An eyewitness recalls 3 sightings of an unknown black, emaciated shapeshifting humanoid in 3 different locations. The sightings were in New Hampshire, Florida, and Virginia. Bizarre account.
The following account was referred to me:
"I saw a 'thing' in, or near, the woods on three separate occasions now. Each time I saw the thing, it was in a different state along the east coast of the United States, and each time the sighting was fleeting. I’m in my 30’s now, and the sightings have several years between them. The first time I saw it was in high school, and this is most definitely the time I got the longest look at it. The second time I only caught a glimpse, and I’m pretty sure (but not entirely sure) it was the same thing. The third time I got a clear look at it from a distance, but it caught me so off guard that I stumbled as I was taking a step and I lost sight of it. I have been calling it a 'thing' because I have no idea what it is and quite honestly I don’t even have a good guess either. It was not a Sasquatch, a Wildman, a Rake, a Lizard person, or any other creature I have found through my incredibly frustrating recent internet research on the subject matter. Maybe a shapeshifter of some kind because the first time I saw it, the thing changed its form for sure. Yes, I said it changed its form, you can go ahead and leave now if you like.
This is the first time I have put any of this out there to anyone, and if it weren’t for this last encounter, I would have forgotten the first two again. I have never mentioned this to anyone because of how ridiculous it sounds. At this point, though I only want to get this off my chest to hopefully find out if anyone else has ever seen this thing.
1.) First Sighting: Southern New Hampshire – 2000 or 2001 Summer probably (I don’t remember exactly when) – Well after midnight:
I am going to take some time to explain this first encounter in as much detail as I can recall, even though it all happened so fast, literally lasting in total maybe ten seconds. it is still the longest amount of time I have spent truly looking at the thing.
I was walking to a friend’s house from the apartment complex I lived in late at night. To get from one place to the other quickly, you had to cut through a small patch of forest (roughly 100 yards) that was technically someone else's property. A couple of times before we had someone shine a light on us and once he fired a shot in the air to try and scare us in an attempt to get us to stop cutting through though, it never did stopped us. It did, however, teach me to be stealthier when cutting through, and so on this night; I was creeping very quietly through the trees as I went. The forest was in a valley between my apartment complex, some houses, and the neighborhood where my friend lived. The valley dipped down in the middle with a steep incline surrounding it and so at first; I had to go down into the valley, and then at the end, I would walk up out of the valley exiting the tree line right onto the street where his house is. Once exiting the tree line, one would be standing on the side of the street with the end of the road about half a mile to your right and the entrance to the neighborhood about the same distance on the left. The houses were spaced apart decently, so the night was very dark except for the area around the houses and a couple of light circles under the orange streetlights, of which there were very few for the amount of space. I got through the valley with no problem this time, and I got up some speed to go up the hill in front of me where the forest ended maybe five feet from the edge of the street if the event that far.
At the exact moment, I came out of the tree line and onto the edge of the road; something caught my eye to the left of me emerging from the woods across the street. It stumbled awkwardly out of the dark woods and into view right at the edge of the circle of orange light radiating down from one of the streetlights. At first and for just a brief moment it looked like a shadow; however, I heard a sound coming from the dead leaves beneath its feet, and I quickly realized that it was not a shadow. Its body shape was like that of a starving child (maybe three feet tall) that you might see in a third-world country, but its legs and arms were so thin that there appeared to be no way it could support the creature’s body weight. It was dark but from what I can remember at the ends of it’s frail looking limbs were just nubs; no hands and no feet that I saw. Its movements were the creepiest part honestly, and they were the first thing that threw me off. I can’t even really explain how absurd and unnatural its movements were or how it was standing on those tiny legs. It moved forward from the trees and toward the street extremely awkwardly with the couple of steps that I saw it take. It was almost as if it was not supposed to be walking around like that, but it had somehow figured out a way to do so regardless. The thing was roughly two or three feet tall with an enlarged light bulb shaped head and a little belly in spite of how thin the rest of its frame was. In addition to its shape and motion, the thing seemed unreal mostly because it didn’t seem to reflect any light at all when it stepped into the light of the street lamp. It appeared to have no three-dimensional form at all with its body almost blending right into its shadow, and I could only really tell it had solid form by the way that it moved and navigated the environment around it.
I froze in place instantly when I saw it with my brain unable to even process what I was seeing. In a couple of steps, it exited the trees, stumbled across the patch of grass to the street, and then sort of fumbled down forward toward a sewer drain on the side of the road. I’m not sure what I did if anything, but as soon as it hit the curb, it rose back up and looked over at me. I couldn’t see it’s face or anything at all still just this bizarre black shape moving so unbelievably awkwardly; I really can’t stress this enough; its movements were ridiculously uncoordinated. What happened next is what sent me fleeing into the woods with all of the cowardice that has kept me alive to this day.
Upon seeing me, this malformed shadow child-thing did this quick twisted turn toward me, dropping down to all fours and becoming a much more animal-like shape when it did. I again have no idea how to describe the motion as it was so unnatural, but when its turn was complete, the thing had become something I can only describe as a shadow dog/cat/bear. I know that sounds crazy but, I can’t describe it any other way than that. It stood on all fours like a predatory animal, but I couldn’t make out any definition on it with the way it didn’t catch the light that it was standing directly below. This thing, it didn’t just go from being human-like to being a human on all fours, I mean it genuinely became something else as far as I can tell.
I debated leaving this next part out because it just slices into the credibility of the events even further, but it happened, and so here it goes. As soon as the creature had hit all fours and was no longer humanoid its eyes flashed yellow at me, and it let out a loud shriek, not a growl, not a bark, not a snarl, not an animal-like roar, or even a hissing but a legitimate shriek that sounded like neither a person nor an animal. The sound started quiet then rose quickly, almost as if it was winding up or under pressure and just painfully been forced out of the creature’s mouth at great anguish. Its scream had a certain harshness to it as if it might have had something seriously wrong with its vocal cords or it had just smoked a million cigarettes consecutively. I remember the thing had a weird, almost scared vulnerability to the sound it made, which contrasted the harshness and tone as well as the defensive stance the creature took.
All this took place in just a few seconds, maybe ten at most, from the time the thing exited the tree line to the time it turned, postured, shrieked at me, and sent me running without a single thought in my head right back into the woods. I did not stop; I did not look back; I did not try to be quiet through the forest; I just ran as fast as I could. That is correct; I was so scared I ran back into the dark, scary woods to get away, only realizing how dumb that was some time afterward. The sound it made chilled me to my core then, but now in hindsight, I think the flashing eyes bother me more than the sound because it seems so expected. The flashing/glowing eyes trope is precisely what I have heard in so many other people’s stories I never believed about mysterious creatures they claim to have encountered. I mean because that is what scary things in the night do right? They flash yellow eyes and make a scary shrieking sound at you, obviously, what else would they do? I never made it to my friend's house that night, and I never mentioned this to anyone ever since. I managed to forget about this experience pretty quickly all though I’m not sure how my life was high-drama at the time, so I’m sure it is because I did something stupid and that took over my world.
2.) Second Sighting: Central Florida – 2006 Spring (I believe) – Early night (8 pm):
The second sighting is much briefer and as I mentioned before I am 90% sure it was the same thing but, I’m not entirely sure. I’ll keep this short and tell you simply that I was out camping, went for a walk along a trail, and watching my girlfriend hop from rock to rock across the river. I heard a sound to my left, and when I turned to look, I saw an extremely thin skinny black nubbed leg (possibly a tail) disappear behind a tree as if an animal running away from something. I ran over this time but, I found nothing and I didn’t mention it to my girlfriend. No experiences or weird sounds that night and no more encounters for several years. If you like more detail about this one you can attempt to email me with any questions and I will try to remember.
3.) Third Sighting: Eastern Shore of Virginia – June 8, 2019 – Late night (11 pm):
Well, finally, here it is the reason I felt I had to put this out there and the reason I am so freaked out by this thing. It’s not so much what happened last week as it was another quick glimpse and nothing else, but instead, it is the fact that it happened again to me and as far as I know, no one else.
I was at a party at a friends house celebrating her birthday because she is one of those people in their 30’s that still gets excited about those things. I don’t drink, so I was not drunk. My friend lives with her husband in a farmhouse surrounded by open fields for a couple of acres in any direction surrounded of course by a thick forest. I had been there for a while, and the thing was the furthest thing from my mind. We were all just hanging out and rambling on about the usual small talk.
I decided that I wanted a smoke and so I went out the front door and onto the porch. I stepped forward and went to step down the front steps to get a little more space, and as I did, I glanced up and out into the field in front of the house. There it was, roughly 50 yards out and bumbling through the field toward the trees. For a split second, I could see the unmistakable shape of this weird shadow child thing. It was just the same as before; large head and belly, unbelievably thin arms and legs, and again reflecting absolutely no light at all. I was mid-step when I glanced up and lost track of where I was stepping, causing me to fall forward. I managed to catch myself as I fell barely and I must have made a sound when I did it because when I looked back up the thing was on all fours quickly running like a dog off into the woods. I reiterate this thing DID NOT move on all fours like a person in any way but, it moved like an animal with knees bent backward. I was too far, and it happened to fast for me to tell if it had hands and feet this time. I started to walk out and look around a bit when someone came outside and not wanting to tell anyone I just went back to the party. I must have been distant the rest of the night because I couldn’t get it out of my head this time. I ended up leaving the party relatively early and went home to start obsessing about it.
So I am sufficiently freaked out by a lot of things about what I have seen. Even discounting the second sighting, I got two brief but good looks at something that I can not explain. One of the things that bother me the most about this is, why me? Why, as far as I know, have I been the only one to see this thing? If it knows of me and is following me or something like that then, why does it seem surprised by my presence each time I’ve seen it and then enter a sort of fight or flight mentality. If it doesn’t know of me, then why am I the only one to see this thing and now in three different states years apart? I’m writing this over a few days to make sure I have got all the details as best as I can remember and I hope I’m not the only one that saw this creepy being.
What I saw that night was so unnatural I never expected to see anything like it in my life, it honestly just DID NOT belong in our physical reality, and it almost did not even seem to fit in the environment around it as if it’s something 2D superimposed into an authentic 3D background. I looked into shadow people videos and sightings but, I don’t think this was that as there was nothing ghostly about what I saw, it was there and had solid form. Each time (except the second) I could see enough of it that I could tell it was not somebody messing with me, and I could see enough of it to say to it did not belong here in this world with us. My best guess at this point is that it and I crossed each other’s paths in a possible inter-dimensional rift or time slip only because of how surreal the experience was. I know that sounds crazy, but it is all I have come up with to rationalize the fact that this thing did not fit into its surroundings in any way. It did not even look like it was made to move and get around in this world; the force of gravity should have for sure crushed its skinny legs under the weight of its body, it was like an eggplant on toothpicks.
At this point, I only want to know that I am not alone and that what I saw has some explanation, rational or no. I need one reasonable answer from somewhere at this point because I know what I saw, and I can’t get the way this thing moved or how dark it was out of my head." SW
If you wish to comment on this Phantoms & Monsters post, please go to Phantoms & Monsters Post Comments
-----
Preston Dennett began investigating UFOs and the paranormal in 1986 when he discovered that his family, friends and co-workers were having dramatic unexplained encounters. Since then, he has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and investigated a wide variety of paranormal phenomena. He is a field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a ghost hunter, a paranormal researcher, and the author of 28 books and more than 100 articles on UFOs and the paranormal. Several of his books have been Amazon UFO bestsellers.
Preston's articles have appeared in numerous magazines including Fate, Atlantis Rising, MUFON UFO Journal, Nexus, Paranormal Magazine, UFO Magazine, Phenomena Magazine, Mysteries Magazine, Ufologist and others.
He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including Midnight in the Desert with Art Bell, Coast-to-Coast AM and also the History Channel’s Deep Sea UFOs and UFO Hunters. His research has been presented in the LA Times, the LA Daily News, the Dallas Morning News and other newspapers.
Preston has taught classes on various paranormal subjects and lectures across the United States. He currently resides in southern California. His website can be found at www.prestondennett.weebly.com
Join us on Friday, August 19th at 9PM ET / 6PM PT
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, & SHARE - THANKS!
.jpg)
-----
-----
Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the 'Chicago Mothman', 'Chicago Owlman' & 'O'Hare Mothman.' - Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map - Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
-----
-----
.jpg)
HAUNTINGS & MALEVOLENT ENTITIES ROUNDTABLE - Investigate, Clear & Rescue - Lon Strickler (Host)
Please Consider a Donation to 'Phantoms & Monsters'
Your financial support of Phantoms & Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. This all depends on you, the readers & followers.
Please use the PayPal donation buttons on the blog site. You can also go directly to Phantoms & Monsters donation. Thanks again for your loyalty and continued support. Lon
