The Villa Santina Little Green Men

 Villa Santina Little Green Men

By Cole Herrold

The history of UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters is a bizarre one that diverges at the point of interpretation. There are certainly those of the Ancient Aliens persuasion who will state that UFOs and extraterrestrials have been amongst us from the beginning, but the "official" acknowledgment of the existence of extraterrestrials or UFOs can be pointed to the original report by Kenneth Arnold on June 24, 1947. After Arnold's sighting, Brazilian Jose Higgins would have the second official UFO sighting on July 23^rd, 1947, a mere 29 days after Arnold's, yet the third official UFO sighting, which happened some 50 days after Arnold's, was perhaps the most interesting and profound for unlike the previous cases which simply involved craft this sighting can possibly be marked as the first official case of a Close Encounter of the Third Kind and its occupants were anything far from the traditional extraterrestrial even though they clearly was the original Little Green Men.

At 9:00 am on August 14, 1947, Professor Rapuzzi Johannis, both an avid artist, writer, and geologist, was out near Villa Santina in Italy. While out searching and studying strange and unusual rock formations and searching for fossils in the Friuli region of Villa Santina in the North of Italy. He was ascending the short valley of the mountain stream known as the chiarso and traversing on a path along the left bank of the stream. When traversing this hill, he was surrounded by various fir trees and large deposits of alluvial rubble and detritus. As he emerged into a clearing from one of these clumps of fir, he noticed a large red lens-shaped object with a low central cupola and a telescoping antenna that was similar to those found on motor cars. The object was about approximately 30 ft wide and about 18ft high near a rocky riverbank that was some 50 yards away. The professor, short-sighted, proceeded to take out his glasses and stare at the object and felt that the craft was made seemingly of some sort of varnished metal, not unlike a child’s toy. The object was not exactly hovering but seemed to be embedded about a quarter of its length in a great transverse cleft in the mountainside and was anchored about 6 meters above the bed of the stream. The professor, completely amazed at what he was seeing and totally unaware of the phenomenon of UFOs, decided to head up and investigate the object but had decided to try and see before the trek towards the mysterious object if there was anyone around that could come help him investigate the strange object.

 The professor began to approach the object reaching about 25 meters, and as he came closer, he noticed two figures which at first he thought were "two boys," near the grove of trees that he had just recently entered from. As he stared at the boys, he began to yell and point toward the object as they seemed completely oblivious to the bizarre object nearby and realized as he looked and approached them that these were certainly not earthbound boys. The beings began to approach him in a slow robotic fashion and kept their hands down at their sides. The beings were about 3ft tall and wore dark blue translucent coveralls with strange red-colored collars and cuffs. They also had a wide red belt. The clothing, however, was not the only strange thing about these beings as they had large heads noticeably larger than a human's, and that a top, these colossal craniums that seemed reminiscent of a cartoon caricature with a brown tight-fitting cap similar to an alpinist’s bonnet a topped them. They appeared to be hairless not only on their heads but also on the rest of their bodies, and that they had green skin similar to the plasticine used by sculptors or a clay dipped in water with long straight noses with fish like mouths that much like a fish was opening and clothing as if this is how it breathed. Their eyes were yellow-green in color and were large hemispherical, and seemed to protrude from the face much like once again a fish. Yet the fish adulation ended there as the pupils of the entities were more akin to a reptile's as they appeared as a kind of slit. These beings also had no eyebrows or eyelashes but strange ring-like lids around the lids of the eyes. Johannis was seemingly paralyzed by the fright of these creatures as they slowly approached him with steady strides, and Johannis watched the beings in horror for some 2-3 minutes. Realizing these were not humans, Johannis eventually was able to overcome the fear of seeing the unknown and began to yell at the creatures to get their attention and to ask them who they were and where they came from. As he did this, he raised his pick that he used for his geological excursions (other sources say his paintbrush/easel, but Johannis would fix this with his follow up in the Humanoids edited by Charles Bowen). As Johannis did this, he raised his hand holding the pickaxe, which he felt, later on, was probably interpreted as a threatening gesture. Upon doing this, the beings wheeled around very quickly. As he watched, one of the two entities proceeded to put their right hand onto their belt, which emitted a thin puff of smoke which he later felt was some sort of ray. During this, Johannis felt that the pickaxe in his hand suddenly was being pulled away and as he watched, the ax flew away; and as this happened, he suddenly found himself crumpled on the ground and that he was paralyzed and felt an electric shock throughout his body, but he could still watch the beings approach the ax. They reached within 6ft of Johannis, and as they got to that point, he was able to roll over on his side and watch as one of the creatures lifted up the pickaxe, examining it; as Johannis stared at the beings, he noted that their hands while having human-like digits had hands that appeared to be clamped almost like claws. In other words, these entities had some 8 digits that were hinged at a certain point; in other words, 4 digits on one side and 4 digits on the other side. These 8 digits seemed jointless but were still noticeable as fingers. The beings observing the pickaxe breathed heavily, and Johannis compared this breathing to a dog's after a long run. Johannis struggled to sit up but was able to eventually do so but needed to firmly plant his arms to the ground to avoid falling over again. As he watched the creatures return to their craft and as he watched he climbed into the object, which rose vertically 15ft above the ground much like the appearance of a gong, and watched as the object attempted to fly away. As the object dislodged from the cliff, several stones fell down to the riverbed. Johannis noted that the object seemed to have problems flying as the object hovered a bit. Johannis, during this time, tried to get up but could not and fell back again, and he watched as the disc-shaped object tipped and unleashed a gust of wind. Johannis was still immobile and was moved when the blast of wind from the craft moved him into a stony riverbed. Then the craft began to do something altogether curious the object began to shrink in size and continued to do this until it eventually and finally disappeared.

Johannis's Original Eyewitness Sketch of the Green Men

Johannis would wait some 2hrs before he finally was able to get ahold of his faculties, and even then, he was exhausted as he during that time slept and upon moving his limbs felt extreme pain as if every bone was broken. Upon being able to move, he noted that all the aluminum objects in his objects were missing; he found that his flask of coffee was shattered but that the metal casing that surrounded it was gone as well as his fork and canister that held his lunch. He found that all of his sketches were stained with coffee and that his lunch was left scattered in the bag as well, which left him having only coffee-infused bread as a meal as he had to throw away the salami and the rest of his intended lunch. Johannis then began, after eating and being able to move to search for his pickaxe but was not able to find it; he was certain that the beings had taken it with them then and later, after learning more about the UFO phenomenon, felt that it was in some extraterrestrial museum being carefully analyzed as the aliens attempted to decipher his name, his mountaineering motto, a pair of alpine flowers and an eagle which were cut into the handle of the ax and he hoped that the beings "rack their brains to a standstill trying to make it out ."This irritated him even further on the return trip as he had used the pickaxe as a kind of walking stick to help traverse the terrain. It was about 2pm by the time he had made it to his room at the inn in Raveo; upon entering the door, the proprietress of the inn, who he had known since he was a boy, saw the banged-up visage of the professor and instantly asked what happened. He responded by saying he fell from a rock, and upon hearing this, the woman said in a rather condescending tone that it served him right and that it was about time that he stopped going around collecting stones. He shrugged her off, went up to his room, and then proceeded in sheer exhaustion to crawl into bed and fall into a deep sleep.

The following day Johannis armed himself with another pick as well as a revolver and went back to the spot. He searched the area and the cleft from where the craft was moored but found nothing, but he was more focused on some hope that the beings did not take his pick and that they left it near where the object was, but of course, he found nothing. Johannis asked later on if others in the area had seen some strange airplane and found that two people, an old man and a little boy from a nearby village had, had told him separately that they had seen a red object that flew up into the sky both at 8:30 and 10 during the day of his sighting. The old man was sitting down in the village square enjoying the day when he noticed a large red globe being 'carried aloft on the wind' behind the mountain on the slope of which the village lies. The boy was with his mother and other people working in a field on the edge of the village when he noticed a red ball “like the ones they have at fairs," which was rising at great speed and proceeded to disappear into the sky.

Attempting to rationalize what he had seen had changed several times since, in the beginning, he nor anyone else in Italy was aware or had any context of UFOs. At first, he thought the craft was some experimental machine of the allied forces, which were during that time occupying the Campoformido aerodrome in the Friuli area. His next thought was that perhaps this was some Russian device. He then wondered about whether this device and the beings were some unknown civilization that remained hidden away in the unexplored regions of our world, such as he felt the Matto Grosso of Brazil. Yet he was not happy with any of these possibilities as the men he encountered were so unusual that they could not have been human. Two months later, he sailed to New York, and during the crossing, he heard about Kenneth Arnold's sighting, and only then did he make the connection to flying saucers and Ufonauts. During the five years while in the USA, he followed the ongoing wave of flying saucer sightings, and in 1950, he decided to come forward with his account, which led to it being initially published in the journal of the Centro Studi Clipeologici, Via San Secondo 15 Torino, May 1964^th edition of the Clypeus issue No. 2-5. As time progressed, Johannis would have some doubts about the beings he encountered; he became unsure as to the position of the vertical pupils or even as to whether they had pupils at all and even then started to question whether the beings were flesh and blood at all and even began to think that chances are that they were more likely to be robots. All of this and a final follow-up would be chronicled for Gordon Creighton for the mandatory Fortean book The Humanoids, edited by Charles Bowen.

Now, this case is extremely fascinating. I have been fascinated with this encounter since I first read about it; for me, the most important thing about this is this is the first official Close Encounter of the Third Kind during a time when not only were extraterrestrials not even thought of but that the UFO phenomenon in general from how we perceive it today was literally just gaining traction. While some out there will point to the ancient aliens' aspect of beings like Quetzalcoatl or other gods being alien races, I must stress that this is an interpretation of data and not the data straight-faced. When looking at the history of UFOs, this is one of the earliest and, therefore, one of the most important. One could argue that this case is revolutionary as it puts the term little green men, not into a context of sarcasm or discredit but as possibly the original origin of the phrase (the same can be said about the Hopkinsville Goblins). So, a quick refresh of the importance of the case, 3^rd documented case of a UFO, 1^st case of a Close Encounter of the Third Kind, 1^st case of a Little Green Men type extraterrestrial which just having those merits surprises me that this case is not more famous than what it is.

Now, of course, breaking down this case, there are actually a few ways to look at this case, yet the element that determines the interpretation is the Green Men themselves. Obviously, there's the extraterrestrial angle; this is perhaps the most popular identity of these beings as they had many features we would associate with a living creature, such as pupils, skin, the use of clothing and tools, as well as a fish-like opening and closing of the mouth. Much of this would indicate a biological creature, and the same would also involve the creature's curiosity and even interpretation of Johannis's waving arm and ax and shouting as a kind of threat. If these creatures were mechanical or something along those lines, unless they were being piloted or controlled, one would not think that they would behave in such a way that seems to be more defensive.

Now while these entities do appear biological, there is always the chance that they are androids or robots. The main indication of this is that the creatures moved in a robot-like fashion and even Johannis, later on, felt that the creatures were something along those lines. There are tons of reasons for why this would be a plausible answer for these entities since if an advanced civilization wanted to learn more about our culture or planet in general, they would send drones to search and investigate the planet. They could serve as data collectors collecting pieces of our culture or tools; the various soil collecting cases could be to see the general makeup of our world or if the atmosphere would be breathable, or if there were some hazardous diseases or microbes that could hinder further contact or conquest.

While there are a lot of indications that these entities are extraterrestrial in origin, and that has since been where most researchers firmly plant them. There are other options that could indicate that what these beings are is something much older and more at home on earth. These creatures could very much have been members of the Faerie kingdom. Now many researchers have drawn comparisons to alien encounters and the fae, but one thing that I've come across in my research is that faerie encounters still to this day occur and that they come in countless forms. One particular variety that pops up across cultures is green-skinned beings, whether it be elemental figures like the Green Man, a figure associated with the changing seasons and the woods, or beings of a more aggressive nature like Jenny Greenteeth, an aquatic faerie hag that drowns those that come too close to her watery lair. Now the Villa Santina Little Green Men behave in many ways like the fae they stole seemingly mundane and shiny objects, something that has been repeated in faerie lore for centuries. They had odd brightly colored clothing with cuffs, something that is also reported in faerie encounters and differs from most extraterrestrial encounters, who mostly are reported wearing robes or skintight diving suit style outfits even though other bizarre fashion choices exist. Another element is that the craft that the beings left in behaved rather strangely as opposed to flying or taking off in a traditional way or simply disappearing as in other UFO cases; this craft began to shrink before ultimately disappearing as though it winked out of existence. This winking out of existence, as well as the shrinking to nothing, is something that has been reported with faerie encounters before. Just how or why the fae do this is clearly anyone’s guess, but I did find it an interesting similarity, to say the least.

Another possibility, of course, venturing off this world and once again into another is the possibility that these beings were interdimensional entities. This is sort of a catch-all possibility, but if these entities have technology and can travel through dimensions, it could explain the overall strange behavior of the craft and that the shrinking could be the manner in which these organisms come in and out of another dimension. Also, needless to say, in another dimension, there are countless evolutionary lines or possibilities as to just how a being like this could exist, but again, there's clearly no definitive answer.

This is perhaps one of the most important cases out there and also one of the most interesting. It amazes me that this case has not been focused on or reached mainstream interest in the same way as, say, the Flatwoods Monster or the Hopkinsville Goblins has. There are so many interesting elements, and I find that it's also one of the most ambiguous in regard to the origin of these beings. I would argue that this is just one of several cases that seem to cross over into faerie encounters, but at the same time, there is that strong extraterrestrial origin for these beings. It's interesting too that these beings, while similar in overall shape to Grays, are clearly not since they have almost reptile-like eyes and a much greener complexion as well as their bizarre 8 digited claw-like hands, so that in itself is just refreshing since greys are so overbearing. Just what these entities are much like in almost any case, we will never come to a conclusion, but that's one of the appeals as well since this is just one of the countless one-off cases out there. These entities, be they from space or earth or another dimension, are fascinating, and who knows what the future might hold perhaps some other alpinist, while out might have a run-in again with these visitors and the only thing I can suggest is to hold onto your pick with your life.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Extraterrestrials, Robots, Faeries

Location: Villa Santina, near Raveo, Carnic Alps, Italy

Sighted: 9:00 am, August 14, 1947

Works Cited:

The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials By Patrick Huyghe

Humanoid Encounters 1930-1949 By Albert S. Rosales

The Humanoids By Charles Bowen

The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters: The Definitive Illustrated A - Z Guide To All Things Alien By Ronald Story

The Night Grabbers

 The Night Grabbers

By Cole Herrold

Original Sketch I did after the incident in late 2017

Now, this case, I must stress, is a bit of a testimonial. This is an incident that occurred to me in the summer of 2017, and it has been with me for a while. For those who don't know, I, aside from writing as complete as possible articles on old cases, do fieldwork in investigating claims and areas said to be home to cryptids, aliens, and ghosts. Over the course of my time investigating such cases, I’ve had several strange occurrences. While following up a Bigfoot encounter in Bald Eagle State Park, I heard a strange set of bipedal footprints that stopped when I looked in the direction of the noise and started when I looked away. I've, while investigating haunted locations, recorded several possible EVPs and had strange sensations when encountering allegedly haunted objects. Yet of all the encounters over the years that I've experienced, this is perhaps the most unsettling. This encounter is one that I had not talked about openly for a long time simply because one of believability and two because it honestly bothers me. I, however, recently opened up and talked about it openly for the first time, and upon talking about the experience, I felt that I had to have some sort of written account of the incident.

Most people know about the beginning of this incident, but the follow-up is something that I have kept private even to my family. I was a delivery driver at the time of this, and I was driving down Snydertown Road on the outskirts of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. I have a tendency as I drive to look out into the woods and fields when I drive because I love nature, and I always hope to see an animal like a turkey or fox. As I was doing this, I looked to my left, where there was a telephone line, and my attention was drawn to a strange object hovering above. The object was small; I would estimate something about the size of an ottoman. It was a pulsing object of white light. The best way to describe it was like a strobe, but there was some form behind it that was noticeable. My initial thought was maybe it was a down line or some sort of electrical discharge but being as this was still day, I could see the area clearly and noted that there were no downed lines. My next thought was maybe this was ball lightning, but from what I knew about ball lightning, it tended to form close to the ground, and none seemed to, at least to my knowledge, pulse-like the object I saw. I continued to drive because I was in the middle of a delivery, and while perplexed, I decided I'd continue with the delivery and id come back to check the area on my way back. The drive to the delivery and back to the location took about 5 minutes, and upon returning to the location, the object was gone. I slowed my car down and looked for any further evidence of the object but could find nothing, and while looking, I could see that the light would not have been reflected or come from some home or similar structure. Realizing that there was nothing more I could do at this given time, I returned to the store and went on working.

That night I woke up at around 2:00 in the morning and noted that my arm was stretched up above my body. I sleep on a futon, and I have woken up and found myself sitting and laying in all sorts of positions, but this time it was different. I lifted my head up and noticed that my arm was attached to something dark in color. As I stared at this, I looked up and noticed what was attached to my arm. There were three dark black figures. The figures were about 3-4ft tall, and they had heads the shape of peanuts and wiry thin bodies. There were no noticeable facial features as I stared at the beings. All three beings had their arms extended and had grabbed my arm at the exact same point. I could not move initially, and they too did not move, but eventually, as I got a full realization at just what I was seeing, the trio vanished. This was exceptionally odd because they seemed so physical in their form. They were not like shadow men or ghostly, but they seemed to simply disappear. As if they realized I was aware of them. I stared in utter disbelief and managed to put my arm down and, almost in an uncharacteristic response, proceeded to go straight back to sleep.

The following day I woke up having thought it was a dream, but upon looking down at my arm, I found a large black and blue mark in the area where the beings grabbed me. I was still reeling from what I had just experienced the day and night prior. I, as a researcher, felt completely unnerved. It's one thing to be interested in the unknown; it's something completely different when it happens to you. In Fortean research, there's an idea that if you open yourself up to the phenomena, it becomes aware of you, and this is a terrifying prospect. During this time frame, I did not pick up a book or watch a tv show on the paranormal for fear of a possible recurrence. As I thought hard about this incident, I began to wonder whether this was something psychological in origin. I personally am an avid believer in the plausibility of a lot of Fortean phenomena, and this branches over into general acceptance that this is a normal and real phenomenon. Yet the Keelian aspects that I alluded to I do not think are plausible. The universality that all phenomena are the same to me just seemed to be an easy out at best or a lack of critical thinking at worst, and that with the ideas I was treading on, it was very selfish as if I was putting myself into the center of this world. It's from this that I took a step back and attempted to think about it from a more skeptical and open view.

My first thought was that there was nothing clearly that could explain the object seen earlier that day, and so I do believe it is unexplained and fits the initial criteria of a UFO. I’ve gone to that location countless times, and I have never found a rational answer to the object. I’ve told the UFO account many times because it was so unique. The beings I've come to call the Night Grabbers, however, I have come to think we're probably an example of Sleep Paralysis. I’ve never had an incident of sleep paralysis before or after this account, but a lot of what I experienced that night was very similar to sleep paralysis. The fact that this occurred while lying in bed, waking up and seeing a strange figure, and that at first, I had no control of my limbs was very similar to what is normally described with sleep paralysis. Now the reason I think this occurred was because of my initial UFO sighting; it would be easy to say that this was a failed abduction attempt or something similar but its also possible that my mind created this scenario in a dreamlike state because of the fact that the UFO was so prevalent in my thoughts that day.

Now, of course, to give the devil his due, I will say that there is the possibility that what I experienced was something Fortean there are a lot of similarities to what I experienced and to what others have over the years, and it does not only fit the traditional extraterrestrial encounters but also a phenomenon that is known as bedtime visitors these entities are also often associated with sleep paralysis even though the entities I possibly encountered do not match the shadow man, Hatman, grinning men that are frequently reported but countless other types are also said to occur and are known as other bedtime visitors. The same goes for faeries, as faerie abduction is something that has been reported from time to time, and in many ways, how the creatures behaved and grabbed seemed more unskilled than what one would think of something that's used to interacting or possibly taking humans. Even though I feel what I experienced was not something unknown, and in a way, this comforts me, I also have to accept the possibility that what I experienced could very well have been something of this caliber.

So this is the end of my account. I have no clear idea of what happened that day. I'm sure what I experienced in regard to the Night Grabbers was simply an example of sleep paralysis, but as for the UFO, that was something else. I saw it during the day; it was a pulsing orb; it seemed to have some sort of physical form behind the pulsing that I could tell was there but could not exactly make out what it was made of. The relation between the two clearly is anyone's guess, and its something I deal with every day as I often wake up in the middle of the night expecting to see these beings again if they were real, but they never returned, which at times is even eerier as it makes me wonder was this a one-off encounter that I experienced in actuality or was it my only time having sleep paralysis. I have no idea. I guess the end purpose of this is to have some official record of this experience as well as if someone else experienced this specific type of entity or had a similar experience, some kind of corroboration not only of mine but their experience as well. So if there's anyone else out there who had an experience like this, definitely comment or let me know.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: unknown

Location: Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

Sighted: Late Summer 2017

London Flood Troll

 London Flood Troll

By Cole Herrold

In February of 2014, London was starting to prepare itself for the oncoming deluge from Storm Ruth. During this time, the city was hit with a massive onslaught of rainclouds that, on several occasions, seemed to overtake the city. On one of these days, the rain hit hard and resulted in excessive flooding in London as well as the rest of the Southern portion of the country. During this time, many people were active in preparing not to be dislocated during the storm. Apparently, all were not so lucky as a 25-year-old student would find as the storm seemed to of not only affected the people in the area but at least one Fortean beast that had made itself seen during the deluge.

An unnamed 25-year-old student was visiting his parents in a rural area and assumedly was helping in any way to stop any damage to his parent's property or simply to make sure that they were safe and prepared for the incoming storm. He had initially planned to stay with them for a little bit but realizing the possibility of the trains to London being stopped due to the weather decided against it and upon finishing his visit with his parents. Proceeded to head towards the train station to book a train to get back to his home in London. This trip home was a long one, and during the ride, he proceeded to fall asleep several times; and on one occasion of waking from deep sleep, he happened to look out the window and had an almost Twilight Zone-esque surprise that would shock him for the rest of his life. It was getting dark out, and as he began to gather his bearings from waking up once more from a restful nap, he, upon looking out the window to his left, saw a strange dark figure running next to the train at a rather close distance. He at first thought that this figure was a person, but as he stared at the strange runner in the flooded landscape that the train slowly trudged through, he soon realized that this was not the case. As the figure came exceptionally close to the train, he was able to note that the being was an astounding 9-10ft tall and that it was running in a strange erratic fashion, not like how a person normally would. He also noted that the figure was exceedingly large and notably "fat" in form, and the man noticed that the water from the flood barely touched the being’s knees. This, however, was not the strangest part of the creature's appearance; as the man peered closer at the figure, he could see that the creature bore no clothes but was covered in long shaggy hair all over its body with the exception of its face and chest. As he stared at the figure's head, he noted that its eyes reminded him of a gorillas, but this would be the end of any similarity to a primate as the creature also bore two short white horns and had large and long wolf ears. As he stared at this anomalous apparition, he had wondered whether he actually was awake and whether this whole scenario was not some dream within a dream. Yet as he looked over to his fellow passengers, he noted that others had seemingly noted the strange being yet were hesitant to openly draw attention to the being running alongside the train. Even if those who did see the creature spoke up, however, it would be for naught as there was barely anyone on the train, and so it was a secret they all must share.

The 25-year-old witness would, during the event, talk to two other witnesses who were in the same car, a young boy and his mother, but just what they discussed went unreported. As they sat, however, the train started to speed up, and they could tell that this new acceleration was too fast for the creature to keep up with, and so he watched as the creature was left behind to waddle in the flooded mire. When asked about his encounter further and asked why there were no photos, the witness said the following “No, I wasn’t dreaming, mate. I also know what a bear looks like, and it looked more like a troll. Remember, from the Lord of the Rings?...” Well mate, I was quite surprised, like I said. You just don’t have got any time to reach your phone and take a picture. Things happen fast, that’s what people don’t get. So, unless you are a trained journalist or similar…and you are expecting something to happen, you’ve got nothing,… “Friends and other people say it’s rubbish, but I know what I saw,”.

As far as this case goes, this is all we have. None of the others on the train seemed to of come forward with their sighting. There were no photos or any other follow up outside of the initial report, which the anonymous witness had that was later uploaded onto Cryptozoology News. Yet the encounter at least has enough information for us to attempt to break down his sighting. Obviously, starting off skeptically, it could be possible that this was some internet hoax. This is fairly common with creature reports of all kinds, and we see more of this now arguably than ever before. Another reason one might point to the hoax angle is even the description of the creature. The witness said that the creature reminded him of a troll and that it specifically would be reminiscent of one from the Lord of the Rings. Now clearly, as a Tolkien fan, I would at first venture and say that this depiction makes no sense as being compared to trolls or any of really the other creatures in Tolkien's World. The Trolls in the book are more or less giant humanoid creatures that, much like the folklore they’re based on, turn to stone when in contact with sunlight. Other than that, there's not much of an official description, yet early artwork in Tolkien books tends to show them as giant human-like creatures with sharp facial features. In the Peter Jackson films, trolls are hairless, colossal, and have unique, almost pug-like faces. This is very different from the gorilla-furred horned creature reported, and while this could lend credence to an actual sighting, I offer this other option the witness might have gotten the wrong Tolkien creature to describe it as. In the animated sequel to both Rankin Bass's The Hobbit and Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings, Rankin Bass once more returned to the helm and directed The Return of the King. In this animated classic, as well as the original Rankin Bass Hobbit, even though the presence of them is not as prevalent in that one, there are creatures that bear a strong resemblance to the creature seen by the witness; these are the Orcs and Goblins. In the film, they had large bulky gorilla-like forms, they were incredibly fast, they had no hair on their faces with some exception on the top and sides of their heads, and also they had large protruding horns. The only major difference between these creatures and the troll reported in this case is the excessive amount of hair reported, which could have been an extra detail placed to remove the overall fantasy appearance of the creature that it could have been based on.

Top image Orcs From the 1980 Rankin Bass Return of the King

Bottom Image Goblins From the 1977 Rankin Bass The Hobbit

Now while I've really gotten into how this case is possibly a hoax inspired by the classic film adaptations of Tolkien’s work, there is always the chance that what was actually reported in the account did occur. If this is to be the case and not the ramblings of an animated Tolkien fan, then what are we to make of this account. My first thought would be that this creature would be a cryptid as the timing of the sighting and the storm would seem to indicate that this creature might have been displaced by the storm or that the overall storm would increase the creature's activity as it searches for food. Horned sasquatch-type creatures, which would be the closest type of creature that would match the entity reported, do occur, yet oftentimes they are lumped in or misinterpreted as other cryptids. One of the most famous horned cryptids I covered, which gets lumped into the bigfoot category, for example, is the Wood Eating Amish Country Goose Grabber, which is more of a horned Were-lion as opposed to a bigfoot. Yet let's say for argument sake that Sasquatch can get the same or a similar disease as the Shope papilloma virus (SPV). This disease creates growths that one could compare to as horns and is primarily found in certain types of rabbits, and is most likely the inspiration for the lore of Jackalopes. Now we do know that Bigfoot-type creatures are reported in England; there have been several interesting cases and findings primarily in the area of Cannock Chase, so perhaps if SPV is applicable to other species in the same way that Rabies is, then its possible that reports of Goatmen and other horned humanoid cryptids could be examples of bigfoot with SPV. Yet, of course, this is also speculation.

Another possibility in the Cryptid department is that this could be an example of a Goatman with mange or old age. Now Goatmen are a highly debated cryptid, and the phenomena, in general, sits at the tri corners of both the cryptid, Faerie, and Demon categories as there are reports that are reminiscent of each different category. Now when one looks at how a witness describes any phenomenon, it is always important to remember that the witness is putting their encounter together in their words the best way they can, and that does not always mean that what they are describing is 100% accurate hence why we have some issues with descriptions with even famous cases like the Flatwoods Monster where multiple witnesses described the creature as mechanical whereas others felt it was a completely flesh and blood being. So perhaps, in this case, the witness humanized the creature more than it actually was, or perhaps the creature was seemingly more primate-like or human-like, but that this was caused by a disease like mange. This could explain the ultimate lack of hair on the face or chest and the bizarre behavior of chasing a train. Now granted, if that's the case, then this would be the first case, at least to my knowledge, of a Goatman with mange as unlike Sasquatch, where we do have reports with mange, there has never been a Goatman one, so if that's accurate, this is a revolutionary report in the annals of Goatman research.

Now other options for this creature are seemingly lessened as opposed to other cases as this does appear to be a very physical creature, at least from the description. If this is the case, one could always entertain extraterrestrial, but this case does not have a UFO, or any other element that one could point to that would indicate that this entity comes from off-world. There is no history, at least to my current knowledge, of this entity or a similar one being reported with UFO or alien cases, so it's safe to say it does not match that category. I would argue the same for some sort of paranormal entity in the way of a demon or ghost; the fact that this being seemed physical and that it interacted with its environment in a very tangible way does not seem to imply something supernatural in the way that we associate ghosts or spirits with.

With that said, though, there are some other options; the first and, to me, most important is the Faerie category. Now I’ve covered the Fae extensively in other articles, and they are something that constantly keeps coming up with these stranger cases hence why I feel its an option we as researchers need to focus more on but let's say that the witness was not using the word troll as semantics but that the witness either had some insight or knowledge that what he was seeing was from beyond the hidden veil. Now I've covered countless Troll cases from all over the world, and I will say this entity has many features reported in other troll cases, but the horns are new. Trolls typically are described as humanoids of varying sizes and shapes, and they are excessively hairy and are connected to people of a certain pagan origin or the landscapes they are connected with. They have many abilities that involve growth, weather-controlling, disappearing, and that is simply from what has been reported over the years with other cases. Now, as stated, I’ve over the years only found one official case of a Troll with horns, and that involved, interestingly enough, another case where the creature was seen in water, this time in America. So perhaps River or water trolls have this feature; yet again, I will say I have never come across any reference to this outside of modern artwork of Trolls from individuals like Brian Froud or other artists.

Another possibility is that this creature could be from another dimension, Ultraterrestrial or tulpa, as they are sort of the answers which function as the ultimate answer for how any phenomenon could occur. Now, needless to say, there are problems with all of these topics, especially since they are also the most difficult to gather evidence or data of. Also, of them all, the only one that would make sense would be an interdimensional being since on another world or plane of existence, there are countless evolutionary possibilities that are out there, and therefore, it is almost impossible to claim that at least in one of these worlds that one did not create a creature like this. If this is an Ultraterrestrial, it really did not seem to do what the traditional Ultraterrestrial is known for, as the entity did not exactly attempt to generate fear in a more aggressive manner or attempt to confuse or make the witness out to be ridiculous in some insane scenario as how some felt Woodrow Derenberger was made out to in his encounters with Indrid Cold. It just seems that this encounter is purely random and bears no true significance, and that, of course, would be if this entity is an Ultraterrestrial.

This case is interesting on multiple levels, both in not only the analysis of witness testimony but also in general data regarding other Fortean phenomena. Just what this entity is and whether this is a true case or not is obviously debatable. I tend to lean more towards the skeptical on this case simply due to just how the creature was described and the mention and focus of Tolkien in the original testimony, yet that does not obviously mean it's a hoax by any means. The world we live in is stranger than fiction, and so it's very possible that this witness had access to a once-in-a-lifetime experience with the unknown yet just what that being might have been is truly anyone’s speculation.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammal. Faerie, Paranormal Entity

Location: Outside London, England

Sighted: February 2014

Works Cited:

Humanoid Encounters 2010-2015 By Albert S. Rosales

“British student comes forward with close-range account of troll-like creature chasing train” Altered Dimension. February 12, 2014. https://www.altereddimensions.net/2014/british-student-reports-troll-creature-chasing-train. Accessed March 22, 2022.

"The Troll of London" UFOlogy and More. April 7, 2014. https://ufohotspot.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-troll-of-london.html. Accessed May 24, 2022.

"Troll Runs After Train in Flooded London" Before Its News. February 13, 2014. https://beforeitsnews.com/paranormal/2014/02/troll-runs-after-train-in-flooded-england-2464210.html. Accessed May 24, 2022.

“Troll Runs Train Flooded England” Cryptozoology News. February 2014. http://cryptozoologynews.com/troll-runs-train-flooded-england/. Accessed March 22, 2022.

“Strange creatures that people report seeing.”. MissionQuest. February 12, 2014. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missionquestfpb/strange-creatures-that-people-report-seeing-t1176-s220.html. Accessed March 22, 2022. 

Lake Hopatcong Monsters

 Lake Hopatcong Monsters

By Cole Herrold

New Jersey is known for several things in the Fortean world; the infamous Jersey Devil, for example, of the Pine Barrens, is sort of the state mascot of all things weird there. There are numerous reported ghost roads filled with phantom hitchhikers, ghostly apparitions, and the occasional demon. UFOs and Men in Black have been reported there as well, and one particularly weird MIB report happened there that was interconnected with the infamous Mothman flap. There are semi-transparent mantis men, creatures seemingly ripped from the pages of mythology like the Blackwood Pigtaur and the Blackwood Centaur, Lizardmen and Gatormen, Bigfoot, Monkey Men, and even dragons. The one thing, though, that New Jersey is not exactly known for is aquatic monsters which is not accurate, to say the least, there had been several reports of sea serpents in areas like Cape May and near Atlantic City, and another strange creature known as Tommie was said to of roamed the Tom's River. Of all of them, though, there's one lake, in particular, that is said to be the most active in regard to aquatic anomalies, and that is Lake Hopatcong.

Lake Hopatcong is the largest lake in the state of New Jersey and is nestled between both Sussex and Morris Counties and is approximately 4 square miles in total area. This lake was enlarged in the 18^th century when a dam was erected in the Musconetcong River on the south end. This caused the water to rise by about 6ft which caused the original bodies of water in the area known as the Great Pond and Little Pond to come together to form the Lake Hopatcong that we now know today.

Tales of something large and mysterious lurking in the depths of the waters were first said to of been rumored by the Lenape Natives who had lived for a time along the shore of the lake, yet specific accounts seem to have gone unreported. Yet as the area began to be more and more utilized and used as a commercial zone, sightings and possibly dangerous interactions with a mysterious creature became more frequent and led to an overall acceptance of a colossal creature that locals have come to call "Hoppie." The earliest reports of this creature outside of the ambiguous Lenape acknowledgment of the creature began some 200 years ago when people coming around the area of the lake reported seeing a large, colossal form break the surface with a gigantic splash of the now pond joined lake. The creature was said to have a giant elephantine body so large that it could make "an ox look like a fawn" and a large, long neck ending in a horse-like head that was topped with a pair of large, colossal pair of 10ft long antlers. The creature was so ferocious in appearance and assumedly in behavior that the creature caused excessive panic to anyone in the region, and this was added to the fact that the creature was also capable of leaving the lake and walking on land. This reign of terror seemed to of gone on for some time until a harsh winter hit the region, and the creature afterward had seemed to of disappeared. The locals were both curious and at peace at the sudden departure of the creature, but they still wondered just what happened to the creature. They wouldn’t have to wait long for an answer as a group of Lenape Natives passing through the area told just what happened to their semiaquatic neighbor. The Natives would state that during the winter, the creature was crossing the now frozen lake, and as it reached a particularly thin patch, the creature broke the ice and had proceeded to fall into the frozen water of the lake, where the creature seemingly perished. Whether the creature's death was due to the temperature of the lake or some physical trauma to the body of the creature, the Natives did not say. A short time later, while the lake had dethawed, several of the locals took a boat out to the area where the creature was said to of died and, upon peering into the water, could see the slowly rotting remains of the colossal monster. Its skull and antlers being the most noticeable feature that they could make out in the creature's watery grave.

This dead body clearly, however, was not the end of the creature as in pure classic monster film fashion, the "Son of" or "Daughter of" Hoppie would continue to be reported in the Lake. The next report of a large aquatic monstrosity in the lake occurred on November 11, 1999, when a witness known only as Pete and his unnamed friend were hanging out at the lake. The two had spent most of the chilly day on the lake and, upon deciding to call it a day, began to work their way towards the shore. Getting very close to the shore, the two hopped onto a deck and began to pull the boat into the shore. As the two strained to pull the boat in, Pete noticed that as he looked out on the water, he saw a colossal black 6-7ft wave come straight towards their dock. This colossal wave eventually hit their dock, and the impact of the water onto the dock was so strong that it almost knocked them off into the dark water. As they followed the direction of where the wave was headed, the two noticed a large object bobbing up and down in the lake. As they stared, they at first thought the object was a buoy but wondered just how a buoy would have made it to that area since they had never noticed one before. During this time, Pete's neighbor had left his home after seeing the colossal wave splash on the nearby dock. The trio of men debated about the form seen in the water the neighbor from a much safer distance than the other two, and when the buoy hypothesis was brought up again, Pete's neighbor said that this was impossible since the object was much too big. They watched as the object eventually submerged and hid in the murky water disappearing from sight altogether. During this time, the unthinkable happened to Pete's friend for some untold reason, be it fright, loss of balance, or some other possibility Pete's friend ended up plunging into the murky depths and disappearing for a brief period of time. When his friend resurfaced, he was some 10ft away from the dock and noticeably terrified as he cried out that during his time underwater, something had grabbed him and pulled him away from the dock. They were able to get his friend back to land and assumedly were more than hesitant to go back into the water for years later.

Now there had been rumors for years later of something strange and bizarre lurking in the lake, and these reports did not go unnoticed as they would be collected by the Fortean magazine Weird NJ; on one occasion, the magazine received a letter from a man residing in Sussex County who claimed that he had seen and experienced the creature on the lake countless times starting from when he was a boy. The witness stated that the reason he chose to write the letter was that creature was large and carnivorous and that while he did not want the creature hunted, he wanted others in the area to be aware of the creature and to be careful when swimming, boating, and fishing in the area. He claimed that the first time he saw the creature was when he was a boy fishing with his uncle. While out, he saw a bunch of splashing on the water and saw a large, colossal creature that released chirping sounds from a mouth filled with curved backward-facing razor-sharp teeth and began to hit the water with large paddle like fins. His uncle would later tell him more about the creature as he too had experienced it multiple times on the lake and noted that the creature had a habit of swallowing hooked fish, which he had experienced firsthand, and that upon biting them would swim away, remaining submerged the entire time. This unnamed letter writer would detail a full wildlife fact file on this creature and the knowledge of the behavior of the creature. The creatures he claimed are covered in brown and green slimy scales; they are usually about the size of a large dog but can reach the size of a cow with a long slender snake-like head and neck; they have forked tongues, long thin tails, and also have paddle-like fins that are tipped with claws. The creatures also have a terrible odor that smells like rotting fish or sulfur. The man would claim that the creature was not dangerous while left alone, but he does know that the creature is carnivorous as he had seen the creature on one occasion swallow two geese whole and that on one occasion it attacked his dog, which tore threw his beloved pet like a chew toy. On that occasion, the dog attacked the creature when the man was out fishing. The man was reeling in a large fish he had caught on the line when the creature rose from the depth biting the fish he had just caught. At this moment, the dog seeing that his owner's quarry was being intercepted, rushed out into the water and began to attack the creature in an attempt to have it drop the fish. The creature turned and proceeded to drop the fish and attack the dog, and in a brief skirmish, the creature ended up killing and eating the dog. As the man watched as the creature continued to consume his canine, he saw a peculiar behavior as the creature would spit out the bones, something one would indicate as a sign of intelligence. This creature, he realized, is an ambush predator and frequently utilizes the shoreline to capture and eat animals coming near the water, much like a crocodilian. He noted that the creature tends to do this more before and during the first light of day. It was in this interaction that he realized the potential danger this creature could have towards humans and shuddered to think about what the creature could do to children. He did note that the creature did not seem to be aggressive to creatures initially outside of fish, as in the two times that the creature did attack another organism, it was in self-defense, and this includes the instance with the geese. The man also noted that this creature was not alone and seemed to have a mate and that these creatures seemed to be more active on nights of a full moon. The creatures do have offspring as well, which are about the size of ducks and that the larger of the offspring tend to hang out towards Lify Island. He, while knowing the animals were breeding, he had no clear indication as to the breeding population or the exact number of creatures in the lake. The creatures have a preference of hanging out near-deserted tree-lined coves and rarely near docks; however, on at least one occasion, he did encounter the creature stealing his fish while fishing off a dock. It's from this that he recommends people to avoid deserted coves, especially at sunrise, and to stay at home at night, especially during the late fall and early spring, which is the creature's mating season and also when they appear to be more aggressive. The creature's the man would claim had unique eyes; they were a shiny color, and that these eyes are so bright that they can be seen even when the creature is underwater. His uncle would claim that these eyes have difficulty in seeing those wearing green camouflage. He would claim that the creature would also have a habit of hanging around deserted cove areas known for being local lover's lanes and "smooch parks" and that the creature had a habit of waddling ashore and peering into the windows of cars. The man ended up after becoming seemingly an expert on the creature, christening the beast Xepeciup Uqsejtjux Cemupiz or simply Cemupiz, which according to him, was the native name for the creature, which means "flesh-eating lake monster" and that the natives who knew of the creature forbade the killing of it seeing it as a sacred creature. During his research of the creature, he claimed to of captured the creature on camera; the photo he took came from a disposable camera from a Pathmark. He also, much like the native tribes, feels that we should protect the species from overall assault and extinction and that we should also attempt to protect others from the creature by making the public aware of the creature.

To this day, there are people who whisper about the creature, but as for officially documented sightings, there are none. The creature, however, has been picked up by the region as a kind of mascot for the tourist trade, not unlike Nessie or Champ and the other various lake and river monsters across the world. Just what the Lake Hopatcong Monster is, is difficult to establish as looking at the descriptions over the years, there seem to be several different creatures reported. This indicates a couple different things; the first would obviously be that this could be simply an urban legend. We have no official interviews or study of this creature, and all the sightings are either anonymous or so antediluvian that we do not have a way to find the beginning of the account. This could also explain why in the 1700s, the creature was described as being a semiaquatic deer monster, whereas now it's more of a traditional lake monster with notable plesiosaur-like features since that is what is ingrained in the culture of lake monsters.

Let's say, however, that all of the reports are accurate and that what the witnesses saw actually occurred. Right off the bat, I would say Cryptid as there are no UFOs associated with the creatures, and the fact that they can be killed, at least in regard to the original antlered version, implies a more physical existence as opposed to some ethereal entity like an Ultraterrestrial, tulpa, thoughtform, ghost, demon, faerie, or any other ethereal option. Now just what could this creature be, though, if it is a physical animal. Interestingly enough, with the original account and upon reflection while writing this, perhaps what was seen was not a lake monster or anything we would associate with a lake monster but perhaps a surviving Megaloceros. Megaloceros are giant elk that are approximately 7ft in height at the shoulder with an antler spread of, interestingly enough, almost 10ft, so exactly the same as the creature initially reported. The large elephantine-like body would make sense if the creature was wadding in the water, and perhaps this creature, much like moose, was capable of diving or surviving for some periods of time in and around water, adding to the lake monster mythos of the creature. Now I love this theory, and I will say that while Cenozoic prehistoric survivors are more likely than, say, Mesozoic era survivors, there is one major problem with this particular possible identification, and that is that Megaloceros was a Eurasian species from what we know in the fossil record hence the other alias the Irish Elk, so one has to wonder if this is the case just how one of these colossal creatures managed to get their way to New Jersey.

Megaloceros in comparison to a Human

Now, as for the modern Lake Hopatcong Monsters, they seem to be more akin to plesiosaurs or some other type of aquatic reptile which the closest Id argue based on description Id have to say would be a Tanystropheus or some smaller variation of a giant turtle. Yet unlike other cryptids like Nessie or Champ, where the lakes became landlocked shortly over time, ergo trapping such prehistoric remnants in the lakes. Lake Hopatcong did not have that, at least in the same way as the others; the lake does flow into another body of water, the Musconetcong River, which itself is home to another creepy critter known as the Musconetcong Mantis Man (see entry for more information) yet this leads into a possibility that perhaps the river allowed some creature to enter the lake back before the area was dammed and then afterward the creatures were trapped there. Now, of course, this is all speculation, and the creatures would, of course, have to follow such biological rules as the 50-500 rule, which, if the size of the creatures given is accurate, does not seem likely for a lake only 4sq miles in total. So perhaps these creatures are more terrestrial than we realize.

Image of Tanystropheus

One problem with lake monster reports from smaller lakes obviously is population if these creatures are, in fact living in the local. But perhaps lake monsters are more terrestrial in behavior and utilize lakes as feeding, breeding, and hiding spots. I've mentioned this before with Aquatic humanoid cases as well as with cryptids that appear to be more like giant snakes like Raystown Ray or the Wolf Pond Monster since there are reports of similar giant snake-like creatures seen on land. Now I venture this option again since where are all of these dinosaurian or reptilian-like cryptids going? They cannot be hanging out in the lake wed see them more often, so I wonder perhaps these creatures spend most of their time on islands or woodlands surrounding lakes. There are several cases throughout the years of colossal reptiles or quadrupedal dinosaurs living in the woodlands, yet much like these lake monsters, they are exceptionally rare; it's from this I ponder whether the two are interconnected and that when these creatures are seen on land its because they're moving to another water source or that they are utilizing other resources in the area. This is not an altogether farfetched idea; there are reports of dinosaurian-type creatures on land in areas where river and lake monsters are reported. I covered the Astor Monster, a ceratopsian-type dinosaur that lived both on land as well as the St. Johns River, and the William Lake Lizard, a colossal seemingly monitor type reptile that charged a car in 1973. So, such reports have occurred that do seem to lend credence to this idea, but of course, the accurate identity of such creatures is anyone's guess.

Another possibility I feel that needs to be addressed is the possibility of a time slip. Time slips in regard to cryptids are, to me, hit or miss as when looking at sighting reports of creatures said to be from another time like Pterosaurs, for example, they often are missing important features such as feathers or bright colors and this to me seems to be more evident of losing a feature through years of evolution to adapt to a certain environment or possibly a totally new species. Now there is an ever-shifting view on prehistoric life as we are always finding new features or rediscovering how these organisms were actually built since fossils are basically puzzles without instructions or original artwork to compare to hence why some dinosaurs like Spinosaurus are drastically different in form compared to how we originally thought they were built. So perhaps the reason these creatures were seeing seem to not match with our current animals is that they are accurate animals that are dropped here through a time slip but again, just what they'd be is anyone's speculation.

Another possibility for these creatures, of course, would be the interdimensional route; if these creatures are popping in and out from another dimension, then that would explain why we don't see them as much or why there's no evidence for their existence. The interdimensional aspect also offers an outlet for all sorts of possible evolutionary lineages that we currently are unaware of, and in the infinite dimensions of the multiverse, there is guaranteed to be at least one where a creature like this would exist. Now just the how and whys these dimensional shifts would occur is anyone's guess, but it is certainly much more likely than many of the other alternative Fortean ideas out there.

With New Jersey Cryptids, there is perhaps more skepticism when one thinks about the state and the incredibly high populated areas therein, but when one actually drives through the state, especially the backroads, it is entirely possible for things to remain hidden there. The same can be said about the waterways. We as a species are always discovering new animals or new ecosystems that we did not know were at the tip of our fingers. Perhaps we will find out that there might be some hidden glen or grotto where these creatures remain elusive; its interesting to note that many feel that there are certain waterholes that are seemingly bottomless in New Jersey known as Blue Holes, and many legends are interconnected with them one of the most famous is that they have underground caverns in them that reach to other places in the state perhaps Lake Hopatcong has one such entry/exit way. We can only guess and speculate, as with almost all cases. I've thought of checking the lake out myself on numerous occasions, so perhaps there might be more to this case, but until then or until more information can come to light, this is all we know about the infamous Hoppie.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Reptile, Mammal, Fish, Multiple Creatures

Location: Lake Hopatcong, Sussex, and Morris Counties, New Jersey

Sighted: Lenape legends around the 1700s to at least 1999 to possibly modern times

Works Cited:

Jersey Devils, Bizarre Beasts And Other Creatures of Weird NJ By Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman

Monsters of New Jersey By Loren Coleman and Bruce G. Hallenbeck

Weird NJ By Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman