UFOs and Weird Beasts

Everybody knows that the study of the UFO phenomenon mainly concerns the investigation of sightings of lights and unexplained objects in the sky, abduction reports and the like, but there is another aspect to UFO lore that is less well-known – that of the strange beasts (aside from the Greys and other alien-type beings we are familiar with) that often accompany UFO incidents.

Many of these weird creatures are famous in and of themselves, but it is their connection with unidentified flying objects that we shall explore here.

BIGFOOT

People have been seeing ‘wildmen’ all over the world for centuries, but it is the sasquatch or Bigfoot of the American North-west that is the most notorious. Probably the most famous account of a Bigfoot sighting is that of Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. They captured the creature on film in 1967 at Bluff Creek, California and, though the film is still controversial, this incredible piece of footage has yet to be completely debunked. We are concerning ourselves here, though, with the creatures’ relationship with UFOs.

In February, 1974, a woman was confronted on the doorstep of her Pennsylvania home by a Bigfoot (they are not solely exclusive to the NW Pacific coast states). She shot at it from a distance of about six feet, but instead of keeling over dead, there was a bright flash and the creature vanished. Her son-in-law reported seeing other Bigfoot (the word is both singular and plural) at the edge of nearby woods, with a bright, red flashing light hovering above them.

In 1973, again in Pennsylvania, a 22-year old man saw a red orb come down in a field. Taking two 10-year old boys to investigate, they saw the object hovering just above the ground. Close to the UFO, stood two Bigfoot-like creatures that possessed glowing, green eyes and long, dark hair. The man fired his rifle over their heads and when they failed to react, he fired directly at one of the creatures. It raised its hand and the UFO disappeared. The Bigfoot then walked slowly into nearby woods.

In 1991, Wisconsin farmer, Rita Massman reported that a few days after a UFO sighting, a Bigfoot came onto her land and stole several chickens. Her children reported being chased by a ‘8- or 9-foot tall, brown, 400-500 pound creature having a monkey-like face’.

CHUPACABRA

The chupacabra, or goat-sucker, entered the public eye in the mid-Nineties, but the legend goes back to 1975, when a creature known as the Moca Vampire was held responsible for slaughtering animals on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rica. Ducks, goats and even cows were found completely drained of blood. There was a spate of UFO sightings at the same time. The creature itself, though, was never seen.

Then in 1995, the island was victim to another wave of animal deaths. At first it was mainly goats that were found drained of blood through a single puncture wound, hence the name, el chupacabra – the goat-sucker. It didn’t take long for other animals to be found exsanguinated and this time, there were even sightings of the beasts responsible.

Many witnesses have reported a four or five-feet tall bipedal creature, with large, black eyes, long dorsal spines, large fangs, the ability to fly or jump to great heights and being able to dematerialise at will. They are also often reported at the same time as UFOs are witnessed.

To this day, sightings persist and they are no longer restricted to Puerto Rico. The same or similar creatures have been seen in Mexico, Texas and many other US states, Chile and Brazil.

THE MOTHMAN

In the late-Sixties, the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was the centre of a mystery that became a best-selling book and later, a major motion picture, The Mothman Prophecies.

People began reporting electrical interference with their home appliances and often cars would cut out for no reason. Lights would be seen hovering above the town, but particularly over an old TNT plant. People also reported seeing the Mothman.

This bizarre creature was described as possessing large, red eyes; standing between five and seven-feet tall; having dark, possibly grey or brown, skin; huge, bat-like wings with which it could ascend vertically and hover for long periods; and a terrifying, screeching call.

Although the bulk of Mothman sightings took place in 1966-67 in the West Virginia area, prior to the Silver Bridge disaster that claimed forty-six lives, witnesses are still coming forward with stories of large, bat-like creatures all over the world. Has the Mothman moved on to pastures new?

Curiously, the Mothman of Point Pleasant may have an earlier incarnation. In November, 1963, two young men and their girlfriends were walking near Sandling Park, Saltwood, Kent in the south of England. They observed a bright object that resembled a star descend into trees and begin moving through them. The UFO came to a halt close to them and disgorged a creature that resembles the Mothman reports. It shambled towards them and they described it as black, headless (some Mothman reports suggested that its red eyes were very close to the shoulders) and with wings like a bat.

THE SKINWALKER

In Navajo culture, a skinwalker is a medicine man that will don animal skins to perform magical or ritual ceremonies. Other Native American tribes claim skinwalkers to be able to shape-shift into wild animals, such as wolves. Skinwalkers have been known to ‘haunt’ an individual for years until the day the person dies.

One case links skinwalkers with UFOs like no other and that is the case of the so-called Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. For fifty years the ranch has been the site of UFO sightings, Bigfoot reports, ghost and poltergeist encounters and all many of paranormal phenomena.

The ranch was bought by the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) in 1995 from a family that had owned the property for only twenty months. They had reported all of the above phenomena and also cattle mutilations, giant wolves that vanished into thin air and could survive direct hits from rifle fire and the vaporisation of the family dogs after they chased blue orbs.

NIDS set up video cameras that were destroyed by unknown forces; they observed UFOs in the night sky and witnessed unknown animals appearing out of ‘tunnels of light’.

Las Vegas newsman, George Knapp and NIDS scientist, Dr. Colm Kelleher, have written a book about the ranch entitled Hunt for the Skinwalker.

These are just a small selection of the strange creatures that have been associated with UFO sightings over the years. As we continue to receive reports of Grey aliens or Nordic aliens or other beings that to all intents and purposes resemble us, save for cosmetic differences, perhaps we should consider that most intelligent beings in the universe will bear little to no resemblance to us and may have capabilities that would appear nothing short of magical.

© Steve Johnson – 2006

(Originally published in Issue 2 of UFOData Report)

 

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Updated 16th August, 2012