– – A recent episode of Monsters & Mysteries in America as viewed on the Destination America channel lured viewers in with the assorted collection of paranormal and unexplained curiosities listed in our post title, unified only by their Texas location. The segments were entertaining with content mostly seen elsewhere but mounted differently here, and healthy scientific skepticism is encouraged due to the speculative nature of the topics. Their appearance in this blog does not mean personal endorsement of the viewpoints or explanations given by such programs.
The Goat Man segment concerned reported appearances of a large, hair-covered cryptic creature six to seven feet tall estimated to weigh 300 to 400 pounds in the Lake Worth area of Fort Worth, Texas. In some accounts, the beast is reported to have scales on its face and horns on its head about six to eight inches long. Also known as the Mud Man, appearances of the creature were multiple in the summer of 1969, after which time it seemed to go into hiding until being seen again in summer of 1990. In one encounter portrayed, the Goat Man came out of trees to land on top of a car parked in a lover’s lane in the Lake Worth area, trying to grab the arm of the woman within.
A second segment of the hour episode concerned the chupacabra sightings in the Cuero, Texas area. Some reported footage of an unidentified beast with a massive head and ears was presented that was filmed from a pursuing sheriff’s car in 2008; canid-like, this creature escaped further pursuit and identification by running off the road. A nutritionist, Dr. Phylis Canion, was then portrayed whose ranch had experienced chicken slaughter incidents. A deceased specimen of the beast was found on a nearby road, and actually maintained by the woman in a home freezer before being sent out for testing; DNA results did not match the creature with known animals such as dogs or coyotes, with the conclusion made that it was an unknown species. Some have concluded that the Cuero chupacabra is a hybrid creature, possibly with a skin condition such as mange. The segment differentiated the Cuero sightings from those associated with chupacabra sightings and encounters in Puerto Rico, where the creature is more alien in appearance and apparently capable of at least some degree of bipedalism.
Lastly and perhaps with least credibility was a report of “zombie soldiers” in the Brownsville area of southern Texas, with the suggestion made that such appearances are associated with fighting in the area which occurred in the Mexican-American or Civil War. The shorter segment detailed an incident in summer of 1985 when a young couple in a truck pulled off on a side road at night to pursue some sleep. A knock came at the truck door with the couple exiting the truck cab to investigate, following a light seen ahead, and subsequently being encircled by zombie-like individuals attired in similar fashion, as in “Walking Dead”episodes. The couple managed to make their way back to the safety of their truck, and gunning the vehicle escaped in it back to the main road. Handprints were later discovered all over the truck’s exterior. A bloody battle of the American Civil War had supposedly taken place on the grounds of their encampment in 1865.
Hinging just on the account of the couple involved, the third segment had the flavor of an urban myth, although the area involved has a history supportive of ghostly encounter tales…pleasant screams!
– – As do a number of animals, bears continue to acquire skill sets, to learn, and to adapt to human-engineered objects and environments. For this reason, bears have acquired a degree of know-how and finesse, and are able to do things with greater skill and agility than once was the case. There once was a time when a a bear would have smashed a jar of peanut butter to get at its contents; now, bears having exposure to the item and a degree of experience with it can actually unscrew the lid! Bears in some locations have also acquired the ability to get into cars by manipulating door latches. In the past two weeks, three bears have been trapped in cars in Truckee, California. The trouble is that once inside a car, the door may close in on the bear, rendering it trapped within the vehicle. The bear after acquiring the desired food items that prompted its entry into the vehicle then endeavors to get out, with results that aren’t pretty for vehicle interiors, as bears claws are deadly weapons more than capable of trashing a car from within.
– – Alright! – – Who’s up for a show on cattle mutilations!
– – We can remember Chevy Chase’s classic SNL “land shark” routines, and it sounds like a plot for another outrageous Syfy channel movie, but this one’s real…a shark was found on a New York City subway car! I swear that I am not making this up…
– – I love the notion of accursed artifacts, articles from antiquity bearing some kind of spell, curse, or enchantment. Because of this, I think it’s totally cool that an ancient Egyptian statuette in the Manchester Museum in Great Britain is rotating seemingly on its own, and sensibly away from visiting tourists! This ten-inch high statue, an offering to Osiris the ancient Egyptian God of Death, dates back to about 1800 BC, and has been in the museum’s collection for about 80 years.
– – The season finale of Monsters and Mysteries in America went off with a bang in their “Desert Wasteland” episode, treating us to tales (and tails) of thunderbirds, skinwalkers, nightstalkers, and not to be forgotten, aliens! The American Southwest may be a desert wasteland, but it’s rich in really cool folklore! Of course, I was hooked, and wouldn’t have been disturbed unless there was an earthquake or I was on fire.
– – The Discovery Channel has a rather interesting show called, Monsters and Mysteries in America. – –Well, I prefer a monster to a mystery any day, but I’ll take a mystery if no good monsters or even laughable cheesy ones are available. A number of mysteries or unexplained phenomena fall into the category of urban myths, one of which as given a segment on the show was that of the black eyed kids, who should not be confused with the Black Eyed Peas, an American hip hop group…
– – It may alarm some to hear that hundreds of blob-like squid are invading California; on the other hand, some might think that this was inevitable, or that they might just be assimilated to become Californians. The squid are big suckers known as Humboldt squid, who can reach up to six feet and weigh as much as 100 pounds. They normally live at depths of 660 to 2,300 feet in the eastern Pacific.
– – Well, you’ll probably be relieved to hear that the life-sized crystal skulls claimed to have been passed down by the ancient Maya have spoken, and the world is not going to end…it’s the beginning of the new world, kinda like reality 2.0.
FOXSYLVANIA 
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