by Cole Herrold
Flying cryptids are by far one of the most
bizarre and interesting categories of unknown creatures. They are creatures
that defy evolutionary logic and oft times seem to teeter on the verge of being
full-blown paranormal entities. The most common variation of this is the
thunderbirds, both the saurian and avian varieties, and they are often closely
followed by giant bats in commonality, but the most unique and ever-growingly
sighted variety is the flying humanoids. Flying humanoids is a lump term for
any figure that bears the slightest resemblance to a human being. Some, like
the Mothman or Owlman, are giant man-sized birds with human-like legs. Tech-savvy
flying humanoids which venture more into the field of Ufology are also included
in this lump group. Yet the most difficult to categorize is a category that
includes creatures like the Butler County Gargoyle or the Nasa Gargoyle; these
bat-winged monstrosities are just some of the slew of bizarre creatures
reported throughout the world, and their features differ from one to the other.
Yet with every encounter, each is surprisingly similar in some features, almost
always that being the fact that the creatures are bipedal and having leathery
bat-like wings. One of the hub stations for sightings of these creatures is the
Midwest, with an extreme focus on Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois.
Unsurprisingly one of the most frightening encounters with one of these
creatures would occur on a backroad in Wisconsin during 2006 and since has
gained some fame in recent years for being discussed rather erroneously on the MonsterQuest
Mothman episode.
The winged weirdie known as the La Crosse
Man-Bat, Beast of Briggs Road, Wisconsin Man-Bat, Holmen Man-Bat, and the
Briggs Road Man-Bat was first reported on Tuesday, September 26th,
2006, when a 53-year-old musician and Cherokee father Wohali or Awohali as it
sometimes appears on some sources was being driven by his 25-year-old son. The
pair were driving home on Briggs Road from their band practice around 9:15-9:30
pm. The pair noticed a strange, winged form near the road. The form soon seemed
to move upwards from the ground, and there, is a moment of absolute horror, the
two were plunged into an almost seamless recreation of an infamous scene in the
Mothman Prophecies film. The creature picked up speed and was coming
right at them. It
was in this flight that Wohali would get the best view of this avian anomaly.
"First thing I saw were the eyes and maybe the teeth", he would say
in an interview on MonsterQuest. The eyes of the creature he would
describe as being the size of road sign reflectors and were yellow whether this
is naturally yellow or a glowing yellow is not elaborated on. The creature’s
canine-like face was in a snarling expression with a wide mouth with rows of
sharp teeth. The creatures head was also topped with large, pointed bat-like
ears. The creature had a pair of leathery wings with a wingspan of about
10-14ft. The wingspan was so large that it covered half of the road. The wings
were connected to the body, and extremely interesting, the arms and hands of
this creature were fused to the wings. The hands-on the wings bore sharp claws.
The creature was about 6-7ft tall, and its body was sparsely covered in
gray/dark brown hair and had extremely pronounced ribs that jutted out. The
creature's man like legs ended in feet with claw-like toes. Wohali would say the following about the creature: "It (had) distended ribs, long sort of human legs with claws, huge
bat-like wings with 'arms' sort of attached, I remember the teeth and the
scream we heard was terrifying. I've been living in this valley all my life and
have seen some strange things, after all the Mississippi Upper Wildlife Refuge
is the largest in the country and right out my back door. It hides lots of
strange creatures. But I've NEVER seen anything like this. Rent the movie Bram
Stoker, Dracula, the Dracula creature looks like it or better yet like the one
in Van Helsing".The creature seemed
hungry and angry. The pair were more terrified about the bizarre beast than the
fact that more than likely, this creature and the two musicians would end up in
a mechanical head on cryptid head-on collision. Yet this would not be the case;
the creature, as it was windshield height slowed in midair and within mere
seconds of the collision, the creature proceeded to flex its wings in a way
that seemed unlike any other animal and shot straight up into the air and away
from the vehicle. The creature left a reminder, however, as it unfurled a
high-pitched scream. The pair continued to drive a short distance until a
feeling of nausea overtook the two, which ultimately ended in the son pulling
over and throwing up no less than seven times. Wohali as well got out of the
vehicle, and he too tossed his cookies on the side of the road.
