The Vegetable Man
By Cole Herrold
Some cases are classics, and then there
are cases that, even though they are rarely mentioned by the Fortean community,
are destined to be such. The case of the Vegetable Man is one such case. As the
years grew, more and more became aware of this bizarre, monstrous mutant freak
flora. It has gained both love and jeers from those who have heard the
encounter and, interestingly enough, may be interconnected with a wider
phenomenon reported cross-culturally and not just in the hills and hollows of
West Virginia.
It was a warm summer day during Mid-July
1968 when Jennings Frederick had begun to traverse through the woods near
Rivesville and Fairmont in West Virginia near his father's property. His intent of being in
the woods on this particular day was to hunt woodchucks with his bow and arrow.
After almost a full day of searching for the game of his choice, he had decided
to return back home before nightfall. As he was traveling back the path, his
thoughts were troubled, and so he proceeded to stop under a set of Red Maple trees
to adjust his 45lbs bow before moving on, but his deep contemplation would soon
be broken by a bizarre sound. The sound he heard to him sounded strange; it was
not an animal call or something he was familiar with, and the closest he could
explain as to what it sounded like was akin to a record played at an extremely
fast speed. This sound caught his attention, and as he listened, he soon was
able to decipher that this was some sort of words or communication which seemed
to say, " You need not fear me. I wish to communicate. I come as a friend.
We know of you all. I come in peace. I wish medical assistance. I need your
help!" Jennings proceeded to reach down into his pocket for a handkerchief
because during this whole excursion, he had become rather sweaty, and as he
reached down, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his hand, and as he looked over
to see if his hand had been caught in a brier brush, he saw that there was a
strange green form grabbing onto him by the wrist. Following the green form up,
he noticed that this was not a typical brier brush but instead a colossal
creature that defied explanation.
There standing exceptionally close to him,
was a 7ft tall creature bright green in color with features that were eerily human in
its face. The most noticeable feature of this creature's face, however, was its
bright, piercing yellow eyes and its long ears. As he scanned the creature's
body, he noticed it was carrot-shaped but was green, almost like a plant stalk.
The body had noticeable shoulders and arms, but these arms were only about as
thick as a quarter. The arm's eerie thinness was not the most disturbing
feature of this portion of the body; however for, the creature's hands
stretched down into three incredibly long fingers with 7" needle-like
protrusions that were enveloped by a kind of suction cup. It was the right arm
of this peculiar creature that had encapsulated his arm, and as he watched, the
creature seemed to grip even tighter, and he noticed that through this, the
creature punctured one of his blood vessels. As the creature continued to do
this, he could hear a sound almost akin to sucking that instantly told him that
this creature was draining his blood. Pain from this motion shot up his arm,
and as he continued to stare at the creature, a peculiar thing began to occur;
the creature's yellow eyes suddenly began to swirl with red creating almost a
spiral type effect and where the two colors would meet in the center orange
circles appeared. This sudden change in eye color and motion had a hypnotizing effect
on Jennings, and he soon realized that he no longer felt any pain from the
creature's grasp as it did this. As the creature did this, it once more
released its message that Jennings had heard before, but he was unsure if the
creature was communicating telepathically or whether the creature was speaking
it audibly. This otherworldly transfusion lasted at least to Frederick's for
only a minute, but the drainage could very well have lasted much longer. After
the creature seemed to have its fill, it suddenly released him extremely
quickly, and the creature then, at incredible speeds, began to jump away and
sprint up a hill in jumps or leaps that were 25ft in each leap. Jennings was
able to estimate the height of these jumps after he watched the creature clear
a 5ft tall fence with still 3 ft to spare.
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Once it reached the hilltop, it ultimately
disappeared, and as he stared in the direction of where the creature left, the
pain in his arm suddenly returned, and as he stood there holding his arm in
pain, he then heard a high humming and whistling sound which he instantly felt
was the creature's UFO coming back to pick it back up. Jennings, after no
longer hearing the sound, began to work his way home and, after washing his
wound and bandaging it, decided to not speak a word about his encounter or go
to a doctor for fear that no one would believe him. Yet as time went on, he
began to develop a friendship with Gray Barker and told the tale to him, but
this would not be Jennings' last brush with the unknown. Sometime before or
after this event, Jennings' mother would encounter a strange entity that was
seen around the house.
While Jennings was still in school, his
mother would have a bizarre encounter with a tethered entity from a UFO. This
she experienced after she had dropped her husband off at work, and as she was
washing the breakfast dishes, she glanced out of the family's window and noted
what she at first believed to of been a child playing in the field on the
hillside by their house. Her motherly instinct kicked in because she was
concerned the child might go and touch the nearby electric fence on their
property, and so she began to head out onto her porch to warn the child. Once
she got onto her porch, however, she noticed that what she initially thought
was a child was not a child but a strange creature that was small and black or
dark green in color. The creature bore the appearance of almost a little devil
to her as it had long pointed ears and a tail, but she was unable to see a face
on the creature. The strange entity as she watched was as she watched grabbing
clumps of dirt from the hill and shoving the clods into a bag in its hand, and
as she looked over, she noticed that beyond the creature nestled in the grass
was a large cream and silver-colored craft on the ground. The object was about
10ft in diameter and about 5ft tall and had several windows under the dome of
the craft. The creature was seemingly connected to the craft by some sort of
cable or wire, and the object seemed to rotate in a clockwise motion and seemed
to release a humming sound. Mrs. Fredericks was deeply disturbed by this
apparition and the potential satanic origins that she rushed back inside and
jumped into bed, covering herself up and hoping for the entity and its craft to
disappear. She waited for some time until finally gathering enough courage to
peek out of the cover and out the window upon which she just caught sight of
the craft leaving and noted that the object made an even louder humming sound
before it finally departed. Mrs. Frederick told no one about what she had seen
until Jennings came home from school because Jennings had either before his
encounter with the Vegetable Man or afterward suddenly developed a keen interest
in UFOs and had an idea of just what to look for.
Jennings, upon coming home and hearing his
mother's account, proceeded to go out onto the hill and investigate upon which
he found a depression on the ground and, based on the impression and soil
consistency, was able to estimate that the craft weighed a ton. As he searched
the area, he also found claw-like tracks from which he was able to gauge that
the creature weighed some 45lbs. As Jennings observed the area, he also found
hair samples that he managed to collect as well as managed to make plaster of
Paris casts of the creature's tracks. He proceeded to send all of this evidence
to an unspecified sect of the air force, which, upon analyzing the data,
claimed that it came from a weather balloon, and they never proceeded in
returning the samples he sent to them.
Sometime later, Jennings would later join
the air force, and after his discharge, he was living with his parents once
more in their family home where his previous encounters had occurred. One
morning sometime between one and four in the morning, he was awakened by a
bright flash of red light. Jennings, instinctively and certainly concerned
after his previous excursions with the unknown, withdrew his .38 service
revolver that he kept under his pillow and left his room to investigate the
strange illumination. At first, he believed the source may have been caused by
the gas furnace. Yet suddenly, a small canister about the size of an apple
dropped to the ground and began to bounce around the living room floor. Suddenly
as he was watching this strange device, he felt a hand grab him as well as the
prick of a needle in his left arm. Afterward, he was confronted by three
bizarre men wearing black ski masks, turtleneck sweaters, and slacks. Upon
which they began to talk amongst themselves, saying, "the dogs have been
darted, and everybody gassed!" "what about this one?" "he's
going out soon- he's half asleep" "don't worry about the needle;
it'll make his arm sore for a day or two, that's all." Just as the canister
was about to reach Jennings, the strange men proceeded to put on gas masks, and
the last thing Jennings remembered was that one of the men put the jumping
canister into his pocket. The men then began to put something over Jennings'
head and began to ask him about UFOs and exactly what they were. The men also
asked what time it was and also what he had thought of the future, but after
that point, Jennings remembered nothing and was sure he had passed out.
Jennings remembered nothing and slept soundly until the next morning and no one
else the following morning seemed to remember or comment on anything strange.
Thus ends the strange tale of Jennings
Frederick, which is more or less what this tale is about. Now breaking down
this case, I'm only going to focus on the Vegetable Man portion of his
encounters since that is arguably the most important and easiest to break down.
Now going fully skeptical, there is a lot to point out. First up would be the
source, and that is that this case is given to us by Gray Barker. Now Gray
Barker was a hoaxster, and there's no denying that even though he has covered
other seemingly legitimate phenomena like the Flatwoods Monster, Mothman, or
Grafton Monster and, in part, the Men in Black but still one must recognize
that as with all of his writings one needs to take it a grain of salt.
Especially with a case like this, since there's no peer review of the case as
in the others, it's literally just his account, so we have to either assume
he's being honest or fabricating a tale.
Now upon initial reading of this tale,
there are a lot of similarities to films that would have been easily accessible
to Barker, and if we go, Jennings fabricating the tale access to. The most
recognizable is Howard Hawkes the Thing From Another World. While most
are familiar with the John Carpenter reboot, the original based on the short
story "Who Goes There?" is still a classic and important in regard to
this case. In the film, the extraterrestrial being who goes on a murderous rampage
in the frozen environment that serves as the setting of the film is a tall
humanoid shape with strange knuckle protrusions akin to thorns or claws. Yet as
the film discusses the morphology of the entity, it is revealed that the alien
is, in fact, a kind of humanoid plant that feeds, and this is the most
important part of blood. There's a scene where the creature kills several of
the outposts dogs and hangs the bleeding carcasses over the plants in the
greenhouse to essentially feed them all off-screen, of course. The features on
the creature's hands (granted, they’re on the wrong section) and the creature's
need for blood and vegetable connection are very similar to the Vegetable Man.
Add this to the films of Dracula and even the 60s Batman, namely
with the villain the Mad Hatter, where hypnotism is utilized through the eyes
to stop a person from feeling or being easily manipulated, and it would be so
easy for someone to be influenced by these films and shows to create a false
story that seems believable. Now it must be said that while this is very
likely, the creature's overall description does not exactly match anything, at
least that I'm aware of, that would match the description of the creature
given, especially with such specific lengths and measurements as a quarter
thick arms or 7” long fingers.
Now with that said, perhaps this creature
is a cryptid. Clearly, there's nothing in the known botanical or zoological
categories that would match, but there are a few different possibilities that I
think need mentioned. The first is that perhaps this creature is a highly
evolved version of insectivorous plants. These species of plants like the Venus
Flytraps, the Sundews, Cobra Lilys, etc., developed this need to consume other
organisms as a way of getting their mandatory need of nitrogen to survive in
the environments that they reside in. These species are extremely fascinating,
and perhaps over some million years of evolution, one became more mobile, no
longer needing the nutrients of the ground as much, and, in turn, crossed the
line into a species almost akin to an animal. Now granted, this is pure
speculation, but there have been other cryptids reported of the plant variety
that are similar; the Ya-Te-Veo, for example, is an alleged south American tree
sort of like a short tendrilled tree that does attempt to capture humans, a
similar type of tree is also reported to exist in Madagascar. Now obviously,
there's a big issue with this; for one thing, neither the Ya-Te-Veo nor the
Madagascar equivalent, which seem to be megafloral versions of insectivorous
plants, have been found, and again, the lore of these plants is that they grow
in the ground and do not move in a sentient way like the Vegetable Man.
Now while this creature might not be a
plant, it may be an animal. We know in nature that there are insects that mimic
plants, there are beetles that look like leaves, there are stick insects, and
so on. So perhaps the creature that was seen was some sort of colossal
equivalent of such a creature. In nature, animals always find unique ways to
camouflage themselves or find ways to better their chance of survival, such as
through Batesian Mimicry. A creature that could essentially blend in so well
with its environment that it would appear part of the natural flora would be
perfect for catching any number of prey as well as remaining elusive for
countless years. Now, of course, the problem with this is that this creature,
if real is far more advanced than an insect, and its abilities and features
are, in fact, more plant-like than animal, so it simply could not be a
traditional animal as far as we know it or even from a speculative standpoint
unless its that this creature is something altogether new from everything we
currently know that somehow managed to evolve.
It is also important to note in regard to
a potential undiscovered species of plant-like humanoid in West Virginia that
this is not the only report. I had written about a case that appeared in
Monsters and Ghosts of West Virginia by one of the authors who, while working
in his/her garden, encountered a strange stalk-like entity with yellow eyes
that was lurking in a field of sunflowers. The author watched the anomalous
two-fingered green entity run through the flowers before ultimately
disappearing in the surrounding woodlands before ultimately disappearing. The
author instantly compared his/her sighting to Jennings Frederick's, and perhaps
this entity might be a juvenile or male/female version of the species since it
did not have the same number of digits or the long ears as reported by
Fredericks. Or perhaps this is something altogether different and a part of a
wider belief of moving plants reported from most countries.
Now the next possible option to this is
the same assumption that Gray Barker and Jennings Fredericks came up with, and
that's that this creature was, in fact, an extraterrestrial. Now a lot of the
interactions one could compare with that of an ETS. Aliens seem intent on
causing pain, and then once they realize that they are doing so, the witnesses
stare helplessly into the eyes of the beings, and in doing so, the pain goes
away. Another thing is the possible telepathic interaction between Jennings and
the creature, as such interactions are common in extraterrestrial lore. The
strange sounds described two of a high pitched record, and whistling is also
something frequently described in UFO reports. Now the thing about this that
seems to not point to such a possibility is that there is no UFO reported.
There's plenty of noise associated with UFOs, but no craft reported, and
whistling sounds are very ambiguous; they're seen in hauntings and in cryptid
accounts as well as from people, so perhaps such sounds are totally unrelated.
Plus, in alien cases, encounters that involve transfusions are not done in the
wilds but again on a craft unless this entity was actually in some dire
distress, as his message stated. Yet again, there's nothing to indicate that
this being came from outer space. Barker, it is important to note, made a
similar comparison to the Grafton Monster case, which also involved a whistling
noise, but again no UFOs were reported directly in that case.
Now there is another possibility with this
case, and that is that what this entity might be is a faerie. Now the fae are
often described as humanoid plant elementals, the most famous example being the
Green Man, which is often described as a humanoid figure with a man-like face
that symbolizes rebirth. The fact that this creature was humanoid in almost all
aspects aside from its obvious plant-like features is important for this
possibility for unlike cryptids, this is an intelligent creature
(non-animalistic intelligence) that has plant-like features, is aware of us as
a species, and appeared and disappeared at superhuman speeds these are all
things associated with the fae. Now, much like any Fortean topic, the fae has
never been viewed as a plausible or even worthwhile subject, but I do find it
interesting, especially when comparing the overall description of the entity to
reports of plant-like fae that there are some stark similarities. Yet, of
course, it's not the only possibility.
The final possibility of just what this
entity could be is that it could be either an interdimensional being or an
Ultraterrestrial one. Now, these are sort of the catchall theories as if
everything Jennings Fredericks and Gray Barker said is true and that none of
the other hypotheses turn out to be accurate that they still allow for this
creature to exist. If this creature popped in, for example, another dimension
that opens up countless possibilities not only for evolution to work but also
for why it has never exactly been seen since or why we don't have further
evidence for it. The same goes for Ultraterrestrials, yet with Ultraterrestrials,
they are supposed to be tricksters or entities that exist amongst us
manifesting for the sole purpose of either feeding off our emotions or to mess
with us for some purpose we have yet to see or understand. Now with this
creature, it did leave alleged physical traces of itself via wounds to the
wrist; if Gray Barker is to be believed so, chances are this creature would not
be an Ultraterrestrial as they are more akin to less violent Pennywises from IT.
If this creature is from another dimension, though, it would fit all of the
boxes, but again, with how extensive our universe is and the universes around
us, if String Theory is to be believed is accurate with at least one planet or
dimension some entity like this would have to exist.
Now there are a ton of ways to interpret
this case, and those who know Gray Barker's personal life will notice some
Freudian elements to this tale that they can interpret as being examples of a
fictional story. Yet there are so many intricate details that if this is a
piece of fiction and not an actual account and was perpetrated in the mind of
Barker, it is incredibly detailed, and he belongs up in the annals of one of
the greatest Science Fiction-horrors writers. Yet as with all encounters, there
is a chance of reality, and so I leave it to the reader to decipher their own
ideas of just what Jennings Fredericks encountered on that warm July day in
1968.
Quick Facts:
Species/Potential Species: Plant/
Carnivorous Plant, Extraterrestrial, Faerie, Paranormal entity
Location: Near Fairmont and Rivesville, West Virginia
Sighted: Mid July 1968
Works Cited:
Alien Meetings By Brad Steiger
Humanoid Encounters: 1965-1969 By Albert S.
Rosales
The UFO Phenomenon by Time-Life
books
Gray Barker’s Newsletter March 1976
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