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Sunday, October 31, 2021

Armless Horror of the Susquehanna

 The Armless Horror of the Susquehanna

By Cole Herrold

The world of Cryptozoology is chock full of strange chimeras, hairy hominids, prehistoric remnants, and beasts that seem to have escaped from a 1950s drive-in monster movie. In the annals of cryptozoology, countless of these drive-inn monsters were reported, especially throughout the 1950s and 1970s. Tales from Ohio of the Loveland Frogman have echoed in the Little Miami River since their initial report in 1955. The Lake Thetis Monster, a kind of Gill-man from British Columbia, has one of the most cinematic encounters reported. The creature was seen rising from the dark, murky depths, which resulted in the beast to charge after two eyewitnesses hanging around its aquatic domain. These creatures from the black lagoon have captured the imaginations of many a paranormal investigator and cryptozoologist, but there is one case that occurred before any of the previously mentioned beasts that have not been brought to the surface of the vast public. This strange creature is a haunting part of Pennsylvania's rich lore and history and one I have come to call… The Armless Horror of the Susquehanna.

The Susquehanna River is a large body of water that stretches throughout New York, my home state of Pennsylvania, and empties into the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. My hometown is actually located right on the river itself, with my house facing the darkened water that surges down throughout the state. The river has always been a source of recreational boating, tubing, swimming, and fishing. Growing up, I would hear tales of monster catfish and carp that would hide in the muddy sections of the river, but never would I have dreamed of something much more mysterious swimming below the churning brine.

The story of the Armless Horror is recorded briefly in the October 23rd issue of the Wilkes-Barre Record in 1905. The events of the article occurred the day before publication near the town of York Haven, which is located in York county. York County is at the very bottom of the state, and the mighty banks of the Susquehanna separate York from Lancaster County. This area of Pennsylvania is a mixture of both relatively decently populated towns and cities as well as vast areas of back road type communities. These communities are where the scene takes place.


Photo of the Susquehanna River and Three Mile Island taken in November of 2020 this area is an approximate section of the river where the sighting should have taken place.

The Record describes in the exceptionally short article the events of two anonymous couples and their encounter with something that biologically should not exist. The Record describes how in broad daylight, the two anonymous couples out near the river observed what the title of the article rather blandly states as "Fish Walks Like Man." The creature is described as the following: "The creature, whether fish or animal, is described to be as large as a man. When seen, it came out of the water erect like a man and is described as looking like a man but without arms". The article does not state where the beast was headed or if it even came on land or simply arose cinematically from the muck and churning mire.  The article does not even describe the actions of the witnesses. Were they curious, terrified, or simply trying to process the strange apparition before them? The article does give us this one insight into the witnesses' thought process to what occurred, and that is "Those persons who have seen it declare they are not the victims of an optical illusion." The article's author who tries to give as much credence to these anonymous witnesses as possible states" As it was seen in broad daylight more credence is given to the story than would be if it had been seen at night, when people are more prone to see "things".".

While the exact location of where these anonymous couples encountered the beast is not stated, the article does say that the sighting had reached the ears of people residing between Cly and Goldsboro. Cly is a small community in Newberry Township that is actually right along the bank of the river, and Goldsboro is located north of Cly. The total distance between the two boroughs is a mere 2.4 miles, which is not an extensively long stretch of the river. Arguably it is a safe bet to the point that this particular section of the Susquehanna is the approximate location where the sighting took place.  Both communities are located along the bank of the Susquehanna and interestingly enough located by Three Mile Island and several other smaller islands. Three Mile Island is home to the infamous Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station and is considered part of Dauphin County. The Island was home to a partial meltdown in 1979 that resulted in the leak of radioactivity.

Photo of Goldsboro Sign taken back in November of 2020 while researching the Armless Horror case

Even with figuring an approximate location of where this creature was spotted, we are still no closer to determining what this beast is. This creature, as with most cryptids, is something we have never seen before. There are no bipedal fish and no reptiles that bipedally walked exactly like a hominid in the fossil record. This aquatic monstrosity, scientifically speaking, should not exist. So, what are some possible explanations for the phenomenon? Well, here are some of the possibilities ranging from most probable to most unlikely.

One of the most common possibilities with any monster report is a newspaper hoax. At the same time, this account does take place later on than the typical Hoaxed papers. A monster story is still a perfect way to get individuals to pick up and purchase a paper. The account also raises several red flags like the nameless witnesses. The paper could attempt to hide this possible controversy by making their monster appear in the day so it would not be mistaken for anything other than what was reported. While this seems to be the most probable explanation, the simplicity of the article appears to be the opposite of what we would see in a newspaper hoax. If the article really wanted to capture some public notoriety at the time, you would think that the creature would come out of the river and attack the witnesses or at least capsize the boat. The article even seems to try to lend credence to the witnesses by expressing the difference between seeing a creature in the day versus night. As for the anonymity aspect of the witnesses, this could be to avoid ridicule or mocking, which is a reasonable response to reporting an encounter with a beast. With this lack of sensationalism and the article's attempt to not only lend credence to the account with the author's rationale but the simplicity, it does appear that the witnesses, whoever they may have been, had actually seen something strange. The question remains, what?

Could it have been someone in an early diving suit? Diving suits and wetsuits are not new inventions. The earliest diving suit was made in the 1700s and was a clunky, heavy piece of maritime technology. As time went on, however, the diving suit became more streamlined and less bulky, but even in the early portion of the 1900s, the suits bore a resemblance to droids from Star Wars. It is very possible that the witnesses misidentified a diver for a monster. There are also the possibilities of a hoax with a diving suit. A suit with its arms wrapped or sewn to the sides might give off the impression of the creature being an armless creep from the deep. The only possible problem with this hypothesis is with the restriction of movement in the suit. At the same time, there are individuals who, due to accidents or birth conditions, have been able to dive without the use of arms. Typically, they do need some additional help unless they are truly masters at diving. It's always smarter and safer to always have others with you when doing anything underwater, and if the witnesses themselves did not perpetuate it as a hoax. There's not enough information to truly paint a picture of who else could have been out on the water.

The most common skeptical take on any cryptid report is misidentification. So, one would have to include the possibility of an individual mistaking a common or invasive species as what they are witnessing. There are many large species of fish that swim up and down the Susquehanna. The largest species of known fish being muskies and catfish, and like most fish, they will come up to the surface of the water if there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water for them to breathe. Fish will also come to the surface to feed if need be. In 2019 a 50lbs flathead catfish was reeled in, breaking the state record. With that said, a 50lbs catfish is a big fish but nowhere near the size of the creature reported in the Record. With that said, that could be the result of classic "fish stories" where the witness exaggerates the size of the fish for a reaction. A man-size Fishman monster could actually be, in reality, an oversized catfish.

Other organisms could be beavers, muskrats, river otters, raccoons rearing up to head onto the bank. These, to me, are extremely unlikely, but for the sake of argument, they should be included. A black bear, while not as aquatic as the others, could also be a possibility, and it would be closer in size to what has been reported, but a black bear has evident arms and ears, which is entirely opposite to that which has been reported.

An undiscovered species is arguably the final possibility for what this creature could have been. While some can argue that Pennsylvania is a strange location for a species to remain hidden for countless years, the state itself is vastly forested and full of small islands and deep sections of rivers that some small troop of an undiscovered species could carve out a section to remain unseen. Interestingly enough, creatures similar in description to The Armless Horror were seen in Ohio and Kentucky. These creatures are described as armless, and both are semiaquatic in nature. The most famous of these two lesser-known cryptids is the Charles Mill Lake Monster, which was seen in 1959. Its description is shockingly identical to that of the Armless Horror, everything down from the lack of arms to its bipedal locomotion.

This case, to me, is interesting for several reasons and why I felt the need to write this article. For one thing, the general lack of sensationalism in the article for something that very easily could have fallen in the same category of the countless penny dreadful type monsters seen throughout the decades of yellow journalism. In the 1800s, monster attacks were a dime a dozen lake monsters ate numerous individuals swimming in their abodes, Spring Heeled Jack of London belched blue flames and tore at the flesh of young London women, even possibly killing them in some accounts, even bigfoot type creatures seemed to be overly aggressive as countless articles reported them devouring children and attacking horse-drawn carriages. This case has none of that and echoes a lot of modern monster reports that we take very seriously, seeing as it is a creature that simply appears mysteriously, and that is it. Granted, there is a lot of ambiguity in the article in the Wilkes Barre Record that does not describe what the creature did after being sited or how the witnesses reacted; one can imagine they hightailed it out of their obviously, but the lack of action is something that is reminiscent of many bigfoot reports where the creature simply walks across the road into the woods or a lake monster sighting where it appears above the surface and submerges. These accounts are almost believable in their simplicity as opposed to something more extravagant, that is what one would have expected in an encounter with the unknown, and this case is no different. 

Another element is the description I have stated previously about the depiction is similar to other creatures reported in the late 50s, and the concept of a fish-man in the media was not common in 1905. The account taking place in 1905 is almost fifty years older than the most famous aquatic humanoid in pop culture the Gillman from the Creature from the Black Lagoon, so unlike other marine humanoid encounters, the chance of a lie or hoax inspired by this film or a similar film is quite literally out of the water. Folklore around the world describes merfolk, or semiaquatic human-like creatures whether it be the Mermaids, Dagon, River Sprites, Nixies, Merrow, Selkie, Finfolk, Kappa, Neck, Ceasg, Amabie, Ningyo, Naga, or Melusine that appear as a chimera of various aquatic organisms or as elementals that reside in bodies of water and are bipedal in nature. While some folklorists could argue that there is some underlying cross-cultural trend, whether it be these creatures are manifestations of our fears of deep pools, which are environments very much alien to us, or that they symbolize our connection or the deification of nature. There is another possibility, however, that these cultures, many of whom developed these stories independently from each other, are, in fact seeing species hitherto unknown to science currently.

While it is safe to say that gathering any more specific information on this particular case would be almost impossible unless by some miracle a diary or the descendants of those unnamed witnesses come forth with more details, it is still an enduring mystery, and while the account is relatively short and somewhat vague as with most potentially real cryptid encounters the impact is significant, Not just for those who have encountered a strange creature but also for those who actively read, search, or theorize about the subject. For every new or under looked through case that we do not consider can result in ideas or connections being lost. Yet whether it's lake serpents, Bigfoot, Mothman, or something far more mysterious, there is something that drives all of us as humans and makes life indeed more interesting if not more meaningful for those of us genuinely encapsulated by the possibility of those mysteries still hidden in nature.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Amphibian/ Fish

Location: Susquehanna River, Cly and Goldsboro, York County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: October 22, 1905

Works Cited

Coleman, Loren, Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky spots, and Other Mysterious Wonders. Faber and Faber. 1985.

Hayes, John “50-pound flathead catfish caught on Susquehanna River sets Pa. record” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 9, 2012. https://www.post-gazette.com/life/outdoors/2019/05/09/Pennsylvania-catfish-state-record-Susquehanna-River-flathead/stories/201905090101. Accessed November 14th, 2020.

The Wilkes-Barre Record “Fish Walks Like Man. Strange Animal Alarms Pennsylvania Residents Along Susquehanna” October 23rd, 1905

“The story of early diving suits, 1900-1935” Rare Historical Photos. June 18, 2020. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/vintage-diving-suits/. Accessed November 5th, 2020.

“The Susquehanna River” Susquehanna River Valley. https://www.visitcentralpa.org/things-to-do/the-susquehanna-river. Accessed November 5th, 2020.

“Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. November 29, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_Nuclear_Generating_Station. Accessed November 30, 2020.

“Dissolved Oxygen (DO)” https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/dissolved_oxygen.pdf#:~:text=Fish%20and%20other%20animals%20that,water%20need%20oxygen%20to%20live.&text=For%20example%2C%20Northern%20Pike%20cannot,the%20strongest%20fish%20may%20suffocate. Accessed November 22nd, 2020. 

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