Wolfmen, Reptilians, and Ominous Animals: Unsettling Encounters with Mysterious and Disturbing Shapeshifting Entities

It is perhaps a safe bet that the vast majority of people will think of werewolves or possibly vampires when the notion of shapeshifting creatures is brought up. It is also an equally safe bet that most people believe such creatures are for the realms of horror and science fiction. The fact is, though, not only are there many real-life accounts of apparent werewolves and vampires, there are also many other documented encounters and strange legends of other beings that can change their appearance and assume any form they desire. And what’s more, some of these accounts go back thousands of years.

Indeed, we can find many references to shapeshifting in the legends and writings of many different ancient civilizations, including the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Sumerians. If we take many of the gods of ancient Egypt, for example, many of them are said to have had the ability to change their form, and they were often depicted with the head of an animal. The same can be said of the gods of ancient Greece, perhaps most famously, Zeus, who would often take the form of animals to trick adversaries, and even take the form of a woman’s lover in order to trick her into having sex with him. It was also believed that witches and warlocks (or wizards), including their equivalents in antiquity, could turn themselves into hares, cats, or even birds to evade capture and navigate their surroundings undetected.

Undoubtedly, however, some of the most intriguing and earliest references to shapeshifting can be found in the south of France in the Cave of the Trois-Freres, and a cave painting that goes back to around 13,000 BC, at least. What is particularly interesting about this cave painting is that it shows a human seemingly in the process of changing form, essentially, shapeshifting, with the figure having both human and animal-like features. Even how the creature is positioned suggests it is in the process of some kind of metamorphosis. The artwork is named The Sorcerer and offers tentative proof that those in antiquity were at least aware of the notion of shapeshifting long before fairy tales and intricate legends permeated the collective human psyche. Indeed, an argument could be made to suggest that the reason such fairy tales and legends came into existence is due to humanity having witnessed these entities in real life.

It is further interesting to find legends that offer that these shapeshifters not only have the ability to morph into another person or an animal but even into plants or physical objects. Many legends of the Djinn state that these otherworldly entities can take the form of any animal or any physical object. It is also interesting to note the suggestions of some UFO researchers, who have put forward that UFOs are not necessarily nuts-and-bolts vehicles but sentient entities, a suggestion that is even more thought-provoking when we consider the many claims of witnesses to UFO sightings who insist they saw an object change from one shape to another right before their eyes. It is further worth noting that many Shamans – both from the ancient world and modern times – state that they change their form in order to communicate with entities from the spiritual realm.  In fact, the descriptions of these communications of spiritual beings resonate remarkably with claims of astral projection or out-of-body experiences, perhaps suggesting that all of us, if only subconsciously, have the ability to shapeshift.

While there are many different accounts of shapeshifting and shapeshifters, undoubtedly some of the most intriguing and well-known, as we mentioned earlier, are those of werewolves. What perhaps distinguishes werewolf accounts from other shapeshifting creatures is that most cases, although certainly not all, appear to be linked to some kind of curse or bite as opposed to a learned and controlled technique, and appear to be connected to the cycle of the Moon (although this is perhaps open for debate). Accounts and claims of werewolves were particularly prevalent throughout Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While one of the reasons for this is undoubtedly the wolf population throughout Europe was much larger and more visible at the time, accusations of a person being a werewolf were usually connected to accusations of witchcraft and sorcery – accusations that “The Church” and their feared Inquisition would punish in the most brutal way during this same time.  

Arguably one of the earliest recorded cases of what we would understand to be a werewolf is also one of the most interesting given that the perpetrator – Peter Stumpp (some spellings are Peter Stubbe or Peter Stumpf) – was arguably a prolific serial killer who was accused of werewolfery and witchcraft. Although his story started much earlier, it was in 1589 during the Cologne War that the residents in what is now modern-day Cologne in Germany began reporting seeing a “wolf-like creature” that was not only preying on livestock but people as well. As these reports increased, so did public anxiety, eventually resulting in several residents of Cologne, along with a pack of their own dogs, hunting down and cornering this beast-like creature. However, when they moved closer to finish off the beast, all were shocked to see a local farmer – and a wealthy one at that – Peter Stumpp lying in front of them.

He was immediately arrested and subsequently stretched on a rack before being questioned. Fearing further, more brutal torture by his captors, Stumpp confessed all. And it was a confession with fascinating, if grim revelations. He offered that he had been born in the town of Bedburg (estimated date is around 1539) and had lived a normal life up until the age of 12. Although he didn’t explain why, he offered that it was at this age that he began practicing the dark arts and black magic, something which eventually led to a meeting with none other than the Devil himself.

It was during this meeting that the Devil gave Peter a crude belt (referred to since as the Wolf Strap) that gave Stumpp the ability to change him into “the likeness of a greedy, devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkled like fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body, and might paws!” Upon removing the belt, he would then revert to his human form.

It is thought – or perhaps assumed – that Stumpp embarked on his killing spree not long after this meeting, and by the time the 1580s were unfolding – with Stumpp now a wealthy farmer and widower with two young children, it is thought he murdered and cannibalized 14 children, one of whom was his 12-year-old son. Moreover, he was charged with murdering two pregnant women before he tore the fetuses from their dead bodies. Following the death of his wife, Stumpp had several relationships with multiple women, with his main mistress being a woman named Katherine Trompin. Even more alarming, he also had an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Sybil.

It was also during this time, at some time in the 1580s, that Stumpp claimed he first used the Wolf Strap in order to carry out further more frenzied attacks, including on sheep, lambs, and goats. Also while in the form of a wolf, he hunted down young women, often sexually assaulting them before taking their lives. Ultimately, Stumpp was found guilty of multiple murders and was sentenced to death. Furthermore, both Katherine Trompin and Sybil were charged as accomplices. Both were found guilty and also sentenced to death. While Tromplin and Sybil were burned alive (a horrific enough death), Stumpp’s execution was much worse.

The sentence was carried out on October 31st, 1589. Stumpp was tied to a large wheel before red-hot pincers were placed on various parts of his body, the skin and flesh being pulled away when the pincers were lifted off. His arms and legs were then broken with a wooden ax before a sword was used to cut off his head. His headless body and head were then publicly displayed as a warning to others who might be tempted to practice dark arts and werewolfery.

If we return our attention to the mysterious belt – the Wolf Strap – for a moment, we can find accounts of it throughout history and around the world. And, like Stumpp, the belt is always said to be a gift and “magical device” given to those who “sell their soul to the Devil!” And, also like Stumpp’s account, those who wrap this belt around their torso will suddenly have the ability to transform themselves into a wolf.

A particularly interesting account of this Wolf Strap unfolded around the same time as the events in Cologne, this time in an unnamed Russian village. One man who lived on the outskirts of the village would suddenly become the focus of the rest of the community, with villagers describing him as “sneaky!” Of more concern to the village residents, though, were the strange beast-like tracks that were often found in the mud or snow outside his home. In fact, this concern grew so great that several villagers decided to hide in the man’s barn one evening in order to spy on him. However, when they heard a bone-chilling howl-like scream come from outside the barn, they all fled as fast as they could. As they left, though, they noticed fresh, animal-like prints in the snow leading directly from the man’s home out into the woods. They made plans to return the next day – and this time, they would ensure their numbers were larger.

Upon arriving at the strange man’s home, the mob demanded to know where he had been the previous evening. The man refused to answer and so the crowd barged their way inside the house. Once inside, they went about searching the property. When they searched a chest of drawers at the side of the man’s bed, they found a “strange leather strap carved with symbols” wrapped in a thick blanket. This belt was also covered in a strange “greasy substance” unknown to the mob. Whether the belt was the same type of device as the Wolf Strap is not known. It, and the man, however, were immediately burned to death by the crowd.

A similar account, incidentally, can be found in Poland in the aftermath of the Second World War. According to the legends, in the town of Alt-Marrin, rumors began to circulate among the local residents of a man named Gust K. who they claimed was spreading “chaos and misery” around the town, and the reason for this was a strange belt that Gust K. was said to own. Eventually, several of the villagers broke into the man’s home and stole the strap. They then took it to an oven and threw it inside to burn it. However, to their utter shock and disbelief, the belt leaped out of the flames as if it were blown out of the fire by an invisible wind. They tried several times to cast it to the flames but each time it would simply fly back out. At this point, perplexed and scared of the events, and the belt, they quickly returned it to Gust K.’s home.

Gust K. would die shortly after. The bizarre and unsettling events, though, continued to unfold. On the day of his funeral, for example, the strange belt suddenly burst into flames in front of the attendees. Within moments it was reduced to nothing but a pile of ash. The high strangeness continued when the pallbearers went to lower his coffin into the waiting grave only to find it was too large. Even stranger, even though they widened the hole several times, the casket wouldn’t fit. Eventually, they dragged his dead body from the coffin and threw it into the grave before throwing dirt directly on top of him. The bizarre events ceased following the burial.  

Another thought-provoking encounter is on record from the Fichtel Mountains in what is modern-day Germany in the early 1600s. The account is detailed in the 1874 book The Legend of the Bavarian Lands: From the Mounts of the People, the Chronicles, and the Poets by Alexander Schoppner, and tells of a strange beast that roamed the mountain range terrorizing the local community. One person, a shepherd who used the same region for his flock, had a particularly close-up encounter with the beastly entity. Over the course of several days, the shepherd began noticing that he was losing sheep – or, more to the point, something was taking them. One particular evening, he saw what appeared to be a “beastly wolf” attacking one of his sheep before dragging it off into the surrounding woodland. He immediately set off in the direction of the attacker but it was out of sight within a matter of seconds.

The shepherd returned to the village and immediately sought the help of one of the best marksmen in the village, who agreed to return to the location where the shepherd had seen the beast and attempted to kill it. The following day, the beast did indeed return to the same spot as the previous evening. Wasting no time, the marksman aimed at the creature, the shot being precisely on target. However, instead of downing it, the bullet simply bounced off the animal-like figure, which once more, disappeared into the trees. The pair returned the following day, and one more, the wolf-like figure returned. Once more, the marksman took aim. This time, though, his weapon was loaded with dried pith. Although the shot was on target, it only struck the leg, and the creature once again retreated into the woodland.

By pure chance, the shepherd spoke with his neighbor the next day and immediately noticed that she had developed a sudden limp. He asked what had caused the limp, and was shocked that his neighbor angrily responded by asking “What business is it of yours?” She then turned and ran inside her home. Although he was perplexed by this reaction, he was also aware that, according to local rumor, the woman practiced the dark arts and magic spells, and he began to contemplate if the gunshot from the marksman the previous day had caused the limp. Ultimately, he questioned if the old woman had used her magic to transform herself into a wolf. The man reported his suspicions to the authorities and the woman was promptly arrested. She was flogged before being chained up inside the local jail. However, when the guards went to check on the woman several hours later, she was nowhere to be seen.  

The attacks and sightings ceased for several nights. Then, though, the beast returned – and it returned to attack not only the same flock as it had several nights previously but also the shepherd himself. Before he knew what was happening, the beast had leaped toward him, causing him to fall backward. It quickly jumped over the man and was almost certainly about to kill him when a gunshot rang out and the creature fell to the ground. The marksman who had assisted the shepherd happened to be close by, and after shooting the creature, he quickly rushed over, pulled out a knife, and stabbed it several times. Moments later, to the shock and horror of the two men, the wolf morphed into the dead body of the old woman who the shepherd had reported to the authorities several days earlier. Uncertain about what to do, the pair agreed to bury the body in the surrounding woods, placing a cross over the hastily made grave. The attacks ceased for good after, although those who claim to have located the grave attest to feeling the presence of “evil” there.

In more relatively modern times, we can find legends of the Werewolf of the London Underground in the United Kingdom. According to details in the book Keep Out: Top Secret Places Governments Don’t Want You To Know About by Nick Redfern, there are more of these accounts than one might think. Redfern details, for example, the accounts of a former British police officer, Frank Wiley, who revealed several grimly fascinating encounters with the beastly creature in London’s Underground rail system.

Wiley offered that between 1967 and 1969, there were several “weird killings” on the Underground – killings that the police, essentially, “hushed up” and passed off as nothing more than “late-night muggings!” The truth, though, was much more harrowing. According to Wiley, these killings were not only brutal, they were monstrous. Moreover, it was clear to investigators that the same person – or thing – was responsible for the deaths. As well as all the attacks taking place late at night, all of the victims had limbs removed as if they had been “gnawed off!” Even more unsettling, each of the victims’ throats had been slashed open and their torsos violently ripped apart, most often with their guts eaten away. The bodies were discovered across three different stations and the reason for the attacks appeared to be the attacker’s need for sustenance – essentially, so they could eat them. One thing investigators were absolutely certain of was that something was stalking the platforms of the London Underground as if these nightly commuters were prey.

One evening in 1968, two workmen were repairing a stretch of track on the Bakerloo Line when they seemingly witnessed this beastly creature. They claimed they were going about their business when they suddenly noticed an unsettling “wild-haired man dressed in tattered and filthy clothing” a short distance away. To begin with, they thought the figure was likely one of London’s many homeless people and, out of genuine concern for his safety, began approaching him in order to instruct him to leave the underground. However, when they saw the “stumbling manner” in the way he walked, as well as what sounded like an animal-like growl coming from him, they stopped in their tracks. Rather than launch an attack, however, the strange “man-creature” turned and ran in the opposite direction, disappearing within seconds.

Even more alarming were Wiley’s assertions that high-ranking government figures in the Home Office went out of their way to keep the incident out of the public arena, even issuing official orders to do so. Of course, if there is any truth to such claims, we have to ask just how much these government officials knew about this strange creature stalking the London Underground, and what course of discreet action might they have taken behind closed doors. After all, the sightings seemed to cease as the 1970s unfolded. Could this have been due to some secret operation to capture or eliminate the creature? And just what might this menacing creature be? Could it be a human, if a “wild man” human living out an existence in the underground networks beneath London? Or is it some kind of cryptid creature like Bigfoot? Or could it be that the entity that stalked the underground rail systems was a werewolf, some kind of hybrid wolf-man-type creature that most believe exists only in fairy tales and horror movies?

Wiley would go on to make several further astounding claims, the result, he claimed, of discreet “off-the-record” meetings he had with several members of the Home Office who were familiar with the case. According to what he was told, the London Underground intertwined with multiple off-limits ancient tunnel networks – networks that were hundreds of years old, at least, with some estimates suggesting they went as far back as the Roman Empire-occupied England. Wiley stated he was told that the creature responsible for the attacks on the London Underground in the late 1960s was accessing the public transport system from below, from the ancient tunnel networks. Moreover, and of much more concern, although the case was officially closed, Wiley was told that there had been several discoveries of mutilated bodies throughout the seventies that mirrored the attacks of previous years.

Wiley also highlighted a little-known horror film released in 1972, Death Line. The plot of the movie was “too close to what happened” in the late 1960s in his opinion, and was, he claimed, an attempt to leak details of what resides beneath the transport hub to the general public. The plot revolves around a reconstruction of the London Underground in the late nineteenth century, during which a collapse results in several of the workers going missing, presumed killed beneath the rubble. The film then fast-forwards to 1972, and we discover that the missing workers have survived deep below London and have bred into a race of “barely human cannibals!” These cannibals then begin finding their way into the London Underground where they stalk unsuspecting commuters for food. If there is any truth to the claims of the attacks in the 1960s, the assertion that Death Line is fact hiding in fiction is certainly an intriguing one.                  

Only several years after the apparent werewolf creature was terrorizing commuters on the London Underground, on the other side of England, in the northeast of the country in Hexham in February 1972, a similar account of a shapeshifting, dogman-like creature unfolded. On the day in question, two young brothers – Colin and Leslie Robson – were digging in their backyard when they uncovered two strange, carved, stone heads. Each one was around the size of a tennis ball, with one clearly being male and the other female. The two youngsters played with the stone heads for the rest of the day, and when it was time to return home they decided to take their finds with them. Almost immediately after they did so, the entire Robson household began experiencing bizarre, paranormal activity, including the manifestation of a half-animal, half-human entity.  

All members of the family, for example, witnessed the strange heads move on the shelf they had been placed on completely of their own accord. Other ornaments that had been in the house for years began disappearing, and even stranger, some ornaments would simply explode and shatter of their own accord. These events continued to escalate, with one particularly nasty incident resulting in a window shattering, sending glass showering down over the two brothers’ younger sister who was sleeping beneath it. It was, though, when a strange human figure with a wolf-like head appeared that the family finally decided the two bizarre heads were responsible and decided to get rid of them.  

Eventually, the two stone heads came to the attention of Dr. Anne Ross, who had taken a particular interest in the bizarre activity the family claimed was connected to them. After examining them, she determined that the stone heads were at least 2,000 years old and were most likely of Celtic origin. Perhaps even more disturbing, however, she claimed the heads had a “strange coldness” to them. Moreover, something about them made her not wish to hold or even look at them. Despite this, though, she took the stone heads with her to perform further analysis and tests on them. Almost immediately, the bizarre activity that had plagued the Robson family seemingly turned its attention to her.

It was somewhere between 2 am and 3 am – only hours after she had returned home – when Ross awoke suddenly with the distinct feeling that “something” was in her bedroom. She slowly moved her head around studying the room, her focus eventually settling on a human figure with what looked like the head of a wolf standing in the doorway. Shocked and perplexed, she looked on as the figure simply retreated from the doorway and headed down the stairs. Despite her fear, Ross quickly got out of bed and followed. However, by the time she had reached the bottom of the stairs, the wolfman-like creature had disappeared. The sightings of this strange wolfman continued over the next several days, with multiple members of the family seeing it. Each time, after being seen, it calmly retreated from view, almost as if it wanted to make its presence known to the household.

Ultimately, Ross completed her work with the heads as quickly as possible and handed them on to another expert who wished to examine them. Much like the Robson family, as soon as the heads were out of her home, the bizarre events stopped, including the appearance of the strange wolfman. At the same time, whoever was in possession of the heads (they were passed around several researchers over the months that followed), experienced the strange happenings.

In a bizarre twist, the stone heads seemingly disappeared during the many examinations of them, and their whereabouts remain a mystery to this day, as does just what the connection was between them and the mystery wolfman that appeared wherever they were. What is further interesting is that Hexham seemingly has a long history with strange wolf-like creatures going back decades, with some resulting in seemingly frenzied attacks on livestock.

In the book Shapeshifters: Morphing Monsters and Changing Cryptids, Nick Redfern details several of these encounters. Several local newspaper reports from 1904, for example, detail a spate of attacks on animals – many of which were killed – by what appeared to be a wolf. As Redfern writes, this is particularly interesting as “the wolf is extinct in the United Kingdom and has been for several centuries!” With this in mind, we might ask, was a literal lone wolf responsible for these animal attacks? Or could it have been the apparent supernatural wolfman connected to the Hexham heads?  Whatever the truth, local authorities issued warnings for the public to stay away from the woods during this time, as well as to keep to the main roads.

Then, several weeks after the attacks had started, the body of a dead wolf was discovered on the outskirts of the town. The authorities were quick to offer that the perpetrator was now dead, and many members of the local community were happy to agree with them. However, others expressed doubt on such assertions, pointing out that a unit of top-class hunting dogs had gone through the area where the wolf’s body had been discovered only a short time previously and had not picked up a single scent of anything unusual, which they would have had a wolf been nearby, alive or dead.

It is also worth our time briefly mentioning a similar spate of attacks that took place just short of a century earlier, in 1810 in the nearby village of Ennerdale. According to local newspaper reports of the time, hundreds of sheep were attacked and killed over six months, with some of the carcasses found completely drained of blood. The beastly culprit was eventually shot and killed, and its body was taken for examination. However, local records state that the examination of it failed to identify the creature. The current whereabouts of the body remain unknown.     

There are also plenty of reports of werewolf-like entities to examine from the twenty-first century. In 2014, in the town of Sao Concalo de Campos in Brazil, for example, reports were made – backed up by CCTV footage – of a “werewolf” coming out of the trees. The beastly creature then surveyed its surroundings for a moment before disappearing back into the woodland. Moreover, the sighting is not the only one in the area, with multiple other reports going back several years. As a demonstration of how seriously local authorities took the reports, a 9 pm curfew was put in place for several weeks.

Two years later, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Hull, East Yorkshire in England, in 2016, several reports were made of an “eight-foot-tall creature lurking in an abandoned industrial area” of the city. What made these reports most intriguing, though, was that one of the witnesses claimed to have seen the beast transform into its animal-like state from that of a man. She claimed that she was standing on a bridge and happened to be looking down at the industrial yard when she saw a man “(standing) upright one moment” before only a moment later being “down on all fours running like a dog!” Even stranger, after running for several moments, it came to a sudden stop and then “reared up onto its back legs!” It remains upright for a moment or two before it suddenly “vaulted 30 feet,” landing on an embankment on the other side of the water.

Around the same time at the same location, another local couple reported seeing an animal-like creature “eating a German Shepherd dog!” Upon stumbling onto the ghastly scene, the creature became aware of their presence and immediately stood upright, the dog’s carcass hanging from its mouth. It then turned and jumped over an eight-foot-tall fence and disappeared. What is perhaps interesting is that the county of Yorkshire was one of the places in England where wolves once roamed freely. Could that suggest that there is a supernatural element to accounts and claims of werewolves?

It is also worth our time here mentioning legends of vampires, which were also prevalent throughout Europe at the same time as those of werewolves, and also feature the detail of these strange creatures being able to assume not only the form of a bat but any creature it wishes a person to see it as. Moreover, these vampire creatures are said to require human blood for sustenance and to allow them to shapeshift as they please. Of course, whether vampires are nothing more than legends or whether they might exist in reality, this shapeshifting ability from a human to an animal is certainly of intrigue.

While most of us, then, perhaps think of werewolves and vampires when shapeshifters are brought up, if we examine the claims of reptilian entities we can find they have the same abilities. Indeed, while the reptilian form is their natural state – at least according to some researchers, others insist the reptilian form is simply one manifestation of what is, essentially, an energy-based entity – these reptilians can assume human form. Once more, there are several different theories about these changes in appearance. Some researchers, for example, offer that reptilians can assume the form of anything they desire, while others insist that these reptilian creatures can only morph into humans.  

Perhaps the person most associated with claims of reptilian entities is the controversial author, David Icke. In a nutshell, Icke puts forward that these reptilian entities came to Earth thousands of years ago, and through specific and purposeful interbreeding programs, quickly assumed positions of power in the form of kings and queens of the ancient world. These reptilian-human hybrids could shapeshift into human form but required human blood to maintain this manifestation (perhaps similar to legends of vampires). Incidentally, Icke makes an argument – and quite a compelling one at that – that these royal bloodlines continued from the lands of ancient Sumer and Egypt, moving and spreading north to become the royal houses and nobility of Europe, and then again into North America with the pilgrims. Ultimately, according to Icke, these shapeshifting, reptilian-human hybrids remain in discreet control over humanity still today.

The British author, Brinsley Le Peer Trench made similar claims of shapeshifting extraterrestrials interacting with the human race in antiquity, even offering that many of the ancient legends and Biblical writings were likely documentation of such interactions. He offered, for example, that The Watchers from the Biblical texts were likely extraterrestrials (Le Peer Trench referred to them as “ultraterrestrials”) who assumed human form so that they could interact with “the daughters of man”. He continued that this “transmogrification of energy” created a “vessel” (a human body) so that these entities could navigate the Earth. However, their actions were seen as an act of rebellion, and the group was abandoned, trapped on Earth, and trapped inside their human bodies. It is further interesting to note that Le Peer Trench highlights that these ultraterrestrials were later involved in a war with another species on Earth at the time – the Serpent People. Could it be that these Serpent People were the reptilian entities that Icke and other researchers insist have maintained a presence here on Earth for thousands of years?  

A particularly intriguing encounter with shapeshifting reptilian entities was documented by Antonio Huneeus in the Summer 1994 edition of UFO Universe. According to the anonymous witness, he had noticed on several occasions that he had been followed by strange men wearing black suits. Then, one evening in February 1980, while the witness was standing outside his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a dark car suddenly pulled up. The door was seemingly pushed open from the inside, and as soon as it was, the witness felt a sudden compulsion to enter the vehicle. Even though he didn’t want to, he found himself stepping inside the car. Sitting inside were the same three men the witness had noticed following him over the previous weeks. The car then set off, eventually arriving in a remote wooded area on the outskirts of the city. Then, an already strange encounter turned even stranger.

After the vehicle had come to a stop, the three men and the witness got out and immediately noticed a large, circular object hovering directly over the top of them. A moment later, all four of them were enveloped in a strange beam of light. The next thing the witness realized, he was sitting on a strange chair seemingly inside the hovering object. Before he could react, some kind of handles appeared on the chair that secured his wrists, while an iron (or something similar) bar pressed tightly against his forehead and yet another device secured and held his neck. The three men then appeared in the room, only now they had “shed their skin”, and instead of appearing like men wearing black suits, they were now reptilian humanoids with heart-shaped heads and green, scaly skin. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a human corpse hanging by their feet in a room next to the room he was in. His next memory after that was standing outside his home, the car and the creatures now gone.

More recently, in 2016, in Los Angeles, California, a man attending court over a minor traffic violation claimed to have seen the judge change into a reptilian being and then back again right before his eyes. The witness claimed that during the span of 10 seconds, the judge’s face changed from a human face to that of a reptile and then back again, and what’s more, it appeared to the witness that he was the only person who noticed the change. In part due to his protests, the court date was rescheduled. When the witness arrived in court the second time, however, he found himself standing in front of a different judge. Moreover, all of his attempts to identify and locate the judge he had witnessed change to a reptile proved fruitless.

Undoubtedly one of the most fascinating entities that is able to shapeshift is the Djinn, who can assume any form they wish. Indeed, legends of the Djinn are arguably among some of the oldest, stretching back thousands of years. While the origins of these legends come out of Asia, certainly in more recent times, accounts can be found around the world. Interestingly or not, many legends of the Djinn offer that one of the preferred manifestations of these strange entities is of a dog or cat – something that comes up in other legends around the world, as we shall see shortly. Perhaps what separates the Djinn from some of the other shapeshifters we have examined here is they appear to be more of a supernatural manifestation as opposed to a physical one. It is also worth noting that those who subscribe to the reality of the Djinn – of which there are many – state that the wolf, and, in turn, werewolves, are “natural predators” of them.

It is also appropriate here to briefly mention the infamous Skinwalker of the equally infamous Skinwalker Ranch, which is said by Native American legends to be able to assume the form of “any animal they desire!” When we consider the number of bizarre creatures that have been reported there – including multiple UFO reports – we might ask once more if rather than the location being awash with an abundance of different entities, it is home to the same entity – or energy source – that manifests in multiple different ways.

There are, of course, plenty of other examples of shapeshifters and creatures who can change their form on record from the world.

If we turn our attention to Japan, we find legends and tales of a supernatural creature called the Bakeneko, a large cat that is said to have the ability to morph into human form. Even more intriguing and harrowing in equal measure, some legends state that the Bakeneko sometimes assumes the identity of the person it has shapeshifted into. Even more alarming still, on occasion, the Bakeneko will possess a person, and even take control of the body of those who have been long dead. Whereas the legends of the Bakeneko are widespread throughout Japan, it seems to be only those who have led cruel lives who need to fear running into this shapeshifting creature, with some legends even offering that the Bakeneko are supernatural manifestations of cats that were abused or even killed by their owners.

If we venture across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii, we can find a remarkably similar creature – known as a Kasha, again from Japanese folklore. This demonic entity, which is said to feed on human corpses, is even said to reside in a specific location in Hawaii known as the Kaimuki House in Honolulu. The name translates into English as “Fire Cart” and, according to legend, a kasha’s true form is humanoid, although much larger than humans, with flames surrounding them (said by some legends to be flames from the fires of Hell). This true form, however, is only revealed during funerals when these creatures “snatch” the recently deceased so they can feed on it. Similar to the Bakeneko, kashas will generally assume the form of a cat in order to move and live undetected among the respective local population.

A similar encounter of a strange creature seemingly morphing into a “large cat” can be found in the book Paranormal Encounters on Britain’s Roads: Phantom Figures, UFOs, and Missing Time by Peter McCue. According to the account, at around 1:30 am in the early hours of June 9th, 1981, in Bedfordshire, England, chiropodist, Adrian Grier, was driving along a quiet road when his car headlights picked out a strange, shadowy creature ahead of him. After looking at it for several moments, Grier reasoned to himself that the creature was a Great Dane, or something similar. However, by the time his vehicle was only yards away from it, the creature, rather than being canine, was much more cat-like, almost like a lioness. He watched, slightly stunned, as the apparent feline creature “trotted away”, disappearing into a nearby field. Grier estimated that the creature – whatever it was – was around three-and-a-half feet tall and approximately six feet in length. Of course, seeing a large cat in the wild in England would be strange enough, but seeing one that just might have morphed from a dog-like beast to a large cat in a matter of seconds is another.

What is perhaps most interesting of all, though, rather than these creatures we have examined here being separate entities, is the notion that they are, essentially, the same beings – merely different manifestations from the same source.

This last suggestion takes on another level of intrigue when we explore the suggestion that not only can this source manifest as an animal or human, but as objects and even nuts-and-bolts vehicles. Many people have claimed to have seen UFOs change shape right before their eyes, for example. There are, though, other reports of another aerial vehicle changing its form while in flight, ones that have some kind of mysterious connection to UFO sightings – Black Helicopters. The previously mentioned Nick Redfern has documented multiple cases of Black Helicopters and their apparent missions to terrorize UFO witnesses. Moreover, Redfern claims to have at least 20 cases in his files of these Black Helicopters changing their appearance while in mid-flight. He claimed that descriptions given by witnesses to these bizarre events often describe these Black Helicopters going from a helicopter to something like the “shapes of classic 1950s-era flying saucers” (which is particularly interesting given the Men In Black often appear to be dressed in typical 1950s attire – might there be a connection?), or even appearing like a “blinding ball of light,” or a sphere-shaped object.

One of the most intriguing of these accounts was reported to MUFON and occurred on March 2nd, 2013, over Haverhill, Massachusetts. On the day in question, the anonymous witness noticed a Blackhawk helicopter flying at a relatively low altitude overhead. The sound of the helicopter had prompted the witness to grab his camera, and now, as he watched from outside of his house, he could see it was circling the area, something it did several times. The witness managed to take several photographs as it did so. However, on the last approach, they were shocked to see the aircraft begin to take on an entirely different shape right before their eyes. It first made a sudden, sharp turn at which point, it appeared completely different to the witness, who elaborated that it looked so strange that they “couldn’t even identify any parts!” The witness recalled that the entire incident – from it appearing like a helicopter to it changing shape entirely – took no more than 10 seconds.

Are these Black Helicopters actually extraterrestrial vehicles, and if so, are they utilizing some kind of advanced technology or are they sentient entities – essentially, a different manifestation from the same source that manifests as werewolves, reptilians, and Djinn? Or are they top-secret military vehicles, perhaps derived from reverse-engineered technology? All of these possibilities are mind-blowing.

Just what should we make of claims of people having the ability to change into a wolf-like creature which then attacks animals and even humans? Or of supernatural-type entities that can manifest in whatever form they choose, including the ability to shapeshift into a human, allowing such entities to walk among the human population unnoticed and undetected. Or even of apparent solid, nuts-and-bolts aircraft that can morph into something else entirely whilst in flight. While there is no doubt that we need to treat such claims and legends with caution, if there was any truth to any such accounts then it would force us to view the world, and our reality, in a vastly different way. Above all else, we might ask, if these shapeshifting entities do exist, how do they fit into the bigger picture of the paranormal world?