Archive for the ‘unexplained’ category

“Monster Hotspots;” MonsterQuest S5, Ep.7

February 23, 2026

Skinwalker Ranch in Utah has been regarded to be a paranormal hotspot, kind of an interdimensional gateway. MonsterQuest reports that as early as the 17th century, Franciscan priests saw strange lights in the sky here. In 1994, unsettling events such as burn marks on cattle and mutilated cattle were seen. A Skinwalker often manifests as a large wolf, possibly as a curse activated during a Navajo and Ute war. Firearms discharged at such creatures have seemingly had no effect, and their footprints simply vanish after a short distance...

Domestic incursions of skinwalkers have been reported as shadowy creatures or “dark entities,” with TV and radio sets turning themselves on and off. In 1995, a series of tragedies including orange orbs that seemed to scan the area were reported by owners of the ranch, who later sold the property at a loss…

Now the Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia has been an icon of paranormal interest, with over 100 sightings reported since 1966-1967. Standing 7′ to 9′ tall, the Mothman has feathery wings, red eyes, and a terrifying cry. In 1966, an incident was reported where the creature came up on a porch of a home, and followed a car, even though the vehicle was fleeing him at a speed of 100 to 110 mph!

In 1967, the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed, killing 46 people. A menacing winged creature was seen before the bridge collapse, which some have seen as perhaps an omen or a warning…

MonsterQuest then shifted to coverage of the Texas Dogman, of which indigenous Native American tribes had long told tales. A man in 2021 was found dead in the woods of neck injuries from an animal attack attributed to the Dogman. The same creature was seen in 2013 by a woman driving near Dallas who saw something moving close to the ground that bounded or hopped. It was described as having a hump on the back of its neck like a hyena. The woman sped away terrified, fearing pursuit. “Wolf-like” prowlers have also been reported elsewhere.

All of this raises the question of whether a Dogman can be his own best friend…

(RIP, John Candy…)

Northern California has long been a hotspot for Bigfoot, with the Patterson-Gimlin video supposedly capturing a massive, hair-covered bipedal creature that was muscular and moving upright…

In 1983, three Bigfoot-type figures were reportedly seen by teenagers playing an outdoor game on a field in the Pacific Northwest. One of the figures was seen to have leaped over a 10′ high fence…

Lastly, MonsterQuest in a final inconsistent example presented Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as being a hotspot of demonic possession stemming back to a massacre of Native Americans in the late 1700’s. A case was cited where an exorcism was performed on a woman whose eyes turned black, made guttural noises, and smelled “like rotten meat and death.” Religious symbols were used to dispel the entity from the afflicted woman…

MonsterQuest S5, Ep. 6 – -“Domestic Disturbance”

February 15, 2026

The Ohio Grassman was kind of featured in Episode 6 of Season 5 of MonsterQuest, which also touched upon some similar Bigfoot subspecies, and padded the hour out with paranormal stories about Amityville and even “time slips.”

Now the Grassman who had previously been covered during Season 2, Episode 4 of MonsterQuest has been previously reported since the 19th century, and is said to make large dens of grass and sticks from which his name is derived. Standing seven to ten feet tall, the Grassman weighs between 300 to 1,000 lbs…

In Galena, Ohio in 2017, a man went walking his Doberman near dusk when a black thing jumped from a ridge to a bush, throwing a rock and then a tree branch at him. Other branches followed, and the man walked through a creek to retreat back to his house. The creature or creatures followed, knocking over his pool furniture, deforming a chain link fence, and knocking underneath a deck that he was standing upon. He later found 15″ foot impressions in his mulch bed…

The Spottsville Monster plagued a family at an isolated farm in Kentucky near the banks of the Green River. In 1975, chickens began disappearing from the farm, with strange noises heard in the field. A chained goat was later taken, with the chain broken. A pony and dogs were also killed. While waiting for a school bus, a large 9 to 10 foot tall creature was seen. The property owners decided to dig in, and with friends and neighbors laid in wait upon a rooftop, firing upon creatures heard in the surrounding woods one evening…

In the Amityville, New York site of the infamous slaughter of an entire family in 1974, the killer contended that “voices within the house made me do it.” The subsequent occupant of the house in 1975 reported seeing two red eyes in the boat house of the property, and later a horned figure’s head seen in a fire. A giant white hooded figure was later seen on a staircase, and the front door was torn from its hinges. These accounts were apparently given as illustrations of hostile presences invading domestic places, although the invaders were more demonic than biological entities.

An encounter with the Fouke Monster in Arkansas in May of 1971 was touched upon, described as being a massive, hair-covered beast. It was speculated that the creature may be following rivers that connect the mid-west. In Southern Indiana a girl with her dog in an isolated setting reported locking eyes with a seven-foot tall ape-like creature with tangled, reddish-brown hair. She fled the site, the next day seeing footprints in the mud that convinced her that she had seen the Fouke Monster…

Although it didn’t seem congruent with the other stories, the last segment of the hour touched upon time slips, a reported paranormal phenomenon where a person unexpectedly travels to a different time period. These often fleeting experiences typically involve witnessing or temporarily existing in a past (or even future) era without using technology, often accompanied by a sense of dread or environmental change. At times a personal awareness appears to be gained by the experience. A 1996 case was cited in Liverpool, England where a then-contemporary person time-slipped into the 1950’s, noting the change in vehicles and stores present…

A 1981 case in South Carolina was touched upon where a young woman in a farmhouse was admonished not to go into a front room, but left alone ventured into that room to observe through a window a man on a tractor in a different season hit on the head by a tractor part. Years later, she learned that her great uncle had died from an accident on a tractor in that location…Spooky, but not fitting in well with the other segments…

“Grave Mistakes,” MonsterQuest S5, Ep 5

January 31, 2026

MonsterQuest at times as in the present episode appears conflicted as to whether it wants to be a Monster show, or a Spooky show. As a result, we sometimes are served up a “Monster Mash” of sorts, a mixture of cryptozoology and paranormal recounts. Perhaps though, you like Igor in the novelty song may exclaim, “Mash good!” It’s just that some of these stories you might want to send to Ghostbusters…

Submitted then for your approval is the terrifying tale of two teens in Michigan City in 1997 at kind of an outdoor party by railroad tracks who saw a 7′ shadow person following the passing of a train. They had the sense of something creeping up on them. Leaving, it appeared that something had left with them, with one teen dreaming of the shadow figure. Returning later to the scene of their encounter, one felt that the atmosphere there changed after another train passed, and perceived something pitch black behind him. He challenged the entity to show itself, and later could feel its presence in his dreams, unable to shake its presence. Again challenging the shadow (big mistake!), he felt it jump on his chest, and felt himself levitated before being thrown down. He called out to God at that point, felt a warmth, and heard the shadow entity scream and then depart. His sleep and mental health improved thereafter…

Now in Harrisville, Rhode Island in the early 1970’s, we have a recounting of a story that inspired The Conjuring. A family in 1971 moved into a 200-year-old farmhouse unaware of its dark history. The woman felt a pain in her leg, finding a small wound. Objects were seen to fly across the room, and snarling was heard in the shadows. Well, the Warrens were hired, a paranormal investigation team that held a seance at the house in October of 1973. The woman fell into a deep trance at that seance, and spoke in a foreign language. Paranormal activity spiked after that seance, with the woman feeling her throat squeezed by an invisible hand at one point. By 1980 the family had had enough, and put the farmhouse up for sale. The decision to hold a seance was felt to have intensified spiritual activity…

Now we leave Spooky Town, and go to the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming where in the summer of 1972 , a large hairy primate was seen by 25 people. A wildlife biologist had the misfortune of sleeping in a tent whose previous occupant had spilled bacon grease upon the tent fabric. At 11:30 one night, the biologist heard something outside of the tent which proceeded to lick the bacon grease from outside of the tent! Thinking that the bacon had lured a bear, the plucky biologist bopped the presumed bear on what he thought was its nose from within the tent! This happened twice, but the ‘bear” didn’t retreat far, stood on two legs, and was seen to be taller than the tent. The creature was then determined not to be a bear as it put its hand on the top of the tent, through which an opposable thumb was seen! The top of the tent collapsed under the weight, and the now-presumed Bigfoot creature fell through, apparently on top of the biologist with only tent fabric separating them! Fortunately the Bigfoot was disturbed enough by this experience to simply retreat back to a wooded area…

No physical evidence of the Bigfoot’s presence was found at that time, but upon returning to his supervisor the biologist learned that numerous people had reported a large, hairy primate running around in the area. The biologist did a study, and found a number of hair samples which were sent for analysis. They were found to be primate hair, but of an unknown species

Then in Silver Springs, Florida in the summer of 1976, a mother and daughter were camped out near a swamp area. The daughter went out to practice animal calls, imitating the call of a baby alligator. Later inside their camper, an unbearable smell heralded the appearance of a small hand with black hair at the window. The hand scratched at the window, and then the camper was shoved; the camper doorknob of the camper door was turned. A second adult creature then appeared and screamed, slapping the juvenile animal who cried, and departing with him. Blood and hair were found on the camper’s license plate, and researchers reported other sightings of the Swamp Ape…

The last story concerned teens who celebrated a birthday party in October of 2007 with a ouija board which reportedly moved over a period of 1-1/2 hours. Three months later, they went to deliver a gift in an isolated section of mountains, experiencing feelings of dread and seeing something 8-1/2′ tall with red eyes and long fingers clawing up the side of a mountain. Standing up, it pursued them, but they were able to escape in a parent’s vehicle. Posting of their experience many years later on social media, other people reported having seen such a creature, which they felt was summoned by the spirit board, or at least made aware of their presence by it…

As the episode warned in closing, when we reach into the darkness, we can’t ever control what reaches back… and who ‘ya gonna call?

MonsterQuest S5 Ep3, “Trespassers Beware”

January 17, 2026

“These are the chilling encounters of people who trespassed into the domain of the unexplained and paid the price.” So intones MonsterQuest, and it reminded me of every month when I get my cable bill...

(Warning: possibly disturbing content for sensitive readers. Discretion advised…)

Ah well! – – The third episode of Season 5 entertained with two features about Bigfoot or Sasquatch-type creatures, one concerning a malevolent spirit, and a fourth about a werewolf-type monster…

The tale was told of a 1981 encounter of a boy in a woodland tree stand told to stay there while his father went back to his cabin to retrieve something. At 5 a.m., the boy repeatedly had his boot lace untied as he dozed off; his father upon returning told his son to run back to his camp! Three years later, the young man returned to the same site with a larger group, and heard a yell in the distance. At nightfall, he heard something moving in their camp, and felt nails dragged across their tent before whatever did it ran off into the woods. Emerging from the tent in daylight, they found their camp destroyed, and found 15″ to 18″ footprints. They heard a scream when leaving the camp, and from the bed of a moving pickup truck saw a large branch flying through the air towards them…

An interjected segment was then made of an audio recording made in 1971 and 1972 called “Sierra Sounds” made by a family of shrieks and screams attributed to Bigfoot creatures.

Then in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, construction workers building a mall in July of 2000 reported seeing a 12′ tall Bigfoot creature, and finding 15″ to 20″ footprints in the area. Authorities claimed that both the sighting and the prints were those of a bear. In Seneca Creek State Park, Maryland, a cultural anthropologist found a bone pile with remains of deer, raccoons, and coyotes present as well as crude tools that may have been used for grinding. In October of 2014, that anthropologist began night camping using just a bedroll. On one occasion, he heard footsteps in the tree line, and reported seeing both an 8-1/2′ and a 7′ creature that made calls at different points as if they were triangulating his position; four or five individuals were judged to be present. They began to yell and scream, and he even heard them using a “clicking”-kind of language. They moved as he moved, but the anthropologist avoided fast or provocative movements, and escaped unharmed. He believed that he did not behold Gigantopithecus, but rather advanced hominid creatures…

Leaving Bigfoot for now, the focus shifted to Puyallap, Washington where ancient Native American burial sites were disturbed. In 2011, two friends encountered a malevolent spirit possibly that of Puyallap tribe members that manifested itself through sounds heard on the roof followed by a black entity moving across the ceiling. The witness felt pressed into his mattress, and the entity then collapsed, going from the ceiling into the wall before disappearing. Sleeping in the same room with the friend the following night, the witness felt something wrap around his wrist and then pull his arms apart. The entity was flat and two-dimensional, but felt aggressive. Feeling that he would be alright if he turned on a light, the observer struggled to reach a switch only to find the light inoperative. The entity then leaped into a three-dimensional manifestation, at which point the two passed out. The “shadow entity” was felt to be part of the indigenous people interred in the area…

Lastly in Iola, Kansas a young woman encountered what was described as a massive, terrifying dog. Walking with a boyfriend in 1977, they encountered an area of flattened grass 14′ in diameter that was apparently where something had bedded. They actually urinated on the area, apparently hoping by doing so to drive away whatever had bedded there. The opposite effect seemed to come to pass as the woman at her home at night heard a deep, guttural growl, calling her boyfriend to report “I think I’m being stalked by a werewolf!” Fearful, she went then to stay with her boyfriend, who locked eyes with the creature that had followed, and began tearing siding off the house. It was described as being a black mass with a black muzzle and yellow eyes. A pit bull outside then jumped the creature, and the noise of the resultant fracas prompted a neighbor to call police. Investigating, the body of the pit bull (“or what was left of it”) was found outside…

(Good nightmare fuel, right campers? The writer does not present the accounts as verifiable truth.)

“Cops vs. Cryptids” on MonsterQuest, S5 Ep. 1…

January 3, 2026

Well, MonsterQuest is back after a hiatus so long that most fans assumed the show was gone forever, so never say never, right? In the first episode of Season 5 Cops vs. Cryptids airing Jan. 2nd, 2026, we were treated to treatments of essentially four different cryptids, the episodes united by the theme that all had police investigation or involvement with them. The Beast of the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky was first considered, with people missing or having been found dead in the area by 1980. The Beast was described as walking on two legs, and having glowing eyes. In a wooded area, one hunter, a fireman, paused to tell another turkey hunter, a cop, that he had experienced something circling his camp. The second hunter later heard growling and saw something massive 6′ to 8′ tall at his camp perimeter. He discharged his firearm at it, and heard a scream before the creature withdrew. The camp of the fireman was later found with his body in it. AI technology was used to generate scenes in this and other segments of the show...

The second installment rather stretched the definition of what a cryptid is, which is usually considered to represent an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated. Centering on a “Shadow Person” manifestation seen in Monmouth County, New Jersey, these manifestations are mysterious, dark, humanoid figures reported in paranormal experiences, often seen as fleeting silhouettes described as featureless, black solid shapes, possibly being spirits. An officer was investigating a breaking and entering or home invasion call made by an old man, but didn’t see anything. An identical call came through the following night, and the same officer investigated it, this time finding a 7′-8′ black shadow looming over the resident. The entity disappeared at the end of a hallway. The officer called the sister of the man, who related that she had also experienced the shadow person, and that its presence constituted the reason for her moving from the premises. Spooky, yes…but an unknown animal, no…

Then we came to reports on the Goatman, a massive half-human, half-goat creature that walks on its hind legs. In 2006 a Colorado policeman collided with one on the road, but apparently didn’t damage it or his vehicle, although he could hear it moving around in the brush after the collision. Sturdy beast, that Goatman!

The last police encounters with cryptids were reported from the state of Washington, where numerous “Bigfoot” type creatures have been seen, also known as the “Forest Giant” or the “Wildman.” An 8′ tall Bigfoot supposedly dashed in fromt of a police cruiser in 2010, and 14″ and 17″ footprints were later found in the area…

All in all, it’s great to have MonsterQuest back on the air again, and the second episode will reportedly cover military encounters with cryptids. We may at Foxsylvania report on episodes as they continue to roll out from The History Channel, because inquiring minds want to know…

(Please, gentlemen, I can only listen to one of you at a time! And no, Goatman, you may not play Candy Crush on my tablet!)

“MonsterQuest” Returns!”

December 27, 2025

Wow!– -This is quietly awesome! After a long hiatus following its cancellation in 2010, the show MonsterQuest is coming back with new episodes, beginning January 2, 2026 at 10 p.m. on The History Channel!

In my humble opinion, MonsterQuest was one of the best shows on cryptids, the paranormal, and the unexplained out there. The series had generally good production values, and commentators who were actual researchers and scientists rather than hillbillies with guns running around in the wilderness. I thought that the show was gone forever, but it’s coming back, and soon! Hopefully the quality will be there as well…

The first episode will supposedly cover encounters that law enforcement and others have had with unexplained phenomena, including “classic” creatures. I just wanted to give all readers of this blog a “heads up,” then we all can get “our minds melted!” The available previews as below look good…

“Secrets Declassified” With David Duchovny Is Coming!

March 15, 2025

It’s hard to believe that The X-Files aired thirty years ago, and equally hard to fathom that David Duchovny is now 64 years old. Rejoice at least that the guy who brought Fox Mulder of the FBI to life is hosting and producing a new 10-part documentary show on the History Channel called, “Secrets Declassified” that may at least have something of an X-Files vibe to it…

David Duchovny and mysterious secrets seem to go together, and the series promises to “profile the government’s most secretive, strange and mind-blowing activities that have been declassified throughout history.” Topics will, of course, include Area 51...

Secrets Declassified will premiere on The History Channel April 4th, and I’m on board for it!

The truth is out there” – –Fox Mulder

“I’m Looking at a Werewolf,” from Terror in the Woods

September 9, 2022

Terror in the Woods isn’t a bad show, although it’s largely for entertainment value, with documentation sparse and scientific rigor non-existent. The episodes vary from ho-hum to compelling, and if you select the episodes of your viewing carefully, you may find them worthwhile and even compelling to watch…

Season 3, Episode 3 of the series first aired in September 2021, and it’s hard to resist the luring title of one segment, “I’m looking at a (bleeping) werewolf, and it’s trying to kill me!” Well, it turns out that the werewolf in question is kind of the Louisiana bayou variety, which stands about 7′ to 8′ tall, and has larger-than-human-like features with a wolf-like head. Known as a Rougarou, such shape-shifting creatures appear human if sickly in the daytime, reverting to a werewolf form at night with a thirst for blood. ..

Now there are as many ways to become a Rougarou as there are ways to spell it, with methods involving the classic bite to a witch’s spell. The cultural background of the creature is rich and diverse, originating from tales told by French Canadians in Louisiana to keep their kids in line, and out of the woods at night! – – Gotta keep the little buggers scared to get them compliant, ‘ya know!

While Rougarou have some commonalities with both vampires and traditional werewolves, they differ as well. They’re unbothered by silver bullets or religious artifacts, and to kill one usually requires decapitation and preferably burning or severe mutilation of the body.

In the series episode, a young guy hits on a strangely feral girl at the clothing store where he works, booking a date with her that evening. The hours pass but the girl never appears at the appointed site, so the guy plays basketball with other guys at the site for four hours before leaving with them at midnight when the court automatic lights go off. Hearing an unnatural noise behind them, the guys perceive something threatening and inhuman, and attempt to run away. One slips and falls, and the creature is upon him. Seeking to save their comrade, one of the others pulls a .38 from his pack and fires at the beast, because this is ‘Merica, after all! The presumed Rougarou is driven off but not killed, and the narrator of the tale suffers from nightmares thereafter…

So if you’re Louisiana-bound, enjoy some cool jazz and hot Cajun cookin’…but beware of the Rougarou, especially if you unknowingly arrange a date with one!

The Bigfoot-Alien Connection…

November 12, 2021

When the yet-unproven is layered together with the implausible, you wind up with something like The Bigfoot Alien Connection Revealed, a 2020 film which basically postulates that Bigfoot is himself an alien, an intelligent life form not of this earth but possibly trans-dimensional, whose elusiveness centers on his ability to slip between those dimensions. As a physically robust species, Bigfoot is described as having some form of collaboration with the more traditional alien grays, in effect doing the heavy lifting for them as their agents. Incidents where Bigfoot sightings have occurred together with “lights in the sky” are suggested as supporting evidence for this.

Running at over 90 minutes, The Bigfoot Alien Connection dispenses theories that are pretty far out there as compared to the more mundane ideas about the big hairy guy perhaps being an unidentified species of giant ape; rather, claims are advanced that paranormal features are associated with Bigfoot. Some have reported seeing Bigfoot disappear in front of them; the question then arose as to whether Bigfoot was somehow “cloaking,” or leaving our dimension at that point. Locations described as “hot spots,” “power spots,” or “vortex spirals” are reported as having been associated with Bigfoot appearances, together with other paranormal phenomena such as orbs. Some presenters in the feature linked the appearance of orbs directly to Bigfoot, even suggesting that he is capable of shape-shifting.

Oh well! As one commentator in the feature observed, the phenomena associated with Bigfoot manifestations defies explanation, at least at times. It’s unfortunate that many portrayals of Bigfoot are cartoonish, and many pursuers of them amateurish, as there are some serious investigators out there worthy of attention and support…

“The Proof Is Out There” On The History Channel…

March 19, 2021

If you’re like me, you have an approach/avoidance conflict regarding shows on the paranormal and the unexplained.  On the one hand, you love them and feel drawn to them, but on the other, such shows can vary greatly in quality, and leave you feeling unsatisfied.  There goes another hour of my life that I’ll never have back, you may feel afterwards.  Some such shows are so poorly produced and documented as to represent intellectual dishonesty, and be basically hack entertainment.  We are, however, living in a time when fringe conspiracy theories are surprisingly in vogue, so perhaps art is imitating life once again.

“I Want To Believe,” declared a poster on the walls of Fox Mulder of The X-Files series, and this sentiment captured the yearning that many of us feel, but as intelligent skeptics we want to be convinced by proof, hopefully that which can stand up to scientific scrutiny.  Each classic X-Files episode included the legend, The Truth Is Out There.  Playing on this, a new series on The History Channel is titled, The Proof Is Out There.  Hosted by Emmy Award winning Tony Harris, the series is captivating and fast-paced, and it covers several unrelated features, all in the time of half an hour.  The oddball phenomena covered tend to be labeled as credible, not credible, or unexplained.

An episode sampled (S1, Ep5) included segments on the Skunk Ape, whispering sounds heard in a tomb investigation in Egypt, unexplained apparent structures and lines on the lunar surface, and a light phenomena in Texas.  The Skunk Ape segment examined a paw print found on a car window as well as a video supposedly of the creature.  Neither was found to be credible, but the series added that such doesn’t rule out the existence of the creature, but only that the evidence examined did not factually represent its existence.   The “tomb whispers” from Egypt were examined by both a soundscape ecologist and an Egyptologist, but were ruled to be unexplained.  Supposed dome-shaped structures on the moon were found to be consistent with the formation of impact craters, whereas lunar tracks were thought to be from an earlier Soviet rover.  Lastly, blue light found crossing a woman’s kitchen was regarded as unexplained.

With episodes running half an hour, there’s not a lot of inflation, wasted time, or “puffing” of content on the show, which can be so notable on similar features.  There’s economy here rather than padding. There is no unity or theme between the individual segments of it, which can be seen as a strength or weakness.  Overall, the series shows good production values, is intelligently done, thought-provoking if not earthshaking, and generally worthy of your time.  I rather think that Fox Mulder would have approved of this series…