Does the 'Leaf Man' Exist?
I’ve always been intrigued by creepy stories and their power to embed themselves into a local community. Growing up in the ‘80s I was obsessed with tales concerning local bogeymen and one such yarn which often spooked me was known as the Leaf Man. Such a monster was said to haunt an undisclosed section of woodland not far from Hailsham although reports of the creature seem mostly vague. However, one eye-witness told me a few years ago the following story:
“I had been with three friends at the time; it must’ve been around 1984 during a time when it was normal for us kids to be out playing in the woods as long as we were home by a certain time. I think at the time we were playing not far from what people know as Folkington Wood, it was around dusk and we were all lighting a campfire when suddenly, from the shadows and like in all good horror films, we heard the snap of a twig. We all sensed that we were being watched but as teenagers we were brazen and goaded what was lurking the bushes to come out and fight. We all armed ourselves with sticks and stones only to have our eyes met by a horrifying sight. Out from the shadows came a tall, spindly figure but which seemed to be covered in hair which in turn was matted with leaves. The creature gave off a horrid stench and through its entangled hair we could see two burning eyes. As I’m sure you can imagine we were all terrified and so we fled, never once looking behind us to see if the monster was in pursuit. Of course, no-one believed our story but as we got older, and most of us except one remained friends, we often spoke about the creature we named the Leaf Man. People often ask were we the victims of a hoax? Memories can be hazy, but this thing seemed real and more than just a man in a suit.”
Oddly, I have another report of a so-called Leaf Man but from Kent; and again it involved a group of youths playing in an area and encountering such a manifestation. Some believed however that the creature was in fact a ghost of a soldier adorned in camouflage enabling him in life to conceal himself amongst the foliage.
Another creepy story from Sussex comes from Gatwick Airport of all places where it was once spoken of by local children that a horrible monster once lived. Of course, an airport is the last place you’d expect any bloodthirsty beast to reside, But anyway, the creature – sometimes believed to have been a descendant of the ancient dragon once said to haunt St Leonard’s Forest – was said to feed off scraps around the area; making its way through a network of sewer systems, drainage pipes and the likes between villages. Of course, local children probably created the tale but where equally scared by it to the point that eventually it was claimed that the salivating serpent was eager for human flesh too. It has been suggested that some children are so reluctant to go to school around Crawley in case they get plucked from the path by this monster; whilst other children walk home in groups – all fearful that this elusive dragon may dine on their bones. It is possible of course that many of these legends may have stemmed from actual sightings of snakes and other reptiles that over the course of history may have escaped and been released, but how can we explain the dreaded appearance of the Leaf Man? - Sussex Folklore: The Leaf Man hiding in Sussex woods
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Otherworldly Being in Night Club
Clifton, NJ - 5/1/1984: One evening I was out with girlfriends at a popular club for mature adults. Three men came in that had a strange aura about them. They were impeccably dressed and seemed to "float" through the crowd, they looked glowing. I was not drinking at the time. One was the leader who was dressed in a black suit, the other two seemed to minister to him. For some reason I had the most eerie feeling that they were there for me. I ignored them and I was up on a higher tier standing with my back to a small bar.
I felt as though something was burning through my body, like a sizzling feeling. I turned quickly and saw the man in black and then I saw a giant galaxy of stars and gases and felt a zooming sensation come over me. When I shook my head and opened my eyes the man in the black suit was staring at me. I was petrified and didn't know what just happened. I was afraid and the man came over and asked me if I would like a drink. I accepted out of fear. His friend started talking to me and began to read my mind. They knew I had a dear friend, a scholar from Peru, they knew the name of his town and who he was. I was baffled and felt numb. The man in black "Dave" asked me to dance.
As I danced a slow dance with him he asked me if I saw what he saw when I looked at him. I said "yes, what was that?" He said that is the galaxy we come from. I almost shook in my being. I didn't know what to say, I was baffled and scared. I told him I'd call him when he gave me his card. I went home and from that night on for the whole summer I was afraid to go home. I felt like someone was watching me from the sky. I had night terrors waking up and feeling someone was in my room. I had gynecological problems start. There is more! I testify I am 100% truthful and will submit to hypnosis and a polygraph. - MUFON CMS
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Raining Spiders
Millions of spiders falling from the sky were reported on Monday in the countryside near Wagga Wagga, and a UFO researcher wants your help to find more.
South Australian Keith Basterfield has been looking to the skies for the origins of a “web-like substance” since 2001 and has since turned his efforts to more traditional means to gather evidence.
He wrote a letter to country paper the Goulburn Post to encourage readers to write to him with their reports.
And his efforts yielded results.
“Anyone else experiencing this ‘Angel Hair’ or maybe aka millions of spiders falling from the sky right now?,” Goulburn resident Ian Watson reported on Monday to a Facebook page.
“I’m 10 minutes out of town and you can clearly see hundreds of little spiders floating along with their webs and my home is covered in them. Someone call a scientist!”
He wrote that the spiders were in a group up to 100 metres up, raining a “cotton-like substance” that is “kinda like spider web but not exactly”.
The phenomenon is not unusual. Rather, it is part of the natural migration of baby spiders, said Naturalist Martyn Robinson.
The tiny spiders climb to the top of vegetation and catch the breeze with a thin streamer of web.
“They can literally travel for kilometres … which is why every continent has spiders. Even in Antarctica they regularly turn up but just die,” Mr Robinson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Sometimes called an angel hair event, the migration can lead to paddocks covered in the fine silk.
The unexplained nature of it led Mr Basterfield to write that these paddocks may have been the site of extra-terrestrial visitations.
“It is reported to have the unusual property of ‘disappearing’ within a short time of falling. On some occasions it is reported in the company of UFOs,” he wrote.
The retiree wrote in 2001 about the angel hairs, which some UFOlogists think are the residue from a liftoff.
“Some people believe that it is the residue of UFO propulsion methods, he wrote.
“Others claim that the answer lies in falls of spiders’ web.” “Many UFO researchers who have examined this topic have opted to accept the spiders’ web hypothesis,” he wrote, but remained sceptical. - Retiree seeks evidence of UFO visitations after millions of spiders descend on NSW
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'Toilet Ghost' Cause Shutdown of Bangladesh School
A government primary school in Pabna has closed down over “toilet ghost” panic following death of a minor girl in Chatmohar upazila.
Today, frantic in efforts for ridding the school of this “ghost,” locals have tried voodoo including blood sacrifice and other means.
On Wednesday, a grade five student of Bordanagar Govt. Primary School, Rumi Khatun, 11, fell sick after going inside a toilet of the school, the headmaster said.
She died on Thursday while undergoing treatments at Chatmohar Upazila Health Complex.
After that some eight to 10 children of the school fell sick whenever they go near the toilet, said Md Rafikul Islam, the headmaster.
“The ghost panic spread quickly and everybody stopped coming to the school since Thursday. The school has been closed since.”
Today, chairman of the Saikola union parishad concerned, Ataur Rahman Tota, visited the school and arranged a Milad Mahfil to rid the ghost. “We have sacrificed a ghost this afternoon.”
“People use to believe that there is a ghost in the school as there was a long palm tree rumoured to have a ghost many years ago,” he said.
“After the schoolgirl died, locals believe that it was the same ghost now taking shelter in the toilet. That is why we have taken a step to remove the ghost from the school.”
Chatmohar Upazula Nirbahi Officer (UNO) visited the spot on this evening also talked with the locals seeking cooperation to remove the fear of ghost. - Pabna school closed over ‘toilet ghost’ panic
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