Mysterious and Fascinating Cryptid Beasts and Monstrous Creatures of the United States

The United States is, without a doubt, one of the greatest and most fascinating countries in the world. Made up of multiple locations of natural beauty, lush, ancient forests, expanses of desert and countryside, all sprinkled with metropolis-like cities and towns, each unique and like nowhere else on the planet. It is also home, even if we take Bigfoot encounters out of the equation, to all manner of cryptid creatures, some more legend than fact, and others abundantly documented and recorded.

Perhaps the best example of a blend of legends and documented encounters can be found in accounts of the Jersey Devil, with debate still continuing if such a creature is nothing but folklore or if it could be an unknown species that has inhabited the northeastern United States, specifically, what used to be the open plains of New Jersey.

The legends of the Jersey Devil stretch back to the early eighteenth century, with the first written account appearing in 1735 with the announced pregnancy of Pine Barrens resident Jane Leeds.  This pregnancy was, in fact, her thirteenth, and legend offers that she stated clearly to anyone who would listen that “the Devil can take this one!” Further according to legend, when this thirteenth child was born, it was in the form of a human but with the features of a reptile, with claws instead of hands and feet, horns on its head, and a tail. This apparent beastly child would grow remarkably quickly. In fact, some accounts even talk of it being no less than 20 feet in height (although apparent modern-day sightings of the Jersey Devil speak of a much shorter being). Eventually, the reptile-like child left the Leeds household through the chimney and disappeared. Even since, there have been sightings of what would become known, at first, as the Leeds Devil and then eventually, the Jersey Devil.

It is very likely that the origins of the legends of the Jersey Devil go back to a pilgrim, Daniel Leeds, who, records attest, arrived in Burlington, New Jersey, from Leeds in Yorkshire, England, in 1677. Leeds, like many who ventured to the new world of America, was a member of the Society of Friends, perhaps better known as the Quakers. As well as being a devout follower of his religion, Leeds also had a great interest in Paganism, including its many rituals and practices, as well as being highly educated in such ancient arts as astrology and even alternative medicines and ointments. It was this interest in perceived heretical beliefs, at least in part, that eventually led to him being shunned by the Quaker community (it was also worth mentioning that Leeds was loyal to the British, which also made him a target for the Quaker aggression).

It is likely, then, that it is from the Quaker community of New Jersey’s shunning of Daniel Leeds, that legends of the Leeds Devil came from. It is also interesting to note that the Leeds family crest was of three “dragon-like” creatures, which only cemented suspicion in the eyes of many of the local New Jersey community.

As the population in the New Jersey region grew following the discovery of bog iron, which led to many towns and eventually cities, sightings and accounts of the Jersey Devil also grew. Perhaps one of the most fascinating comes from Commodore Stephen Decatur in 1800. During a visit to the Hanover Iron Works so he could test the cannonballs being produced at the plant, he reported witnessing a “strange, winged creature” flying directly over the firing range. Two decades later, in the same region, the brother of Napolean, Joseph Bonaparte, was hunting game when he claimed to have seen a very similar winged creature. These sightings continued sporadically throughout the nineteenth century, with people even hanging lanterns above their front doors in an attempt to keep the mysterious beast away.

In 1899, though, an apparent wave of sightings of the Jersey Devil unfolded, many of which are documented in Monsters of New Jersey: Mysterious Creatures in the Garden State by Loren Coleman. Arguably, the first of these took place on the evening of January 16th in Woodbury. According to the account, an unnamed man was walking out of a hotel when he heard a sudden “hissing sound” coming from overhead. When he looked up, he claimed to have seen a “white creature” flying over the road. What’s more, as it did so, it turned to look at the man with “glowing eyes”.

Later that night (into the early hours of January 17th), in nearby Burlington, Joseph Lowden and his family reported hearing strange sounds outside their home, as if there was “some heavy body trampling snow in the yard!” After several minutes, whatever was responsible for the noise began circling the property, even attempting to gain entry through the back door. Then, with no explanation, the creature suddenly left. When the Lowden family dared to go outside a short time later to investigate, they could see clear “beast-like footprints” in the snow right the way around their home. Incidentally, on the same evening, a resident of Gloucester City noticed similar footprints in the snow outside their house. They followed them across several properties before they disappeared into a junkyard.

Around 24 hours later, in the early hours of January 18th, the Lowden family reported further strange discoveries when they found the same beastly footprints in the snow outside their house, this time leading to the garbage can, its contents strewn along the ground as if someone – or something – had been riffling through it.

Sightings continued daily, reaching well into double figures over the coming days. Mr. and Mrs. Evans from Gloucester City, for example, reported seeing the Jersey Devil sitting on their shed after being dragged from sleep at around 2:30 in the early hours of January 19th. Mr. Evans later described the figure as being around three feet tall and having a “head like a collie dog and a face like a horse”, as well as having “wings about two feet long” on its back. When he opened the window in an attempt to scare it off, the creature made a barking-like sound in his direction before flying into the air and disappearing.

The following day in Burlington, a police officer claimed to have seen the strange figure whose “eyes were like blazing coals”, while in Mooreston, John Smith witnessed a monstrous creature that he reported was around three feet in height with “long black hair over its entire body” with “arms and hands like a money” and a face “like a dog”. He further stated it had a long tail and hoof-like feet. What’s more, Smith actually gave chase to the creature until it disappeared into some kind of pit.

As well as sightings of this menacing, winged creature, many local farmers began reporting attacks on their livestock and poultry, with some reporting that their animals had even been killed. By January 22nd, the whole region was worked up into a state of panicked hysteria. Then, just like that, they suddenly stopped, quite literally overnight. There has been no explanation for this, or what the creature might have been. And while such a wave would prove to be unique, sightings of the Jersey Devil continued throughout the twentieth century, right into modern times.  

One night in 1972, for example, Mary Christianson was traveling toward the town of Glassboro along Greentree Road in southern New Jersey when she noticed a strange-looking creature in her rearview mirror approximately 25 feet away. The description of this creature was remarkably similar to those during the 1899 wave, specifically, it had a head like a horse and legs similar to a goat. Furthermore, she claimed this creature stood upright and had wings that appeared to be made from leather stretching from its back. Mary didn’t waste any time in pressing down hard on the gas and she quickly left the creature behind.

Another unsettling encounter unfolded just under a decade later, one day in 1980, in the Wharton State Forest in the Pine Barrens region. Alan MacFarlane, a forest ranger, was on his way to a farm he had received a call to attend. Upon arriving, he was confronted with the sight of the farmer’s pigs, all of which had been butchered during the night. The pigs had deep claw marks along their backs, but what was most unsettling was that each of the backs of the pigs’ heads had been half eaten. To MacFarlane, this grim scene painted an equally grim scenario – that whatever had attacked the pigs had clawed on their backs while, essentially, eating their brains. Furthermore, given that there were no other wounds anywhere else on any of the pigs, this appeared to have been a purposeful, targeted move, perhaps suggesting more intelligence than your average wild animal. Incidentally, the incident remains unexplained.

Another disturbing encounter unfolded several years later when a group of friends were camping in the Pine Barrens woodlands as they enjoyed a dirt bike riding holiday. On this particular day, as they were riding through the forest, each of their bike engines suddenly came to a stop. What worried them more, however, was the inhuman scream that they suddenly heard coming from the forest. Not only was the scream not human, it was also unlike any animal any of the group had ever heard. So unnerved was the group by this scream that they all left their bikes where they were and ran back to the camp. Although they returned for their bikes a short time later, some of the campers opted to leave the forest early and return home. Those who remained heard the terrifying screams later that evening. Of course, we can only guess that the screams belonged to the Jersey Devil.

In much more recent times, in October 2015, Dave Black claimed to have not only seen the Jersey Devil making its way over a New Jersey golf course, but he managed to capture a picture of mysterious figure. He claimed that as he was driving along Route 9 in Galloway, he noticed something strange that he at first thought was a llama. As he watched the creature, though, it suddenly “spread out leathery wings and flew over the golf course!”

Black faced considerable criticism over the picture and his claims, but he insisted that he was not seeking any kind of monetary compensation for the pictures, only to see if anyone could offer a rational explanation as to what the creature was. When asked for further details about the creature he had seen, Black offered that it was similar to a “flying mammal, about the size of a deer!” Whether this was a genuine sighting of the Jersey Devil or nothing but a hoax remains open to debate.

There are many other cryptid creatures and monstrous beasts in the United States. As detailed in the book Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beast from the Darkside by Brad Steiger, arguably one of the most disturbing of these is the Beast of the Cascade Tunnel, a Bigfoot-type creature with glowing yellow eyes who is said to reside most in the abandoned Cascade (train) Tunnel in the Cascade Mountains in Skykomish, Washington. One particularly unsettling encounter featured “Dave”, who had made his way to the tunnel in order to investigate the reports for himself, as well as to get some photographs of the abandoned rail network. Remarkably, he had barely walked 40 feet into the tunnel when he noticed two bright yellow eyes, which he would later describe as “no normal animal’s eyes”, a short distance ahead of him.

He stopped and stared back, noticing the vague outline of a beast-like creature that stood at least 10 feet tall. Deciding he had seen enough, Dave slowly turned around and ran to the entrance of the tunnel. As he raced along, he heard a loud metallic boom coming from behind him. He didn’t look back. Several days later, though, he returned to the tunnel once more, and this time, he had several other people with him. To everyone’s surprise, all present saw the creature and the glowing yellow eyes for themselves. What the creature might be remains a complete mystery.

Another similar creature known as Orange Eyes of Ohio is said to roam the underground tunnel systems of the Buckeye State. Similar to the creature spotted in the Cascade Tunnel, this beast from Ohio, as its name suggests, has glowing orange eyes and is said to stand around 10 feet tall, with approximations on its weight settling somewhere around the 70 stone mark. What perhaps gives the legends of this creature a further edge is that many offer that it originates from the tunnels under the River Side Cemetery in Cleveland until construction work forced it from its habitat and into the wider area.

The first recorded sighting of Orange Eyes was in 1959, when three teenagers saw the bizarre figure at the roadside as they drove home one night. Many similar sightings came over the following decades, with many motorists even claiming the creature would “jump out” from the roadside, causing them to swerve. The last recorded sighting of Orange Eyes was in 1991, when two fishermen claimed to have seen it lurking near Willis Creek. Whether this curious entity still resides beneath Ohio in the vast tunnel networks remains unknown.  

There are similar legends of a tunnel-dwelling figure from South Carolina with the being known as the Third Eye Man. According to the book Haunted South Carolina: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Palmetto State by Alan Brown, rumblings of the Third Eye Man stretch back to the mid-nineteenth century, with the general legend being that this bizarre man-like figure roamed the tunnel systems that stretched out from the University of South Carolina college campus. The first recorded encounter with this mysterious man, though, wasn’t until November 12th, 1949.

On the night in question, at around 10:45 pm, two college students were walking past the Longstreet Theatre when they saw a manhole cover in the middle of the road being moved out of place. They were both more than shocked to see a bizarre man wearing a silver suit emerge from the manhole before disappearing quickly back into the tunnels below, even pulling the manhole cover back into place as if nothing had ever happened.

One of the witnesses – Christopher Nichols – was a budding journalist with The Gamecock publication (the university newspaper), and he would write an article on their encounter, dubbing the figure (at the time) The Sewer Man. For several months, off the back of the article, there was a buzz about this strange figure, with many contemplating who, or what, he might be. This initial buzz, however, died down just as quickly. That was until another encounter was reported.

While patrolling the grounds of the university on the evening of April 7th, 1950, a local policeman stumbled onto two chickens, each of which had been slaughtered. The remains were near the loading docks, which were, incidentally, close to the Longstreet Theatre, the location of the previous sighting. Thinking the killing of the chickens was some kind of prank by university students, the policeman ventured over to his car in order to report it. When he returned to the spot of the grim discovery, though, he was met with a sight he wasn’t ready for.

There, directly in front of him, was a strange man wearing a silver suit. What’s more, the man stood motionless, simply looking down at the carcasses of the dead birds. The policeman reached for his flashlight and shined its beam directly at this mystery man. When he did, he almost stumbled back in shock. Not only was the man’s skin a bizarre silver-grey color, almost identical to his suit, but in the middle of his forehead was a third eye. Almost as soon as he saw this, the policeman turned and ran back to his patrol car as fast as he could. Once there, he requested immediate back-up. Only when the back-up arrived did the policeman get back out of his car.

When the officers walked back over to the location where the man had been standing, he was no longer there. All that remained were several stray feathers and a pile of bones. Needless to say, the officers who arrived on the scene following the request for backup believed their colleague had seen something; they thought that he had likely hallucinated the “silver man” with the third eye due to fright. This wasn’t, however, the last sighting.

Although the exact date is uncertain, one October evening in the late 1960s, several male students made their way to the steam tunnels on campus in order to take part in a fraternity initiation ritual. Before the ritual got underway, however, the strange, silver-suited man appeared, as if out of nowhere. What’s more, he was carrying what appeared to be a lead pipe in his hand as he charged forward toward the petrified students.

The group immediately turned and ran, taking cover in the tunnel entrance. Before they could reach the tunnel, though, one of the students called out that the man had got a hold of his leg. He clambered as hard as he could, his friends tugging at his upper half, and eventually, despite suffering several cuts to his hands and face, he managed to free himself from the man’s grip. The students would report the incident to the local police, and off the back of this report, the legends of the Third Eye Man take a strange and perhaps suspicious twist.

It is unclear if local law enforcement took the report seriously or not. What is clear, though, is that a short time after the encounter, the entrances to the steam tunnels were sealed shut – permanently. Not only are students forbidden to enter these tunnel systems, but anyone caught doing so faces immediate suspension from the university. Make of that what you will.  

Much more beastly than the Third Eye Man is the Billiwhack Monster, said to call the abandoned buildings of the Billiwhack Diary plant in California home. This beast-like creature is said to be covered in white hair and has ram-like horns on its head, as well as razor-sharp claws. Ultimately, the best description of this monstrous creature is that it is half-man and half-sheep, and by all accounts, it is remarkably aggressive and predatory.

Most of the reports of this creature come from the 1950s and sixties, although random and sporadic, still surface today. These reports are usually from adventure seekers who find themselves at the old diary plant, usually as part of some kind of dare. There have been several suggestions put forward to explain this fierce creature, with perhaps the most persistent being that it is the result of some kind of government experiment from the Second World War, an apparent attempt to create a beast-like super soldier. According to these suggestions, the creature escaped its military confines in the years following the war, finding a refuge of sorts at the old diary plant.

Also in California is an aquatic creature known as the Elizabeth Lake Devil, which is said to reside in the waters of Elizabeth Lake. While there have been no recorded sightings of the alleged lake monster since the mid-nineteenth century, the legend still lives on and remains strong in the local area. According to the sightings that are on record, this creature is not only winged but has six legs, a neck similar to a giraffe, and the head of a bulldog. According to local records, many people from the area, in light of the many sightings of the 1800s, sold their properties and land well below the asking price in order to vacate the area, with some allegedly even abandoning their homes altogether.

Yet another cryptid creature can be found in California under the bridge that crosses the Santa Ana River. This creature, sometimes referred to as the Riverside Monster, is said to have long arms and razor-sharp claws, with legs that extend sideways from its body. Strangely, it is said to have a head like that of a scarecrow with glowing eyes. The last recorded sighting of this creature was in November 1958, when a local man named Charles Wetzel was driving home.

As he approached the Santa Ana Bridge, the car’s radio suddenly began to break up into a cacophony of static. As he twisted the dial, attempting to clear the radio, something leaped onto this vehicle out of nowhere, staring directly at him before attempting to claw through the glass. Wetzel eventually slammed on the brakes, causing the creature to fall from the vehicle. He quickly slammed on the gas, driving over the creature as he made his escape. When his car was examined later, there were unexplained claw marks on both the windshield and the car’s underside.

On the other side of America, in the Everglades of Florida (although sightings have been reported as far west as Texas and as far north as Kentucky), we find legends of the Myakki Skink Ape (sometimes called the Miami or Florida Skunk Ape). Although general descriptions of the Skunk Ape are similar to a typical Bigfoot or Sasquatch creature, the Skunk Ape is said to be much more similar to an orangutan or a chimpanzee. It is claimed that the Florida swamplands are its preferred habitat, and it can move extremely quickly, making them difficult to spot. Furthermore, and again, similar to Bigfoot reports, an unpleasant odor is said to accompany the Skunk Ape, hence its name.

Perhaps remarkably, there have been numerous photographs captured of the Skunk Ape, as well as several quite convincing pieces of video footage, suggesting that whatever it might be – either a Bigfoot-type cryptid creature or simply a troop of wild chimpanzees who have made a home for themselves in the Everglades, perhaps after being “freed” – there is most definitely something roaming this part of Florida.

Without a doubt one of the most intriguing cryptid creatures of the United States is that known as the Dogman, with many of the sightings coming from the state of Michigan (which sometimes leads to the name The Michigan Dogman). In fact, according to the book Traveling Michigan’s Sunset Coast by Julie Albrecht Royce, one of the earliest recorded sightings in the Wolverine State occurred as far back as 1887.

On the day in question, two lumberjacks working in Wexford Country spotted what they, at first, thought was a dog roaming around near where they were working. In part to break away from their work for a while, the two lumberjacks began to pursue the dog. However, it soon found refuge in a hollow log. In an attempt to entice it out, one of the lumberjacks poked a stick into the log. A moment later, a blood-curdling scream came forth, quickly followed by the dog – only it wasn’t a dog, it was a monstrous creature that stood upright. The two lumberjacks looked at this figure in shock. They would later recall that it had the body of a man but the head of a canine. After coming to their senses, the two men turned and ran as fast as they could. What followed was an encounter with the Michigan Dogman every ten years from that point.

In 1897, for example, a farmer in Buckley was discovered dead in his plow, seemingly from a heart attack. However, when huge dog tracks were found leading to and then circling the body, questions were raised as to just what the farmer might have encountered to have caused such a heart attack, not least as these canine-like prints suggested something that walked upright and not on all fours. Ten years later, in 1907, a widow (although it doesn’t say exactly where) began reporting having “weird dreams” of dogs that walked like men circling her house during the night. She also claimed these dogmen “yelled like banshees”. While these could have been nothing more than strange, intense dreams, some researchers have questioned whether they were, in fact, another encounter with the Dogman, perhaps multiple of them.

In 1917, an even more harrowing incident unfolded. A sheriff (again, the exact location is not given) discovered an abandoned wagon with strange dog prints all around it. Despite searching the area, no driver was ever discovered. They did find, though, the four horses used to pull the wagon – all dead, seemingly from fright with their eyes wide open (although no medical reasons were established for their deaths).  

Two decades later, in 1937, there were at least two separate sightings of these apparent dogmen. A captain of a boat stationed near Bowers Harbor claimed his crew had told him of seeing a strange pack of large, wild dogs roaming the area on several occasions. Later in the year, while on the banks of the Muskegon River, Robert Fortney claimed to have been suddenly set upon by five wild dogs. He managed to shoot and kill one of them, causing all but one of them to run off. The one that remained reared up on its hind legs and stood upright, staring at Fortney with “slanted, yellow eyes!” Eventually, it backed down and disappeared, presumably to the rest of the pack. Although he reported the encounter, he was well aware of the Dogman legends, and did his best to distance himself from such reports. That said, he later admitted that “dogman” – a creature with the body of a man and the head of a dog – best described exactly what he saw.

There were other noteworthy encounters with the Michigan Dogman as the second half of the twentieth century unfolded. In 1957, for example, a priest discovered claw marks on his church door, just like those a dog would make. However, unlike a dog, these claw marks were at least seven feet high on the door, beyond the height of any dog. Another decade passed before the next noteworthy encounter occurred in 1967. On this occasion, a “van of hippies” claimed they had been woken in the middle of the night by a “dogman” who had been attempting to gain entry to the van they were sleeping in.

One of the more recent encounters featured two fishermen who were fishing from their boat one evening in Manistee. As they were casting their lines, they noticed some kind of strange animal swimming in their direction. To begin with, one of the fishermen thought it was his pet dog that had decided to swim to their boat. However, the closer it got, the more they both could make it out; the creature did indeed have the head of a dog, but it had the body of a man. What’s more, this creature was not swimming in the fashion of a dog, but was doing the front crawl just like a person. The two fishermen immediately began swinging their oars in the creature’s direction until it finally swam away.

Even more recently, during a cold winter night in 2009 in Shelby, just before midnight, “C” and Laura Love, a retired police officer, were driving along US-31 when they had their own encounter with the Michigan Dogman. Love later recalled that they saw a “large, tall, dark, and oddly shaped creature” just run out from the roadside and “hit the rear quarter panel of the small truck” that was in front of them, causing them to slam on their brakes. As they stared out of the windshield, there in front of them was a dark-furred figure that stood upright at a height of around seven and a half feet. The figure looked at them briefly before taking off into the night.

Arguably, one of the most interesting sightings of the Michigan Dogman occurred one evening in 1961, not least as it resulted in one of the few photographs of this alleged cryptid creature. The incident unfolded at around 3 am one night in Big Rapids while a night watchman at a manufacturing plant was on his patrol duties, largely from the porch of his house directly opposite the plant. As he was doing so, he heard a sudden rustling sound coming from the fence at the edge of the plant. Assuming it was someone playing a prank, but not prepared to take any chances, he withdrew his gun from its holster, all the while keeping the area of the fence where the noise was coming from in sight. After a few moments, something began to move out of the shadows of the fence.

The night watchman remained still as the figure stepped into the light. Although its body appeared human-like, the witness immediately noticed it was much taller than the average person. Furthermore, it was covered from head to toe in dark fur or hair. Strangest of all, though, its face was clearly that of a dog, with a particularly long snout. The creature, seemingly unconcerned with the witness, made its way along the fence, switching from walking upright to moving on all fours as it did so.

One of the first officially recorded encounters with the Dogman outside of Michigan (at least in the twentieth century) occurred in 1936 in Racine in the neighboring state of Wisconsin. The account is documented in the book The Beast of Bray Road by Linda S. Godfrey, and featured a night watchman, Mark Shackleman, who was doing his rounds at the St. Coletta Convent where he worked. On this particular evening, Shackleman witnessed what he described as a canine-looking creature scratching at the land of a Native American burial ground close by. The night watchman approached the strange creature, who was further described as having particularly long claws. However, it fled the scene as soon as it noticed him.

When he investigated the land where he had seen the dog-like creature the following morning, he discovered several dog-like footprints and claw marks on the ground. When he reported to work the next evening, his patrol duties took him past the same spot he had seen the mysterious creature, and once more, he saw the Dogman again, scratching and clawing at the ground. He approached it, just as he had done the previous evening. However, instead of fleeing, the creature stood upright, staring directly at Shackleman, who later recalled the creature was at least six feet tall. Then, things turned even stranger.

As this curious beast stared at the night watchman, the sound of a single word came from its mouth. Shackleman wasn’t sure if it was a name or an order, but he recalled the word was “Gadarah!” Not knowing what else to do, Shackleman slowly turned around and, as calmly as he could, he simply walked away. By the time he looked back, the Dogman was no longer there.

Also relayed in The Beast of Bray Road are two encounters that took place in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on the road after which the book is named. The first unfolded at around 1:30 am one night in the fall of 1989, when Lori Endrizzi was driving home from the Elkhorn Lodge where she was the manager. As she drove along the quiet road, she suddenly made out a dark figure kneeling at the roadside with its back to her approaching vehicle. Although it appeared human, from this angle, she could tell that whatever it was, it had short, pointed ears, very much like a wolf or a dog.

Lori continued on toward the creature, and several moments later, it turned to face her. She could see that although it had the general body of a man, its face was most definitely “canine”. She later recalled that “its elbows were up, and its claws were facing out” – claws, incidentally, that she further described as “long”. What’s more, in its claws, it appeared to have some kind of roadkill. As she continued on, the headlights of her car made its eyes reflect brightly. Although she only caught a brief glimpse of it, she guessed it was just under six feet tall and was the weight of an average adult. What really unsettled her, however, was the fact that it simply stood at the roadside staring defiantly at her, as opposed to running away, as one might expect a wild animal to have done.

Lori offered that there was a most definite intelligence to it and that the creature was more human than animal. She also stated that she believed “it was satanic”, adding that while she doesn’t “really believe in werewolves, per se, I believe something could be conjured up!” Of course, whether this is the case or not remains open to debate. What is known is that Lori would make a report of the sighting to the Walworth County Animal Control, a report that was entered into the official record as “werewolf”. It was, however, one of many reports of the strange creature on this stretch of road.

Just over two years later, on Halloween night 1991, another sighting of the alleged Beast of Bray Road – or, the Dogman – was reported. On this particular evening, Doris Gipson was driving through the night fog on her way to pick up a friend from a party. Suddenly, she felt a thud that caused her to lift momentarily off the ground. She knew immediately she had hit something and brought her vehicle to a stop. She walked to the front of the car, expecting to find a small deer or other unfortunate animal. To her mild surprise, however, she found nothing. Thinking whatever she hit must have moved itself off the road, she set out back to the car.

The next thing she knew, a huge figure came surging toward her out of the fog. This figure was standing upright and had the body of a man, and a muscular one at that, but with a canine-like face. She quickly threw herself in the driver’s seat, started the engine, and pressed her foot down hard on the gas. As she was doing so, she felt a little resistance. As she looked around, she could see that this monstrous creature had grabbed onto the rear bumper, clawing at the car with its other appendage. Eventually, she sped off into the distance, leaving the creature behind. Even more amazing, after having picked up her friend, they both saw the same creature – although this time from a distance – on their journey home.  

Another account documented by Linda Godfrey occurred in September 2006 in Fitchburg in Madison, Wisconsin. At around 2 am on the night in question, a college student known only as Matt was up late when he heard a bizarre sound coming from the walls, a sound he claimed sounded like bubble-wrap being popped. The next thing he knew, there was a thunderous sound of the birds all flying from the nearby trees at once, which was followed by what felt like small earthquake tremors. To begin with, Matt thought the tremors were the end of the strangeness, and so went back to what he was doing. Then, however, came another sound.

Just as Matt had almost forgotten about the sounds of the tremors, a horrific scream pierced the early morning hours. At first, Matt thought someone had been hurt following the earthquake, even though it was just a minor one, and so he quickly made his way outside. The screaming came again, and again. Now certain someone was in need of help, Matt continued up the road. Then, he noticed the headlights of an approaching car. Of more interest, and concern, the headlights illuminated a strange humanoid figure – only this figure had the head of a wolf. At the same time, the screaming suddenly stopped, and a moment later, the figure disappeared into the nearby woodland. Matt claimed to have heard the screams randomly throughout the night.

Whether there was a connection between the earthquake and the appearance of this strange creature is perhaps open to debate. Of course, if there was, then we might contemplate if the Dogman could perhaps be supernatural in nature. It is certainly worth keeping on the collective backburner.

One of the most recent sightings of the Dogman occurred on November 7th, 2016, in Duluth in Minnesota. On the night in question, on Maple Grove Road, an anonymous woman witnessed the strange canine-like creature running upright under the lampposts of a residential area before disappearing into a nearby field that housed an old barn. She later described the figure as being around seven feet tall, elaborating that it moved with a hunched back. She also offered a detailed description of the face, claiming it was wolf-like, with a particularly long nose and pointed ears. She further stated that the creature moved “stiffly”, almost similar to the movements of a gorilla.

At this point, she pressed down hard on the gas and drove to a nearby gas station. When she was certain her husband would have arrived home from work, she drove back to her house. As soon as she arrived home, she blurted out what she had seen. Eventually, she told her wider family of the incident, and was more than shocked to find out her sister had seen what she described as the very same creature several years previously standing near her house and staring straight at her.

As we can see, then, the United States is littered with many cryptid beasts and monster-like entities from coast to coast, and the ones we have explored are just some of the many documented encounters from just some of the many strange creatures that seemingly live out an alternative existence, side-by-side with your average American, only occasionally (relatively speaking) their respective paths crossing.

Of course, whether any of these creatures exist or not remains open to debate. As we explored in our article examining whether belief alone could be strong enough to make something “real”, we could very well find that legends of such creatures as the Jersey Devil or the Dogman suddenly become very real for those who experience them, and that sightings of anything unexplained are quickly attributed to such creatures of folklore. That said, many of the encounters we have explored contain remarkable detail and descriptions, perhaps beyond those of panicked witnesses subconsciously filling in the mental blanks.

What if, though, these aren’t figments of the imagination, but legitimate real-life creatures? The next question we would have to ask ourselves is if these are flesh-in-blood beasts and unknown species or if there is something more supernatural in their origin. The truth is, the answer could be both. Like Bigfoot creatures, many of these creatures, while sometimes photographed, are never caught. In fact, many of them seem to disappear, almost into thin air, as quickly as they appear. Could it be that while these creatures are very real, they are temporary visitors to our realm of existence, perhaps from another dimension, the result of dimensions crashing into one another and temporary portals or gateways opening? While that is huge speculation, it is certainly intriguing, and perhaps possible.

Or could they be manifestations based on energy, in this case, the pure energy of belief and the fear and other emotions that come with it? If there is any truth to electromagnetic energy and the life energy (emotions etc.) playing a part in the manifestation of such strange entities as ghosts or aliens, then might that be the case for cryptids? We might think that if a population of a certain region holds a collective belief in something, then that energy will tap into that and manifest in the form of those beliefs.

I was speaking to the great researcher and writer, Steve Mera, about just such a point a couple of summers ago. And he offered how it was interesting that in all of these encounters, even when people claim to be chased by such entities, they are never caught and harmed. Anything in nature (a wild animal), for example, upon catching whatever it has chased, will kill it. These entities – be it Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, or the Dogman – never do. Even in cases where the apparent victim is cornered, rather than go for the kill, the respective creatures often turn and run. Mera offered that this could be a case of these creatures not only manifesting from our collective beliefs but of then feeding off our fear and terror. It is certainly something to keep in mind.