The Flatwoods Monster, Space Penguins of Tuscumbia & 10 Real Monsters of the USA

You've heard of Bigfoot, perhaps even the chupacabra, but have you heard of the Flatwoods Monster? Or the Space Penguins of Tuscumbia? Sometimes the less you know, the better you sleep... Read on if you don't feel like sleeping. These real monsters of America are sure to terrify.

<strong>The Flatwoods Monster</strong> AKA “The Braxton County Monster” or “Phantom of Flatwoods” <hr> <strong>First Reported:</strong> September 12, 1952, Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Extraterrestrial <hr> <strong>History:</strong> At 7:15 PM on September 12, 1952, brothers Edward (age 13) and Fred May (12), and friend Tommy Hyer (10), reported seeing a UFO appear in the sky and land on nearby farmland. They ran to report what they had seen to the May boys’ mother, Kathleen May, who gathered a group of locals, including West Virginia National Guardsman Eugene Lemon, to investigate. After reaching the site, they reported seeing a large, pulsating “ball of fire” and a pungent mist that burned their eyes. Noticing two smaller lights under a nearby oak tree, Lemon shined his flashlight on them and revealed a hooded, lizard-like hominid creature. The creature hissed at them and the group fled in terror. The following morning, around 6:30 AM, the president of the local Board of Education reported seeing a flying saucer take off from the area of the reported event. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> Aside from the fact that those reporting the encounter to the authorities were alleged bootleggers and might have possibly been just a bunch of drunks happening upon a meteorite crash that had been described in three states already that evening (Maryland, Pennsylvania, and ultimately West Virginia), <a href="http://www.csicop.org/" target="_blank">the paranormal investigation group Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)</a> also reviewed the case in 2000 and that the hooded, lizard-like hominid described was probably just a barn owl on a tree branch. <hr> <strong>Legacy:</strong> Every year in Flatwoods, West Virginia there is a “Green Monster Festival” to celebrate the purported alien visitor.

<strong>The Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter</strong>, AKA The Hopkinsville Goblin Case <hr> <strong>First Reported:</strong> 1955, Christian County, Kentucky <strong>Classification:</strong> Extraterrestrial <hr> <strong>History:</strong> On the evening of August 21, 1995, Billy Ray Taylor of Pennsylvania was visiting the Sutton family’s farm. Going outside to get a drink from the water pump at 7 PM, he reported seeing strange lights in the western sky. After going inside and alerting the Suttons, the family sloughed his story off as shooting stars. At 8 PM, strange noises were outside by all. Taylor and one of the Sutton men, Elmer, went outside with guns to investigate. A strange creature was sighted in nearby trees. It began to approach the two men. They began to shoot at it. The bullets seemed to have no affect on the beast, which was described as a gremlin-like being, silvery in color with talon hands. The men ran inside. While inside, the creature (or possible creatures) continued to harass them by tapping on the windows and running across their roof, jumping and dodging bullets in ways that defied gravity. At 11 PM they were able to flee the property and seek refuge at the local police station. At the same time, a nearby state trooper independently reported seeing unusual “meteor-like objects” fly over him. Twenty police officers then accompanied the Suttons and Taylor back to the property. All the Suttons and Mr. Taylor were deemed sober and sane. Taking note of the massive amount of ordnance expelled on the property, the police also reported odd, inexplicable lights coming from beyond the property. Neighbors independently reported similar findings. After the police left around 2:15 AM, the creatures returned to harass the family once more. They then left around 4:45 AM and never returned again. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> The Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter is interesting because the Air Force later investigated the incident. In 1957 the Air Force concluded that the creature was a silver-painted monkey escaped from the circus, and that there was known meteor activity at the time of the incident. And while this does sound a lot like a load of bull, it also should be noted that while Suttons and Mr. Taylor were deemed “sane and sober”, they were known moonshiners. <hr> <strong>Legacy:</strong> The incident was picked up by many media outlets and made the Sutton farm a tourist attraction. The Suttons defended to their graves it was not a hoax and tried many ways to repel these unwanted visitors, eventually refusing to talk about the event at all.

<strong>Beast of Bray Road</strong> AKA The Bray Road Beast <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Cryptid <hr> <strong>History:</strong> The creature was first described by separate witnesses around the same time, adding to its validity. But the descriptions varied: a giant bear-like creature, a hairy hominid akin to Bigfoot, and an unnaturally large bipedal wolf. And while nobody claimed to see it transform from human to wolf, it was generally agreed upon that it was somehow werewolf-related. Sightings continue to this day. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> Common explanations include an unknown species of wild dog, or a coydog—a cross between a dog and a coyote. Although it doesn’t explain the described bipedalism. <hr> <strong>Legacy:</strong> The creature has been featured in a multitude of media, including heavy metal rockers Cage’s song <em>The Beast of Bray Road</em> and on History Channel’s <em>MonsterQuest.</em>

<strong>The Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp</strong> AKA The Lizard Man of Lee County <hr> <strong>First Reported: </strong> June 29, 1988, Lee County, South Carolina <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Cryptid <hr> <strong>History:</strong> Christopher Davis, 17, first reported the creature while driving home from work at 2 AM. He had stopped to change a flat tire on a road bordering the swamp when he heard a noise behind him, turned, and saw a reptilian man with glowing red eyes running towards him. He got in his car and started to drive. The creature jumped on his roof, leaving scratch marks. Chris got away and reported the event. Soon after, more reports rolled in of a large, lizard-like monster that left scratch and bite marks on cars parked near the swamp. Police investigated once more reports were filed from “reliable” residents. No conclusive findings have ever been found, and the latest report of the Lizard Man was filed in 2011. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> While there has never been any extensive investigating, in 1988 nearby radio station WCOS offered a $1 million dollar reward for anyone who could capture the beast alive. No one ever claimed the prize. <hr> <strong>Legacy:</strong> The Lizard Man was used in TV commercials for the South Carolina Education Lottery in 2005.

<strong>The Lake Worth Monster</strong> <hr> <strong>First Reported: </strong> July 1969, Lake Worth, Fort Worth, Texas <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Cryptid <hr> <strong>History:</strong> In summer 1969, a couple reported seeing a half-man, half-goat covered with fur and scales in Lake Worth. A newspaper article at the time jokingly reported: “Fishy Man-Goat Terrifies Couples Parked at Lake Worth.” Soon after, a man named Tommy Burson reported to police that the creature had jumped out of a tree and onto his car, leaving an 18” mark on its side. The police decided it was time to investigate. The next night, ten people reported to police that the creature had hurled a tire at them from a hill. The above photograph was taken during this incident. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> As the purported photograph looks like a bleach stain on black paper, there is no concrete proof that the Lake Worth Monster exists or ever existed. <hr> <strong>Legacy:<strong> In November 1999, news station KDFW of Dallas-Fort Worth presented a report about the monster. Various eye-witness accounts were aired, which seemed compelling, until some interviewees admitted that it had been a prank by high school students wearing a gorilla costume.

<strong>The Loveland Frog</strong> AKA The Loveland Lizard <hr> <strong>First Reported: </strong> May 25, 1955, Loveland, Ohio <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Cryptid <hr> <strong>History:</strong> On May 25, 1955, a businessman driving near Loveland reported seeing 3-foot-tall frog-faced men crouched under a bridge. He claimed they were wrinkled and had lopsided chests, with one having a handheld tool that was capable of shooting sparks. There were no further sightings of the alleged beasts until March 3, 1972, when two Loveland police officers, one Office Mark Matthews, reported seeing a 3-4-foot-tall frog-faced man with leathery skin jump over a guard rail and into the Little Miami River below. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> While the first sighting remains unchanged, in a 2002 now retired Officer Mark Matthews said this in an email exchange with an inquiring media source: “The animal I saw was obviously some type of lizard that someone had as a pet that either got too large for its aquarium, escaped by accident or they simply got tired of it. It was less than 3 feet in length, ran across the road and was probably blinded by my headlights. It presented no aggressive action.”

<strong>Space Penguins of Tuscumbia</strong> <hr> <strong>First Reported: </strong> February 14, 1967, Tuscumbia, Missouri <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Extraterrestrial <hr> <strong>History:</strong> On Valentine’s Day 1967, Claude Edwards, a 64-year-old farmer, noticed that all his cattle were grazing facing the same direction. Intrigued, he investigated to find that they were all facing a UFO aircraft in a field adjacent to his barn. Around the UFO were miniature men in green spacesuits, running around the saucer as though it were broken. They looked like penguins. Edwards decided to start throwing rocks at the space ship, and when the green men noticed, they ran into the vessel and shot into outer-space. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> Edwards never was overtly outspoken about his encounter, only speaking to a handful of investigators. One of the more interesting things was that the UFO left marks on the ground where it had allegedly landed. <a href="http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2011/10/space-penguins-of-tuscumbia-missouri-usa/" target="_blank">You can read more here.</a>

<strong>Melonheads</strong> <hr> <strong>First Reported: </strong> Circa 1960s in Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Cryptid <hr> <strong>History:</strong> In all the stories, the original Melonheads are described as orphans, possibly suffering from hydrocephalus, or “water on the brain”, who had been placed in an asylum. Having been treated cruelly, they killed their overseers, and escaped into nearby forests where they became isolationist cannibals. They grew more horrific as they inbred, surviving by eating hikers they came across in the woods they lived in. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> As there is no official statement of one person coming forward to report an attack, the Melonheads fall under “urban legend.” However, it is interesting to note that the stories all evolved in parallel despite the distance between the three states. <hr> <strong>Legacy:<strong> The story is especially popular in Cleveland, Ohio, where the 2011 film <em>Legends of the Melonheads</em> is set.

<strong>The Mothman</strong> <hr> <strong>First Reported:</strong> November 15, 1966 to December 15, 1967, Point Pleasant, West Virginia <hr> <strong>Classification:</strong> Supernatural, Disputed cryptid <hr> <strong>History:</strong> On November 12, 1966, two gravediggers claimed seeing a winged hominid fly over them. Three days later, two young couples reported to police that they had seen a large white creature with glowing red eyes and a 10’ wingspan near a former World War II munitions plant. Similar sightings continued to surface until December 15, 1967. On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge, which connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio over the Ohio River, collapsed during rush hour, killing 46 people. Sightings of the Mothman ceased. <hr> <strong>Possible Explanation:</strong> Author John Keel, who studied and reported the case in his famous book <em>The Mothman Prophecies</em>, claimed that residents of Point Pleasant were experiencing premonitions of the impending Silver Bridge disaster. Skeptics point out that before the “Mothman” became sensationalized there was already local folklore of a similar creature and that it was probably exacerbated by hoaxers trying to drum up publicity for the town. <hr> <strong>Legacy:</strong> Point Pleasant began holding Mothman Festivals annually in 2002, starting the third week of September. In 2003, a 12-foot-tall statue of the creature was unveiled. In 2005, the Mothman Museum and Research Center opened its doors.