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Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The Antonio Nelso Tasca Abduction

 The Antonio Nelso Tasca Abduction

By Cole Herrold

Sexual encounters with extraterrestrial beings are rather common in abduction lore. The most famous of which arguably would be the Antonio Villas-Boas case which revolved around the man having intimate relations with a red armpit and pubic-haired extraterrestrial woman. The most famous modern account arguably of this variety is painter David Huggins who not only lost his virginity to an extraterrestrial named Crescent but that their sexual union resulted in an almost Hallmark channel-esque romance that went on for countless years (more on these experiences later). Now while trying to find a late December or Christmas-oriented case for one of the last articles of the year, I decided to check Albert Rosales Humanoid Encounters for an easy guide to find a noticeably interesting December encounter. While flipping through the mandatory tomes, I came across a brief encounter that I felt would be perfect for the time being and using it began checking my resources for follow-ups in which I came across even more weirder details that were so interesting that it seemed as though the encounter was a cross between a romantic Hallmark made for TV movie, a Twilight Zone episode, and a surprisingly enough a Pureflix film.

On December 14, 1983, at 8:00pm, Antonio Nelso Tasca was driving to his son Maximino Tasca’s house in Barreiros, Bahia in his Brasilia Model 81 car and was coming from the village of Colonia Cella after an attempt to visit his friend Mr. Pedro Cela but seeing that his friend was not home he decided to return to his sons home. He was about 3.73 miles from Chapeco, in the state of Santa Catarina around the old Coca-Cola factory in the area when he came close to a farm owned by a Mr. Tosso (sometimes spelled Tozzo), which was about 6.84 miles from his son's house and even closer to the turnpike that he would need to take to get there but as he got near an old dirt road he felt compelled to turn down it as if commanded by a "strange force" or "inner command." He drove down this old worn road for some five minutes and then suddenly felt once more a strange force that compelled him to stop directly in the middle of the road. As he put on the emergency brake of his car and removed the keys from the ignition, he noticed that something was coming down from the sky in front of him. The object he would describe as being greenish, about 32 ft long, and about 9 ft high, and that the object bore a strong resemblance to a bus in appearance as it was rectangular or square-shaped with 10 windows each about 2.30 ft high by 1.32 ft wide. The object appeared to be narrower at the ends of the vehicle that seemingly floated above the ground, and Tasca, curious at the sight of this esoteric greyhound, proceeded to approach the craft to get a better look at it. When he got within about 33ft of the object, he felt a bizarre heatwave that was incredibly intense, realizing at that moment that approaching something so particularly bizarre was probably not a good idea the man slowly started backing up and continued to do so, watching the craft the entire time until he returned once more to the side of his vehicle. As he reached down and began to pull on the car's door handle, however a beam of light about 3ft wide emanated from the object and which was like a strip of yellow, red, and white light that would be described by the witness as a kind of "glossy carpet" that swung from under the craft and slowly began to creep and crawl along the ground, not unlike some artificial symbiote from a Spider-man comic book. This living light came towards Tasca and did not stop until this "luminous rug passed beneath his feet." Once this luminescent glow was beneath him, the light changed its behavior where when the light first appeared, it seemed to be released from the craft; now, the light seemed to move on its own back towards the ship, pulling Tasca with it. Tasca was not able to react or unbalance himself from the supernatural spectrum and could only stand by pulling in abject terror as he approached the space bus, which he now could tell was not the glowing green that he had seen earlier but a stark aluminum grey color instead. As he approached the craft, at some point, he lost all consciousness either out of fright or due to some technology that he was unaware of.

Tasca at the initial Abduction site
Tasca's Sketch of the UFO and the light beam

When Tasca returned to his senses, he awoke to find himself in a cold dark place. He was unsure as to how he got to this place, but he had a strong suspicion that he was in the craft. Tasca realized as he attempted to sit up that he was unable to move his arms or legs and that he was lying on some kind of metallic table. Tasca strained as hard as he could, but his arms would not budge and were what he would later compare to being glued to his side. It was in this lack of mobility that a terrifying thought rose in his head; perhaps the reason he could not move his appendages was that he was dead. It was in this that he noticed that the area was growing increasingly colder and that he was having some difficulty breathing and that he could not speak or cry out for help. He also noticed that in this current state that he was starting to lose the feeling in his limbs, all the more giving him the fear that he had passed away. His agony and loneliness grew to such a point that he began to weep in this state. As the tears streamed down his face, suddenly the room started to warm up, and the cold vanished completely, and with it, he was able to breathe regularly. He still was unable to move, but he could hear and see. Then as he lay in the darkness, he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching him. The footsteps were seemingly from several small beings who surrounded Tasca on the table; however, while Tasca was aware of their presence, he was unable to see them clearly or describe them further, but he felt that there were about 3 or 4 creatures total and that their height was something similar to 3ft. As he lay there, he could hear the creatures releasing several grunts and bizarre noises that seemed to be the creature's way of communicating with each other. The noises were noticeably different as some sounds came out longer, others shorter, and the noises ranged in tone from high to low. As Tasca was listening to this, he suddenly began to feel something sharply poking him on the right side of the body. They started with his knees and lower legs and then his arms.  This continued for some time before ultimately stopping, only to be recontinued on his left side. Tasca was relieved that his senses were returning but was wondering just what the creatures were sticking him with, for it seemed to be from the sharp tip of some object. This probing lasted only for a short time, but this would not be the last interaction with these creatures, for once the entities were done, they proceeded in lifting him up and taking him to another room where they once more left him alone this time however to lie on the floor.

Unlike the other room, the room Tasca was in now was incredibly brightly lit, and its brightness was so intense that Tasca had to close his eyes. Tasca could not see where the light was coming from as there were no windows, doors, or any living creatures in the room with him, but it was as if the room itself was generating the light. As his eyes adjusted, he realized that he was naked and, upon inspecting the room, found his clothes neatly folded in a pile to his right; his shoes and socks were also on this pile with his socks on top of his shoes which were on top of the rest of his outfit. Tasca proceeded to dress himself and then proceeded to touch the walls in an effort to find some way out of this room as there appeared to be no discernible way out. The room was about 8.2 ft to 9.9 ft wide by 9.9 ft high and had smooth, featureless walls. As he reached out to the glowing metal walls, he noted that while they glowed, the walls were neither noticeably cold nor warm. The walls, while they seemingly glowed, seemed to Tasca to be very similar to polished aluminum. As Tasca stood feeling up the solid walls, he suddenly noticed that one of the walls suddenly opened up, and there was a big gaping space that one could, for lack of a better word, describe as a door.

As Tasca stared at this new potential exit, he soon noticed that a figure was coming through the hole and towards him. As he stared, he noticed that the figure was a young woman but a woman that seemingly was out of this world. The young woman was extremely short compared to Tasca. Tasca was about 5'7", a reasonable height for a man, but the young woman was just under 4ft tall. She had light hair that fell to her shoulders; it was a bright blonde color. She had clear skin, but it seemed strangely thin. Yet her most perplexing feature was her eyes; these eyes looked nothing like a normal human's. The eyes were much further apart than a human's and were an overwhelmingly vibrant blue in color. These eyes were almond-shaped, but they stretched much further than the traditional Greys; instead, they stretched over to the sides of her face appearing almost like bright blue upside-down commas on her pale face. Tasca felt that even with these noticeable inhuman features that she was very beautiful and bore a striking resemblance to Brazilian poet and actress Bruna Lombardi. The being wore a bright Indigo-Blue dress that hung a little below the knees. The dress had a noticeable insignia on the chest that was shaped like the letter T. The being also had a belt around her waist and smooth blue sandals on her feet as well. As Tasca stared at the small girl, the being raised her hand in a friendly gesture which Tasca felt was a kind of greeting. As Tasca observed, he suddenly heard and felt a kind of melody, and upon feeling and hearing it, he suddenly had an experience reminiscent of Brian from Frank Henenlotter's Brain Damage as he felt deep peace, joy, longing, and sensations concerning colors.

At this point, however, outside of this ultra-sensory melody, no words were exchanged between Tasca and the being, but Tasca was thinking of countless things to ask the being before ultimately settling on the simplest questions who she was and where she came from. However, before he could even get the words out, he heard a voice respond to the questions. The voice was not spoken orally as the young girl did not open her mouth but seemed to telepathically transmit the answer into his mind. She spoke, "I am Kabbalah (some spell it Cabala), the Messenger of the World of Agali, I come on a mission of peace and love!" Tasca realized that this telepathic communication was the best way to talk to the bizarre being in front of him and proceeded to communicate the rest of his time on the ship in this way. Knowing now her name and where she came from, the next question he proposed to the girl was "Where are we?" upon which she replied in the same telepathic manner, "We are in the Ocean, one hundred and eighty meters below sea level." Tasca, upon hearing this, suddenly felt a bizarre thirst and overwhelming sense of confusion at that moment. The thirst was so terrible that he had thought to ask for water from his hostess and decided to comment to the being, "I am very thirsty, and I am very confused. You convey peace and love but also confusion that I cannot master. I think your beauty is the cause." Almost immediately, an answer came into his mind "You will drink right now, and your thirst will pass, as well as your state of confusion."

Tasca's Sketch of Kabbalah

As Tasca looked in the room, he noticed that there now on one of the walls was a bizarre device that was about 3.30 ft in length, 15 centimeters high, and 4-5 centimeters deep with ten red buttons. Kabbalah proceeded to walk over to the device and pushed one of the buttons, which opened a drawer that contained two tube-shaped containers, which were about 10 by 6 and by 3 centimeters. The tubes seemed to have a kind of latch that Kabbalah pulled from one which opened it, which she then handed to Tasca. Tasca looking at the tube, could see that the contents of the tube was a colorless clear liquid that was seemingly odorless. Tasca, braver than most, proceeded to drink the mysterious fluid and noted that it was something lighter than water and that he could not feel the liquid go down his esophagus. After consuming the first container, Kabbalah handed him the second, and Tasca once more drank the bizarre fluid; however, this time, the contents of the tube did have a flavor which he would liken to white berries, yet slightly acidic. After he finished the contents, he handed the empty tube back to Kabbalah, and she proceeded to put the container once more back in the drawer that it came from. Kabbalah then spoke to Tasca, "Now you will not feel thirst or confusion before me. It is time to carry out a mission of great importance for which we have been chosen. Keep calm". Tasca replied, "Will I be returned to my world after that?" and in response, Kabbalah replied, "Yes, but the time is right for this; otherwise, you'll be put in a place far away from here."

Seemingly unconcerned with the cryptic nature of Kabbalah's response to his inquiry of returning home, Tasca listened to what Kabbalah claimed was his important mission. The mission was that he was chosen to convey a message from Kabbalah's people to all the denizens of earth. Tasca was perplexed at this and asked them why they had picked him for such a meeting and not some rich or influential person like a scientist or politician. Kabbalah responded to him in the following way that he "always believed in the extraterrestrial existence and had always wanted such an encounter." Whether this was true or not, one can only speculate as Tasca never commented on any previous interest in aliens or UFOS before this encounter.

After this revelation of his mission and why he was chosen, Tasca suddenly felt an overwhelming urge of attraction and sexual desire for Kabbalah and proceeded to move towards the spacewoman. This movement was reciprocated as Kabbalah approached him at about the same time. And as the two stared at each other longingly, suddenly, what could only be described as a kind of divan couch began to come out of the wall in the room. This extraterrestrial futon was approximately 4.27 ft long by 3.29 ft wide, and there was no backrest or support arms or legs outside of one that was connected to the wall. Kabbalah stepped back from Tasca and lifted her dress, and proceeded to lay on the couch looking at Tasca. Tasca, now ripping off the clothing he was so quick to put on only moments earlier, proceeded to rush over to the extraterrestrial woman and proceeded to have an intimate albeit brief moment. The sexual relationship the two would have was not thoroughly described, but Tasca would later mention that the experience was rather "normal." At the end of their engagement, Tasca heard Kabbalah speak orally for the first time; it was exceptionally brief, and she uttered only one word, "love," which he noted had a slight accent to it. Upon this, she gave a slight smile, yet Tasca noted that there was still a look of sadness on her face. It was at this moment that Tasca had his first look at her mouth more thoroughly as all their communication prior was done telepathically and noted that she had small delicate white teeth, not unlike a child's. It was during this moment that Kabbalah dropped a surprising announcement to Tasca as she once again said telepathically that she would have two sons from their union, which she would name Mada and Madana.

While Tasca was still reeling from the information he was just given, Kabbalah had already recovered from their intimacy and began to redress. Tasca did the same, and she began to get in front of him and said to him that he would be a spokesman for them and that he would convey a message from them to all the people of earth. Still surprised by this sudden recruitment and unsure about his memory, he said to Kabbalah, "Lady, on leaving here my mind will fail and I will remember only a few excerpts from the message!" At this, Kabbalah pressed another button on the bizarre device attached to the wall, and this opened the door to a much larger room which the two both went into. There in this seemingly empty room was a kind of device that Tasca would describe as a kind of diadem (a crown, tiara, or headband) which Kabbalah proceeded to remove from its console and place on Tasca’s head. As he wore the object, he could see a series of semicircles that covered the object; each was green, yellow, and red in color, and each was 3 cm in height.

As Tasca stood there with the bizarre device now on his head and Kabbalah approached and proceeded to fiddle with the contraption saying, "With this on your head, you see me twice listening to the message and it will never come out of your memory again." Kabbalah, seemingly happy with how the diadem was placed, began to state her message for all of mankind, stating, "Warning of the Kabbalah messenger from the world of Agali to all the peoples of earth. We must immediately deactivate weapons of war, capable of destroying any kind of life here. In addition to all its appalling and deadly devastation, a total nuclear war will bring the earth out of its celestial path and cause serious disturbances to the life of neighboring worlds, some in dimensions that the terrestrial man is still unaware of. The political, economic, and financial domination of nations over nations must be abolished. Imperialism contradicts the right of equality of peoples and constitutes a new and solitary modality of enslavement. The essence of human life and its natural reproductive functions must be preserved. In nearby stars and in other unattainable to the present man. The life coming up from the Eternal-Spirit-Creator-of-All-Things-God, reason why it should not be the object imponderable experiences, because these will end in irreversible genetic disaster. Under the most rigorous criterion of justice and morality, with a view to solving the social problems resulting from disorderly human proliferation, organs should be established that, by natural scientific means, plan and carry out population control and biological improvement programs. It is necessary for man to conquer other worlds of the universe and there find suitable places for his future emigrations and new sources of energy and subsistence, but rather he must conquer his own world, unraveling the enigmas that still exist on earth, at sea and up in the air; preserving the natural elements of vital imperfections of body, mind, and spirit. It is necessary that, when these exhortations are fulfilled, mankind is prepared for the period of extraordinary events that the earth will stage, in a short time. The great events will be foreshadowed by strange telluric manifestations and celestial signs of magnificent splendor and haunting beauty. Masters of supreme wisdom will return to earth, renew wonderful teachings and help establish a new political society. The earthly paradise will be reborn, full of light and love. Then, through means and energies sometimes even assumed, man will know the dimensional concave-convex of the earth, will travel to the depths of the universe and will not feel the weariness of time. And as a sublime conquest of the human creative captivity, the machine of the Absolute Power will be put into action, an ingenuity which, among many other prodigies, will give mankind the happiest and most haunting vision of its entire history: the resurrection of the dead in the 4 ‘X’. Warning of the Kabbalah from the world of Agali, to all the peoples of earth”.

Upon hearing this message, Tasca was increasingly surprised and interested by the overwhelmingly positive message that Kabbalah had given; however, when she began discussing about the resurrection of the dead in the 4 'X', he had no idea what she had meant. After this message was transmitted into Tasca's brain, Kabbalah removed the diadem from his head and returned the device back onto its console. Kabbalah stared at Tasca, who began to repeat the same gesture of greeting that she enacted at the beginning of their meeting, and in a scene similar to Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Tasca crossed his left arm over his chest and raised his right hand over his shoulder mimicking her greeting. Tasca then received a final telepathic response from Kabbalah, which stated, "Peace and Love". After this, Kabbalah backed away from Tasca and exited through the door they opened, which, as soon as she left, resealed. As soon as she was gone, Tasca felt a feeling of solitude and abandonment. The room, which was once so bright that it hurt Tasca's eyes, now diminished and became completely filled with darkness. When this occurred, he once again heard several footsteps come towards him and as he stood there began to feel the small creatures that he had encountered while lying in that death state. He was once more terrified, and they were pulling him into a different room. When he got to the next room, he heard their voices for the first time, this time in a discernible language whether this was oral or telepathic, he was unsure of, but the beings began to tell him to lay down. As he did so, he could tell that this was that same place that so terrified him that he thought he was dead. Yet he proceeded in not stirring from the spot but noticed that the temperature of the room started to drop rapidly, and soon he lost all consciousness.

Upon waking, Tasca found himself lying on a grassy mound on a rocky hill on the banks of the BR-282 Highway about 1.86 miles to the right of the flyover of access to the city of Chapeco. Tasca stared up at the sky; he noticed that several hours had gone by as the sun was now out. He looked down at his wristwatch, which said it was 10:15 pm, but as he looked at the position of the sun, he estimated that it had to of been almost 6:00 in the morning. From this, he estimated that almost 10hrs had passed from when he first encountered the object. However, when he attempted to move even further, he found that much like when he first entered the craft, his limbs were unable to move, and while he could see and hear well, he was barely able to budge an inch. It took him another 2 hours to regain full use of his faculties, and as soon as he could, Tasca proceeded to head down to the road and began to walk about 1.24 miles before managing to make it to Eletrodies Batistela, which was being attended to by two girls.

Tasca at the spot of his initial return to Earth 

It was about 9:30 am when Antonio arrived, and so he proceeded to call home and told his family where he was and briefly what happened to him, and it was over this call that he heard of how his family had found his abandoned car in the middle of the dirt road and how there was currently a police investigation into his disappearance. His family had at the time were expecting him home for dinner at 7 pm, but after several hours his family was extremely concerned, and so at midnight, all of his family members waited in the living room for him to return. They knew something was wrong as Tasca usually always called when something would make him late. Tasca's parents, wife, and daughter had called several of the Chapeco police stations and nearby towns police stations to see if he was injured, arrested, or possibly worse, dead. Yet none of the police had any information on his whereabouts and began to form an investigation into his disappearance. From 2:30 am to dawn, Tasca's brother-in-law went through countless streets in Chapeco searching for his car or him, and other relatives rushed to his house to see if he had come home. Eventually, his family had made their way to the BR-282 Highway, where there was a police station, yet before reaching the station, they saw his car standing on the dirt road near the Tozzo farm. Rushing to the car, they noticed that it was intact and that there was no sign of some sort of assault. They then proceeded to go to the nearby police station and report their find, where an investigator was sent to follow-up on the disappearance. Tasca realizing that he needed to get home began rushing home as fast as he could, and it was upon this sprint down the roadways that his son Maximiliano happened upon while he was arriving in the city.

Maximiliano seeing how distraught and distressed his father was, realized that he must be suffering some kind of shock and was unable to explain to him what had happened. His family proceeded to take the man to the San Antonio Hospital in Chapeco, where he was treated by Dr. Julio Sawadscki, Dr. Carlos King, and Dr. Madalozzo. Tasca did not tell the doctors of his encounters, and because of this, the doctors felt that Antonio's symptoms which included nervousness, restlessness, and elevation of blood pressure, were from an assault that occurred on the road. Tasca was given a tranquilizer and ultimately sent home, but later that day, when Tasca proceeded to take a bath, his family members noted two bizarre V marks on the back of Tasca. When asked what happened, Tasca was unsure as he was unaware of the mark or its origin, and so they returned to the hospital where the doctors examined the wound, which they determined was very similar to a burn, but due to its characteristics, they were increasingly intrigued by what it could be. The doctors kept him overnight, and in the morning, he once more returned home, yet this was not without medical supervision as the three doctors, as well as a fourth medical professional seeing the bizarreness of the injuries, began to document their findings. One of the medical doctors, as they were doing a preliminary search of the body, discovered in Tasca's thorax specifically in front at the lower end of the outer bone in the xiphoid region on the skin a perfect circle measuring 3 centimeters in diameter consisting of small red dots. This region was particularly painful, and so the doctors began to medicate the area to alleviate the pain. By the next day, the area and similar specks that they found elsewhere on his body had almost completely disappeared. In the following days, Tasca began to feel incredibly sick and did not feel hungry, and ate exceptionally little. At 2:15 am on the third day from his trip on the spacecraft, Tasca began vomiting yellow liquid, which while doing so had the same taste of the acidic white berry juice he was given, and after he had seemingly cleared his stomach of the fluid, his appetite once more returned.

The Double Bizarre 'V-shaped marks on Tasca 

Soon after the reappearance of Tasca, an official investigation began into just what happened to him over the course of those couple hours from the 14th-15th. Soon Tasca told his encounter, and with it, Ufologists arrived rather quickly onto the scene; one of the first to arrive and study the case was Daniel Rebisso Geise, the president of the Center for Research and Exobiological Research. During his investigation, he generated a full report including a full interview with Tasca and proceeded to see if perhaps he was making up the encounter sought to see if there were any faults in his testimony, and proceeded in visiting sites associated with the encounter to search for any trace or physical evidence potentially left behind. After him, ufologist Walter Karl Buhler would also go to Chapeco where he interviewed Antonio and all his relatives as well as visited the places of both the kidnapping and Tasca's return to earth and proceeded to at these locations to take measurements of electromagnetism and radioactivity as well as several photos of Tasca at the locations. From this, Buhler had managed to discover that two people in points near the place of the initial abduction spotted a luminous flying object at the same time when his abduction took place.

Walter Karl Buhler of the Brazilian Society of Flying Disc Studies would later publish his findings in SBEDV Bulletin Issues # 158 and 161 and would state the following on the case: "It was gratifying for us, at the beginning of one night, to immerse ourselves in moments with the great and the joyful family of three generations of the Tasca, a dozen or a dozen and a half of people. All of them laughing and talking at the same time, characteristic of the affable genius of descendants of Italians, gathered in the center occupied by a garden between their houses, there in the neighborhood of Palmital, in Chapeco, Santa Catarina. We tried to interviews the two girls in the company "EDIBA." However, we were unlucky in both our attempts when they were absent from the office. It happened, too, with two more people who would have spotted a luminous object at the time and in the direction of the abduction and the return of Tasca to earth. At the time, we forgot that we would have to indemnify in advance the daily lives of these humble people, working day labourers in the field. However, it was especially gratifying for us to search Tasca’s car. We wanted to know if the vehicle had undergone magnetic induction, as is common in steel parts of our machines when exposed to the intense electromagnetic fields with which the flying saucers seem to use in their location. Thus, the windscreen wiper blades of Tasca’s car indicated 5 Gausses and, similarly, the front and rear bumpers. However, it was curious for us to observe the inversion, negative and positive, on the right side and respective left. And, similarly, there was between the rear bumper and the front bumper when comparing the values on the same side. Once it had also indicated 5 Gauss magnetism in a steel cable fixed to the ground in order to support a high voltage pole, which would have been in the vicinity of the flying object, we predict “a posteriori” that the apparatus, some 30 meters from Tasca’s car, later overflew the car, to cause magnetization of the same intensity as the steel cable, which was much closer to the flying saucer. It was also the sons of Tasca and this one in person who, in Chapeco, described to us the defect in the ignition of the car of the witness. Before, it took several attempts, up to ten or more, to get the engine running. However, after the Ufological event, for two days the engine immediately responded to the first attempt. But from the third day on, the old defect resurfaced. Still in contact with Pierrejaquet's magnetometer, Tasca's belt buckle and clip, as well as the watch strap used in the ufological episode, indicated magnetism of approximately two and a half Gauss".

After the initial investigation, Antonio gained some notoriety after his abduction. Several newspapers covered his encounters, and he appeared on several radio shows and on tv. Sometime later, he would later write a book about his experiences called A Man Marked by the Extraterrestrials, which currently and unfortunately is only in Portuguese and has not been translated to English. Antonio would occasionally pop up in UFO literature from time to time but not nearly as much as other cases like Pascagoula or Streiber, and while he gained some notoriety, he never made much from his experience, but he kept his story never change a word until he eventually passed away on January 30, 2008.

This case is very reminiscent of other cases of UFO abduction that have occurred over the years, but there are many really interesting features that, to me, make it stand out as it can be compared to other incredibly bizarre albeit obscure extraterrestrial encounters. To me, the very first thing to discuss is Kabbalah; she is the only discernible figure that Tasca notes, even though he does state that there are 3-4 smaller beings as well on the craft. When initially reading this report, Kabbalah seems almost identical to another sexual extraterrestrial case that has recently been gaining some momentum due to a recent documentary made on the experience. The documentary known as Love and Saucers features a man by the name of David Huggins who claims that at the age of 17, he lost his virginity to an extraterrestrial named Crescent and that from that time on, the two have engaged in several romantic outings for years. He also paints his encounters which veer from classic abduction images to the esoteric to the erotic. I have been dying to write an official article on his case because just like this one, there's a lot of interesting details involving other entities in that case that are seen before other famous cases such as the Venezuelan Hairy Dwarves cases, which I've come to call Space Morlocks since clearly there's a wider range of sightings for these entities as well as the mantids as his claims put sightings of them much earlier than typically what's in UFO lore. Yet the reason I bring up this case in comparison to Tasca's is that Crescent's clothing is always depicted by Huggins as this indigo color and that her eyes are very much the same almond shape that swoops around the face like Kabbalah. Crescent also had much of a similar impact with David in the same way Kabbalah did with Tasca upon their initial sexual encounter, so I’ve often wondered if there’s something to the nature of these entities that makes them seemingly irresistible to men. Be it pheromones in a way similar to the Kindred in the X-Files episode “Gender Bender” or some sort of telepathic or supernatural ability. In these cases, there often seems to be some overwhelming draw to this sort of action even before any kind of initiation. Now I will say while there are many similarities to Crescent or Crescent's species, there is also the chance that this entity is not related from what we can tell Crescent is almost as tall as David, and Kabbalah is extremely short in comparison to Tasca, so unless there are some incredible size possibilities in whatever one would classify Crescent's species, it is unlikely they are the same. Another reason for this is that Crescent is very noticeably alien; she essentially looks like a very tall grey with black hair, blue irises in her black almond/comma-shaped eyes, long fingernails, and just a slight nose. Kabbalah looks much more human, at least from Tasca's sketch of her and my first thought is that it's almost as though Crescent and a Nordic had an offspring.

Painting of Crescent by David Huggins

Another interesting feature with the entity known only as Kabbalah is the choice of name. Kabbalah as a word is a form of Jewish mysticism; many of the practices involving Kabbalah involve such practices that are often esoteric in nature. Many of these principles and practices revolved around the nature and abilities, and revealment of the character of Yahweh. From these mystic practices, man can perform miracles or, for lack of a better word, magic spells. The most famous and perhaps most interesting of the tomes revolving around Kabbalah is the Sefer Yetzirah. This book involves many of the early concepts of demonology from a Judaic standpoint as well as arcane how-to guides for such tasks as creating a Golem. So, with all that said, it's exceptionally interesting that Kabbalah would have that name. Now from a Keelian perspective, this is just another example of the infamous Ultraterrestrials. These entities, often Keel points out, will use names from myths or fairy lore or will utilize symbols associated with religions to essentially confuse or mess with humanity. Many other cases from Carl Higdon's encounter with Ausso One where the entity bore a Star of David emblem to Indrid Cold and the people of Lanulos, the Dubno Abductors, or the Space Fairies being blatantly aware of the existence of what we could refer to as the Christian or Jewish God all seem to either from some Anthropological awareness of our culture and appropriating their interactions and messages with us to find some common ground or through some cosmic similarity of thought have this belief. I personally tend to lean towards the former for almost all encounters.

Yet another interesting thing about this case in comparison to other cases is the craft square or bus-shaped craft are surprisingly common. Some of the most famous cases of this variety have been reported from Skinwalker Ranch. Another similar craft was reported to Stan Gordon and even more intriguing as recently as this year, specifically on November 16th, 2021, I received a similar square-shaped UFO report seen near I-80, very close to Williamsport. Typically, this type of craft does not appear in most reports especially compared to the oval, saucer, cigar, and ball-shaped craft that make up a lot of the literature, so it's interesting that there is a continuation of reports of craft of this variety.

Sketch of similar square craft compared to plane witness saw later in comparison from I-80 on November 16th, 2021. 

With all that said, where are we with this encounter? This encounter is particularly interesting as far as abductions go. This case is something that I do not have a clear answer to. Abductions are perhaps some of the most fascinating and horrifying cases in UFO lore, for they go above and beyond traditional Close Encounters of the First or Second Kind. They are often graphic in some way or another, either in a sexual manner or in a surgical one, and most witnesses do not wish for another encounter. The abductee phenomenon is a touchy subject due to the potential notoriety that comes from creating such a story. Skeptics will point that such tales are either examples of sleep paralysis at best or at worst either ways of seeking attention or financial gain. With this case, while Tasca did write a book, he did not seemingly make a ridiculous amount of money from his encounter, and on top of all that, there was some severe reactions and noticeable marks left after his excursion on the craft, so from this, it's fairly safe to assume that he had some kind of encounter. The real question, however, is will Kabbalah return and what of her message to humanity? While much of it is akin to other extraterrestrial encounters, one has to wonder why are they all, for the most part, the same? I simply can only speculate at this as we continue to stare up into the sky, waiting for their potential return.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Hominid Extraterrestrials

Location: Chapeco, Santa Catarina, Brazil

Sighted: December 14-15, 1983

Works Cited:

Humanoid Encounters: The Others Amongst Us- 1980-1984 By Albert S. Rosales

UFO Contacts in Brazil By Thiago Luiz Ticchetti

UFOs and Alien Contacts - Two Centuries of Mystery by Robert E. Bartholomew and George S. Howard

Patrick Gross. “December 14, 1983, Chapeco, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Antonio Nelso Tasca”. URECAT. March 15, 2007. https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/ce3/1983-12-14-brazil-chapeco.htm. Accessed December 19, 2021.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

The White Monsters of Sherman

 The White Monsters of Sherman

By Cole Herrold

The existence of cryptids is often backed up by their appearance to animals that dwelled on planet earth at one point or another. The Mokele-Mbembe, for example, bears a striking resemblance to sauropod-type dinosaurs. Lake monsters and sea serpents from around the globe have been reported to look like a variety of prehistoric marine reptiles like the Plesiosaur and Mosasaur. These creatures, however, are millions of years older than the menagerie of beasts that existed during the Cenozoic era. These animals are similar in many respects to the animals we have now, but many of them look like the kaiju equivalents. Woolly mammoths, for example, were giant hairy elephant-like creatures seen in North America and Siberia. Glyptodons, giant armadillos with tails covered in spikes, and woolly rhinoceros graced the plains of this era of history, and so too did giant sloths. 

Ground sloths have always been one of my favorite prehistoric animals. The idea of these bucolic animals frolicking around was something that enchanted my imagination reading books on prehistoric life. I had always wanted to see one in the flesh and, of course, be tempted to ride it like a big horse.  However, in the world of cryptozoology, there are many reports of still surviving giant ground sloths. Most come from the dense jungles of South and Central America, where tales of the Mapinguari are heard. The Mapinguari, I must note, is a mixed bag of reports. Some indicate a bigfoot-like creature, whereas others report a cycloptic one-legged beast with a mouth in its stomach or chest and, of course, the noble giant ground sloth. These slothier accounts describe a creature with long reddish-brown fur, mane-like hair that stretches down its back, eats palm hearts and berries, has a terrible odor, a loud roar or cry, and biologically enough travels with other of the indigenous animal species. One account described in George M Eberhart’s book Mysterious Creatures A Guide to Cryptozoology: Volume One describes an encounter where members of an indigenous tribe raised two baby Mapinguaris on bananas and milk, but after approximately two years of tender love and care, the creatures smell became too terrible for the tribe and the albeit adorable creatures were released back into the dark jungles of the Rio Jurua Valley. Yet South and Central America is not the only location where these creatures are supposed to dwell.

In the town of Sherman, New York, a series of encounters occurred. The witness of these events wrote of them to internationally famous Fortean researcher John Keel of what was described as giant ground sloths. The interesting thing about the encounter is that the aforementioned beasts were not just relics from another time but also a stark bright white color. The encounters began in 1965-1966 by an unnamed fifteen-year-old young man who started seeing these creatures near his home. The creatures he claimed lived in the swampy regions around his house and proceeded to wander around his property, not unlike the way deer and other natural residents do. On one occasion, a particular creature meandered its way into his yard, and he got the best and most accurate description he could see. He described it thusly "It stands between twelve and eighteen feet high, it has a long tail between six to eight feet long. It is all covered in hair. They are always white. I have seen them alone or two at a time. It can walk on two feet or four feet. It is almost a double for a prehistoric sloth.”. These encounters continued into the seventies and hopefully as well as possible to this day. The letter ends with not only an assertion that the animals that have been plaguing the property do exist but also that other members of his family and residents in the area have supposedly seen these white enigmas. Any further examples of cases, however, are yet to be cataloged.

This account officially published in Keel’s book The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings is often overlooked by researchers for some reason. Maybe I am biased because of my love of ground sloths, but I feel this particular case is one that needs further investigation. Possibly a trip I would not mind doing myself. The letter’s short-to-the-point style is something that to me personally stings with a note of authenticity. If someone were attempting to hoax or fake an encounter with a creature via letter, why wouldn't you have the creature do something incredible like attack livestock or wreck a portion of your house. An interesting patina is also the choice of creature sighted being a ground sloth. If this were a hoax, why would you not choose something either more exotic like a dinosaur or more well-known like a mammoth? True, the ambiguous writer is something that would raise a skeptical eyebrow, but as with most cases, eyewitnesses tend to want to stay anonymous to avoid ridicule or save their reputation.

While certainly, skeptics can poke holes into this account. Suppose we take the encounters seriously, what could possibly be the answer to this mystery. The most obvious answer is a giant sloth with albinism, yet how does something that large hide in the swampy sections of New York. These creatures surely would be seen more frequently if the woodlands were inhabited by bright white giant ground sloths.

 It is a common habit of ground sloths, particularly those in South America, to be amazing burrowers. They live in amazing hand, or should I say claw, made structures that appear as little nooks or caves. The nests of these pastoral giants would be an ideal place for these creatures to hide out. If the species adapted to digging into the ground and building tunnels not unlike those of a mole or beaver, the chances of these animals staying hidden are increased.

  Yet another possibility is that these creatures are semi-aquatic, seeing as they come out of swampy terrain. One particular kind of ground sloth called Thalassocnus that lived along the Peruvian coast had evolved to be able to graze on the aquatic vegetation that grew in the shallower waters of the coast. This species, though, has only been found in South America, so the possibility of it traveling up the coast to North America is very slim.  Yet the idea does stand that a species of sloth could have slowly begun the transition to become more aquatic like its southern cousins. This could explain why there are sightings but very few. If these animals spend most of their time in the deeper water of the swamps living or behaving like hippos or capybaras, there is always the chance of them going unnoticed by the majority of people.

While surely there are possibilities of these prehistoric relics existing in burrows or even wallowing in the water like manatees blending into their surroundings. It still raises the question, well, if they are ground sloths, what species could they be, and how and why are they currently seen in a small town in New York?

Giant sloths or giant ground sloths were a group of Xenarthra species that were around during this time throughout both North and South America. The animals were believed to of gone extinct a mere 10,000 years ago. Ground Sloths evolved in South America after the continent separated from Africa. The separation and isolation led to South America being a unique place for a variety of large animals to evolve and exist. Later on, North America and South America would connect via the Isthmus of Panama. This connection resulted in a flooding of animals changing location. Ground sloths used this route to move up to North America and, in turn, proceeded to diversify into several different species. Yet even before the land connection, ground sloths had made it to North America. These pastoral creatures had "island-hopped" around in the Caribbean, yet the species that achieved this were some of the smaller varieties. The larger ones, either not looking for an island getaway or simply too large to travel the distances, proceeded to have to wait for the borders between the North and South to connect.

 Humans arrived in North America via the land bridge which connected Siberia and Alaska around 13,000 years ago. There has been extensive evidence that humans have hunted ground sloths during the beginning of their interaction. Some researchers have even gone so far as to say that man is directly responsible for the end of these magnificent beasts. This idea is primarily that from the short span of time that occurred when man and these creatures interacted. In a matter of 3,000 years, all members of these rustic species had supposedly vanished from the planet as a direct result of human confrontation. There is even some evidence in the forms of a major butchering cite that the animals were, in fact, targeted by man for their needs and uses.

When discussing the fall of the megafauna that existed during this time, many believe humans even back then were among the main reasons for their extinction, but what if that wasn't the case? During those times, technology was extremely limited to handcrafted tools, and the effect they had on the environment was exceedingly small compared to what we do now. How can a hypothesis like this be so bold as to say we got them all? In fact, the slaughter site mentioned previously had bones that were much younger than when these animals were supposed to have gone extinct, ranging anywhere between 9,700 and 6,750 years old. This, in effect, proves that the sloths lived longer than generally accepted by science.  True, there are alternative theories that, in combination, could have resulted in the mass extinction, but it does not explain why people to this day report seeing these creatures in their old stomping grounds. Could it be that the sloths did live even further than what we even recently discovered? If So, who would be the ideal candidate for what was seen in Sherman?

Giant ground sloths, particularly Megatherium, could reach an absurd length of 20ft from head to tail. The few sites that feature the Sherman creature often cite this as the most likely candidate. I personally have several problems with this. For one, if you conservatively take the size of the creatures seen in Sherman, assuming they are adults, they dwarf them. If you take the maximum range of 18ft, which romantically I can see why someone would choose to do so, only then would it fit into the Megatherium category. Megatherium is perhaps the most famous member of the giant ground sloth clan, hence why I think when people do sincerely look at the Sherman Beast case, they conclude it to be a variety of Megatherium, yet even still, fossil evidence shows that these creatures dwelled only in South America. So, unless some managed to migrate up north and set up camp in the United States, it is doubtful that they are what's being reported.

Mylodon is another South American ground sloth species that needs to throw its hat into the ring for a possible answer to the Sherman creatures' mystery. The Mylodon was a unique ground sloth species described in color and fur quality as similar to other ground sloths of the area. The animals were smaller than their giant cousins, the Megatherium reaching a height and length of approximately ten feet, yet the interesting thing about these animals is not what is seen but usually what is unseen. Mylodons had a form of protective armor under their fur called osteoderms. Osteoderms are essentially bony specks that grow on the back, thighs, and shoulders enact as a kind of armor for animals. In Karl Shuker’s book In Search of Prehistoric Survivors, he describes an account with a giant sloth that appeared bulletproof. He hypothesizes that this account, which is one of the more famous surviving ground sloth cases, is possibly evidence of Mylodon, seeing as their protective osteoderms might, in fact, protect them from certain kinds of firearms, giving them an almost impervious quality to them. Yet as for their connection to the albino beasts seen in New York, they still don't fill the bill seeing as the Mylodon only reportedly managed to make it to Chile and Argentina.

Eremotherium is another incredible giant ground sloth, but this time these species managed to make their way up to North America and are a lot closer than Megatherium to being the possible answer to the Sherman creature mystery. Eremotherium was almost a rival when it came to size against Megatherium, the most gigantic giant ground sloth. Like Megatherium, they could reach lengths/ heights of twenty feet, making them an incredible sight to behold. These animals had a range initially believed to be of Florida. Yet, fossils have been found all the way up to North Carolina as though these descended pilgrims from Central America were still on the move northwards. Could it be that these species had managed to stretch even higher up into the continental United States and decided to nestle snug into the tiny town of Sherman? It seems possible yet still unlikely, but there is always another possibility.

The Megalonyx, another giant ground sloth, is the best bet for the ground sloth hypothesis. These animals existed in North and Central America. They could reach lengths of about 10 ft and, much like their larger cousins in South America, could rear up on their back legs to eat vegetation using their stubby tails as a kind of kickstand. However, the problem with this hypothesis is that the ground sloths seen in Sherman are gigantic compared to the Megalonyx.

A Canadian cryptid also believed to be a Megalonyx-type ground sloth also bears some resemblance and stark differences to the creatures seen in Sherman. The Yukon Beaver Eater, or as it is referred to by native tribes, the Saytoechin, is a large dark brown creature reported to live in the mountains of Frenchman Lake in the Yukon. This animal is described very much like the typical ground sloth, a large brown quadrupedal animal that can rear itself upright. It is larger than the biggest Grizzlies the locals claim, and the creature has a habit that led to its alternative name. Interestingly enough, this creature will attack beaver lodges and, using its large claws, will proceed to lift them up to attack the structure and its semiaquatic inhabitants—this, of course, results in a large meal for this unknown predator. There are two sightings of the creature from the 80s and 90s aside from the countless years of tales that the indigenous people have encountered the beast. The main sightings come from Dawn Charlie, who described a large creature coming from the tree line. The animal approached or charged depending on interpretation, and Dawn's family proceeded in running away from the beast, not without a relative firing several shots at the creature. Whether the animal was hit is undetermined and would be an interesting footnote, especially knowing some species had osteoderms. Yet, that detail remains lost to history.

Interestingly enough, we do not Megalonyx fossils have been found in the Yukon. In fact, in the Old Crow Basin, there have been approximately twenty-two specimens discovered. So, there is at least at one-point evidence of these animals existing where the Beaver Eater has been sited. The only problem is that based on the current scientific ruling, the animal should be extinct.

The Beaver Eater, if the same species as the Sherman Beast, brings to mind, of course, the topic of diet. The Beaver Eater is described as a carnivore, the South and Central American creatures are described as herbivores. There is a hypothesis that ground sloths potentially did hunt prey aside from chow on leaves and veg. The hypothesis was written about by Dr. Richard FariƱa and Dr. Ernesto Blanco and was based on studying the olecranon, which is the portion of the elbow to which the triceps connects to the arm of giant ground sloths. In several fossil specimens, they discovered that this feature is shorter than what an herbivore typically has. In carnivores, this feature is common for it helps with reaching faster speeds. They hypothesized that this would help ground sloths in attacking Glyptodons or other megafauna as well as bully other predators from their food. A documentary called Walking with Prehistoric Beasts focused on this hypothesis in the ground sloth's brief appearance by showing one killing a saber-tooth cat that was blocking a newly killed corpse.

Now, this hypothesis, while interesting, does not hold water with a lot of the ground sloth dung found in caves. The dung in caves, when analyzed, has shown more of a vegetarian type diet and never any carnivorous type of fecal remains. Even with that said, it is not uncommon for animals to replenish their diets by scavenging or eating meat. Animals typically seen as herbivores like deer or cows, for example, have, depending on the situation, eaten a dead carcass. True, these animals do not actively hunt for their prey like the Beaver Eater is supposed to. Still, it is not outside the realm for something we genuinely associate with being a sure way to behave entirely different. It could be that to survive in the modern Yukon, a species of Megalonyx adapted to be more omnivorous than its southern relatives. While all this is undoubtedly conjectured, what does it say about the Sherman Beasts? If they are ground sloths, they would most like fully be herbivorous or omnivorous, and living in a swamp would seem to point to the latter. The amount of game that appears in a swamp and the wild plants would be a buffet for something as big as a ground sloth and would be one of the ideal habitats for a region-specific variety.     

While I have stated that the creatures' size does not match with the fossil specimens that have been acquired over the years, this does not necessarily mean that these animals are not surviving Megalonyx or Megatherium. Humans are notoriously bad eyewitnesses if there is not an object of scale. We see this time and time again in supposed videos of proposed black panthers or melanistic mountain lions. Often times in these accounts, the creatures turn out to be average-sized house cats but because of color and distance appear much more extensive than what they are. We could hypothetically be seeing something similar in this particular case. The animals being extremely white could seem much bigger than what they actually were and while there are multiple creatures to account for 12-18ft for just one is a big jump in size. While the witness being young at the time probably did not think of measuring trees the creature passed or if the animal were near the house how high the beast was to get an accurate scale of the creature and gave his best estimate to how tall the creature could have been in respect to his ability to do so. Yet as with most cases of the unknown, we have to go with the accounts given, so assuming the size is correct, there are some other possibilities for how a Megalonyx could grow to be almost as large as its southern cousins.

Evolution is a fickle beast and something that most people accept as the actual way species arise. The development of a new species or for a species to adapt to a new location can take thousands to millions of years, and small features and traits help better the animals to survive to eventually be more prosperous in their new homes. Ground sloths historically are the best survivors of the megafauna world, arguably only rivaled or in some cases surpassed by Mammoths. There are several unique adaptations that some members of the ground sloth family have acquired depending on the species. Some sloths developed osteoderms, which is a form of almost armor that grows in the skin, helping to protect the animals from attacks. Some ground sloths were semi-aquatic and behaved much like diving moose or otters eating vegetation on the bottom. In many ways, the ground sloth was the species that tried it all from being burrowers, aquatic, armored tanks, and grazers. As time went on, many of these species got bigger and bigger to help deal with being hunted by predators and, of course, the lack of predation in some areas. Suppose a surviving population of Megalonyx did make its way to living in New York. In that case, it is possible that either through evolution or even merely a random mutation like gigantism could have occurred, making these animals larger than what we know from the fossil record.

Another possibility for the larger size is that this is not actually an increased size. Many times, in the animal kingdom, there is what is referred to as a geographic variation of a species. In this aspect, animals of the same species can be smaller or larger because of the geographic conditions required for the animal to survive in that given location. Differences can appear as skin, feather, and fur color and size, and these differences affect all the different sexes and age cycles of the species. Modern-day female sloths, because of sexual dimorphism; a kind of variation of the species, are much larger than the males, and there are some arguments with the ground sloths as to whether the male or the female would be larger since in most cases, specifically in mammals the males tend to be larger than the females. However, with fossils, determining an organism's sex can be extremely difficult, making decisions like sexual dimorphism or even whether the species is, in fact, a juvenile or not almost at times impossible.

While size can be explained away by evolution and mutation for these creatures, another feature that does not point to a ground sloth is the tail. The tail reported is six to eight feet in length that are almost half of the creature's conservative size and not what is seen with fossil skeletons. It could be possible that just like the size being misjudged, the tail length could also be. Another possibility is that the length seems longer because of hair. A lot of times, animals are extensively hairy. This makes them seem bigger or bulkier than they are muscle and bone wise.  It could be possible that the tail of the giant ground sloth, in fact, appears larger due to all the excessive hair. Yet if we are to go of this report at face value, this cannot be a ground sloth.

The Sherman beast is slightly different compared to other cryptids, which tend to clearly be giant ground sloths. In George M. Eberhart's massively resourceful tomes, Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, he discusses in detail the obscure creature the Ellengassen of Patagonia, which was an animal described as large as a bull with long hair. The main report of evidence left by an Ellengassen is a footprint described as a clog with two blades like shapes. This footprint was discovered in 1898. The print is similar to that of how a giant sloth's foot would be. The creature had a range of vocalizations from roars to howls, which possibly led to another alternative name, which was "Lobo-Toro," which translates unsurprisingly enough as "wolf bull." These creatures are reportedly herbivorous and live in the caves of Argentina. Locals also have said that much like the Mapinguari, the only weak spot on the Ellengassen is the stomach region. Karl Shuker, in his book In Search of Prehistoric Survivors, tends to lump this creature with a surviving Mylodon type animals because of this feature seeing as osteoderms tend to only grow on the back, thighs, and shoulders, making the head and stomach region the only "weak spot" for these beasts.

Another account described in George M. Eberhart’s encyclopedia is of a single account that occurred in Ecuador during the 1980s. Under his entry the Ecuadorean Ground Sloth, he described the creature as 10ft long covered in long hair with a horse-like snout. The animal reported unsurprisingly walked on four legs but could rear up on two, which is a well-known sloth behavior. The interesting aspect of this account is the size. A smaller specimen would be more likely to of survived the mass extinction as opposed to the colossal giants that were the Megatherium. While they tend to be the go-to sloths for many South American cases, they are not the only ones living in South America.

Interestingly enough, there are reports of creatures primarily from West Virginia and Kentucky that bear some resemblance to the mysterious beasts seen in Sherman. These creatures are called Sheepsquatch and the White Things. Now, these are two separate creatures that are possibly related but have strong indicators of being separate species. Sheepsquatch is a bipedal creature described as having a sheep like face with long curved horns like a ram, pointed fangs, large hands with long claws, and in some cases, a tail much like that of an opossum. This creature is often cited as aggressive and has chased individuals out of wooded locations.  The White Things, however, are more esoteric. While appearing similar to Sheepsquatch in color, size, and features, the creatures are very different. White Things tend to be mostly quadrupedal creatures that are extremely aggressive. There is an air of the supernatural with this particular creature, which, much like the Washington DC Demon Cat, some reports claim that the creature lunges towards or on victims only to disappear. The White Thing also is wary of graveyards in some cases as though it cannot walk on the hallowed ground.

In contrast, in other accounts where they are seen in graveyards, they appear as a form of death omen, which adds to these creatures' already abundant supernatural lore. While these creatures have been growing in popularity, especially in recent years with the inclusion of the Sheepsquatch to Fallout 76 and several appearances on shows like Mountain Monsters and Monsters and Mysteries in America. They do tend to be some of the more esoteric and fringe type creatures in the world of cryptozoology.

While Sheepsquatch and the White Thing do have many hallmark features similar to what was seen in Sherman, there are some extreme differences. Sheepsquatch, according to reports, tends to be about 6ft-8ft tall, and the White Thing is around the size of a bear. This is small compared to the 12-18ft giants seen in Sherman. Another differing feature is also the fact that the Sherman beasts do not have horns, which is something reported in almost all White Thing and Sheepsquatch accounts. Another thing is the lack of sheep-like or carnivorous qualities that the Sherman creature has. The witness is sure that the creatures seen on his lawn were something more akin to a sloth-like creature than some chimeral beast. Another factor is that Sheepsquatch and White Things are extremely aggressive compared to what we know or can glean from the account written about. The Sherman creatures also appear to be non-supernatural entities for their behavior, at least from what is described seems to simply be an animal.

While the animal hypothesis is the most logical, whether it be a relict specimen or descendent from a Megatherium or Megalonyx line, there is one other option that ventures even more on the mysterious. There are countless cryptid animals reported, yet as researchers, we are no closer to observe or verify the existence of these creatures. With this other Fortean type, research has to be referenced with cases like this even though they are highly unlikely.

One such possibility is that of a spectral animal. If they did go extinct 10,000 years ago, the ground sloths are long gone, yet still, people report seeing them all over the Americas. Could it be that what they are seeing is the spirits or spectral remnants either intelligent or replayed through the environment? It seems unlikely, yet it could explain why there are few reports of these particular creatures in Sherman as well as the stereotypical spectral color. Spectral research into extinct species is something entirely unstudied since, unlike the ghosts of people or even animals, how can you verify that these animals are not flesh and blood? With human ghosts, there's usually a figure that is either amorphous or defined enough to look or at least be recognized from someone deceased or someone from another time. Animal spirits are an entirely mixed bag and can even be connected to other phenomena that are even more difficult to accept or study, such as supernatural entities like Skinwalkers, faerie folk, witchcraft, demonology, and even in the rare cases, extraterrestrial visitations. Yet as stated earlier, the chance for these creatures to be spectral in origin is slim.

This idea, while it needs to be mentioned, is unlikely. The animals seen in this case seem to behave and be solid. While spectral animals and spirits, in general, have appeared solid in many cases, it seems unlikely that these animals would be of a spectral nature. The observers who encountered these creatures truly got the impression, at least from the information given, that these creatures were of a physical sense. If there were something overtly supernatural about these creatures, it would have been stated in the letter. Still, the letter does not once mention the animals dematerializing, or being see-through, or having any features that would make it seem otherworldly in any sense.

Another even more unlikely possibility is these animals are from another dimension. For if time and space are simultaneous that when these animals are sighted, we are actually seeing a window into another time and that these animals are flesh and blood, but sort of by some cosmic shift dropped in and out to interact with our world briefly. While there is in String Theory the idea of multiple parallel universes, it is extremely unlikely that this is what was sighted. There are many more interesting cases that seem to indicate some unique phenomenon that might-might being the keyword lend credence to this kind of window or shift in reality. Yet, in this particular case, I do not think this is what occurred. These creatures were seen for an extended period of time and not the kind of one- or two-time encounter that could lead to this being a heavier contender for the answer to this riddle.

With that said, we're still left with unanswered questions, and the only hypothesis that still holds strong is that of the giant ground sloth. The fact that we shared our planet with a host of incredible creatures in fact enough. We still need to remember that there are sections of our planet we have yet to traverse. We are a small hive of a species that still has not tapped the mysteries of the forests and mountains completely. With sightings of similar creatures in Canada and Central and South America still continuing of similar creatures, it is always possible that small herds or even lone pairs of this yet to be discovered or should I say rediscovered species could still be lurking in the deep pine areas and dark jungles of the joined continents.  Whether this is some descendent from or surviving members of the Megalonyx clan or possibly a mutated variety is anyone's guess.  While even this hypothesis is problematic for the reasons already stated, it is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities that a sparse few have survived and live in the North American wilderness, hopefully, for a long and peaceful time.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammal (most likely a Megalonyx)

Location: Sherman, New York

Sighted: 1965-1966

Works Cited

Bargo, M. Susana “The ground sloth Megatherium americanum: Skull shape, bite forces, and diet”, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, Vol. 46, No.2, pp. 173-192. 2001.

Benedict, Adam. "Cryptid Profile: Saytoechin (AKA: Beaver-Eater)". Pine Barrens Institute.   August 18, 2018, https://pinebarrensinstitute.com/cryptids/2018/8/18/cryptid-profile-saytoechin-aka-beaver-eater?rq=beaver. Accessed 12/14/20.

Carrillo, Juan De, et al., "Disproportionate extinction of South American mammals drove the asymmetry of the Great American Biotic Interchange”. PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 117, No. 42, 26281-26287, October 20, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2009397117. Accessed 12/13/2020

Coleman, Loren, and Jerome Clark. Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature. Fireside. 1999

Eberhart, George M. Mysterious Creatures A Guide to Cryptozoology: Volume one. CFZ Publication. 2013.

---. Mysterious Creatures A Guide to Cryptozoology: Volume two. CFZ Publication. 2010.

Gerardo De Iuliis, Castor Cartelle, “A new giant megatheriine ground sloth (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Megatheriidae) from the late Blancan to early Irvingtonian of Florida”, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 127, Issue 4, December 1999, Pages 495–515, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb01383.x.   Accessed December 13, 2020

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. Monsters of West Virginia: Mysterious Creatures in the Mountain State. Stackpole Books. 2012.

Hallenbeck, Bruce G. Monsters of New York: Mysterious Creatures of the Empire State. Stackpole Books. 2013.

Harrington, Arianna. “Eremotherium eomigrans”, Florida Museum. June 8, 2015. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/florida-vertebrate-fossils/species/eremotherium-eomigrans/, Accessed December 13, 2020.

Keel, John A. The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. 1994.

Mackal, Roy P. Searching for Hidden Animals: An Inquiry into Zoological Mysteries. Doubleday and Company. 1980.

McDonald, H. G., et al. “The Ground Sloth Megalonyx from Pleistocene Deposits of the Old Crow Basin, Yukon, Canada.” Arctic, vol. 53, no. 3, 2000, pp. 213–220. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40511905. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020.

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