Bizarre Bronx 'Owl Man'
From the forthcoming Humanoid Encounters: 1900-1929:
Location: Bronx, New York
Date: June, 1904
Time: Night
Acting Capt. Wilson of the Bronx Park Police Station last night asked the Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens to try to take into custody a big brown ‘owl’ for which the past three weeks has been scaring the policemen who were assigned to Post 16, which is one of the most lonely posts in the gloomy old Bronx.
For many days it was believed that a winged demon had deigned to hover over Post 16, and the policemen who were assigned to duty there came into the old station in the Lorillard Mansion night after night with wonderful tales of what had happened on the hoodoo post. Policeman Patrick J. Hickey said it was the most horrid thing he had ever encountered.
“It’s not an owl,” said Hickey, “it’s a devil with wings. Sure I know an owl when I see one, but no man ever seen an owl with wings six feet wide. And it “whooooo’s” like a ghost in a graveyard, too, when it’s not growling beneath its breath. Why, men, he’s no owl; he’s a devil; and I’m going to get transferred.”
And when Hickey was transferred, a German policeman was assigned to Post No. 16, which takes in Lorillard Lane. The German policeman had only been on the post an hour one night when he came running into the station house and shouted:
“I seen it! It had a stick on its claw, and it tried to smash my head. When I ducked it ducked, too, and I had to run behind a tree. I think it is supernatural, that’s what I think.”
Then policeman Walter Kane was assigned to the “hoodoo” post, and he got a transfer in a hurry after the strange creature on wings had knocked his helmet off while patrolling the lane.
Policeman Frank Campbell, who was sent to the Bronx station from a downtown Manhattan precinct, was on duty on Post 16 only two nights when he encountered “something strange” that flew down from the trees and attacked him. He had not heard of the experiences of the other men who had been on Post 16, but when he entered the station a few nights ago with his face scratched and his helmet battered in, he wrote out this report:
“Shortly before midnight encountered a dark, flying object with four legs and two wings, the beast attacked me, if it was a beast, and I fought back. Has the resemblance of a tall, slim man at times, and at other times assumes the form of a mountain dwarf.”
Last night (June 21) Julius Wensch who resides at Bronxdale, ran into the police station and shouted for help. He told Sgt. Appel who was at the desk, that he had been attacked by something wild that “yelled like a tiger.” He said the strange thing had carried away a young woman who was in his company, and he asked for police assistance. Policemen Ollet and Baker were sent to rescue the girl, and they found her running through Lorillard Lane screaming. She explained that a wildcat with wings had attacked her and had torn the feathers from her hat.
The policeman went back to the station and reported that it was undoubtedly the big brown owl which had been frightening policemen for the past three weeks. The acting Captain notified the Bronx Park folks and a squad of men were sent out to capture the thing at midnight. (No additional information as to what occurred).
Source: Kate Massingill in 'Magonia Exchange List' quoting 'The New York Times,' June 22, 1904 Type: E
NOTE: Gryphon (Griffon)... or possibly a Mothman? Interesting account...Lon
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1960 Texas 'Gorilla' Incident
Huge Ape Reported Seen At Blue Creek
By WILLIE JACOBS
Democrat Staff Writer
(July 20, 1960)
BLUE CREEK- Is there a gorilla loose near this small community?
J.O. Conrad, his wife and son, who live here three miles east of Sherman on Highway 82, say they saw "a seven-foot gorilla or some kind of monster" Monday night near their home. His story came to light only Friday.
The animal has been reported seen near Bells by one other person. Some people merely shake their heads and smile at the story while others stand behind Conrad's report.
Gorilla or not the citizens of Blue Creek are keeping their doors locked tight and firearms handy.
Conrad said he had just gone to bed Monday night about 10:30 or 11. "I was smoking a cigarette when the dog started barking," he said. " I looked out the east window and saw him, He looked to be seven feet tall and about three feet wide across the back. He stood upright but hunched over."
At first glimpse Conrad said he thought it might be a man walking through his yard. "Then I saw it was too big to be a man," he explained. "I jumped out of bed and got my flashlight and gun." Mrs. Conrad and their son, James, 13, watched the creature from the bedroom window.
Conrad said he stepped off his front porch toward the animal and fired three times. "I know I hit him at least once. but he didn't even flinch. That's when I went after my shotgun," Conrad said.
Mrs. Conrad called the sheriff's office in Sherman. Deputies warned against shooting the animal, afraid a bullet wound would cause it to attack.
"I fired the shotgun over his head, but he didn't run, just shuffled of to the east down the side of the highway," Conrad continued. "I jumped in my car and followed. I got a real good look at him in my headlights while I was following him.
"He looked black as coal. He was real hairy except for his face," he said. "I was about 20 feet from him when I shot, and I didn't try to get closer. I was scared."
All the way to the Blue Creek bottom, a few hundred yards east of the community, Conrad said the animal swayed and shuffled slowly along on his back legs. "His front legs were just hanging down and swinging around," he said.
After the animal went into the underbrush at the creek, Conrad said he gave up the search, afraid to follow the beast in the brush.
Mrs. Curtis Wilson, who lives about 100 yards east of Conrad across the highway, said she and her husband were awakened shortly before Conrad saw the animal. "We heard something rattling around in the shrubbery beside the house, and our two dogs were going crazy," Mrs. Wilson said. "Then we heard something thump against the house and the dogs hushed, just like they had been turned off."
When her husband went outside, Mrs. Wilson said the dogs were cowering in a corner on the porch and "shaking just like somebody had whipped them."
At the same time, Mrs. Wilson said the Wilson's cows hehind the house had begun an uproar. The Wilson's first thought of a wolf. "Then we heard Mr. Conrad shooting and my husband got his deer rifle. But by the time he got out to the highway, whatever it was had gone into the creek bottom brush," she said.
Mrs. Wilson said most of the people living near the community had kept their dooors locked since. Conrad said his wife was so scared that she did not go to sleep the rest of the night and had to have medical treatment the next day.
W.B. Thompson of 716 S. Burdette, Sherman was working the same night at an all-night station in the Star community between Bells and Denison. He said a man drove into the station for gas and told him he had just seen a large, strange-looking animal along the roadside near Bells. Thompson did not get the man's name.
Conrad said that as he started to follow the beast in his car another car came down the highway approaching the animal from behind. "That fellow must have seen the gorilla because he threw on his brakes and almost stopped at the side of the animal. Then he stepped on it and got out of there. I thought he would stop and help me, but he must of been scared, too."
Grayson Sheriff's Deputy James Spaugh answered Mrs. Conrad's call for help. He said that as far as he is concerned "Conrad definitely saw something and it wasn't a man."
Next morning Conrad took his wife to the doctor. When he returned around noon, he could find no tracks on the hard dry ground. "Some men who work around here had drug a wrecked car over the spot where I saw that thing standing. There weren't any tracks left," he said.
Conrad said he had never seen a gorilla before. "I looked in my dictionary the next morning and found one. I know I saw a gorilla," he said.
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Eerie Sounds Heard in Spokane Valley, WA
Thousands of people are scratching their heads about an eerie sound that's been heard all night long in the Spokane Valley but no one seems to know for sure where the sound is coming from.
Linda Pennfield from Spokane Valley and her husband have one theory on what the noise might be. She says the sound was so loud and so persistent last night, her husband actually got out of his bed and jumped in the car to track it down. His conclusion? The sound was coming from all the snow plows, as the metal plows scraped against the ground.
According to our in house science expert, Radical Rick, the cold temperatures could be affecting the way we hear sound. He said, "temperature does affect the speed of sound, which can make certain things sounds different than what we are used to hearing. Sound will actually travel faster in hot air than it will in colder air." Listen to audio
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Phantoms & Monsters: Unexplained Encounters - Available on Kindle & paperback - A collection of unexplained encounters submitted by regular people who felt compelled to contact me about their encounter. I truly understand their dilemma...they want answers. But can they comprehend the truth? I have also included transcriptions and vintage news reports that detail unknown beasts and bizarre events. Black-eyed people, humanoids, entities, Bigfoot and hairy hominids, flying monsters and winged anomalies, upright canines, Dogman, Pennsylvania's lycans and more cryptids. #UnexplainedEncounters
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