat, White Things,, and other bizarre creatures, including Bigfoot, lizard people, and out-of-place panthers! tid sighting story you would like to tell us, please visit our . Anyway, it was getting dark and I eventually found my way home in the form of a road called Eighth Street near Lavalette that led me to Mount Union Road. Did a pack of wolves escape from a wildlife sanctuary and somehow found their way here? (1971). No one heard of Ingrid that I knew . 9 days ago. Also features the first year they were each spotted and where they're from/most seen in state. The Wolfman did it to us in Kentucky, and just things you see, you know are way faster than we are. As outlandish as this report may seem, the witness is definitely not alone in claiming an encounter with a Dogman. You have to wonder, do the old mound sites serve as some sort of portal to somewhere else? In the Wii U game The Wonderful 101, the character Gimme has a striking resemblance to the Flatwoods monster. North America (Minus Mexico and Caribbean), Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. Les O'Dell is a native West Virginian born in 1974 and raised in Marion County. Entities that may be considered cryptids by cryptozoologists include Bigfoot, Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Mokele-mbembe. As Ive said to you prior, the eyes looked extremely intelligent, far smarter than any animal Ive ever come to know in my neck of the woods, but they also held a feeling that told me I was looking into the eyes of something that just spelled evil out of them. farm to try to find whatever it was that the boys had seen. This series is made to give you information on those stories, and leave the decision if they. This illustrated map of West Virginia highlights some of the state's most well-known cryptids: Mothman, The Flatwoods Monster, The Grafton Monster, Ogua, Vegetable Man, Snarly Yow, Sheepsquatch, Snallygaster, Bat Boy, and Sasquatch. I've been recently sinking my teeth into any info on Cryptids. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask features creatures referred to as "Them" invading Romani Ranch in a UFO. Appalachia is home to some potentially dangerous animal predators, many of whom tend to be more active in the fall months. Check out some of the interesting artwork. team. This monster, a 20-foot Nile crocodile that has been terrorizing residents since the initial attacks in 1987, may sound like the premise of a horror movie, but it's actually a real threat. I WISH TO COMMUNICATE. I was 19 at the time, but I respected the DUI (Driving Under the Influence) so I wasnt drunk while driving home that night. From the funny to the frightening, the sincere to the weird, there is something for everyone within these pages! Cryptid Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Join. Perhaps you're even familiar with tales of blood-sucking chupacabras and West Virginia's Mothman. The Four-Eyed Beast of Beckley West Virginia: National Cryptid Society Podcast . For more information, please see our In the fall of 2015, a Bedford County woman called 911 with claims she saw one carrying offspring . This creature is probably the most well-known cryptid in West Virginia. The entity was initially reported as being about 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide. In a letter written to Cockrell, Barker suggested the Grafton Monster could possibly be "an alien visitor from another planet". Those who have reported these sightings describe a beast of varying sizes with white shaggy fur and long fangs that emits a chilling scream and alternates between moving on two legs and four. Getting back to the strange eyes of the creature, a report from West Virginias Northern Panhandle recounted a monster with glowing red eyes. The Vegetable Man was said to be very tall, arguably over 7 feet, thin with a semi-human shape . There is no fossil evidence or evidence of an upright-walking bipedal canid. There was no sight of the monster but the grass was trampled where the it once stood and a low whistling sound followed them as they investigated. Another cryptid with ties to the Point Pleasant and Charleston areas of West Virginia is the Sheepsquatch. Take the Morgantown Public Library's quick and fun quiz to see what famous WV cryptid you are! With that scary thought, I snapped out of my trance and decided to get the hell out of there. On November 15th, two young couples reported to police that they spotted a large, grey, flying man with red eyes near the TNT area north of Point Pleasant. 309 talking about this. The object came to rest on land belonging to a local farmer. West Virginia was part of Virginia until the area refused to endorse the ordinance of secession in 1861. White Things, White Devils or Devil Dogs, most notably the Sheepsquatch, which appears on the show Mountain Monsters, are amongst the most historically infamous cryptids in West Virginia. By the time I arrived, I was in tears. The following is a series of questions I presented to the witness after the initial report. But then, I noticed that it was actually more like a wolf because it had a long bushy tail, pointed ears, a canine-like snout, and the same body shape as a wolf with jet-black hair and glowing amber-colored eyes. But I think it'll eventually happen.". WVU Libraries West Virginia ), "YOU NEED NOT FEAR ME. They just assumed that what I saw couldve been a black bear and driving after dark like that makes your mind play tricks on you, but this wasnt a trick I saw. On November 12th, 1966, a group of grave diggers in Clendenin claimed they saw a man like figure flying low through the trees near a cemetery. It sounded like a record player running faster than it should, a sort of high-pitched jabbering. Whites description of what he saw was less detailed than those of others, but included a glimpse of a serpentine tail that quickly led readers of his account to draw the connection with earlier ones that depicted a large, turtle-like beast with two heads, a long tail, and a penchant for dragging its victims to an underwater lair. 246. Not your typical kind-hearted denizens of the forest, these and other mysterious creatures are the targets of a group of hunters known as the Appalachian Investigators of Mysterious Sightings, or A.I.M.S. Since then, the Mothman has gone on to become the central figure in a bevy of books, documentaries, and a 2002 Richard Gere film based on the 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies. The town is known as Flatwoods, and it's home to the Flatwoods Monster. University 1549 University Ave. | P.O. I was driving home from taking an incredibly long drive. A new map of the U.S. lists the most famous cryptids and mythical creatures in . That's how we can get so close to 'em.". This filled me with relief, knowing that I wasnt alone, that there are people out there who swear on their lives and even to this day that what they saw out there was real. At 7:15pm on September 12, 1952, three little boys witnessed a bright object cross the sky. Could these werewolves be a manifestation of John Keels. Several of them had even reportedly sighted the monster. Witnesses commonly report this, and in fact, there have been a rash of dogman reports in Pennsylvania of upright canineswolf-like in appearancethat stand between 810 feet and have glowing yellow eyes. Their car came to a sudden stop and refused to start again. It was later revealed that the tracks were likely to have been those of a Chevroletpickup truckdriven by a local, who had gone to the site to look for the creature some hours prior to Stewert's discovery. Over the next year and one month, numerous sightings of a similar creature, called the Mothman, were reported in and around Point Pleasant. Having experienced a UFO sighting a few years ago myself, I was wondering if there might also be any reported Cryptids in my area? West Virginia has played host to an extraordinary number of unusual creatures. When I first saw it, I thought it was a 500-pound male black bear because it was roughly the same size as one and we do tend to have a few roaming around where I live now. Liz Pavlovic is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Morgantown, WV. Just as I slowly drove around the corner, I saw this thing step onto the road on all fours. (91) $14.93 FREE shipping. They bear a striking resemblance to the Flatwoods monster. It could have easily ripped the doors off my car and pulled me out of it, it couldve caught up to me if I tried to escape, and even if I tried to scream for help, it wasnt going to help me because I knew how powerful this predator was, even if I dont know it yet. The Mothman is not the only or first West Virginia cryptid, however. Monongahela River Monster/Ogua Sighting. Rivonverhandeling. They looked different from what I see in the eyes of any canine I know of; they looked much more intelligent than anything Ive ever seen. There are now more groups dedicated to gathering reports of Dogman encounters than ever before. "Catching one is different [from proving they exist]," said Tice. Although such sightings are recorded as early as the eighteenth century, the most well-known is the encounter of Fairmont coal miner John Edward White while night-fishing at this location in the summer of 1983. No list of Appalachian cryptids would be complete without the most famous of them, Point Pleasant's own Mothman! When we both stared at each other, even while Im inside of my car, I heard what sounded like bones popping loudly, and to my absolute shock, I watched this wolf placed its hand on top of my car hood, raise itself off the ground, and stand up on two legs. Perhaps related to the Sheepsquatch, are "White Things", or "Devil Dogs". Do you even know what your state's most popular cryptid is? Gathering their friends and families, they returned to the sight of what they suspected to be a UFO crash, and encountered a strange red glowing light, and a strong smell. New Hampshire - why not replace that tired old slogan with 'Live Free With a Wood Devil'? Its first appearance in West Virginia dates to 1966 in Clendenin, WV, when a man digging a grave saw a bird . This Wolfman, as I previously referred to it as, gave out a grunt and actually frowned at me for a few seconds before standing back up and walking to the other side of my car, and it jiggled the other door handle adjacent to the passenger side. After two years West Virginia's largest cryptid celebration returned and it returned to record numbers. At this location Grafton Sentinel reporter Robert Cockrell made one of the first and by far the best known sightings of the alleged West Virginia cryptid known as the Grafton Monster or Beast of Grafton. Cockrell made the sighting on June 16, 1964 while driving home from work after 11 PM on Riverside Drive along the Tygart River, describing what he encountered as seven to nine feet tall, four feet wide, and white with seal-like skin. And we interview a lot of eyewitnesses. There is too much to reasonably cover about Bigfoot on this page, but we'd be remiss not to mention it. When I received this report, I contacted one of my friends Denver Michaels (author of Wild & Wonderful (and Paranormal) West Virginia). Cryptid Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Cryptids are a combi. Here's a look at 10 lesser-known cryptids right here in the United States. The town placed a sign at the site in 2018 to commemorate Cockrells 1964 sighting, but a theft of the sign shortly thereafter motivated its relocation to the downtown area upon its recovery. Once they saw the thing land, crash land in the hills. It just so happens that these areas are renowned for paranormal activity. Additional Report of "The Beast of Beckley West Virginia". Following the collapse, there were no more reported Mothman sightings in the area, and speculation arose that the events were connected. This event took place during the height of McCarthyism and the Red Scare; as such, the phenomena was attributed both to the US Government and the USSR as possible secret weapons testing gone awry. chaospirations NCS Files, video September 20, 2020 11 Minutes. The West Virginia North American Dogman Project (NEW Facebook page for WV Dogman reports), North American Dogman Project (YouTube channel), The BDRP [Bigfoot Dogman Research Project] (YouTube Channel), Reddit forum for Dogman encounters (r/dogman), Small Town Monsters The Bray Road Beast (documentary), The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsins Werewolf by Linda Godfrey (book), The Michigan Dogman: Werewolves and Other Unknown Canines Across the U.S.A. by Linda Godfrey (book), Werewolves (Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena) by Linda Godfrey (book). [1][2], On June 16, 1964, Robert Cockrell got off work at local newspaper publication Grafton Sentinel (now known as the Mountain Statesman) at 11 pm and journeyed home. Moreover, the Ohio and Kanawha Valleys were once home to a vast network of mounds and sacred earthworks. Dedicated in 2003, the Mothman sculpture in Point Pleasant celebrates the legends that surround one of West Virginia's most bizarre and beloved mythical creatures. As he moved through the woods in search of game, Frederick heard an odd noise. Regardless, Ogua sightings offer historians a unique opportunity to draw connections between the rumor mills of the colonial borderlands and those of deindustrializing Cold War America. As for cryptids there is supposedly Chessie which is one of the most sighted water cryptids and is seen in the Chesapeake bay from VA up to MD, I kinda feel that it could be a misidentified seal honestly. To be clear, I have never been a believer in dogmen as a flesh-and-blood cryptid. Watch on. This could possibly be a reptilian version of the Flatwoods Monster, only without the skirt-like structure around its waist. On June 19th, 1964, the Grafton Sentinel published an article claiming the sightings of the Grafton Monster were the "personification of active imaginations." Mrzer Bruyns, W. F. J. An article from the "cryptid wiki", on the Flatwoods Monster. Listed on Mar 1, 2023 Whatever theory Ive had to support any rational explanation for this unusual sighting were immediately shot away when this creature did something that Ill never forget for the rest of my life, something that still haunts my soul to this very day. From the Mothman to the brakesucker (not really exists), there's no shortage of strange creatures said to roam the mountains and valleys of the Mountain State. Also hosts of the yearly Mothman Festival. He's a Cryptid in West Virginia folklore associated with mothman and is really neat. The dog is invisible to others. In the XBLA game Happy Wars, there is a weapon called the Flatwoods Monster. I live in eastern VA and I am very curious. Check out our cryptids of west virginia selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. The "body" was a metallic armored structure lined with thick vertical pipes. List of megafauna discovered in modern times, http://www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/share/AquaticMammalsIssueArchives/1991/Aquatic_Mammals_17_1/17.1Raynal.pdf, "Reports Surface of Monster Lurking in Russian Lake", "Divers preparing for icy waters of Russia's 'Loch Ness', "Meet the creature found by divers in Russia's Loch Ness, famed for legends of monsters", "The Megalodon: A Monster of the New Mythology", "Ningen: The generation of media-lore concerning a giant, sub-Antarctic, aquatic humanoid and its relation to Japanese whaling activity", "Steller's Sea Ape: Identifying an Eighteenth-Century Cryptid", "Fantastic Cryptids And Where To Find Them", "On the hunt for the elusive Bukit Timah Monkey Man", "Bigfoot and beyond: Why tales of wild men endure", "Decades later, the Dover Demon still haunts", "The Honey Island Swamp Monster: The Development and Maintenance of Folk and Commodified Belief Tradition", "A Search for Mysteries and Monsters in Small Town America", "Twilight of the mammoths: Ice Age extinctions and the rewilding of America", "The New Zealand Moa: From Extinct Bird to Cryptid | Skeptical Inquirer", "It's the monstrous new trend sweeping travel what is cryptid-tourism? Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. We've been very close, and it's gonna take a bunch of luck, along with a lot of experts to do this.