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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

RESPONSIVE, PALE 'MONKEY' FACE Encountered at Fishing Creek Nature Preserve, Drumore, Pennsylvania

The following investigation report was provided by researcher/author/podcaster and Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research team member Timothy Renner:

"I, along with two friends, Octavian and Ian, arrived at Fishing Creek Nature Preserve in Drumore, Pennsylvania (Lancaster County) at 11:55 PM Saturday, April 13, 2024.

We were there for a night hike. I did take my audio recorder with me because I always do, just in case something interesting happens for the podcast.

We walked perhaps a mile or so, just enjoying the evening. At some point, we decided to turn around and start heading back to the car. Ian found two sticks that looked to be intentionally placed in an 'X' formation on a bank. I don't know if the X is related, but the strangeness started thereafter.

We began hearing sounds we could not identify. This is not meant to be offensive, but the best comparison I can give is to that of a deaf person speaking. These were very low in volume – barely audible. We also heard lower kinds of grunting sounds both from across the creek and on the ridge above us.

Whatever we were hearing seemed to be very responsive. In other words, after we heard something we would say out loud, "We heard that, make another sound" and whatever this was would repeat the sound or make another.

Nothing was terribly loud at this point, but it was loud enough for us to hear. I have not had a chance to listen to the recorder audio so I do not know if it picked up anything.

This continued, on and off, for most of our walk back to the car.

At some point, Ian tried some tree knocks which seemed to be answered and we POSSIBLY had something thrown at us – it was difficult to tell because it was dark. We heard something hit next to us but it could have been something like a stick dropping from a tree.

There was a very audible sound we heard which we thought at first was a motorcycle, then it didn't sound like a motorcycle but like some kind of cry, then it sounded like a motorcycle again, but at the end of the sound it sounded, once more like some kind of cry. All three of us noted this. 

If this was indeed a motorcycle, the sound seemed to emanate from the same area and repeat perhaps 5 times. So, were it a motorcycle, or more than one, it seemed to be going back to the same place and starting again – without the associated sounds of it looping back to the first location. It's hard to explain and hopefully, these sounds are on the recorder.

As we approached the car we heard a kind of wheezing cough sound. Yes, like a fox. It could have been a fox, but this, too was responsive. When we asked it to repeat, it repeated. A large crash was heard in the woods from the same direction which sounded far too large for a fox.

I am not eliminating the possibility that this sound was a fox, but some associated weirdness makes me wonder.

When we got back to the vehicle, Octavian started up the car and turned the headlights on. I needed to relieve myself so I was at the right front of the vehicle. Not in the headlights, but there was plenty of light to see by.

While I was doing this I saw a face pop out from behind a tree – about 10 feet away from me and down a slight bank. It looked a bit like a monkey face – it was very pale but not white. I think it would have been about 3 feet tall, give or take a few inches. I saw NO body and no head surrounding the face. Just the pale face against blackness, but it moved like it was connected to a head/body. It had small, black, beady eyes. We definitely locked eyes.

I said "No" several times – first out of disbelief and then because I didn't really want it to come any closer. I didn't get a menacing or scary feeling from it – I just didn't want it to get any closer.

It didn't react to my voice at all.

It seemed to perhaps duck back behind the tree – or maybe just turn its head so I couldn't see the face anymore...I'm not sure which...and then it was gone. I didn't hear or see anything else. Octavian heard me say "no" and exited the vehicle. I was already down at the bank looking for any evidence (tracks, etc) and found none. We both noticed a smell of wet dog/excrement though.

Ian, at this time, said he thought he observed movement across the creek, but couldn't be 100% sure.

The tree it was behind was maybe 10-12" in diameter. It couldn't have hidden much. But again, I couldn't see its body or head...perhaps it was so black it blended in with the darkness. I do not know.

The time of the sighting would have been approximately 1:13 am 4/14." Timothy Renner

This is a photo of the 'X' Ian found

WEIRDEST OF THE WEIRD! | Join Us For LIVE CHAT | Questions & Answers #Wolfman #DeerMan #Bigfoot




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WENDIGO MYTHOLOGY - WHAT ARE THEY? | Join Us For LIVE CHAT | Questions & Answers #Wendigo #Cannibal

The wendigo has been misappropriated from its original context in Algonquin folklore. The word "Wendigo" roughly means “The Evil Spirit Who Devours Mankind.” Originally it was depicted as a cannibal ice giant and cautionary tale relevant to the realities of Algonquin life. Euro-American popular culture mutilated it into what may only be described as a "zombie-were-deer."

First, the Algonquin monster has relevance to their traditional way of life. Their culture was reliant on teamwork, so selfishness is a deadly sin to them, and the wendigo is the ultimate embodiment of that.

Secondly, wendigo psychosis is a real mental illness and was historically used as a justification to destroy the Algonquin culture. There are written accounts in the last two centuries of people suffering from this illness being murdered by their peers.

So then, how was the Wendigo tale altered? This goes back over a century to Algernon Blackwood's story "The Wendigo." The story does not depict a Wendigo but seems to get it confused with the Inuit (not Algonquin) creature Ijiraq and possibly the Tariaksuq. In the story, the monster burns away a victim's feet with friction, while in myth the Ijiraq is sometimes described as stripping the flesh off its victim's shins and if it survives then it becomes a faster runner. The Ijiraq is otherwise described as a trickster who kidnaps children or lures hunters by pretending to be caribou. So, it is easy to assume Blackwood read about the Ijiraq and then twisted the details for his own story.

Now Euro-American popular culture takes the name of an Algonquin cannibal ice giant and applies it to a zombie-were-deer; it has been utterly stripped of its original context and symbolism. I doubt there will ever be much push-back against the zombie-wear-deer version since it has been burned into popular culture at this point.

Now, that being stated, I'm going to present several modern-day accounts that some of the witnesses described as the ‘Wendigo.' Then you can determine what the creature in the report is. Is it an original folktale of the cannibal ice giant or something a bit more contemporary?

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Have you had a sighting or encounter?
Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974
Thanks. Lon

Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974




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