Hook Island Sea Serpent

 Hook Island Sea Serpent

By Cole Herrold

There are very few pieces of Cryptozoological evidence out there that have lasted the test of time. Often many of them are debunked, proved to be misidentified, or are examples of pareidolia. While we cannot expect clear photos for every cryptid encounter like the Sandra Mansi Champ photo or the Patterson Gimlin Film, there are some photos that just seem to be too good, and this leads into controversy. One of perhaps the most famous and controversial pieces of evidence of all time was a series of photos that were taken off Hook Island by Robert Le Serrec. These photos are stone-cold classics in the world of cryptozoology and are a toss-up as while many researchers feel the photos are hoaxes; others continue to think that there is something real and tangible just below the surface.

On December 12, 1964, Breton Photographer Robert Le Serrec might have captured one of the best pieces of evidence for the existence of an aquatic cryptid we would call a sea serpent. Le Serrec, his family, and his Australian friend Henk De Jong were shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef and decided that during this time that, they would purchase a motorboat and spend about three months on Hook Island. While out one day near Stonehaven Bay, Le Serrec’s wife noticed a dark form seemingly resting on the bay floor and proceeded to bring the figure to the attention of the rest of the party. The group, upon coming close to the object which at the time they thought was a mere 30ft but as they came withing shocking closeness they noticed in utter horror that it was a strange unknown creature. The group having more courage than arguably they should, proceeded to take a series of photos, each more interesting than the last. They were shocked at what was below the waters for the creature they photographed in the waters of Stonehaven Bay around Hook Island in Queensland, Australia, had an appearance similar to a black tadpole or American eel. The creature had eyes located either on the top or near the sides of the head with slit-like pupils and had an incredibly long smooth serpentine body that was black in color with brown transverse stripes. The most incredible aspect of this is that the creature, however, is not arguably its appearance, but instead of its initial 30ft length, the creature turned out to be an astounding 70-80ft long. One member of the party or another individual had managed to take a boat out towards the tail of the creature, and this gave a sense of just how colossal the creature was. It was in this position that they noticed a large pale region which they thought was a wound that was visible on the right side of the tail. Le Serrec and Henk De Jong were completely perplexed by this creature and, thinking that the creature was dead, decided that they would film it underwater. The two had just started to film the creature when the creature, in a sudden change of pace, began to move. The two watched in utter horror as the creature opened its mouth, revealing a white mouth and throat, and proceeded to move towards them; half expecting that they would be consumed by the colossal monstrosity, they began to swim back to the assumed safety of the boat and began to clamor ashore, and as they turned to look back into the water to see if the creature was hot on their heels they were surprised and relieved that the creature had disappeared. As the group was rationalizing their thoughts, they felt that the creature was resting in the bay because of the wound to its tail, which they felt might have been caused by a ship's propeller.

In March of 1965, Le Serrec, in Australia's Everyone magazine, came forward with the photographs of the serpent and proceeded to tell the tale of how he caught it on camera. It was around this time that the claimed photos and story caught the attention of Cryptozoologists Ivan T. Sanderson and Bernard Heuvelmans. Ivan T. Sanderson heard about the case in February of that year as Le Serrec had initially attempted to sell the photos to several media outlets, yet these outlets would not give him the price he had wanted. Sanderson, however, would later write about the photos in an article for True Magazine. After this, the case was written about by both researchers as well as other cryptozoologists years later, such as Loren Coleman and Karl Shuker. The general consensus is that the photos are more than likely a hoax; however, some researchers to this day do think that there might be something more to the footage.

Now there is some controversy over this footage, as with just about any cryptozoological evidence, and this deals much less with the photos themselves and more around Robert Le Serrec. As time went on, when researchers Loren Coleman and Bernard Heuvelmans investigated Le Serrec and the Hook Island Photos, they had found some issues with Le Serrec’s character and the possibility of talks of creating a hoax. In their books In the Wake of the Sea Serpent and Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep, the two-state Le Serrec was in great debt. In fact, during the time the photos were taken, Le Serrec had left France to go and avoid his creditors and that Le Serrec was even wanted by Interpol, and Heuvelmans, in general, felt that he was not very trustworthy. Heuvelmans would later discover as well that Le Serrec, in 1959, had allegedly told several friends in France that he was about to go away on an expedition and “another thing in reserve which will bring in a lot of money… it’s to do with the sea serpent”. Adding to these seemingly damning character traits and backstory, Heuvelmans, upon looking at the photos, felt that there were problems in regard to the anatomy of the creature since the eyes of the creature appear from what we can tell near the top of the head and not near the side or closer to the snout. Yet there are species out there with eye placements similar to the creature.

Ivan Sanderson felt that the photos were most likely hoaxed and felt that “the object was either a plastic bag used by the US Navy “for experiments in towing petrol” or a deflated skyhook balloon which had become covered in weed, or a roll of cloth which had been tied together in places." Heuvelmans had his own idea as to just what was the answer to the photos Heuvelmans thought that the creature in the photo was a carefully shaped expanse of plastic sheeting weighed down with sand into the form of a colossal serpent. When one looks at the close-up photos of the head, researchers like Darren Naish point out that one can see covering four certain portions of it as though someone had “placed handfuls of sand on top of the edge of the creature: exactly what you would do if trying to weight down a monster-shaped sheet of plastic." Yet Le Serrec would claim that this was because the creature had slightly buried itself in the sand. Other researchers later had pointed to a possible shoal of fish, yet there are several problems with this since there were close-up photos, as well as the fact that while fish shoals can form basic shapes, they do not stay in these shapes for long periods of time, and in such a complex shape, all of this tends to point to one of two possibilities either some sort of material shaped and placed as a hoax or a biological creature.

While Sanderson and Heuvelmans were very certain that the creature was a hoax, they both entertained as well the possibility that the creature may have been real. Sanderson, for example, later on, felt that "the creature might be a giant synbranchid or swamp eel. Synbranchids are long-bodied acanthomorph teleosts, mostly of freshwater and estuarine habitats, well known for their ability to breathe air and undertake terrestrial excursions”. Synbranchids, however, are exceptionally small, however, usually being about 60 cm long, so if the Hook Island photos are an example of this, it would be the largest example known. Heuvelmans, however, was arguably more certain than Sanderson that the creature was a hoax and said should this creature be authentic, it could be "some kind of gigantic eel-like selachian." Paleontologist and Cryptid Enthusiast Darren Naish felt the reason he chose this possibility is due to a possible connection to sightings of an incredibly long-bodied shark. Another possibility often pointed to for another answer to the Hook Island Serpent is mastodonsauroid temnospondyls, a Triassic and Jurassic amphibian, yet the problem with this hypothesis would be the creature's lack of limbs.

One cannot help but mention that Heuvelmans created nine different categories in which different sea serpent and lake monster sightings could be categorized as. Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe would also utilize and update this for their own book, fixing some of the discrepancies and problems with Heuvelmans original model. Of the original 9, however, there was one category of a sea serpent which curiously is very similar in shape to the Hook Island Sea Serpent but is described as the Yellow Belly. Essentially it is, as the name suggests, a yellow-bellied tadpole-shaped creature with brown stripes along the back and a tannish-green colored body. Some researchers feel that Le Serrec, if he hoaxed the serpent chose the design of the creature from this entry, yet this is not possible, seeing as how the publication of Heuvelmans book was four years after Le Serrec took the photos. Other researchers felt that Heuvelmans included this entry solely because of the Le Serrec photos, but obviously, this was not to be the case since the appearance does not match really. Heuvelmans based the Yellow-Bellied type of Sea Serpent on a sighting aboard the ship Nestor in 1876, which took place in-between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Now I must say I have problems with the hoax aspect of the Hook Island Sea Serpent case. For one thing, to pull off a hoax of a creature this size, it would take a great deal of time and energy. With a hoax of this caliber, one would think that someone would have seen them creating it. Now granted, Hook Island is basically uninhabited with some exceptions and is a national park, so perhaps if this was a hoax, it was done in a much more secluded area to avoid notice, but by creating a creature in the water as large as the sea serpent, it would stand to reason that someone would have seen them stretching out the balloon or bag and packing it in the sand. Also, as with other famous pieces of footage like the Patterson Gimlin Film, there are always people who come from the woodwork to claim that they were involved or that they caused the footage, and with this set of photos, nobody, as far as I’m aware came forward, and Le Serrec continued to state the film and footage’s authenticity. We can add this even to Le Serrec’s family, who was with him during the filming; when infamous hoaxer Ray Wallace passed away, his family immediately released a statement saying that they hoaxed countless footprints and videos, yet in Le Serrec’s case, if he has passed away there’s been none of that adding to the overall strangeness of the story. Now again, Coleman and Heuvelmans stated that Le Serrec was a rather untrustworthy individual, and there are two ways to interpret this one can look at his claims and automatically dismiss them or that everything he experienced did, in fact, happen. The point of it truly is the following is that if a phenomenon is real, people of all sorts of merit can still encounter the unknown it just makes it more difficult to accept their claims.

In 2003 Le Serrec was said to still be living and currently residing in Asia. Once this was revealed, there was a sudden rush in attempting to interview him about the sea serpent, yet no interview currently has been conducted. I would love to hear his thoughts now since it's some 60 years later if he is still alive. Or if any of the others who were around with him during the photographing of the creature. While there’s currently no further investigation into this case, and for most researchers, the case seems to be closed, I think that there's enough ambiguity that would warrant a follow-up. Yet as with most older cases, chances are this will not be the case, but until then, we are left to ponder just whether or not this series of photos is authentic or not and it's a mystery that will last for countless years until an example is either captured or that other members of Serrec’s family finally come forward and claim either that it really is a hoax or that it’s the real deal.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species:

Location: Pacific Ocean, Stonehaven Bay, Hook Island, Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia

Sighted: December 12, 1964

Works Cited:

Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology By Michael Newton

Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep By Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe By Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe

Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths By Darren Naish

In the Wake of the Sea Serpent By Bernard Heuvelmans

Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology Volume 2 By George Eberhart

Darren Naish "The amazing Hook Island sea monster photos, revisited" Scientific American November 23, 2013. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/the-amazing-hook-island-sea-monster-photos-revisited/. Accessed June 26, 2022.

Laura Rowton "5 Lake and Sea Monsters Supposedly Caught on Camera" The Paranormal Scholar. February 9, 2018. https://www.paranormalscholar.com/5-lake-sea-monsters/. Accessed July 8, 2022.

The Supernatural Slacks of Ecuador

 The Supernatural Slacks of Ecuador

By Cole Herrold

As time goes on, we are getting more and more paranormal evidence caught on camera. With this paranormal photographic surge, we have captured some of the best evidence for the existence of Aliens, Cryptids, and Ghosts, yet these entities are seemingly mundane as compared to some of the footage captured over the recent years. One of the most ridiculous yet interesting pieces of footage comes from Ecuador, and it shows not a South American Sasquatch or similar supernatural humanoid but a pair of spectral slacks running around on their own, free of any owner.

A girl named Magaly was out in the rural streets of Ecuador playing and recording her pet rabbit. As she filmed the small animal, she noticed that the animal began to look towards the right and then hop further away. She continued to record and seemed to not notice anything, but the rabbit was not the only being to realize that something was off as a little boy looked on in the same direction as to where the rabbit had looked. Magaly, however, not seeing whatever the other two did, simply ended the video and did not think anything else about it before uploading it to YouTube. However, as the world began to look at what was originally thought to be a cute rabbit video, they soon noticed something bizarre that was caught along the right side of the video. Those who caught this paranormal photobomber were perplexed, for this was not some classic ghost photo or some Ecuadorian Bigfoot but a, both comically and eerily enough, a disembodied running pair of white slacks with a belt. Now I know how difficult it can be to simply describe the video when its something that does need to be seen to understand, so in the Works Cited, there is a link to what I believe to be the original upload of the video, so I highly recommend viewing the clip before reading my breakdown.

Now in the video, we see at the 4-second mark that this strange white pants-like anomaly starts to wander out from around a building and run or jog in a rather bizarre way along the sidewalk. The pants do not make contact with the sidewalk, and there are no noticeable shoes, socks, or obviously feet, and yet they do leave a shadow as they move, indicating that something physical is there moving. The pants jumping leaping sort of motion is bizarre and rather whimsical and brings to mind the scene in James Whale’s The Invisible Man where Jack Griffin chased a girl while invisible, wearing only a pair of pants and joyfully singing. Now, as you watch the figure move past the 8-second mark, the figure seems to of disappeared. Whether this is due to the low lighting or from actual dematerialization is difficult to tell as we do not see the figure move past a shadowy section from the tree part of the difficulties with this is also the fact that the video ends at the 11-second mark. Other than this, there's not too much to break down in regard to what's being shot in the video.

Now just what is the reason that a pair of pants were caught running on camera? We do need to take this footage with a grain of salt as there is obviously the possibility of the footage being doctored either through CGI or double exposure, or some other form of technological trickery. Yet the reason I feel that there is something more physical than CGI is the fact that both the rabbit and boy at least noticed the pants as they ran along the sidewalk. The same goes for the fact that there was a shadow from the pants, so both of these concepts imply that there was something physical that was captured on camera. This does not, of course, rule out a hoax, as there is always the chance that the pants could be puppeteered by strings from the top of the building, yet none can be seen from the footage and that certain sections of the pants do seem to follow the movements of someone running. 

Another possibility is that what is being seen is a genuine video of a spirit. Ghosts appear in countless forms and guises, and one of the most common types of apparitions are those that appear in the manner in which they died, such as the ghost of Anne Boleyn, who manifests without her head, so perhaps in this video what we are seeing is the spectral apparition of someone who was separated from the waist and the torso and that now the spirit appears as a running set of spectral slacks. Of course, the problem with this is the fact that there also were no feet or reported and also that there is no history, at least that I have found, of someone who suffered such a fate.

Another theory that I sort of mentioned/joked about early on is that perhaps what was being reported was some sort of individual, either with supernatural abilities or through some sort of technology, managed to make themselves invisible. This could explain as to why the pants seem much more physical than what one would expect from a traditional ghost video. It also could explain just the absolute insanity, which is the video overall. Scientific advancements are made every day, so it's completely possible that some individuals found the key to invisibility through technology or found some way to make themselves invisible without the aid of tech through some serum or something similar.

Another possibility that I feel I need to mention is that perhaps even though the object running does appear to be a pair of pants with a belt that perhaps this is some sort of technology. There have been cases of seemingly sentient or ambulatory pairs of pants that run on their own fruition. Some of these pants seem to be interconnected to UFO and extraterrestrial cases so perhaps what we are seeing is some kind of extraterrestrial technology or even some as-yet-unknown earth technology reminiscent of the pants from the Jimmy Neutron “When Pants Attack” episode.

Another thing I feel I need to also mention is the concept of the Tsukumogami. In the lore of Japanese Yokai, there is a belief that when an object reaches its 100^th birthday, they come alive and develop humanoid features. Some of these objects also come about when a human spirit fuses with the object and transmogrifies, as seen with the legend of Hokusai, the ghost lantern. These entities spring about from the idea that all things have a spirit or soul, and if this is something universal and not just something described in the Shinto belief of Japan, then it's possible that, that is what we are seeing here.

Another thing that I feel needs to be mentioned is the idea of a haunted object. Traditionally haunted objects are not incredibly mobile as many move slowly over a long period of time or have quick, jerky movements, but this is not universal, especially when one looks at how Poltergeist activity happens. Perhaps this pair of pants was haunted by its previous owner or had some sort of spectral energy attached to it that allowed it to move about on its own. Needless to say, if this is the case, then this was one of the best-captured pieces of evidence of such a phenomenon.

As with all photographic evidence, especially the ones captured in modern times, we have to be extremely skeptical. With the advancements in technology, there are also the advancements in hoaxing, and so with cases like this, we have to accept that that could always be a possibility. Now with that said, I do find this footage interesting. I think that it should be looked into more thoroughly and that perhaps there are other similar phenomena or examples of this phenomenon elsewhere. Until that day, when more information comes to light, this piece of evidence is incredibly interesting and strange and will be hypothesized about until it is confirmed to be real or found to be a hoax.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Paranormal Entity, Scientific Experiment

Location: Ecuador

Sighted: 2020

Works Cited:

Clint “Ghost Pants Caught Running Down Sidewalk Before Disappearing” Gater 98.7. August 6, 2021. https://gaterrocks.iheart.com/featured/clint/content/2021-08-06-ghost-pants-caught-running-down-sidewalk-before-disappearing/. Accessed June 23, 2022.

“Pants walking by themselves." July 16, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2rwU-h6F2c. YouTube.

Paranormal Caught on Camera Season 5 Episode 7. Travel. 2022. 

The Melrose Creep

 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

Hoboken Monkey Man

 Hoboken Monkey Man

By Cole Herrold

There are tons of cases out there that are extremely bizarre and seem to be either straight out lies or cases of mass hysteria. The case of the Hoboken Monkey Man is one such case. It's a case that appeared several times online and only in a few book and magazine sources and has been said by many to be a case that has absolutely no merit in the annals of actual cryptozoological study. However, upon closer inspection of this case, there are some particularly bizarre encounters that did make their way into some sources that seem to indicate that there were some kernels of truth to an outright hoax.

Hoboken was in a state of panic in October of 1982. School children were terrified by the whispers of their classmates. Those whispers were not only of the malevolent mirror spirit Bloody Mary or the deranged lunatics Cropsy and Hookman but a new boogeyman-like entity that seemed to of popped out of nowhere to terrorize the schools and streets of Hoboken. They would describe the horrendous actions of this figure known as Monkey Man, whose appearance was that of a mixture of the two in varying gruesome details. The creature was said to of lurked in the school hallways during the day and night and would leave the confines of the school grounds only to attack children on their way home from class. Rumors would go even further and into a more violent path as the creature was reported to of been seen throwing students out of the school’s windows and that the creature even allegedly killed a teacher.

The hysteria and panic swept through the halls and homes of Hoboken for two weeks before finally, word reached the Hoboken Police Department and the Public Safety Council. The officers and Council proceeded in going from home to home and to the schools attempting to find anyone who had claimed to of seen the creature or to see if there were any missing persons who could have perished at the paw of the Monkey Man. They scoured the streets at night, searching for anyone who bore the description of the person or creature said to be terrorizing the city. As the weeks and nights crept on, their inquires eventually came to a dead end. No members of any of the schools' faculties were missing, and no children in the area were reported missing either. As they talked to most of the students, they discovered that none had officially claimed to of seen the creature, and most said that they heard it from a friend who knew someone who claimed to of encountered the beast. The police and Public Safety Department irritated for they realized that this was some sort of urban legend gone out of hand, eventually came out with the following statement "There is no Monkey Man. No students or children missing. We went looking for him, he wasn't even in the streets. How do you stop a rumor that's growing like wildfire?”.

While this statement seems to be true for most of the rumors surrounding the creature, especially those in an urban surrounding like the schools. However, over the years, some potentially real sightings did take place; some cases seem to be in the same vein as Bigfoot sightings, and some are bizarre Fortean cases that seem to be similar to other nontypical animal phenomena. The earliest account comes from an individual named Jack D. Jack would describe an encounter he and his girlfriend would encounter one year before the mass hysteria outbreak in 82'. Jack and his girlfriend were out driving their car on Sinatra Drive; during that time, it was River Road. Jack, while staring out at the darkened road, noticed something moving in through the trees. The dark form soon stopped in one particularly large one, and as he looked through the windshield, he noticed it was something eerily bizarre. Jack pulled off to the side of the road, surprising his girlfriend as she did not yet see the arboreal abomination. Jack, still looking through the window, pointed up to the tree and there, dangling from a hefty branch, was the creature staring right back at them. The creature was monkey-like and proceeded to grunt and make all sorts of awful noises at the parked pedestrians. Jack, not following better judgement, proceeded to leave his car and girlfriend to get a closer look at this bizarre beast. As he got closer, he noticed that while it was monkey-like, it had eerily more human qualities as its hair was long and matted with what appeared to be more of a neanderthal like face. The creatures' arms were long and seemed to sway as it hung from the branch. The creature's body was covered in hair, but this was obscured by what appeared to be animal skins that were fashioned as a kind of clothing. Jack was shocked at this entity but not too shocked to be quiet, for Jack then proceeded to threateningly yell at the creature. The creature seemed to take offense and grunted right back at Jack. Jack backed away slowly and watched as the creature brachiated through the trees until it got to the deeper sections of the woods, ultimately disappearing into the darkness.

While Jack would never see the creature ever again, it would not be the last time this kind of primate Monkey Man would be seen. Two park rangers who worked for the Atlantic County Park in Route 50 while driving down the road noticed a strange figure moving across the road. The figure was an "anthropoid, ape-like" creature and seemed to be walking upright. Neither ranger reported their sighting at the time because it was "so strange and bizarre". This creature would reportedly have other sightings in the area, and much like the rumors of the creature in Hoboken was said to live in a building most of the time. The building was an old tin cow barn that was on the Belcoville Munitions Plant. During this flap of sightings, it was claimed that "no animals would go near the old barn and that the floor of the cow barn and the cowbarn itself were always clean".  This adds a new patina to a case already bizarre for this, if not just some homeless individual who was mistaken for the entity, implies that the monkey man is a clean freak and not a creature that wallows in filth. However, sightings in the area today are no longer reported.

While the animal skin wearing monkey man and the nude version are bizarre enough, encounters with an even more sophisticated Monkey Man would arise and this time leaving the woods and returning back to the city. These are some of the even weirder Monkey Man cases, and the first shows he might have an occupation. A woman named Evelyn would recall her encounter with the Monkey Man when she was 10 in the book Weird NJ. Evelyn was in her bedroom reading; it was late, and she was trying to get the last couple pages of her book in before finally conking out for the night. As she was flipping and scanning the pages of her book, she suddenly had a bizarre feeling that she couldn't shake as she continued to focus in on the page. That feeling resonated to the point that eventually, she felt that she had to put down her book and investigate. She looked up and felt inclined to look out the window that faced another apartment. She peered into the apartment, and there appeared to be a man sweeping in a janitor's outfit. She continued to stare at the figure she felt uneased by him, but she couldn't place it, that is, until he turned around. There as she watched, what she assumed was just heavy sideburns, and a beard was actually a monkey-faced man. This proved too much for Evelyn, and she ran out of the room and jumped on her father's bed to wake him up. Her father, exhausted and irritated, followed Evelyn to her room, and the two peered out the window into the next apartment complex, but to her surprise and her father's further irritation, there was nothing there.

While this creature seemed to be hard at work, this does not seem to always be the case as sometimes it is reported to be either off for the day or on vacation. The next clothed creature account came from Mary A., whose children would report to encounter the creature as well as know where the creature lives. Mary and her children, when they first moved to 9^th St in Bayonne, noticed how bizarre their street was; the street at the end of the block drops off into Newark Bay; this goes into a dead-end that was covered in No Trespassing Signs and fenced in areas. There in this drop off was the Old PT Boat Factory, and that is where the neighbors and ultimately her children would go on to tell her the Monkey Man lives. The rumors around town were that the Monkey Man was abandoned by his parents as a kid and now lives in the Old Boat Factory to this day; he is said to run around the wooded paths and trails along Newark Bay. She laughed at the accounts and dismissed them as pure urban legends, that is until her kids would claim to see him not once but twice. The first time her kids would encounter the Monkey Man, he was walking an old trail not too far off from their home. Her kid would describe him as having long brown hair on his arms and a monkey-like face, but he bizarrely wore a ragged green shirt and pants. The kids ran away from the figure to tell their mom, who saw the seriousness in their faces, realized that they had seen something. Then not too later, her younger son would also see the Monkey Man on the same trail that his siblings had. This time the Monkey Man was wearing the same ragged shirt that the siblings had seen him wear, and he was not alone, for he had a dog walking alongside him.

While detailed sightings of the Monkey Man seem to of faded away, there are rumors still to this day that the Monkey Man can be seen in Hoboken's Washington Street. These accounts are very different and are reminiscent of another phenomenon that occurred in 2001. This phenomenon was the Monkey Man of Delhi, India; it was an extremely famous case when it occurred and has many parallels to the Hoboken case. Both cases are believed to of been caused by mass hysteria as well as the sightings started out as being urban encounters of essentially bigfoot like creatures that then turned into encounters of bizarre suited humanoid cases. The accounts also both had alleged violence and death associated with them.

When breaking down this case, the 1982 Hoboken sightings seem to definitely be a case of mass hysteria. However, the sighting of a creature in 1981 definitely seems to be of some actual encounter. The creature is definitely a hominid of some variety. There is a possibility it could be some Tarzan enthusiast who had incredible gymnastic abilities, but this does seem to be unlikely. The creature appears to be some kind of hairy hominid, possibly a tree swinging sasquatch. While bigfoot are not exactly known for a tree lifestyle, there have been a few cases of young bigfoot swinging in the trees or an adult standing on some heftier branches. The animal pelts seen in this case is not exactly unheard of either in the history of bigfoot. Accounts of clothing or pelt wearing bigfoot are rare and appear more often in tales of native tribes, but they do occur, so it's possible that is what was reported.

As for the clothing wearing accounts, part of me automatically wants to say this is kids misidentifying some overly hairy individual while out working or some person with a birth defect of some kind. However, what if what they were reporting was actually something else? What could it be? Could it be some escaped mutant like the infamous Melonheads or the cabaret of cryptids said to of escaped from circuses or government labs? It seems very unlikely, but there are countless sightings of such entities. Could it be that these individuals might have Hypertrichosis, a disorder that causes extreme hair growth? This is more possible but also unlikely as this disorder as only 50 official cases have ever been reported.

While this case seems to be a mixture of mass hysteria and some possibly legitimate accounts. It is so uninvestigated, even with the police involvement, that getting more specifics are frustrating. There are plenty of bizarre flaps out there and plenty of cases that seem way too impossible to have anything real to them, but as with most legends, myths, and mass hysteria, there is some kernel of truth to it; the question with this case is how much is fact, how much is fiction, and how much went unaccounted for or reported? We perhaps will never truly know.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Hominid or Hoax

Location: Hoboken, New Jersey

Sighted: 1981-1982/ unspecified latter accounts

Works Cited:

Monsters of New Jersey: Mysterious Creatures in the Garden State By Loren Coleman and Bruce G. Hallenbeck

Weird N.J. By Mark Scuerman and Mark Moran

Lois, Mary “Is the Monkey Man Real?”. Finding Myself in Hoboken. August 30, 2008. http://myselfinhoboken.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-monkey-man-real.html. Accessed July 11, 2021.

Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH “Hypertrichosis (Werewolf Syndrome)” Healthline. August 28, 2018 https://www.healthline.com/health/hypertrichosis#causes. Accessed July 16, 2021. 

Napa Rebobs

by Cole Herrold

California is one of the most famous areas when it comes to Fortean phenomenon. The state is home to Bluff Creek, where the infamous Patterson-Gimlin film was shot. The state is home to the Winchester Mansion, one of the most haunted and unique buildings in the United States. A sea serpent was allegedly beached and photographed in Santa Cruz, and a bipedal reptilian monster attacked a man in his car near a Riverside, California Bridge. It is surprising that a state we often associate with high population density would also seem to be a major mystery hotspot. While the state is home to classic phenomena like Bigfoot, ghosts, and sea serpents, it is also home to one of the most bizarre and downright ridiculous creatures in the books.

I first came across the creatures known as the Napa Rebobs while watching an episode of Monsters and Mysteries in America. These creatures were described as mirror images to the flying monkeys from the classic children book and fantasy film the Wizard of Oz. These creatures allegedly reside in a particular section of the Napa Valley known as Partrick Road. However, some sources, when researching the phenomena, do misname the road Patrick Road. The creatures allegedly have been in the Napa Valley area since at least the '50s, or 60's yet upon digging in newspaper archives, paranormal books that mention or focus on the region, and deep-dive Google searches, I have found no mention of these creatures at least officially prior to 2008.