The Melrose Creep
By Cole Herrold
The case of the Melrose Creep is short and
comes exclusively from Al Eufrasio and Jeff Davis’s Weird Oregon. The Weird
US book series is a must-have for Forteans because they have some of the
most unique encounters ever reported and some which have never been reported
anywhere else. The entity known as the Melrose Creep is one such case, and it's
particularly bizarre as it reminds one of the stories of the 1955 Loveland
Frogmen case or a legged Belial from Basket Case/ living Ghoulie or a living Boglin or Mad
ball.
This case which was sent to Eufrasio and
Davis, was by a witness known only as Captain Morgan and describes how he has
had an encounter with the creature on one particular evening. On the evening in
question, he had decided to go into the woods at night. Morgan explains that
the reason for this is that he tended to be a night owl, and while out for a
stroll in a clear cut behind his house, he heard a soft pattering sound behind
him like that of footsteps. As he turned around, he could see that something
was indeed walking behind him, and as he looked at the entity, he could tell
that it was something he had never seen before. Morgan was used to bears, cats,
coyotes, and any traditional animal as he always had lived in the woodlands
around Melrose Township, and what he saw before him was something that was
exclusively different than normal fauna. The being he saw was about three to four
feet tall and was noticeably hunched over. The creature was completely hairless
and covered with slick skin. The creature had long arms that ended in
six-fingered hands and had feet that were stubby but ended in claws. The
creature did have a head that was eerily human in form and had bulging glowing
red eyes. The creature seemed unafraid of the Captain and proceeded to walk
closer to Morgan. Morgan was completely terrified of this strange abomination
and was not willing to let this creature come too close. He returned home and
did not leave his home for weeks for fear that the creature might come after
him or come get him.
Several months later, Morgan was walking
down the Doerner Cutoff, and as he reached about a half of mile from the end of
the road, he could hear the same soft padded footfalls that he heard those
several months earlier. He was going to meet a friend, and he decided that he
should just get to the spot they were meeting at as soon as possible and
proceeded to run down the road towards the area. He arrived at the area and
constantly watched the time, and as he waited, the time for his friend to
arrive came, and he still was not there. Morgan kept looking around, knowing
that the Creep was still in the area. After about 5 minutes, his friend showed
up, and Morgan finally was at ease, never to see the creature ever again.
Now, this is the only reported encounter
with the creature; however, Morgan notes that the Melrose Creep is a known
creature in the area. I currently have found no other report nor any other
written account of a creature matching the description in the area. With that
said, however, there are several outlets to look at when breaking down this
encounter, and the first and perhaps most appropriately, seeing as how this
encounter is a single case from an anonymous witness, is that perhaps it's a
hoax. There's no physical evidence for the existence of this creature; there
are no other written accounts of modern sightings which if this entity was seen
more often, there should be more sightings or at least more retellings of this
encounter as seen with other local cryptid encounters like the Northfield
Pigman, also the fact that the witness's real name is most likely not used as
while it's not impossible for there to be a Captain Morgan one cannot ignore
the obvious alcohol-related reference with the name which if someone was
attempting to make a fake story that discredits such sightings that's the
perfect name since most sightings are often believed to be the result of those
on drugs or alcohol. Melrose is also not a coastal town, and while there's a
river near there, it is less likely that a captain would choose to take up
residence in a location so far away from water or boats. Now, of course, while
there is a very good chance that this account is a hoax, the same goes for it
being real, as there's nothing to truly discredit the account aside from what
we can speculate.
If we go with the possibility of this case
being authentic, what reasonably could this creature be? Obviously, the cryptid
route is a possibility, and there have been over the years reports of stout
humanoids with bulbous features that are eerily human. The most famous of these
are the Melonheads. These technically are not cryptids as far as the legend
goes because these entities are said to be mutated or deformed humans who run
ferally in the woods. They usually behave aggressively or shyly when sighted by
humans and, in most cases, are described as wearing clothes. The Melrose Creep
was not mentioned as wearing clothes and also had other features that did not
match the traditional Melonhead description, such as glowing eyes and a sixth
digit on its hands. The Creep is similar and different to other cryptids like
the Loveland Frogmen from the 70s and the Derry Fairy; however, none exactly
match, and that would indicate that this creature is completely unique in
regard to being a cryptid.
Another possibility with this creature is
that it could be an alien. I mentioned earlier that the creature does bear a
strong resemblance to the 1955 Loveland Frogman case, and aside from its lack
of pants and wands, the Melrose Creep is almost identical in appearance. The
only other significant anatomical difference is the sixth digit which is not
reported in that case. However, six digited aliens have been reported over
time, most famously with some reports of the Grays that were seen at Area 51
and other military bases. This additional digit, while not conclusive as a true
extraterrestrial characteristic as it could simply be a traditional mutation
just on a cryptid, is interesting as it has appeared several times in Ufology
lore. Now the problem obviously with this hypothesis is that there is no UFO
reported in connection with these cases, and also this creature possibly might
be a resident of the area as while there are no definitive additional accounts,
there are rumors of sightings in the area just unaccounted for which implies
that this creature lives in the region.
The next possibility is that this creature
could be a faerie. Faeries, especially when one gets into the ogre, trolls, and
goblin variety, are almost universally described as ugly entities, often
portrayed as extremely hairy or completely bald. In many ways, this creature is
very similar in appearance to giants and ogres, but the only difference is that
it is exceptionally small, being the height of a goblin. The reason it's not a
goblin, however, is that goblins traditionally have long ears, and this
creature was described as not having noticeable ears or at least human-like
ears, something which does not match a goblin's description. There is also the
chance that this entity might match the description of a faerie I am not
currently aware of as just about every culture has various kinds of faeries,
and this includes the Native American cultures. Perhaps there is an entity in
the lore of the Oregon natives that might match the description of this being.
The final possibility is that this entity
might be either an interdimensional or Ultraterrestrial as encounters with this
entity seem to generate fear amongst those who witness it, making it the
perfect guise of an Ultraterrestrial. If the being is from another dimension,
however, this could also explain just how such a bizarre entity managed to come
to the area without being seen frequently and just why it looks the way it
does, for if the entity came from another dimension, that means that there are
countless possibilities for the evolution of the creature. This just explains
why the creature is so alien in appearance compared to other entities reported.
There are a few cases out there that I
tend to be very skeptical about to the point of almost assured disbelief, and
unfortunately, this is one of them. While I cannot rule out that this is an authentic
case, the overall nature of the report, not necessarily the creature reported
therein, definitely tend to point to a hoax. This, of course, is a shame, and
maybe some time down the road, there will be a follow-up or more witnesses to
this entity, but unfortunately, that appears to not be the case, and a lot of
this has to do with the format of the account. Most of the Weird US
accounts are sent in from people who hear that the authors are looking for
accounts and while I hope that the writers do, do follow-ups with cases like
this, I feel that there needs to be more information or some addition by the
author or authors about the follow up they did. The same goes for almost all
accounts that are published online anymore many of these accounts are emails
with pseudonyms and while protecting the anonymity of such witnesses is
important when researching this phenomenon, there needs to be follow-uped, or
else it's almost completely worthless information fed only by belief and not
actual study as there's the complete possibility that the writer could be
making up the account. With older cases, while protection of the witnesses and
their anonymity was basically nonexistent, these cases were more believable as
there were extensive follow-ups by countless researchers. With this case, I
want there to be something to it, and perhaps there is; I would be interested
in seeing if anyone else had encountered this entity or if there is some
antediluvian lore associated with the region describing a being matching the description
of the Creep. Yet until that time, we can only speculate as to whether this
encounter occurred and whether there is some lumpy-legged entity similar to
Belial from Basket Case running around Melrose Township.
Quick Facts:
Species/Potential Species: Mammal,
Reptile, Amphibian, Extraterrestrial Species,
Location: Melrose Township, Oregon
Sighted: Unspecified sometime before 2010
Works Cited:
Weird Oregon By Al Eufrasio
and Jeff Davis
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