"A legendary cryptid J'ba Fofi was supposedly caught on camera, back in 2014 in Maptualand, Mozambique by campers. They had heard stories of native villagers coming across giant burrows and seeing giant webs around the Maptualand area, so they decided to take a camera with them before they tucked it into their tent they put the camera on a nearby tree and began recording overnight. In the morning they were shocked at what they had captured."
Comment from 'D': "I briefly participated in missionary work in the Congo in the late 1980s and can say with my hand on my heart that I and 6 other locals witnessed a J'ba FoFi scurry across the road/clearing into the bush just 5 feet away from us, about an hour outside of Gamboma. It looked exactly like a long-legged tarantula but was about the size of a medium-sized dog, pitbull, or something. Of course, everyone I've ever told says 'yeah sure, just a big spider, monkey, or sloth' but I know what I saw and feel lucky to have seen it! I remember my first thought was not fear but just I wish I had a film camera. The locals were shocked too. I hope they still exist out there."
The J'ba Fofi, also known as the Congolese Giant Spider, is a type of large arachnid cryptid said to inhabit the forests of the Congo.
Eyewitnesses have stated that the giant arachnids dig a shallow tunnel under tree roots and camouflage with a large screen of leaves. Then they create an almost invisible web between their burrow and a nearby tree, stringing the whole area with a network of trip lines. Some oblivious animal, that's likely soon to end up on the creature's menu, will trip the line alerting the spider. The victim will then be chased into the web. This type of predatory behavior is similar to that of several species of trap-door spiders.
Natives claim the J'ba FoFi eggs are pale yellow-white and shaped like peanuts, and the hatchlings are bright yellow with a purple abdomen. Their coloration becomes darker and brown as they mature. Some of the peoples indigenous to the regions in the Congo where the J'ba FoFi has been seen assert that the spider was once quite common, but has since become very rare.
The very first sighting of the J'ba FoFi by a western observer was in the 1890s near lake Nyasa, during which British missionary Arthur John Simes and his men came upon one of the creatures. His men got themselves tangled in an enormous web and two giant spiders which were two and four feet in length (male and female) came out of their web and attacked them. Simes was bitten but managed to escape after shooting one of them with his pistol. He subsequently developed symptoms including a deathly pallor, severe chills, and swelling around the area where he was bitten and became delirious before dropping into unconsciousness. He ultimately succumbed to these effects and died.
The fullest account by Westerners appears in a cryptozoological book by George Eberhart:
"R.K. Lloyd and his wife were motoring in the Belgian Congo in 1938 when they saw a large object crossing the trail in front of them. At first, they thought it was a cat or a monkey, but they soon realized it was a spider with legs nearly 3 feet."
Cryptozoologist William J. Gibbons has hunted for what some think may be a living Congolese dinosaur called Mokele-mbembe. On his third expedition in search of the creature, he came upon natives who related their experiences with giant spiders. He shared his experience with readers upon his return to Canada:
"On this third expedition to Equatorial Africa, I took the opportasked knew of such a giant spider, and indeed they did! They speak of the J'ba FoFi, which is a "giant" or "great spider." They described a spider that is generally brown in color with a purple mark on the abdomen. They grow to quite an enormous size with a leg span of at least five feet. The giant arachnids weave together a lair made of leaves similar in shape to a traditional pygmy hut, and spin a circular web (said to be very strong) between two trees with a strand stretched across a game trail."
"These giant ground-dwelling spiders prey on the diminutive forest antelope, birds, and other small game, and are said to be extremely dangerous, not to mention highly venomous," Gibbons states. "The spiders are said to lay white, peanut-sized eggs in a cluster, and the pygmies give them a wide berth when encountered, but have killed them in the past. The giant spiders were once very common but are now a rare sight."
A video surfaced on YouTube of an alleged J'ba FoFi caught on a night vision camera, near a waterhole next to a tree in Mozambique. The J'ba FoFi appears out of the darkness for a brief moment, while scurrying into the darkness on the far right side of the screen.
Many of the natives describe the spiders as once being numerous, but now a vanishing species. Encroachment by civilization in the form of rainforests being converted to farming land may have driven the spiders from their natural habitats. - Various sources
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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' or 'O'Hare Batman.' - 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.
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