The Illuminous Being of Westmoreland County

 The Illuminous Being of Westmoreland County

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to Fortean studies, there are some researchers who almost always seem to have countless cases of entities that defy the realms of traditional Ufology, Cryptozoology, or ghost investigation. One such researcher is Stan Gordon, who has personally been investigating the countless mysteries of the Keystone State for over 60 years. He has authored three books, all of which are incredible and must-haves for any Fortean library, appeared on countless documentaries and television programs involving the unknown, and operates a fascinating website that includes up-to-date encounters and Fortean news that has some of the most bizarre encounters ever reported. Upon perusing through the site, I came across a bizarre entity that seems to of been pulled out of Clive Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart as the being seemed to of been a mirror image to the enigmatic entity Barker would call the Engineer.

In late August 2017, an unnamed Police Officer was driving down a dark, secluded road one night in the Southwestern region of Westmoreland County. The dark woods were pitch black, and the officer could barely make out anything distinguishable on the path. As the officer continued to drive down the road, he noticed a bizarre glow on the ground in the road. The glowing light was a dull white color about 8-10 inches diameter, and he was rather confused by this because he had driven down this road several times and remembered that there should be nothing along this stretch of road that would glow or give off some artificial illumination. As his car approached the object, he could tell that whatever this object was, it was noticeably round, almost ball-like in shape, and upon getting within 50 yards of the object, he saw one of the most bizarre things ever reported. He watched as the ball slowly began to lift up off the ground and noticed that as the ball did this, that it was seemingly attached to some other shape or form. The officer watched and could now see that the glowing orb was actually the head of a bizarre creature that stood about 6ft or potentially larger in height. Even with the creature's illuminated head, he was unable to make out further details of the body except that the creature's body, aside from being tall, was skeletal thin and bore two incredibly long yet emaciated arms that seemed to have no muscle. The creature had a noticeable yet small waist as well as a chest that was about 18" across, and while he was unable to see or notice hands, legs, or feet in the darkness, it did appear to have such features. The creature's skin tone, from what he could see, was a dull grayish blue that was only noticeable due to the glowing of the being's head. The being who the officer now realized was sleeping or resting on the ground seemed to notice him as the creature proceeded to turn towards his direction and face him; the creature did this very briefly before turning towards the other way as if checking to see if there was any other traffic and then began to run in that direction it now faced. The officer stared in utter disbelief as the being seemed to have an unnaturally fast speed; as the creature moved, the officer could see that the creature's arms were swinging as it moved, and he would describe the whole scenario thusly “It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen…It was faster than anything I have ever seen. It was there, then it was gone.” He watched the bioluminescent creature for some time until it eventually disappeared into the night; this whole experience lasted around 10 seconds. After the creature was gone, the officer proceeded to move his car to the spot and searched the area for some evidence of the being by the light of his vehicle spotlight; however, he saw nothing indicative. The officer, a short time after his sighting, would later draw a sketch of the creature and tell the encounter to Stan Gordon. Gordon would write about the report on his UFO Anomalies Zone website.

Around a month later, a similar creature was reported around the same area. This second sighting which happened around Mid-September and was reported by a witness who saw the creature near the woods by his house. The creature was described very much the same as it had the glowing sphere-shaped skull and was sickly in form and about 6ft tall. The creature's skin, however, was noticeably different as it was an Ivory-colored being. The witness watched the creature for some time until it began to exit the woods and wander onto his property; realizing that this luminous lurker was now much closer than he cared to have contact with began to run into his home and lock the doors. Upon returning to look outside, however, the creature was noticeably gone. With this encounter, it ends the recorded account of the Illuminous Being of Westmoreland County.

For those familiar with the 1987 film Hellraiser, which was based on Barker's novella and also directed by him, some may wonder why I would compare the creature reported in 2017 to the being which in the film was a bizarre fleshy abomination that moved by holding onto walls and walking upside down. However, those familiar with the book will clearly see the similarities the Engineer who in Barker’s novel was the leader of the Cenobites and in the novel was a bizarre being who was humanoid in form but whose head was a bizarre white-colored glowing or fiery light, and after Kirsty had given Frank to the Cenobites, the entity gave her the infamous Lament Configuration. This depiction which is quite different from the film, is eerily similar to the entity reported, and upon attempting to find anything closely similar in both Fortean literature and literature of Folklore, Mythology, and Legends, I've been unable to find anything even noteworthily similar except for the skeletal frame of the creature, which is seen in countless paranormal entities, yet none have the most important feature which is the glowing orblike head.

While there's nothing similar in the annals of Fortean studies to this being, where are we to go with this report? Skeptically speaking, one could point to the novel as being the inspiration for a hoax perpetrated by the author if he happens to be both a horror fan and avid reader, yet if one were to perpetrate a hoax from such source material, why would you pick the most esoteric enigmatic entity of the bunch and not one of the more classical depictions such as Pinhead, Chatterer, or any of the other countless cenobites featured on screen or in the novels or comics. Also, the fact that there was a sighting of a similar creature sometime later also adds another layer since the fact that you now have two witnesses describing almost exactly the same entity in a short duration of time at different spots implies one of three possibilities either the second witness read Stan Gordon’s initial report on the being and then continued to perpetrate a hoax, That the witness was also basing the sighting on Clive Barker’s novel and that the witness as well chose the Engineer as the basis, or thirdly and seemingly where I stand they both saw a very viable phenomenon.

While the skeptical aspect really doesn't seem to hold water with this case finding a simple Fortean category to place this creature in is just as difficult. It's safe to say that it is not a cryptid as there's nothing in nature that we are aware of that has a seemingly featureless glowing head. Now, however, to play devil's advocate, perhaps this entity might be a cryptid perhaps the glowing ball which the officer assumed was a head might be instead some false feature akin to a lantern fish's light or some sort of Aposematism or mimicry that serves some as yet unknown purpose. Perhaps if this is the case, the creature has some other feature hidden in the torso region that could be more like something we would recognize as traditional biology. Yet, of course, this is all speculation. I will say in addition to this if this is a biological cryptid, the implications of it to other Fortean phenomena that have been reported like spook lights and other anomalous lights in the woods could actually be these creatures and that the rest of their forms are hidden in darkness again however this is all speculation.

The next possibility is that the being could be an extraterrestrial of some kind. There are countless cases of glowing entities associated with UFOs, several of which have been reported in Pennsylvania, so perhaps this entity is just another example of this. Also, the possibility exists that if this is an extraterrestrial, then it would have countless chances to have all sorts of evolutionary possibilities that could result in the entity witnessed. The only problem with this hypothesis, however, is that the being was not seen in conjunction with a UFO. There are tons of UFO sightings in Westmoreland County, and it is one of the highest areas in regard to such sightings in the state. Yet during this set of sightings, there was not a sighting of a craft in the area, and if there was, it certainly would have been mentioned in the reports by Stan Gordon.

The next possibility would have to be an interdimensional or Ultraterrestrial entity if it is from some alternative dimension once again; much like the ET hypothesis, it has countless evolutionary possibilities, and also it could have access to our world or dimension without the aid of a craft. To me, this is perhaps the most plausible answer to this being simply based on the information reported. The Ultraterrestrial possibility is another theory that we cannot take off the table even though the being, in this case, seemingly did not have the effect that I traditionally associated with such an encounter with these creatures as their whole goal is to feed on our emotions most specifically our fear. The short spurt of the sightings also does not seem to be as long as a sighting with an Ultraterrestrial should be as if these creatures feed off our emotions the brief 10 seconds does not seem to be an adequate time to even get a decent snack, let alone a stomach-filling meal of terror. However, once again, one cannot take this possibility off the table.

With beings such as this, they exist in their own category, which should be called the "Inexplicables" they are bizarre beings that seem to just pop into our world and disappear back from whence they came. This being, as with most of these beings, does not have a simple answer and, compared to all other Fortean categories, does not seem to fit in the already teeming files of Cryptids and Aliens and seems to be evidence of the veracity of some of those other categories that are often looked down upon such as Interdimensional beings, Faeries, Demons, or Ultraterrestrials or perhaps this being is an example of something we have no term for yet. I think about this possibility often and am both fascinated and frustrated by the possibility, yet I can only speculate as to just what this being is.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Extraterrestrial, Interdimensional, or some other paranormal entity.

Location: Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: Late August and Mid-September 2017

Works Cited:

Gordon, Stan “Mysterious UFOs, Bigfoot and Cryptid Encounters Reported Across Pennsylvania in 2017”. Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone. January 15, 2018. https://www.stangordon.info/wp/2018/01/15/mysterious-ufos-bigfoot-and-cryptid-encounters-reported-across-pennsylvania-in-2017/. Accessed January 29, 2022.

Gordon, Stan “Police Officer Encounters Strange Creature with Glowing Head in Pennsylvania- Late August 2017”. Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone. August 30. 2017. https://www.stangordon.info/wp/2017/08/30/police-officer-encounters-strange-creature-with-glowing-head-in-pennsylvania-late-august-2017/. Accessed January 29, 2022

The Hampshire Cyclops

 The Hampshire Cyclops

By Cole Herrold

Cryptids and Aliens have appeared in all sorts of guises and descriptions. Oft times, these beings have features or elements similar to those of mythological and folkloric beings that raise the bar as to whether our ancestors' legends or descriptions of these creatures we take as fantasy could be potentially real encounters. The weirdest of these are those beings that not only seem to defy evolution but also seem to be a combination of multiple mythological creatures. One such encounter that seemed to be a cross between the Greek Cyclops and both the Acephali and Blemmyes these figures are beings that are humanoid in form but missing a head and feature facial features on the chest and stomach instead. The latter of these figures are reported in many early manuscripts and were extensively covered before and during the middle ages by such travelers as Pliny the Elder and Herodotus. These figures are almost nonexistent in the annals of modern Fortean studies; however, there are occasionally reports of such creatures or creatures of a similar description in modern times.

It was about 11:00 at night on February 21, 2004, and Emily Parkinson of Hampshire, England, was lying in bed waiting for her husband to come home. As she lay in wait comfortably wrapped in the warmth of the blanket, she noticed a bizarre bright white light that seemed to reflect in the mirror. Thinking that perhaps this was her husband coming home, she got up to go check at the nearby window. As she peered into the darkness, she did notice a bizarre figure standing in the yard, but as she looked closer, she could tell that the figure was far from human. As the figure turned, she could tell that it was about 6ft tall and looked very human-like but where there should have been a head was a smooth layer of flesh that stretched from the shoulder blades making the creature headless. The creature, however, was not devoid of features that one would find on the face, for as Emily looked the anomalous entity over, she noticed a large globular mass protruding from the region of the entity's stomach. This mass which she soon could tell was the creature's eye, was described as having several round black circles in it, each one smaller than the last, which gave it the appearance of some sort of Tim Burton-esque Christmas ornament. The creature seemed to notice that it was witnessed, and as the two stared back at each other, the strange eye-like organ began to create a kind of incredibly high pitch sound that she would claim seemed to penetrate her mind. Whether there was some type of communication or whether this was some sort of mind-reading is unknown, but Emily was certain that it had some sort of purpose. Emily was filled with terror by the strange nature and behavior of the creature and could not look away from the strange being as she watched; however, the entity began to slowly fade away, its flesh becoming more and more transparent before it finally disappeared. Leaving her once again alone on her property, she kept her story to herself for some time before she ultimately reported her sighting to the now-defunct site Iwasabducted.com.

This encounter is exceptionally bizarre as it features many elements that one would associate with an extraterrestrial or faerie encounter; however, there are elements of this case that are not classically associated with either phenomenon. The phenomenon of cyclops extraterrestrials are not uncommon; there have been several semi-famous reports of such beings over the years, such as the Belo Horizonte encounter where several orange-skinned cyclops aliens were reported, and a Cyclops species is included in MUFON’s The Extraterrestrial Species Almanac; however, these species are cyclops in the classical Greek sense of the word they have a single eye in a head even amongst other non-humanoid aliens who also are reported as having a single eye or mass that one would be considered an eye like in the Space Brains of Pelos Verdes case none exactly match the description of the entity seen in Hampshire and again even amongst the widely catalogued space parade almost all have some sort of head.

If this creature did not have the supernatural abilities of a potential mind scan and the ability to fade away, I would entertain the cryptid possibility even though it is less likely. There is a tradition of headless races described in folklore, such as the Acephali and Blemmyes as mentioned earlier; there also are countless creatures that are often reported headless such as the Grafton Monster of West Virginia, which was seemingly devoid of facial features but like the entity, in this case, did release a high pitched noise that was described as a whistling sound. Another headless creature was Mothman, who in the 66'-67' description did have a pair of bright red eyes seemingly placed in the chest region of the body, much like the creature here. Now the problem with this, of course, is that these creatures, except for possibly Mothman, do not have any direct supernatural connection as in the case of the Grafton Monster, there were no UFOs or anomalous lights seen in the area during the sighting and the creature did not have any of the mental or psionic abilities described in the Hampshire case nor did any witness during the flap of sightings report it disappearing in plain sight.

The fact that there was a bright light seen even though it was a form of reflection seems to once again indicate the extraterrestrial angle even though an exact species of this variety has never been reported, at least to my knowledge before. The bizarre behavior of this beast seems to indicate at some sort of sentience, and even the fading away or disappearing element is something that has been reported over the years in other extraterrestrial cases. If one looks at the incredible vastness of the universe, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that some organism could have evolved in this manner on another planet, and so from this, it is one of the most likely, if not the main explanation to this creature.

While the extraterrestrial possibility is more likely the best option for identifying the origin of the being, however, it is not the only one. The other possibility that could explain this creature is the faerie option. Faeries are often associated with bright lights, the ability to fade away or disappear, and anomalous sounds that cause some sort of deliriousness or trance-like state, all of which we see in this case. One-eyed faeries are also rather common in lore and in antediluvian encounters; however, while there is a lot of things similar with the fae in this encounter, there is nothing at least that I'm aware of that matches this being that comes from the Other World or Faerie Land. There is, of course, the possibility that this is some undiscovered or uncatalogued species, but the fact that there are how many thousands of years of recorded encounters and nothing exactly matching makes this hypothesis unlikely.

Of course, as with just about every Fortean case, there is also the chance of this entity being an interdimensional or Ultraterrestrial as both possibilities are plausible in this case. The fact that this entity appeared and disappeared is something we would associate with both these types of beings; if this creature was from another dimension, it, much like an extraterrestrial, would have countless evolutionary possibilities. The fact that there was a definite response of fear from the form the creature was described as would also add to the possibility that this being could have been intentional if it was an Ultraterrestrial for the sole purpose of feeding off fear or some other emotion or even chemical response.

Just what this entity is, we can only speculate; however, this case is incredibly interesting, and I really wish there were further sightings or more information on this being. It's cases like this that make you scratch your head and go, "what the hell" it just doesn't exactly match anything in the classic Fortean literature. There are elements of the fae, cryptids, and extraterrestrials in this case, and yet none are exactly the same as one particular category. This case is just one of those completely bizarre cases that will never be explained and one that more than likely will never be reported again.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Extraterrestrial species, Faerie

Location: Hampshire, England

Sighted: February 21, 2004

Works Cited:

The Inhumanoids By Barton M. Nunnelly

Soul-Drifter “UFOnauts: The Strange Ones." Alien Hub. February 28, 2010. https://www.alienhub.com/threads/ufonauts-the-strange-ones.22913/page-30. Accessed January 29, 2022. 

The Talking Devil Dog of Pittsburgh

 The Talking Devil Dog of Pittsburgh

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to Fortean phenomenon, there is an almost geographical grid in which such entities seem locked. Cryptids are reported in the woodlands and murky lakes and pollutant-free skies; ghosts are home to antediluvian structures or locations that have a great history to them; Aliens prefer the picturesque farming communities or locations where human interaction is lessened, the faerie kind and their ilk much like the cryptids tend to spend their days in nature and avoid humans at all cost. Yet on occasion, there are cases that seem to break these artificial ley lines, and when these cases occur, they are the most unique and sometimes most downright disturbing cases on the books. The most famous case when one mentions highly populated areas and the unknown is Spring-Heeled Jack this malevolent fire vomiting fiend would bound around London in the mid-1800s and would later be reported elsewhere, such as America. In January 1909, during Phenomenon Week, the Jersey Devil frequented the streets of many a New Jersey and Pennsylvania town but perhaps one of the weirdest encounters during this flap of sightings was on Thursday the 21st  when the creature was seen in the backyard of a Mrs. White in Philadelphia where it’s alligator skinned dragon-like visage spewed flames at a woman folding her clothes before her husband beat the creature with a clothes prop resulting in it clamoring over a fence and almost getting clipped by a motorist driving down 16th street where the creature was still breathing fire. Almost half a year before the Jersey Devil was causing terror in Philly on the opposite side of the state, an altogether different kind of Devil was reported, but unlike the Jersey Devil, this creature had the unique capacity that we rarely see in more animalistic mystery beings as this creature bizarrely enough could talk.

On July 29, 1908, there was a heavy amount of Police Officers in the area of Lincoln Ave, in Pittsburgh. The reason for this was that over the course of several weeks, there had been many petty thefts that were plaguing the area. The police, exhausted by the constant reports of missing objects and shady individuals, began to flood Lincoln Ave for the sole purpose of putting a stop to these kleptomaniacal individuals. On the day in question, a pair of the boys in blue were on their way to the avenue and had decided to take a quick detour through one of the city parks. As they were wandering through the concrete divided greenery, they happened to notice a small black dog whit short hair walking towards them. As they met the animal halfway there, the three seemed to stop, and as the animal looked up to the men of the law, it opened its mouth and said, “Good Morning!”. The voice seemed to talk as if to initiate a pleasant chat, but the men seemed to be confused as to where the voice seemed to come from as it sounded so close, and yet while there were people around, nobody was as close as the voice was. Looking once more at the dog, the two wondered whether they were being duped and felt that perhaps this was some act of ventriloquism from some hidden perpetrator or some other hoax. The pair were still debating this back and forth until the dog spoke once more as it aggressively wagged its tail. "I speak for myself," it said in an offended tone and then began to trot away. The men realizing then that this was not some gimmick or parlor trick, then began to run after the cordial canine and sought to capture the curious critter. The dog was not far off as the men came up from behind the creature, and just as one of the officers bent to pick up the animal, it sidestepped to avoid being manhandled and growled out, "Don't touch me." This command was ignored, and as the officers continued to chase the creature one eventually did manage to grab hold the animal's leg. As the officer enclosed his fingers around the canine's slender leg, a strange thing happened an intense pain shot into his hand. This pain caused him to drop his quarry, and looking down, he noticed that there imprinted on his hand was the burned impression of the dog's leg. The burn-in that matter of seconds went extremely deep and was exceptionally raw. The men stopped their pursuit after this and watched as the animal once more ran off, and as it did, it began to turn into a vibrant green mist. They watched as this vaporous varmint slowly dissipated until nothing was left. The officers began to tend to the wound caused by the caustic creature and, after bandaging the wound tightly, continued to their route; the pair were debating on whether they should keep the story to themselves, but after seeing another officer on their way to Lincoln Ave they felt that they had to tell someone. So, after telling the officer and showing him the wound, word of the devilish dog spread like wildfire and was eventually covered in the New York World. One would think that this would be the end of the tale of the Talking Devil Dog of Pittsburgh, but there is an important epilogue to this case. This case would be mentioned rather briefly and heavily debated in the 1932 book Wild Talents by the infamous founder of Fortean studies, Charles Fort. In his book, Charles Fort heavily dismissed the case of the Talking Devil Dog and said that the reason for this was the overall lack of similar accounts as he states that he was aware that the phenomenon of dogs “speaking” was common and that he had seen one such dog who would say “thank you” when given candies but that this phenomenon combined with some sort of illuminated or spectral leaving was not in any of his files and therefore unlikely to be real. He would say further on this “if say, sometimes in the year 1847 a New Orleans Newspaper told of a cat who said: "Well, is it warm enough for you?" and instantly disappeared sulphurously, as should everybody who says that; and if I had a clipping, dated sometime in 1930, telling of a mouse who squeaked "I was along the way, and thought I'd drop-in" and vanished along a trail of purple sparklets and something similar from the St. Helena Guardian, August 17, 1905; and something like that from the Madras Mail, year 1879- Id consider the story of the polite dog no marvel, and Id admit him to our fold”. For many Forteans, this would be the nail in the coffin for this case, but some researchers have kept the account alive such as Patty A. Wilson in her book Totally Bizarre Pennsylvania. Yet now that we're 90 years further down since Fort wrote those words in Wild Talents and with the now countless Fortean cases collected since that time, are there any cases that are similar and would if Fort was still alive might cause him to reconsider? I think the answer is yes.

The very first case I had not heard of until Rob Morphy, Marc Storrs, and Chris Carnicelli brought the case to the limelight in their Cryptonaut Podcast episode “The Radiant Raccoon, LSD, and the Nobel Laureate” in this incredible case Chemist and Nobel Prize winner Kary Mullis encountered late one night a bizarre bright green glowing raccoon who upon seeing the scientist cordially said, “Good Evening Doctor." This case I mention for two reasons, the most notable being that in this case, the animal talks and also that there is a green seemingly supernatural feature associated with it, but that's about it when it comes to connections. Needless to say, however, while these similarities are small, they are interesting. Another talking animal case that also is important to note is the Millville Insanity Bird; this colossal creature also spoke to the person who saw it inquiring as to where his trash can was and, upon not getting a response, proceeded to attack the witness. The Millville Insanity Bird, much like the Talking Devil Dog, also has a curious body chemistry or at least build for while the devil dog can burn those who touch it and also turn to a green vapor the Millville Insanity Bird's body when hacked at by Dan was described as a wooden like substance that appeared to break into splinters. The creature's eye, which was removed, was also described much like a lightbulb, and the creature, much like the Devil Dog, proceeded to leave in an altogether bizarre manner as it ballooned up and floated away. The final and perhaps most interesting of all these cases of talking animals is Gef the Mongoose. Gef was a spectral mongoose reported on the Isle of Man that was exceptionally vocal and did a variety of poltergeist-like activities around the house. The entity was seen on a few occasions, and even footprints and teeth marks were found and made into plaster casts. So, such seemingly supernatural talking creatures have occurred since Fort wrote about the case in 1932.

Aside from the talking angle, there are reports of phantom hounds such as Black Shuck, who have features that one would associate with the Talking Devil Dog. While most cases of phantom hounds, hellhounds, and black dogs do not involve the capacity for speech, they do often have a feature that is seen in the case in Pittsburgh, and that is the ability to burn people or objects that touch them. One of the most famous examples of this can be seen today and was caused by the infamous Black Shuck. On August 4, 1577, at Blythburgh, the spectral hound killed several members of a congregation at the church thereupon unleashing such carnage, the creature clawed the North door of the building and, upon doing so, left scorch marks as though its claws or feet were hot or on fire. This is almost exactly what was reported in the Talking Devil Dog case, and so perhaps this entity is one of Black Shuck's relatives or perhaps if such an action is possible for these entities' offspring. 

The Talking Devil Dog of Pittsburgh is a case that really needs to be re-brought to the attention of the Fortean community as now that the years have gone by and there are many similar cases, it might be worth another look. However, while there are similar cases, there's still the problem with just what the creature could be, and in all reality, there are only a few possible answers. The first and most likely is a demon or some type of supernatural entity; the fact that the black dog figure is often associated with the infernal kingdoms is something we have to keep in mind, and with such cases, these creatures often do things that typical dogs cannot and often leave people injured or cause disasters. The fact that not only does this creature talk but also that it disappears in a mist is something we currently have to attribute to the supernatural realm, and with all the legends and lore connecting black dogs, burning paws, and demonology, it's almost the easiest answer for this mystery. 

While it's clear that this creature is not a cryptid and more than likely not an extraterrestrial, there are other possibilities for it than a demonic entity. While unlikely, the next possible category to put this entity in would be the Faeries. In Faerie Lore and taxonomy, there are several fae that are associated with dogs and black dogs in particular. The Cu Sith or Faerie Hound, for example, is a faerie that behaves very much like the traditional black dog of folklore, as hearing its bark three times can cause the hearer's demise. These dogs typically appear as bright green in color, but in some tales, they appear as a motley of colors or strictly black. Another faerie associated with the black dog is the Phooka, also spelled Puca or Phouka; this shape-shifting fae is a trickster that, much like the Kelpie, will often change into the form of a horse to lure people into riding it, however, unlike the Kelpie the Phooka will not kill those who ride it but will take the individual on a wild hair raising ride instead. Phooka, much like Brownies, will occasionally work for families, and while tricksters can be pleasant and helpful. Phookas, aside from black horses, are also known to transform into black-haired men, black goats, black cats, black hares, and of course, and most important for this discussion, black dogs. However, Phooka's are traditionally associated with nature and wild places, so if the Talking Devil Dog was one, why would it be walking down a potentially crime-filled street?

In this case, there are not too many other possibilities for just what the creature could be. This is both simpler and more confounding as the possibilities are by far some of the hardest to swallow when it comes to Fortean studies. A Bigfoot is one thing as primates, and hairy hominids like the Australopithecines did exist, but faeries and demons are figures that we have very little evidence for aside from anecdotal tales and a few images from videos and pictures that are entirely up for interpretation. As far as I know, there are no other talking dog cases outside of classic faerie interactions and certainly nothing, at least that I'm aware of in modern times, but I'm hopeful that maybe somewhere trapped in some attic or basement is a journal where some other individual had a bizarre encounter with a member of man’s best friend who also was gifted with the ability to speak in a totally different way of the traditional phrase we tell our four-legged buddies every day. 

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Faerie, Demon, Supernatural Entity

Location: Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: July 26, 1908

Works Cited:

Charles Fort: The Man who Invented the Supernatural By Jim Steinmeyer

Totally Bizarre Pennsylvania By Patty A. Wilson

Wild Talents By Charles Fort 

Cryptonaut Podcast Episode #225: “The Radiant Raccoon, LSD, and the Nobel Laureate” 

Breckinridge Fishman

 Breckinridge Fishman

By Cole Herrold

When it comes to Cryptids, most seem to be almost pulled straight from the pages or film reels of both horror and science fiction films. Mokele-Mbembe, for example, seems to be a creature pulled from Land of the Lost or the Lost World. One case in Kentucky, however, seems to be of a far more exotic cryptozoological creature that appears to of been pulled straight from either Universal’s Creature from the Black Lagoon or Roger Corman’s classic Humanoids from the Deep. This case is pseudo-famous as the case has made its rounds in the works of Lyle Blackburn in his book Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster and whose image was featured as the cover of the Inhumanoids: Real Encounters with Beings that Can’t Exist! By Barton M. Nunnelly who also was the first individual to write about the case in his book Mysterious Kentucky Volume 1: The History, Mystery, and Unexplained of the Bluegrass State.

This encounter occurred in Breckinridge County near Stephensport sometime during the early fall of 1966. The witness, a man named Joseph, who was 9 years old at the time, was sleeping late one night when around 1:00 in the morning he was suddenly awoken by a large noise that seemed to of come from outside. The noise seemed to come near his bedroom window, and the noise was almost as though something had hit the side of the house. The boy, sluggishly and no doubt tired by this rude awakening, began to arise out of bed and went over to the window and, looking around the area, noticed that there was nothing in the area or nothing that would have noticeably made the sound. So, the boy, with an incredible amount of courage, proceeded to wander to the living room and began to head towards the front door. Just before opening the door, however, he pulled back the curtains in front of the door's window and peered out into the darkness. As he looked into the darkness, he noticed a bizarre figure moving out front of his home. At first, when he saw the figure moving, he thought it was some sort of person, but as he stared at the figure, it then looked over at him. He then could see that the figure was by no means human. The figure was 5'6" to 6' tall and was walking on two legs, and what Joseph thought he was looking at once some sort of Lizard-man. The figure he saw in the darkness he would describe thusly “it was “very amphibious looking" with scales covering its entire body. I could definitely see that this creature had webbed feet and webbed hands. Its color was dark, brownish-green. What I remember the most about its face were these huge rows of gills which flared out on both sides of the face. Its face was very "hard" looking with little dark eyes, similar to a snake or lizard. I can't recall a nose or lips as the face-to-face encounter only lasted a second or two. There was this ridge-like feature which started on the forehead and ran back over the top of its head, kind of peaked at the top". He watched the creature for some time and realized that the creature had seemingly run into the side of the building or at the very least was responsible for the loud commotion he had heard earlier. As he stared at the creature, the creature seemed to notice him and gave him an exceptionally surprised look as though it was startled by him. The creature, then realizing it was spotted, turned and began to run towards the nearby creek known as Sinking Creek, which was 75 yards from his house. Joseph jumped from the front door window and ran towards an adjacent window which was pointed towards the direction where the creature was running, and he continued to watch the creature until he lost sight of it in the darkness. The boy then returned to bed and spoke not a word about the encounter until September 13, 2006, when he told the full account to Barton M. Nunnelly and later interviewed by Bigfoot investigator Charlie Raymond who would write the following of Joseph “Joseph appears to be very credible. He is now 49 years old, married, with two children in college. The details of his encounter remain true to his online report. He kept stressing how "amphibious looking" the creature was and that it definitely ran on two feet. He added that its body was proportionate to a man's, but neither muscles nor genitalia were noticed. What struck him the most was how quick it was! Still to this day, he can't imagine someone having a costume "that life-like," not today, not 40 years ago, especially in the remote parts of Breckinridge, Kentucky".

Thus ends the case of the Breckinridge Fishman; to me, this case is particularly interesting as it is one of the few cases of a seemingly fish humanoid on the books. There are, of course, other examples, such as the infamous Thetis Lake Monster, which I will discuss later, but reports of semi-aquatic fish humanoids are rare as opposed to encounters with fully aquatic fish humanoids such as mermaids. Other encounters with entities that are semiaquatic of a more amphibious or reptilian nature are much more common such as the Loveland Frogmen, the Riverside It of Riverside, California, or the Lizardman of Scape Ore Swamp, which many point to all being interrelated in some fashion, however, each case has features that seem to reflect specific taxonomic species that fit more in the categories of Amphibians or Reptiles the Breckinridge case even though Joseph called it a Lizard-man when he first saw it has glaring features that seem to be more of an ichthyo-humanoid if such a term can be used as the creature he saw had more noticeable fish features as gills. Something reptiles and amphibians typically do not have.

When attempting to rationalize this entity, the best way to do so is to go down the Fortean ladder of possibilities and try to see where it would best fit. Going from the most skeptical, the first place to look is a possible hoax. With this case, there is a higher probability for a hoax than many other cryptids, and the only reason I say this is simply the description; if one was to remove the head fin or crest, the creature is a mirror image to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. A similar issue comes with the Thetis Lake Monster when one compares the description to both Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Beach Girls and the Monster, and The Horror of Party Beach. With this case, Horror of Party Beach came out 2 years before the sighting, the Creature from the Black Lagoon came out 12 years before the sighting, and if this kid was as interested in monsters or had the same amount of access to such films as I did as a kid, it is not impossible that he too could have fabricated the whole encounter. However, I will say that this is unlikely as Joseph, unlike the kids during the Thetis Lake Monster case, waited many years after the fact to report his sighting, which seems sort of a bizarre time to of claimed to report such an encounter. The witness also has only released his first name, so it's not like he's trying to profit off his encounter or even gain any sort of notoriety or attention from his sighting, so the motive behind a hoax is unlikely.

The next conceivable category is that this is a cryptid. This is perhaps the theory I agree the most with, as aquatic humanoids are a rather constant cryptozoological phenomenon. Merfolk sightings have been reported since time and memorial, and there are some incredibly famous cases of semiaquatic anomalies. The most famous, of course, being the Loveland Frogmen from Ohio, which was a large frog-like being reported near the Little Miami River. The Charles Mill Lake Monster of Ohio and The Armless Horror of the Susquehanna of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, are both seemingly bipedal humanoid fish-like entities that, while similar to the Breckinridge case, have one distinctive difference both don't have arms. The region that these cryptids are reported, it is interesting to note, is a hotbed for such sightings, and in relation to the Breckinridge Fishman, there might be a reason as to why. Joseph, as a follow up to his report, said the following about the Creek that the creature was seemingly running towards and the location of his house: "Our house is located on an acre where Sinking Creek meets the Ohio River. Sinking Creek originates 15 miles "upstream" in Big Springs, Ky. An interesting fact, this creek is the only natural trout/spring-fed creek in Kentucky. Just past the town of Sample, it disappears 12 miles underground (thus the name "Sinking Creek") and then resurfaces in an area further upstream in an explosion of bubbling water. As far as I am aware, nobody has ever dared to dive far enough down to determine its true origin. This creek is believed to connect to the vast underwater system which connects the many caverns of Western Kentucky; the most noted being the caverns of Mammoth Cave." Now for those unfamiliar with the Mammoth Cave system, it is an alleged hotspot for Fortean phenomenon such as Bigfoot, underground alien bases, other cryptids as well are said to of been seen in and around the caves, and the reason these underground streams are of note is that perhaps they lead much like in Creature from the Black Lagoon underground grottos where these organisms may hideout or live. A famous case known as the Green Clawed Beast which involved a woman being clawed and dragged underwater by a mysterious scaly yet hairy-handed creature; when she was rescued, she had several scratches and a green stain in the shape of a handprint from the aquatic assailant. A sample of this green substance was tested, and it was later revealed that a bluish mud that was intermixed with the handprint comes from the deepest of rivers that have access to caves; all of this was revealed on the "Black Swamp" episode of Monsters and Mysteries in America. With this case, it seems to add to the possibility of pockets of these organisms living deep in caverns and using the waterways that are interconnected to hunt or go from cavern to cavern.

With all that said, these cryptids, however, do not exactly match the Breckinridge Fishman, but the creature does have two very distinctly similar creatures; the first of this variety is the Thetis Lake Monster of Vancouver, British Columbia; this creature was described as being about 5 ft tall with silver scales and a noticeable spiny frill that a topped the creature's head. Another Cryptid I recently covered and compared to this creature was the New Kensington Green Thing which bears many similar features to the Breckinridge Fishman except for the following traits while the creature was a vibrant green in color and did have some sort of cranial frill, it did have a long tail, and seemingly mammalian features namely a pair of nipples and what some researchers claim are floppy rabbit-like ears. While there are some noteworthy differences between the Thetis Lake Monster, Breckinridge Fishman, and New Kensington Green Thing, there is a lot of noticeable similarities between them all as well; all the creatures are either Reptiles, Amphibians, or Fish or some intermediary evolutionary step in between the three or perhaps even examples of sexual dimorphism or stages of development. Evolution is a bizarre mistress, and when one looks at the phylogenetic branches of organisms, there are often these creatures that are often a mixture between two noticeable Taxonomic Classes; the main example would be the Synapsids which include organisms like Dimorphodon. These organisms have features very much like those of a reptile but have a temporal fenestra, a feature that is only associated with mammals, as well as other more intricate features that are clear indicators of being more closely related to mammals than reptiles. Perhaps this is what we see with these organisms; they are an intermediary stage where we are seeing organisms which are returning to land or evolving to be a kind of super amphibian where they can regulate their internal body temperature better, utilize both the resources in water ecosystems as well as land ecosystems, and possibly might develop migratory patterns which could explain the incredibly elusive nature of these creatures. However, all of this is complete speculation.

After the Cryptid possibility for the Breckinridge County Fishman could be some sort of extraterrestrial or interdimensional being. The fact that encounters with these creatures are practically nonexistent in both the fossil record and even inconsistent Cryptozoological or folkloric lore does not exactly bold well for them being an earthbound species. Even though I will be the first person to say that a small relict population of any creature can easily remain elusive to the point that sightings would be nonexistent, the fact that these creatures are sighted even less than Bigfoot, Eastern Mountain Lions, Black Panthers, and Lake Monsters does not exactly point to a native species. If these creatures, however, are from outer space or from another dimension, then these encounters, or should I say lack thereof, would be much more understandable. Now the only problem, of course, with this possibility is that these creatures are never, at least to my knowledge, seen in conjunction with UFOs, vortexes, or portals, and while the lack of this direct connection does not always mean they do not come as Lovecraft and Stuart Gordon would say From Beyond be it space or another dimension it makes it just as difficult however when looking at these cases as one cannot automatically assume that they do because it would simply be the “easier” answer even though we cannot take it off the table either.

 In this case, there is a clash with traditional biology, which is something that makes many scientists turn their noses up at cases like this. Yet in the millions of years of evolution, species, including our ancestors, evolved from aquatic life, and as organisms evolved to live on land, others decided to once more return to the sea when looking at cases like this to me, this is evolution once more creating creatures that are returning once again to land or that are surviving the dual life of an aquatic and terrestrial organism. Science has examples of this with organisms such as amphibians, and back when Palkicetus, the ancestor to whales, was starting to return to the water, it evolved into Ambulocetus, which was very much an amphibious creature as well, so such organisms have occurred and still do occur today. The existence of a biped on the planet other than us is not unheard of either birds, and carnivorous dinosaurs were and are all bipeds; several species of ancient reptiles also ran bipedally, such as Eudibamus, and even to this day, there are over 50 species of living reptiles that partially use bipedalism while running such as the Basilisk Lizard who takes this running to the extreme as it also can run on water through surface tension. So, the idea of other bipedal species, even to this day, is not something out of the ordinary. It's from this that this case and the countless other bipedal cryptid cases to me seem to have some plausibility through evolution; it's just figuring out exactly why they came about that's the mystery. Even with all that said, however, there is no denying that this case, as with most cryptid and Fortean encounters, will probably never be solved but at least from this sighting and the countless others, we have a place to start looking and maybe just maybe we might some day discover something that science at one point thought was impossible.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Amphibian/ Fish

Location: Stephensport, Breckinridge County, Kentucky

Sighted: Early Fall, 1966

Works Cited:

The Inhumanoids: Real Encounters with Beings that can't Exist! By Baton M. Nunnelly

Mysterious Kentucky Vol. 1: The History, Mystery, and Unexplained of the Bluegrass State By Barton M. Nunnelly

"The Kentucky Lizardman". Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization. http://www.kentuckybigfoot.com/cryptids.htm. Accessed January 26th, 2022. 

Close Encounters of the Shopping Kind: The Century III Mall Alien

 Close Encounters of the Shopping Kind: The Century III Mall Alien

By Cole Herrold

Extraterrestrial encounters typically are one of the most bizarre Fortean events a person can experience. There are countless cases that range from absolute insanity to absolute terror and occur in a number of locals, typically in a large open field, dense woodland, or often most horrifying in a bedroom; however, there's one location where one almost never would think to encounter such an interstellar being, and that would be a shopping mall. However, on occasion, such reports do occur, and when they do, they are particularly bizarre.

In June of 2008, a 65-year-old woman by the name of Barbara was shopping at the Century III Mall near West Mifflin. Barbara recently became wheelchair-bound and so had decided to go to the mall in an attempt to regain some normalcy in her new state. She was with her husband, who, as is rather common in such situations, was not too keen on wandering through the racks of dresses and blouses and decided to sit on a bench in the middle of the mall while she went through all of her desired stores. As Barbara entered one specific store, she had worked her way near the men's department when she saw a mother dragging her young son rather speedily away from the area. She could hear the boy cry and talk rather loudly as he drug his feet, saying, "I want to see!" the mother, however, was only pulling harder and said, "no, we need to leaver now!" as the woman sped up. Barbara could tell the woman was particularly upset and wondered just what could have created such an issue and so began to wheel around the area. As she made a turn around some of the clothing racks, she stopped dead, for she saw what the woman and child saw.

She saw a figure that she instantly knew was male and at first thought that it was a man with a kind of terrible deformity, but as she looked, she soon realized that whatever this being was, it was not human. The creature was bald and wrinkled and bore bumps all over its gray epidermis, and the creature had almost black almond-shaped eyes. The main reason she had at first thought that this entity was simply some poor soul with a terrible condition was that this creature had blue pants and a plaid shirt, something that seemed to of been pulled straight from some of the racks not too far off. The entity noticed her and began to approach as it beamed a warm, friendly smile. She shifted her eyes away from the figure for just a second, and when she looked back barely a moment later, the figure was gone. Barbara was completely perplexed as there was no discernible place for the figure to of gone; it was as if in mid-stride he disappeared. Barbara was noticeably shaken by this and so began to head over to one of the nearby cashiers and asked to talk to a security officer. The security officer came over to her, and Barbara told him that she was looking for a particularly bizarre man. The officer could tell that this individual she spoke of might have been somebody suspicious and took her to the back where they kept the security footage and had her look through the video to find the man she saw. As she watched, however, she saw only herself in the video. The entity, whatever it was, wasn't captured on camera. This shook her up even more, and her husband, now brought back to the area by the security guard, told her that it was time to go. The husband had wanted to catch a flick at the theater in the mall and so finished their shopping and headed over. His wife, as he seemingly sprinted through the mall floors, had attempted to tell him about what she had seen, but he, in full movie mania, was not having it and said for her to tell him later. All the while, as she attempted to keep up with her husband, she scanned the faces of the countless mall patrons and searched for the wrinkly warted gray skin being that she had seen earlier, but she never saw it again. When she got home, and after her husband had filled up on movie mania, she had decided to not tell him about her experience at the mall; it was just too bizarre and something that she just wanted to forget, and eventually, she would.

Time passed, and she had forgotten all about that bizarre day at the mall, but as she was reading a copy of an early October issue of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, she froze as she stumbled onto an article revolving around a UFO sighting. As she read the account, her hands began to shake, and as she read on, she began to remember. As the images reflooded back into her head, she had felt that the reason she had forgotten was that the entity somehow had altered her memory, making her forget all about him. Barbara then began to tell her family all about the bizarre incident and reached out to the Western Pennsylvania branch of MUFON. She was later interviewed by the regional MUFON director John Ventre and felt her to be truthful and began digging into the encounter. Ventre was surprised to find that Barbara was not alone in seeing something anomalous at that location that day as another witness also claimed to of seen a UFO in the area of the mall. Ventre would conclude his findings thusly "normally, I would write this report off as a hoax, but she never changed her story and was completely convinced that she saw an extraterrestrial being."

This account is particularly bizarre but extremely interesting and seems to be at least on its face and what the witness felt to be an extraterrestrial. The being bears a resemblance to some famous Extraterrestrials that have appeared over the years even though it doesn't exactly match anyone, in particular, some of the most notable, however, are the Greys, the Blue "doctors" that Whitley Streiber reported, and the 1955 Loveland Frogmen. The fact that a UFO was seen in the same location on the same day as this entity as well does seem to point to an extraterrestrial as being the entity she saw. Another interesting connector is the plaid or Checkered shirt the entity was said to wear. Checkered shirts are something that pops up in tons of Fortean cases and are specifically brought to the forefront by the works of John Keel, who really took note of this kind of clothing choice by such entities. The infamous Grinning Man cases, including Indrid Cold, the extraterrestrial that went hand in hand with the high strangeness of the Mothman in West Virginia in 66' and 67', had on at least one occasion bore a checkered or plaid shirt. I will say, however, that it does seem strange to me that if this being is an extraterrestrial is that it would be bizarre for it to appear at a mall unless this was some sort of interstellar tourist destination or some anthropological study of our behavior or trade, but if that is to be the case, one would think a more subtle approach would have been taken for even in its relatively normal duds the entities appearance, needless to say, does make it stick out making any survey or testing or research difficult.

While there is a very strong argument that what was seen at the Century III Mall was an ET, there are some alternative possibilities. If this entity is not an ET, I would venture that the closest other possibility would be that this entity is a fae. The fae are not always beautiful, and many do have the same description as the entity seen in the mall. They too also wear plaid or checkered clothing much like the ETs and the Checkered clothed ghosts and Checkered clothed entities Keel described. The reason I also point to the fae is that in a lot of fae encounters, as soon as you look away from the entities, they disappear; this is a constant not only in authentic accounts but also in centuries of folklore. Reports of people who have captured Leprechauns, for example, have often said that even if they have their hands wrapped around the creature if they blink, the creature is completely gone and in an entirely different location. The sighting of a UFO is also not indicative solely of an ET encounter and very likely could have been a Fae as there are reports of faerie vehicles and fairy lights which are very similar to the orb-shaped UFO that is so frequently seen. Jacque Vallee mentioned such similarities of the phenomenon in his books, and often there is this consensus that reports of the wee folk and similar fae were ancient accounts of extraterrestrials; however, there is also an equal chance that they are completely different phenomena that bear a strong resemblance to each other. The fact that the entity was not photographed is another reason that the fae hypothesis could be a possibility as faeries are notoriously hard to photograph, and there have only been a handful of possibly real photos, and most are of the winged variety even though they seem to be the minority of reports. The more humanoid fae like the leprechauns, red caps, elves, trolls, and gnomes are much more frequently reported than the flying pixie or sprite. Even then, there's a reason for this as the fae are reported to be able to hide their presence even from cameras if they do not wish to be photographed, and only a few of the more humanoid cases of faerie photography were acquired through asking the entities for permission before taking the image.

There are not really too many other possibilities as to what Barbara saw; of course, there are always such things as Keel's Ultraterrestrials or the interdimensional entity, which again could explain why the entity did not appear on camera. Another possibility is that this being could have been a ghost of some individual who was either deformed or in some state of decomposition that his features seemed alien, and this could also explain why the entity suddenly disappeared. However, it is worth pointing out that spectral apparitions do frequently appear in videos and photographs upon manifesting or even without for that fact, so it is unlikely that this being is a spirit of some kind.

Malls while dying are not the type of places one would expect to encounter the unknown unless you’re a connoisseur of horror and familiar with such films as Dawn of the Dead or Chopping Mall. The typical person who still goes to such a location would tend to think that such locations are relatively safe from something that defies explanation, such as an alien or, on occasion, cryptid sighting, but they do happen and so that at least to me makes such cases so interesting. This gets into more of the motive of such beings, and less into just what they are, which is equally important a location such as a mall is a public place it's crawling with people and in so if an alien, fae, or interdimensional traveler would appear there the entity in question is just asking to be seen. It just seems like a bizarre place for such a being of intelligence to show up, and if so, one would think it would have a better disguise than something from a 1970s Sears catalog. So we're left wondering, as with most considerably intelligent encounters, just what is the purpose of this being and just why did it seemingly choose to show up and disappear in this particular mall near West Mifflin but as with most cases, I'm sure we'll never come close to discovering an answer.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Extraterrestrial or some Other Paranormal Entity

Location: Century III Mall, West Mifflin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: June 2008

Works Cited:

UFOs in Pennsylvania: Encounters with Extraterrestrials in the Keystone State By Patty A. Wilson