; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Monday, October 07, 2024

MONSTER OF SELTZER'S HOLE: Aquatic Cryptid in Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Over the years, we've heard and read about a variety of cryptid sightings in Fayette County, PA, which includes a supposed underwater beast in the Cheat River known as the 'Monster of Seltzer's Hole.' The Cheat River is a 78-mile-long tributary of the Monongahela River. The following account appeared in the Philadelphia Times on July 31, 1893:

"For months past farmers living near the Line Ferry have been missing sheep, lambs, pigs and even young calves, to say nothing of innumerable chickens, turkeys and geese, and until a few days ago they blamed the Italians and other laborers engaged in grading the State line road with stealing the missing animals. Not a night since early last spring has passed without some farmer waked up in the morning to find that he had been robbed of a fat pig, a young calf, a sheep, two or three choice lambs, or half a dozen of his finest barnyard fowls. Effort was made to catch the thief, but every attempt proved a failure and everybody had about settled down to the belief that the laborers along the railroad were doing the stealing.

But the mystery has at last been cleared up to the minds of at least three of the most reputable farmers of the neighborhood. They will not at present allow their names to be made public, and it was only after assuring the correspondent to keep their names out of print that they told him what they knew about this "Monster of Seltzer's Hole", as it is called. They each saw the monster on different occasions, but at about the same hour in the morning, and give about the same description of it.

"I first saw the monster,' said one of the farmers, "just at daybreak last Tuesday morning. I got up very early to go to Uniontown, and started out to the pasture field to get the horses, and just as I opened the barnyard gate I heard a terrible racket down by the calf pen, which was immediately followed by the stampede of every living object in the barnyard in the direction of the house. The chickens and turkeys flew with loud cries of distress into the trees in the yard and to the roof of the house, and the cattle and pigs crowded around me trembling with fright and uttering pitiful outcries of terror.

"Something down at the calf pen had given them a terrible fright, but what it was I could not imagine. But I resolved to find out, and pushing my way through the trembling animals I started down to the calf pen. When I got withing twenty yards of the pen the most horrible looking monster the mind could conceive clambered over the strong rail fence that surrounds the calf pen, carrying in its mouth a 3-days-old calf.

"I tried to turn and fly to the house for protection, but if the monster had been within a foot of me I could not have moved an inch. I tried to cry out, but not a sound escaped my lips. My tongue seemed to be made of lead, and my eyes were fixed on the awful-looking creature that was slowly moving off toward the river, still carrying in its mouth the calf it had stolen.

"It looked to me to be the size of an Alderney cow, although its legs were very much shorter and its body was somewhat longer. Its back was ridged and humped in the centre, and from behind each shoulder protruded something which was neither a wing, fin, arm nor claw, though it resembled each of them. Its tail was long and thick and resembled that of a crocodile, except that the end was forked, resembling that of a monstrous fish. Its feet were webbed and resembled those of a bear in outline, and were as large as a peck measure. The body was covered with big, heavy scales, which moved as the monster walked.

"But the head of the dragon was the most fearful looking part of all. It was as large as that of a horse and covered with large warty knots. Directly in the forehead and just below the eyes was a monstrous, jagged, horn-like protuberance, and just back of the ears were two similar-looking horns, though somewhat smaller. The eyes were as large as a teacup and stuck out from their sockets at least an inch and a half. The mouth of the beast I could not see very well, for the struggling calf was in it, but it must have been exceedingly large, for the monstrous jaws reached almost across the calf's body.

"The monster had traveled at least 100 yards toward the river before I recovered sufficiently to move. I was not asleep, but as wide awake as I ever was in my life. I resolved to follow the monster at a safe distance and see where it went. Rushing into the house I seized by double-barreled shotgun, and without waking the rest of the family I started after the ugly beast and again caught sight of it just as it reached a clump of bushes on the cliff which overhangs the river near Line ferry. It was broad daylight by this time, and with both barrels of my gun cocked I followed in the monster's wake.

"When I reached the cliff I looked down over it and saw the monster just crossing the road and making for the big rock in the water's edge, alongside Seltzer's Hole. It turned around when it reached the river's bank and glared back at me, and then with something between a growl and bellow leaped into the water and disappeared from sight. I went down to the bank and watched for sight of the monster for over an hour, but as it did not again show itself I went home.

"I did not tell my folks what I had seen, but simply said that somebody or something had stolen one of the calves during the night. Neither did I say anything about it to any of the neighbors until this morning. I knew they would not believe me, and might start a report that I was going crazy.

"But this morning, Mr. --- came over to my house and after fidgeting about for an hour or two took me out to the barn and said that he was bound to tell me something. After swearing me to secrecy he told me that the monster that I had seen on Tuesday morning- for it was evidently the same one- had carried off one of his finest sheep this morning and that he had followed it to Seltzer's hole, where it disappeared in the river. Mr. --- and I then went up to Mr. --- and told him what we had seen, and he told us that he had seen it twice last week, but was afraid to tell anyone about it for fear they would not believe him. I can't imagine what kind of animal it can be or how it came to be in Seltzer's Hole. We are going to keep a lookout for the monster to-night, and if he comes out will try and give him a good dose of buckshot."

A number of people of the neighborhood have reported that they has seen a strange-looking beast at night on the hills neat Cheat Haven during the past three months, but no one paid any attention to the stories, thinking them the creature of an imaginative brain, but if the word of the three farmers referred to can be believed the reports are true."

Astonishing Encounters: Pennsylvania's Unknown Creatures, Casebook 3

Monsters of Pennsylvania: Mysterious Creatures in the Keystone State

Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania:: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles (American Legends)

Strange Pennsylvania Monsters

*****

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GIANTS! LEGENDS BASED ON TRUTH? LIVE Chat | Q & A | Join Us! (HISTORICAL & EYEWITNESS REPORTS)

PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARY

POLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!




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

Bigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTube

LYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE

'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDS

CRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)

WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?

'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINES


Hey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!

I sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.

If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! Lon

CHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube Playlist

Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map

Hey, folks. Please feel free to share your thoughts & comments on the recently uploaded video of the CHICAGO MOTHMAN.
I'm interested in what you have to say. Thanks. Lon

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of CHICAGO MOTHMAN RECORDED

-----


-----

-Members-only live chats
-Exclusive members-only videos
-Priority reply to members' comments
Have perks suggestions? LMK

-----

YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

-----


-----


-----


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

 
Noted UFOlogist Dr. Raymond Keller believes the idea of extraterrestrials and even ultra-dimensional beings from many different planets and alternate realms living and working among us clandestinely is more than just another conspiracy theory.
Available on Amazon.com
San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention
New York Book Festival Honorable Mention





This blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.

Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler

© 2005-2024 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved

Historical Accounts of MASS HYSTERIA & PECULIAR SYNDROMES

If you’re an avid film watcher, you’ve probably come across some rather odd urban legends and myths. What’s amazing is that often times real-life occurrences of mass hysteria, spurred on by mass psychogenic illness or collective obsessional behavior are much more bizarre and scary than fictional myths. These anomalous phenomena occur just like other natural phenomena and have long-lasting psychological and often fatal effects on the victims. Unusual as they are, similarly absurd phenomena are observed in animals and plants as well.

200+ Years of Witch Hunts, Trials and Executions

Most common in the Early Modern period (1480 to 1700) in Europe, witch hunts were one of the most popular and widespread forms of mass hysteria, resulting in legally sanctioned witchcraft trials and mob lynchings of many unfortunate people. The practice was so widespread that in later years absurdity of these accusations caused the term to adopt a connotation of malicious false accusations and persecution such as the anti-communist accusations during the McCarthy era.

The Dancing Plague of 1518

In July 1518 in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, a large number of people spontaneously started dancing for days without rest over one month. Most of the people ended up dying due to heart attacks, strokes, or exhaustion. The plague started with one woman, in a matter of a few days that number increased to 34, and within a month to 400. To this day the cause of the mass hysteria is unknown.

The War of the Worlds Martian Invasion

Adapted from H. G. Wells’ famous novel The War of the Worlds, a Halloween radio broadcast on October 30, 1938, directed and narrated by Orson Welles caused thousands of listeners to believe that an actual Martian invasion was taking place (the fact that the environment was already generally hostile, leading up to the war, didn’t help). The hour-long radio broadcast was narrated in a news bulletin format, without any commercial breaks, causing many in the audience to be afraid while many others actually panicked, reporting that they could smell poison gas or see lightning flashes in the distance. According to some historians, approximately 6 million people heard the broadcast, 1.7 million thought it was true, and out of those, 1.2 million were actually frightened.

The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic

This laughter epidemic started in a Tanzanian village in 1962. Starting with an innocent joke in a boarding school, the resulting laughter is said to have perpetuated itself and spread to thousands of people. The laughter, some people claim was incapacitating. Other symptoms included respiratory problems, fainting, pain, and weirdly enough, crying attacks. The phenomenon lasted for about 18 months.

The Halifax Slasher Incident

In November 1938, in Halifax, England, a week-long scare was started after 2 people falsely claimed to have been attacked by a man with a mallet. In the days that followed, more reports of attacks by this ‘mysterious man’ started popping up. The situation got so serious that the Scotland Yard had to step in to help the police and get to the bottom of these reports. Several people were mistakenly identified as the slasher and consequently beaten up by angry mobs and matters escalated to a point where most businesses in the city were shut down and people were afraid to leave their homes. On November 29, one of the original alleged victims admitted that he had made the story up, causing many others to also confess and leading to 5 people being charged with public mischief out of which 4 were eventually sent to prison.

Strawberries With Sugar Soap Opera Disease

Morangos com Açúcar is a famous Portuguese youth soap opera that was popular, predominantly among children and teenagers because of its depiction of the adventures of Portuguese youth. In May 2006, over 300 students across 14 different schools began reporting symptoms matching those of the characters on the show, including rashes, respiratory difficulties, and more, causing many schools to shut down. The ‘disease’ was ultimately dubbed mass hysteria by the Portuguese National Institute for Medical Emergency.

The Misanthropic Monkey-Man of Delhi

The story of this monkey-man is widespread in India though still remains a cryptid. Starting in May 2001, people started reporting that a strange monkey-man was attacking them at night. Descriptions of the monkey-man vary a great deal, with some believing him to be an avatar of a Hindu god, while others believe he is an Indian version of Bigfoot, and some even believe that he is a cyborg that can be deactivated if you throw water on its motherboard. The alleged victims include numerous people attacked by the monkey-man, including one pregnant woman, and a few others who were attacked by an angry mob that believed them to be the monkey-man.

The Revenge of Kuchisake-Onna

Kuchisake-onna, or Slit-Mouth Woman, is a Japanese mythological legend that tells the story of an unfortunate woman whose face was mutilated by a jealous husband, and who returns as an angry spirit hell-bent on taking revenge by inflicting similar wounds on others. As with any good urban legend, rumors started circulating in 1979 about Kuchisake-onna sightings, then again in 2004, and again in 2007.

The Hindu Milk Miracle

The Hindu milk miracle was first observed on September 21, 1995. A worshiper in a south-Delhi temple made a routine offering of milk to a statue of a Hindu god, and the liquid disappeared from the bowl, apparently sucked in by the trunk of the statue. In a matter of few hours, the word spread that a similar phenomenon could be replicated with statues all over North India. Similar ‘miracles’ were also reported on in 2006.

Genital Retraction Syndrome

Genital Retraction Syndrome is a form of mass hysteria where people are overcome with the belief that their genitals (most commonly penises and breasts) are shrinking, or retracting into the body. Sometimes people even believe that they may spontaneously disappear. Such panics have occurred in many different places in the world, but most commonly in Africa in Asia. The panics are noticeably more common in places with lower standards or provision of education and where the local understanding of science and biology is lacking.

The 2006 Mumbai Sweet Seawater Incident

In 2006, residents of Mumbai claimed and began reporting that the water at one of the most polluted creeks in India, the Mahim Creek, had turned sweet. The claim, as ridiculous as it sounds considering that the creek receives thousands of tonnes of raw sewage and industrial waste every day, caused many to drink the water and save it in plastic bottles for later consumption.

NOTE: I have written about some of these syndromes or phenomena, and there are a lot of people who still believe most of these incidents to be fact. For instance, the Monkey-Man of Delhi encounters most likely occurred, it's just a case of identifying what the phenomenon was. Many more lesser-known oddities could have been added to this list. Lon

Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior

Hysteria: The disturbing history

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft

*****

*****

GIANTS! LEGENDS BASED ON TRUTH? LIVE Chat | Q & A | Join Us! (HISTORICAL & EYEWITNESS REPORTS)

PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARY

POLL: WHAT DO YOU THINK? Vote & comment on paranormal, cryptid & unexplained mysteries!




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

Bigfoot and Other Cryptid Videos on YouTube

LYCANS! - PENNSYLVANIA'S CRYPTID CANINES UPDATE

'KILLER BIGFOOT' HUNTED BY U.S. SPECIAL FORCES / GLIMMER MAN / MANTIS HUMANOIDS

CRAWLER HUMANOIDS - GRUESOME INVADERS! (REAL EYEWITNESS ENCOUNTERS!)

WEREWOLVES: DO THEY EXIST?

'DOGMAN IN OUR YARD!' - AN OHIO FAMILY'S 12-YEAR SAGA WITH CRYPTID CANINES


Hey, folks. Thanks for the congrats on 'The Mothman Revisited' episode on Unsolved Mysteries. As a result, we are receiving more sighting reports and are very excited and grateful for the new information!

I sincerely thank the Unsolved Mysteries team and Netflix for allowing us to tell the world about this phenomenon.

If you have information about this or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please feel free to contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! Lon

CHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube Playlist

Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map

Hey, folks. Please feel free to share your thoughts & comments on the recently uploaded video of the CHICAGO MOTHMAN.
I'm interested in what you have to say. Thanks. Lon

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of CHICAGO MOTHMAN RECORDED

-----


-----

-Members-only live chats
-Exclusive members-only videos
-Priority reply to members' comments
Have perks suggestions? LMK

-----

YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

-----


-----


-----


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

 
Noted UFOlogist Dr. Raymond Keller believes the idea of extraterrestrials and even ultra-dimensional beings from many different planets and alternate realms living and working among us clandestinely is more than just another conspiracy theory.
Available on Amazon.com
San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention
New York Book Festival Honorable Mention





This blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.

Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler

© 2005-2024 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved