Up next in 10
Wisconsin is known for its forests, lakes, farmland, old mining towns, rural highways, and quiet communities. But beneath that familiar landscape are reports of terrifying encounters with winged anomalies, strange humanoids, invisible entities, black-eyed children, cryptid beasts, and other unexplained phenomena.
In this episode of Phantoms & Monsters Radio, we examine a series of disturbing Wisconsin cases, including a terrifying road encounter near Lake Geneva, the legendary Mineral Point Vampire, a winged humanoid seen at the Wisconsin State Fair, a possible angelic intervention in Madison, a Glimmer Man encounter near Sturgeon Bay, a demon-like animal south of Barron, the Man-Bat of Briggs Road near La Crosse, black-eyed children near Milwaukee, a massive figure in Kettle Moraine, and a flying witch-like being near Darien.
These reports suggest that Wisconsin may be a corridor of roadside high-strangeness, where witnesses encounter something at the edge of headlights, tree lines, bridges, cemeteries, fairgrounds, and lonely roads.
Are these misidentified animals, folklore brought into the modern age, unknown cryptids, interdimensional intrusions, or something even stranger?
Join us as we investigate UNEXPLAINED WISCONSIN.
Please like, share, comment, and subscribe to Phantoms & Monsters Radio for more eyewitness accounts, investigations, and unexplained case files.
👤 I'm Lon Strickler, creator of Phantoms & Monsters, and I’ve been a paranormal researcher and intuitive investigator for over 45 years. My work has been featured on numerous television shows, including Ancient Aliens, Paranormal Witness, Monsters and Mysteries in America, and Unsolved Mysteries, as well as on radio shows such as Coast to Coast AM.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
1:23
[music]
1:28
[music]
1:59
>> Mhm.
2:00
>> [music]
2:31
>> Hey folks, welcome to Families of
2:32
Monsters Radio.
2:35
Now, Wisconsin has always carried a
2:38
strange dual identity.
2:40
To many, it's farmland, forest, lake
2:44
shore, small towns, old mining
2:46
settlements,
2:47
and quiet roads cutting through the
2:49
dark.
2:50
It is a place of Friday fish fries,
2:53
county fairs, deer camps, frozen lakes,
2:56
and deep woods as seen peaceful by
2:58
daylight.
3:00
>> [sighs and gasps]
3:00
>> But after dark, Wisconsin becomes
3:02
something else.
3:03
The roads grow lonelier, the trees line
3:07
tree lines seem closer,
3:09
and the old cemeteries and mining towns
3:11
hold their silence a little too tightly.
3:14
Now, the lakes, marshes, wood trails
3:17
become thresholds, places where the
3:20
ordinary world appears to thin and
3:22
sometime else steps through.
3:26
Um in tonight's presentation, we move
3:28
across the state from Lake Geneva to
3:30
Mineral Point, from Madison to Sturgeon
3:32
Bay,
3:34
from Barron County to La Crosse, from
3:36
Kettle Moraine
3:37
to the rural roads near Darien.
3:40
The cases include a terrifying black
3:42
humanoid that chased a vehicle at
3:44
highway speed, a strange legend of the
3:48
Mineral Point Vampire, a winged humanoid
3:51
seen at the Wisconsin State Fair,
3:54
a vanishing woman believed to be an
3:56
angel, a glimmer man encounter in
3:58
Northeast Wisconsin,
4:00
a demon-like animal south of Barron, the
4:03
infamous man-bat of Briggs Road,
4:06
black-eyed children on lonely road, and
4:09
massive shadowy thing in the Kettle
4:11
Moraine,
4:12
and then a flying witch-like being near
4:15
Turtle Creek.
4:18
Now, some of these encounters are
4:19
violent in their emotional impact.
4:21
Others are bizarre, almost folkloric.
4:24
One may even be benevolent, but taken
4:27
together, they suggest something
4:29
persistent in Wisconsin's landscape.
4:33
Something awaits near roads, something
4:35
that watches from the woods, something
4:37
that appears on the edge of the
4:39
headlights, streetlights, fairgrounds,
4:41
bridges, cemeteries, and trails.
4:44
And one seen is not easily forgotten.
4:48
This is unexplained Wisconsin.
4:53
Now, our first report begins in December
4:56
2022 near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
4:59
Now, this is not an isolated cabin story
5:03
or an old legend passed through
5:04
generations. It happened to an in a
5:06
neighborhood rural setting like late at
5:09
night after routine trip to a gas
5:12
station.
5:13
The witnesses first believed they were
5:15
seeing a person jogging in the cold, but
5:17
within seconds, that ordinary assumption
5:20
collapsed.
5:22
What they saw was too tall, too fast,
5:24
too thin, and moved in a way that seemed
5:26
both twitchy and fluid.
5:28
Its arms were stretched behind it. Its
5:31
hands were huge. Its body was black. Its
5:34
head was shaped like a teardrop.
5:37
And when it turned, the encounter became
5:39
a pursuit. The witness states, "I saw
5:42
something in the road that changed me.
5:45
I want to know if anyone else has
5:46
experienced something similar or knows
5:48
what I saw.
5:51
It was December 2022. It was a Christmas
5:53
shopping. I was Christmas shopping with
5:55
a friend near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin,
5:58
where I live.
5:59
The shopping took up most of the day and
6:01
we had a lot with us by the time we got
6:03
home.
6:05
It was already dark, so we figured we
6:06
might as well push through and wrap
6:09
everything.
6:10
Now, by the time we were finished, I was
6:12
a little It was a little after 1:00 a.m.
6:14
We were out of cigarettes, so we left my
6:16
place and drove to a gas station.
6:18
Now, I had driven earlier because my
6:20
friend does not handle heavy traffic
6:22
well, so she offered to drive this time.
6:25
I am a bit of a night owl, so late-night
6:27
drives are not unusual for me.
6:30
Now, the road I live on is long and it's
6:33
not isolated or rural, but there are
6:35
woody areas nearby and the train tracks
6:37
close to my place.
6:39
The neighborhood also has apartment
6:41
buildings and the houses.
6:43
I use this road daily, especially at
6:45
night.
6:46
Now, after leaving the gas station, we
6:48
were approaching an intersection with a
6:50
stop sign where we needed to turn left
6:52
to get back into my place.
6:56
I was on the passenger side playing
6:58
Pokémon Go with my friend said, "That
7:01
person must be crazy to be jogging out
7:03
here."
7:04
I looked up and saw someone crossing the
7:06
intersection. Now, at first I It looked
7:08
like a person jogging.
7:10
I laughed and agreed with her, but then
7:11
I noticed how fast and tall he was. I
7:15
blurted out, "Wow, dude is fast, really
7:17
tall."
7:18
"Why is he running so weird?"
7:21
Now, first I did not think much about
7:23
it.
7:24
But, as we got closer, I realized he was
7:26
running hunched over and leaning forward
7:28
and his arms stretched behind him,
7:30
almost like they run when they
7:34
they do in Naruto.
7:36
His arms were incredibly long, extending
7:38
past his knees.
7:41
His hands were huge with long fingers.
7:43
He was skinny, and I mean sickly skinny.
7:47
The closer we got, the more wrong
7:49
everything looked and felt. His
7:50
movements were strange, twitchy,
7:53
but also fluid, especially for the speed
7:55
of which he was moving.
7:57
There were street lights along the
7:59
intersection in the road, but it seemed
8:01
unusually dark outside.
8:03
And as we came to the stop sign under
8:05
the street lamp,
8:06
he had just crossed the road.
8:08
But then he stopped right before the
8:10
edge where the light reached, maybe 15
8:12
yd away.
8:14
That was when I looked at the dashboard
8:16
clock, and everything hit me at once.
8:19
It was the middle of winter. It was 1:30
8:21
a.m. It was cold as hell.
8:24
Who would be out jogging like that?
8:26
But then I realized that this was not a
8:29
man.
8:30
This thing stood with its back to us,
8:33
hunched forward, arms stretched behind
8:35
it, and its long claw-like hands
8:37
visible.
8:38
It was the most intimidating eating
8:40
stance I'd ever seen.
8:42
It was easily over 7-ft tall, completely
8:44
black, and its head was shaped like a
8:45
teardrop.
8:47
We sat at the stop sign staring at it
8:49
for almost 10 seconds.
8:51
Then it did the fastest 180 turn I'd
8:53
ever seen and came straight at us.
8:56
I had never felt fear like that before.
8:58
It was not just being scared, an intense
9:00
panic rushed over me. Pure terror. It
9:03
felt heavy, and my whole body was
9:05
screaming, "Danger, you're in danger." I
9:07
yelled, "Go, go, go."
9:09
The car screeched as we took off, and my
9:12
phone flew out of my hand.
9:15
I looked behind us and sank even deeper
9:17
into terror. This thing was just not
9:18
keeping up with us, it was gaining on
9:20
us.
9:22
I yelled, "Floored, it's right behind
9:24
us."
9:25
At around 60 mph, we finally started to
9:27
lose it.
9:29
I scrambled for my phone to call 911.
9:32
Then the car came to a stop. I
9:34
immediately turned toward my friend. She
9:36
was staring straight ahead, wide-eyed.
9:38
She kept saying, "I need to see it. I
9:40
need to see it."
9:42
I was sort of panicked and instinctively
9:44
turned toward her toward me and said,
9:47
"You're not crazy. I saw it, too. You're
9:49
not crazy. I saw it, too.
9:52
It's real. We need to go before it gets
9:54
us."
9:56
She snapped out of it and floored it
9:58
again. I grabbed my phone and dialed
10:00
911, then stopped. It was like I finally
10:03
got a grip on myself. Almost as if the
10:06
distance between us and that thing had
10:08
reduced the fear.
10:10
My friend yelled, "What are you doing?
10:12
Call the cops." I said, "They'll never
10:14
believe us."
10:16
I used to listen to a podcast and
10:18
remember the host saying that when
10:19
people see things like this,
10:21
he sometimes wishes they would turn
10:23
around to go verify what they saw.
10:26
So, I told her not to pull up to my
10:28
place because it could still be behind
10:30
us.
10:32
I said, "Floor it to the end of the
10:33
road. We're switching as fast as we can.
10:36
I'm going to drive and put my phone
10:37
against the windshield to record,
10:40
and you're going to use your phone to
10:42
record. Then we'll have more proof for
10:44
the police to back up what just
10:45
happened."
10:47
She panicked
10:48
and kept saying, "No." But, she drove
10:50
past my place anyway.
10:53
We got to the end of the road, switched
10:54
places, and I drove back toward where we
10:56
had seen this thing.
10:58
But, there was nothing.
11:00
All this had happened within minutes.
11:02
Considering how fast it had been going
11:05
and how fast we were going, we should
11:07
have met it again.
11:09
Now, as we approached the area where we
11:11
first saw it, I do not know how to
11:12
explain it, but the same fear came back.
11:16
I realized that when we lost it, it
11:18
might have turned around and gone back
11:19
the other way, further down the road
11:21
near where we first saw it.
11:24
Now, the speed limit was 25 and I slowed
11:26
down to about 15 when that fear started
11:29
weighing on me again.
11:31
Then something happened that felt like a
11:33
movie.
11:34
A large group of deer ran towards us
11:36
from the direction where we were headed.
11:39
They were literally running in the
11:40
middle of the road alongside the car,
11:42
bumping into each other.
11:44
There had to be more than 10 of them,
11:47
both buck and doe.
11:48
They were running toward the car as if
11:50
there was far less danger than whatever
11:52
was behind them.
11:54
I had never seen deer run that fast or
11:56
so tightly together in that number.
11:58
I had to stop and wait for them to pass
12:00
before I could continue.
12:02
My friend said it it must be in that
12:04
direction. Something must be terrif-
12:05
have terrified those deer to run towards
12:07
like that.
12:09
It's got to be that thing we saw.
12:11
And I was thinking the same thing. And I
12:13
felt that fear again.
12:15
Now I continued down the stretch of
12:17
road, but we saw nothing.
12:19
We couldn't find it.
12:21
Now I drove until 6:00 a.m. because I
12:23
was too scared to go home without proof
12:25
to give to the police.
12:27
I convinced myself I would feel safe if
12:30
I knew the police were driving around my
12:31
area looking for it.
12:34
I was afraid it might follow me home if
12:35
I went back before daylight.
12:39
Now since that night, I can be sitting
12:41
in my living room playing a game and
12:42
suddenly feel the same primal fear and
12:44
panic wash over me.
12:46
It does not happen every day, but at
12:49
first it happened a couple times a week.
12:51
It feels like it must be close.
12:54
And that's why I feel this terror.
12:57
Now I've been gaming and laughing with
12:59
friends, not thinking about it at all,
13:01
but then boom, the terror crashes into
13:03
me like the thing is close and watching
13:05
me.
13:07
I know I'm not in a constant state of
13:08
paranoia.
13:10
That's why the fear feels so different.
13:13
I can be having a good night and the
13:15
thing completely out of my mind, and
13:16
then the fear returns.
13:19
Now lately it's become more frequent
13:20
more intense.
13:22
I smoke, so I go out at night. Sometimes
13:25
everything feels fine and I feel safe.
13:28
Other times I feel watched and unsafe,
13:30
like my body is screaming, "You're in
13:32
danger."
13:34
The thing I saw on the road that night
13:36
was black, but the thing I have seen
13:39
after is white, and almost glowing white
13:42
eyes and sharp exposed teeth.
13:44
It has the same tall thin body and
13:46
teardrop-shaped head.
13:48
I know this all sounds crazy.
13:51
What do you think it was?
13:54
And that leads to neighbor encounter has
13:56
several elements that appear again and
13:58
again with modern cryptid and humanoid
14:00
reports. An unnatural body shape and
14:02
possible speed, overwhelming fear, and
14:04
the sense that the witness has crossed
14:06
into presence of something predatory.
14:09
The Wisconsin strangeness is not limited
14:12
to modern roadside encounters.
14:15
Now, our next case moves into a much
14:17
older setting, Mineral Point in Iowa
14:19
County.
14:20
Mineral Point is one of those
14:21
Wisconsin's historic communities tied to
14:23
the lead mining era, Cornish settlement,
14:27
old stone buildings, and 19th-century
14:29
architecture.
14:31
It is the kind of place where history is
14:32
not just remembered, it still seems to
14:34
linger in the streets.
14:36
And according to local accounts,
14:38
something pale, caped, and impossible
14:41
has appeared there more than once.
14:46
Now, the quiet community of Mineral
14:47
Point, located in Iowa County,
14:49
Wisconsin, has long carried the
14:50
atmosphere of an old settlement with
14:52
deep roots.
14:53
The town history dates back to the the
14:56
lead mining era, when southwestern
14:58
Wisconsin drew miners and settlers to
15:00
what became one of the region's
15:02
important early communities.
15:05
Now, Mineral Point is also closely
15:06
associated with Cornish mining heritage,
15:09
19th-century
15:11
architecture, and a preserved historic
15:13
district that still gives the town a
15:15
distinctly old-world feel.
15:18
Now, according to an article written by
15:20
author Lynn Gibson in 2013.
15:23
The first widely circulated Mineral
15:25
Point vampire report began in 1981.
15:29
Now, at the time stories circulated that
15:31
something unusual had taken up residence
15:33
in Graceland Cemetery.
15:36
Local police officer John Pepper
15:37
reportedly went to investigate while on
15:40
patrol one evening. And as he entered
15:42
the cemetery and made his rounds, he saw
15:43
what was described as a tall figure
15:45
wearing a cape with a pale or white
15:48
face.
15:49
The figure appeared startled and fled.
15:52
Officer Pepper gave chase until the
15:54
caped
15:55
figure reached the fence and escaped
15:57
over it.
15:58
Now, the next morning Pepper and other
16:00
officers reportedly returned to the
16:01
cemetery to examine the area.
16:04
Snow was still on the ground, but the
16:06
oddest detail was that they did It was
16:08
what they did not find. There were no
16:10
tracks on either side of the fence where
16:12
the figure should have landed and
16:14
continued running.
16:16
Now, some later retellings provide
16:18
slight different different details.
16:21
Another article notes that Pepper's
16:23
encounter involved a pale man who leaped
16:26
over the fence into a cow pasture, while
16:28
Wisconsin Frights
16:31
gives the date as March 14th, 1981.
16:34
And quotes the figure as approximately
16:36
6'5" tall wearing a black cape and white
16:39
painted face.
16:41
Now, these variations are worth noting
16:42
because they show how the case evolved
16:44
from a police anecdote
16:46
to a local legend over time.
16:49
Now, for more than two decades the the
16:51
story seems to fade.
16:53
Then, March 14th, 2004,
16:56
police reportedly responded to multiple
16:57
complaints involving a strange figure
17:00
near an apartment complex.
17:02
Witnesses claimed that someone was
17:04
sitting in a tree and leaping toward
17:06
people as they passed below.
17:08
The description was similar to the
17:09
earlier Graceland Cemetery account, a
17:11
tall caped person with a pale face.
17:15
When officer arrived, the figure
17:17
literally jumped from the tree and ran.
17:19
Police pursued pursued it,
17:22
but the trail appeared to end at a
17:23
concrete wall.
17:25
As in the earlier cemetery case, the
17:27
escape itself seemed central mystery.
17:31
The figure was there, then gone, with no
17:33
clear indication of where it went next.
17:36
Now, the third major report came in July
17:38
11th, 2008. A young couple identified in
17:42
the published account as Brandon Hines
17:45
and Jamie Marker
17:46
had been fishing from a jetty at Ludden
17:48
Lake.
17:50
While they were on the wooded structure,
17:52
they began hearing noises beneath them.
17:55
There were scratching, splashing, and an
17:57
unnerving sound of something climbing up
17:59
from below.
18:01
Now, at first, Brandon believed it might
18:03
be an animal. He stood and stomped on
18:05
the jetty, apparently hoping the noise
18:07
would scare it away. Instead, the sound
18:09
moved closer.
18:11
He then shone a flashlight between the
18:13
boards, according to the report. He saw
18:15
a caped figure
18:17
climbing up from underneath the jetty.
18:20
Jamie fled first, running back to their
18:21
vehicle.
18:23
Bra- Brandon, frozen for the moment by
18:25
which he when he saw threw the
18:27
flashlight at the figure, and then ran
18:29
after her.
18:31
When he reached the car, Jamie was
18:33
already inside with the doors locked.
18:34
Brandon got in, started the engine, and
18:37
saw the caped figure moving quickly
18:38
towards them.
18:40
The couple drove directly to the Mineral
18:42
Point Police Department to make the
18:43
report.
18:44
Now, officers were dispatched to Ludden
18:46
Lake, where they reportedly found the
18:48
couple's fishing gear still present,
18:50
except for the missing flashlight.
18:52
Now, these three reports appear to form
18:54
the core of the Mineral Point vampire
18:56
legend. The 1981 cemetery sighting, the
18:59
2004 apartment complex in incident, and
19:02
the 2008 Ludden Lake encounter.
19:05
Later articles had treated the case as
19:07
folklore, a local mystery, or a possible
19:10
prank, but police response angle and the
19:12
repeated escape patterns keep the story
19:15
from being dismissed too casually.
19:18
There is also separate werewolf account
19:20
connected to Mineral Point. In Linda
19:23
Linda Godfrey's hunting the American
19:24
Werewolf Beast Men in Wisconsin and
19:26
Beyond, a woman identified as Kim
19:29
reportedly described a 1987 incident
19:32
which she saw a werewolf-like figure in
19:34
the middle of a spring afternoon shortly
19:36
before the full moon.
19:39
Now, according to the account, the
19:40
creature was running while transforming,
19:42
entering a building, grabbed the
19:44
railing, and changed back into human
19:46
form.
19:47
Godfrey reportedly noted that the story
19:49
could not be corroborated through
19:51
additional witnesses, even though the
19:53
woman claimed others were present.
19:56
That alleged 1987 instance should be
19:58
treated separately from the vampire
20:00
report. Still, it adds another layer to
20:02
Mineral Point's odd reputation.
20:04
Within a relatively small geographic
20:06
area, the local lore seem includes a
20:09
pale caped cemetery figure,
20:11
a tree-leaping nightstalker, a jetty
20:14
encounter at Ludden Lake, and reported
20:17
werewolf manifestation.
20:21
Now, the Mineral Point vampire legend is
20:22
difficult to classify.
20:24
Was it a prankster, local eccentric, a
20:27
costume trespasser,
20:29
a folkloric figure that grew with each
20:31
retelling? Possibly.
20:34
But, the reports include troubling
20:35
details, especially the repeated pattern
20:37
of sudden appearance, impossible escape,
20:40
and lack of ordinary evidence where
20:42
there should have been tracks or a clear
20:45
route of flight.
20:47
That brings us to another Wisconsin
20:49
report where a witness saw something
20:51
that could not be easily folded into
20:53
known explanation.
20:55
The next encounter took place on August
20:57
5th, 2021 at Wisconsin State Fair at
21:02
concert by Christian rock band Skillet.
21:06
The crowd had gone, the night was late.
21:08
Clean up crews were working near the
21:10
main stage.
21:11
And near the edge of the parking lot
21:13
area, one worker saw something tall,
21:15
black, winged, and watching.
21:19
Now, the witness, a college student
21:20
entering her entering her final year,
21:22
was working a part-time
21:24
uh part of a cleanup crew at Wisconsin
21:26
State Fair on the night of Thursday,
21:27
Octob- I mean, August 5th, 2021.
21:31
She and another worker of similar age
21:33
were assigned to pick up trash near the
21:34
main stage following a concert that had
21:36
ended roughly 2 hours earlier.
21:40
>> [gasps]
21:40
>> Now, while working near the force's
21:42
right side of the stage and talking
21:44
casually, her co-worker suddenly shouted
21:46
in alarm. Approximately 30 ft away, near
21:49
the edge of the parking lot
21:51
uh used as motor track infield during
21:54
the fair,
21:55
the witness observed a tall
21:57
humanoid figure unlike anything she had
21:59
ever seen.
22:01
The entity appeared to be about 7 ft
22:03
tall, extremely thin, yet solid, and
22:05
entirely black.
22:08
Most striking were its glowing yellow
22:11
eyes
22:12
and large bat-like wings extended an
22:14
estimated 12 ft from tip to tip.
22:18
The entity appeared focused on
22:21
the personnel dismantling the stage
22:23
equipment and initially seemed unaware
22:25
of the two witnesses.
22:27
It then took several unsteady steps
22:29
towards the stage before turning its
22:31
head and looking directly at them. Now,
22:34
at that moment, the witness described an
22:36
overwhelming psychological and emotional
22:38
response.
22:40
She felt as though the air had been
22:41
pulled from her lungs and experienced
22:43
complete immobilization accompanied by
22:46
absolute fear.
22:48
She was unable to scream or move.
22:50
After several seconds, the entity
22:52
rapidly flapped its wings as if
22:54
stretching them, then lifted into the
22:56
air and vanished into the night.
22:59
The witnesses remained frozen until
23:01
another worker approached and asked if
23:03
they had seen something nearby.
23:06
When told what had happened, the
23:07
individual suggested it might have been
23:10
a large owl or another bird distorted by
23:12
light and shadows,
23:13
and questioned whether they were under
23:15
the influence of drugs.
23:18
The witness strongly rejected that
23:19
explanation stating with certainty that
23:21
what she saw was real,
23:23
and that the behavior was intelligent.
23:26
The pair completed their shift and left
23:28
the fairgrounds around 2:30 a.m.
23:31
The witness noted that her co-worker
23:34
appeared deeply shaken and stated he
23:37
planned to remain in the well-lit areas
23:39
for the rest of the night.
23:42
Now, Wisconsin State Fair report is one
23:44
of the more disturbing winged humanoid
23:46
cases in this lineup because of the
23:49
witness's reaction.
23:51
She did not simply become frightened.
23:53
She described a sudden immobilizing
23:55
terror as if the air had been pulled
23:57
from her lungs.
23:58
The entity appeared intelligent. It
24:00
noticed her and it reacted.
24:03
The pattern is familiar to many winged
24:05
humanoid and Mothman-related cases. The
24:08
figure, the wings, the glowing eyes, the
24:10
paralysis, and the sense of direct
24:12
awareness.
24:13
But not every unexplained encounter in
24:15
Wisconsin carries menace.
24:18
Our next report takes place or takes us
24:20
to Madison
24:22
outside an emergency service clinic
24:25
during one of the most painful moments
24:27
in a witness's life.
24:29
This case is different. It does not
24:30
involve a monster or predator
24:33
or a shadow in the trees. It involves a
24:35
stranger who appeared at exactly the
24:37
right moment offering prayer,
24:40
gave the witness strength, and then
24:42
vanished.
24:45
Now, the witness states this occurred in
24:46
the parking lot of an emergency service
24:48
clinic in Madison, Wisconsin.
24:51
>> [clears throat]
24:52
>> My father had been living with lymphoma
24:54
for 5 years, but started exhibiting
24:56
stroke-like symptoms one day in April.
24:59
>> [snorts]
24:59
>> Nice weather plays a part in all this.
25:02
I don't remember who my family called at
25:05
work, but I was 45 to 50 minutes away.
25:09
Now, when I arrived at the clinic, no
25:11
one was with my dad, not my mom, not any
25:14
medical personnel. My father was in a
25:16
pleasant but befuddled mood,
25:19
able to chat but not clear on what
25:21
people where people were.
25:24
This is before anyone in my family had a
25:25
cell phone.
25:27
There was a phone on the wall next to my
25:28
dad's bed, which I used to call my
25:31
husband at work,
25:32
who had agreed to be the communication
25:34
point, to ask what the hell was
25:36
happening.
25:38
I recall hearing my spouse tell me that
25:40
my father had been diagnosed with a
25:41
brain tumor.
25:43
I'm staring at Dad, trying not to show
25:45
my shock and devastation, even though he
25:47
had been told but doesn't grasp this.
25:52
Now, while they had to wait for an
25:54
ambulance transport to a hospital, my
25:55
mom had run home for his meds and
25:57
necessities.
26:00
My husband said my mom called and she
26:02
hadn't found Dad's insurance card, so
26:04
could I go look for it at their house,
26:07
so Mom could be with Dad.
26:09
Okay, sure. I was numb.
26:12
I drifted into a haze to my car
26:15
in a very full parking lot. I rolled
26:17
down my windows, I started the car,
26:19
and the flood of tears came. My sobbing
26:21
was so physical that I couldn't back out
26:23
of the spot.
26:25
But then suddenly, a middle-aged
26:27
African-American woman appeared at my
26:29
car window,
26:30
ask ask asking to pray with me.
26:33
I managed to nod my my assist,
26:37
and she
26:38
reached to hold my left hand.
26:41
I don't remember anything she said,
26:43
but the
26:44
but when she was praying aloud, it
26:47
calmed me. It instantly gained the
26:49
mental and physical strength to cope
26:50
with this tragedy.
26:52
Then suddenly, she was gone.
26:55
She simply vanished into thin air as I
26:57
was looking at her.
26:59
I'm totally convinced that she was an
27:01
angel.
27:02
My dad's aggressive brain tumor against
27:04
all odds and to the surprise of the
27:06
oncologist disappeared within 3 months.
27:09
He lived another 12 years and eventually
27:11
passed away not from lymphoma,
27:13
but by natural causes. He was 93 years
27:16
old.
27:19
Now, the Madison angel account stands
27:21
apart because of its emotional tone.
27:23
Instead of fear,
27:25
the witness describes comfort. Instead
27:27
of pursuit, there is intervention.
27:28
Instead of trauma, there's strength.
27:31
And yet, it belongs in this presentation
27:33
because it raises the same core question
27:35
as the darker cases.
27:37
Can something appear briefly in our
27:39
world, interact with a witness, and then
27:41
vanish in a way that defies ordinary
27:43
explanation?
27:44
Now, the next report moves back into
27:46
stranger more ambiguous territory.
27:49
Near Sturgeon Bay in northeast
27:51
Wisconsin, a witness walking his dog
27:54
encountered what he believed to be an
27:55
invisible two-legged presence in a
27:58
wooded park area.
28:00
He heard it. His dog reacted to it. He
28:03
saw the grass and the brush move under
28:05
the pressure of something large.
28:08
But for much of the encounter, the thing
28:09
itself could not be seen.
28:12
>> [snorts]
28:12
>> Now, this witness states, "Hello, I've
28:14
been reading your post describing what
28:16
you call a glimmer man.
28:18
I had a very strange account encounter
28:21
with an invisible two-legged large
28:25
sections have wooded areas along side
28:29
the path.
28:30
Most of the trail has woods on one side
28:33
and the park is on the other. The wooded
28:36
area is not very large. I would guess
28:38
about 300 ft by 1/2 a mile.
28:40
So, I don't consider it as a forest. I
28:42
just call it the woods. Now, I'm located
28:45
in northeast Wisconsin near Sturgeon
28:47
Bay.
28:49
Now, the park's wooded area has three or
28:51
four small creeks and I think only one
28:53
has any water. Most of the trees are
28:56
beautiful and normal. Tall trees and
28:58
some here and there look like they're
28:59
dead.
29:01
There are also people and kids going
29:03
down there to ride bikes, hang out, and
29:05
whatever else they do.
29:07
So, one day about 4:30, excuse me, at
29:10
4:00 p.m., I took my female dog Jazz for
29:13
our normal everyday walk.
29:16
We had just gotten out of the car and
29:17
began our walk. Now, we were probably
29:19
[clears throat] walking on the trail for
29:20
about four four or five minutes or so
29:22
when I started feeling weird after a
29:24
turn.
29:26
No, not scared or afraid. I started
29:28
feeling happy.
29:30
And my little pain aches had
29:31
disappeared.
29:33
This was very strange because I remember
29:35
saying to myself, not out loud, "Wow, I
29:37
feel good. I feel like a little kid. I
29:39
feel brand new."
29:42
It was only about 20 seconds of this joy
29:44
young joyful feeling when all of a
29:46
sudden something let go of a large bush
29:49
it had been holding on to.
29:51
The thing sounded like it was tangled in
29:53
the bush, like it was holding on and
29:54
trying to hide.
29:57
At the same time as the noise in the
29:59
bush, Jazz turned toward the bush and
30:01
started going after it.
30:03
I had Jazz on a leash and she was
30:04
dragging me, almost taking me into the
30:06
woods.
30:08
I had to hold her back because I
30:09
couldn't see what was making all that
30:11
noise.
30:12
It moved through the another tall bush
30:14
and started stepping heavily with loud
30:16
thumps.
30:19
I think it fell when it left the bush
30:20
area. The thing was only about 15 ft
30:23
away from us on the other side of the
30:25
the bushes and sounded like two very
30:27
large horses stomping on the ground.
30:30
I could see the bush and the grass
30:31
moving, but I could not see anything.
30:35
We stepped back a few feet from the
30:37
trail so I could see a clearing on the
30:39
other side of the brush
30:41
to try and see this thing.
30:43
It looked I looked right where the
30:45
footsteps were coming from and saw
30:46
nothing.
30:48
I looked down at the ground and saw that
30:50
your two feet were stepping onto the
30:52
tall grass.
30:54
>> [clears throat]
30:54
>> I remember I said to myself in my head,
30:57
"No way, this is not an invisible
30:58
monster."
31:00
Right after I said that, I heard
31:01
something I'll never forget. The thing
31:03
started making loud T-Rex stomps.
31:08
Then I said out loud, "That sounds like
31:10
a T-Rex from the movies."
31:12
I recall feeling the stomps on the
31:14
ground. Jazz and I were just looking
31:16
into the woods at the sound.
31:18
I could feel my eardrum shaking badly
31:20
and both eardrums felt like busted
31:22
speakers.
31:23
In my head, I said, "It's trying to blow
31:25
my eardrums."
31:26
The T-Rex stomps lasted about 15 10 to
31:29
15 seconds. Then the sound stopped as if
31:32
a light switch had been turned off.
31:35
I have no idea whether it jumped into
31:37
something or vanished.
31:39
It's strange because after all that, I
31:41
still felt happy with no worry or fears
31:43
at all, just very curious.
31:46
I really wanted to see it.
31:48
Now, on the way home, I remembered that
31:50
the other day
31:51
uh that the other day I would have been
31:53
afraid or other day I would have been
31:55
afraid, it would have run away from it.
31:58
I heard this thing three or four times
31:59
in the following days in another section
32:01
of the woods.
32:03
I could hear someone walking on leaves
32:04
just inside the tree line.
32:07
About 30 ft away in the woods alongside
32:10
Jazz and me.
32:11
I would hear it and stomp without stop
32:13
without turning to it.
32:15
And it would take a step or two, then
32:16
stop.
32:19
I turned around a few times to see
32:20
nothing because it wasn't moving.
32:23
I did this a few times to make sure. I
32:25
would tell myself in my head, "If a
32:27
person stays on the trail, they have no
32:29
permission to take you."
32:31
I think one time I heard his steps in
32:33
the woods next to me.
32:36
I said to myself in my head, I think it
32:38
wants me to make a mistake and go into
32:40
the woods toward it.
32:42
After I thought that,
32:44
I never heard it again.
32:46
I'm sure it can can hear what I'm
32:48
thinking.
32:50
Now, just a few weeks ago, I I saw
32:51
something very strange related to this
32:53
thing.
32:54
Jazz and I were walking in the same part
32:56
of the trail, only about 100 ft away
32:58
from the first encounter,
33:00
where the bushes were.
33:02
I stopped to look into the woods, and I
33:04
was standing still looking past the
33:06
trees.
33:07
The area was covered in a few inches of
33:09
light green grass.
33:11
I was looking kind of downhill at
33:14
how the woods go down in and around the
33:17
creek down there.
33:19
I said to myself, it looks beautiful,
33:20
the trees, the color of the greens and
33:22
the sunlight and shadows.
33:24
It looks like a postcard, perfect.
33:28
About 2 or 3 seconds after that, I
33:31
thought that while I was just looking
33:33
down at the area of the woods, I saw a
33:35
big human-shaped blur move between two
33:37
trees about 80 ft away.
33:41
I saw it for a split second. It was big,
33:44
maybe 10-ft tall, big head, big muscled
33:46
shoulders, and I remember it had big uh
33:49
it's uh remember its big left leg. I
33:51
remember its left knee and the big
33:53
muscle above it. I could see the thick
33:56
shiny hair on the leg.
33:59
Yes, this thing looked exactly like the
34:01
Predator from the movie when it was
34:02
cloaked.
34:04
It was very weird how my brain captured
34:06
that image. My memory surprised me.
34:09
Its shoulders, its head, and the side of
34:11
its back were reflecting the woods
34:13
between him and me.
34:15
It looked like a male, not a female. In
34:17
my opinion, it took off running because
34:20
I sensed it was in the area.
34:22
But I had no idea it was there.
34:25
I'm very cautious when I go for a walk
34:27
near the woods now.
34:28
I also tell people where I'm going. I
34:31
have no idea why this thing got so close
34:34
to me and why it's what its intentions
34:36
were.
34:38
And I also don't know why it ran away
34:39
from me those times.
34:41
Was there something or someone behind me
34:43
that startled it?
34:45
These occurrences were an incredible
34:47
time in my life. It changed me for the
34:49
better.
34:50
I often think I don't know, but maybe
34:53
that's why my dogs that's why dogs are
34:56
on the planet to help us pick up on
34:59
these invisible things
35:01
when they get too close.
35:03
Always be happy and do things you love.
35:05
Have no worries and certainly no fear.
35:08
I hope my story helps people to be alert
35:11
and careful out there in the world.
35:14
Now, the Sturgeon Big Glimmer Man case
35:16
is unusual because the witness did not
35:18
intentionally feel
35:19
initially feel fear.
35:21
In fact, he described the opposite, a
35:23
sudden sense of happiness, youthfulness,
35:26
and a physical relief just before the
35:28
disturbance began.
35:30
That emotional shift is worth noting.
35:33
In some paranormal cases, witnesses
35:34
report fear, nausea, confusion,
35:37
euphoria, missing time, or a feeling
35:39
that the environment itself has changed.
35:42
Here, the witness later saw a large
35:44
human-shaped blur like a cloak predator
35:46
effect moving between trees.
35:50
But, our next report is more physically
35:52
direct.
35:54
South of Barron, Wisconsin, on a dark
35:56
country road around 8:00 p.m., a driver
35:58
saw green eyes near a driver's side
36:00
window, about 4 ft high.
36:03
At first, the witness could under-
36:04
couldn't understand what had appeared.
36:07
Then, after turning around, the witness
36:08
saw the animal fully in its headlights.
36:11
It wasn't a deer, not a dog, not a cat,
36:14
not a cow.
36:15
It seemed to be something
36:17
else entirely.
36:21
Now, the witness tells me, "For many
36:23
years, I've been haunted by something I
36:24
saw in the back country of Wisconsin.
36:27
It was early spring and I was headed
36:29
down a dark country road on 8:00 p.m.
36:31
south of Barron, Wisconsin.
36:34
Surrounded by trees, I drove over a hill
36:36
and a little ways down the other side.
36:39
I saw a reflection of green eyes near
36:41
the driver's side window, about 4 ft
36:44
high.
36:45
I was confused
36:46
uh because they were right by my window
36:49
and I didn't see anything in the road
36:50
ahead of me a second earlier.
36:52
It seemed to be trying to be invisible
36:54
and had appeared just a moment too soon.
36:57
I drove a little further and decided to
36:59
turn around to see if my eyes been
37:01
playing tricks on me
37:02
and if it was indeed an animal of some
37:04
kind. And as I approached, my mind
37:07
whirled because I could see an animal
37:09
there, but then an overwhelming sense of
37:12
fear overcame me when I could not
37:14
identify it.
37:17
I pulled up to it now about 20 ft away
37:19
and it was in front of me.
37:21
I was horrified by this time and I knew
37:24
in my heart that I could not take my
37:26
lights off it or would or I'd die, or so
37:29
my gut told me.
37:32
In front of me stood a creature that was
37:33
4 ft at the shoulder but approximately 5
37:36
to 6 ft tall to the top of the head.
37:39
It had the head of something like a cat,
37:42
a muscular body of a dog,
37:44
but was the size of a cow and very lean.
37:48
It had cat-like ears and a short snout,
37:50
but overall it was definitely not a cat.
37:52
It had a cocoa brown fur with dark brown
37:55
zebra-like stripes running down its
37:57
side.
37:58
It also had a dark brown mane running
38:00
down its back.
38:02
Its green eyes were in the front of its
38:04
head.
38:05
Out of fear, I flashed my headlights at
38:07
it and then honked my horn hoping it
38:08
would run off.
38:10
It only looked as if it I had
38:13
if I had infuriated it as it brought its
38:16
head down to the ground, keeping its
38:19
eyes on me as if I was threatened
38:21
or it was threatened.
38:23
Several times a thought crossed my mind
38:25
that in fact was strong and big enough
38:27
to bash the windshield, rip me out of
38:29
the car, and eat me alive.
38:32
I knew it wasn't going to be the one to
38:34
back down after flashing my light and
38:36
honking at it, so I decided to keep my
38:38
lights on it and back down the road in
38:41
reverse.
38:42
I did just that as it stared intently at
38:44
me. I reversed about a quarter mile,
38:47
then did a U-turn in the road and peeled
38:48
out.
38:50
No one has mentioned this creature
38:52
before or since that I have read.
38:55
Now, as far as animals goes, it was way
38:57
too big to be a deer, too lean and
38:59
muscular for deer as well.
39:01
It had cat-like features, but
39:04
was much too tall to be any type of
39:05
large cat.
39:07
It was way too tall to be any type of
39:08
dog, definitely not a cow as I had ever
39:11
seen.
39:13
I lived and hunted in the area for many
39:15
years, so I was very attuned to the
39:17
area's native animals.
39:19
I sure hope someday I find someone else
39:21
who's experienced this demon-like
39:23
animal.
39:25
Now, the Barron County creature's one of
39:27
those reports that resist easy
39:28
classification.
39:30
The witness described a lean, muscular
39:32
animal with cat-like head, dog-like
39:34
body, and cow-like size,
39:36
green, forward-facing eyes, cocoa brown
39:38
fur, dark, zebra-like striping, and a
39:41
dark mane down its back.
39:44
That combination does not fit any known
39:46
Wisconsin wildlife.
39:49
But Wisconsin has another category
39:51
creature reports that even more
39:52
disturbing, winged humanoids.
39:55
Our next case is one of the most
39:56
notable.
39:57
It occurred on the September 26th, 2006
40:01
on Briggs Road near La Crosse,
40:03
Wisconsin.
40:04
The witnesses were a man known by his
40:07
Cherokee name, Wahalli, and his adult
40:10
son.
40:11
What came out of their vehicle had
40:13
bat-like wings, long claws, a terrifying
40:15
scream, and a body that made them
40:17
physically ill for days afterwards.
40:20
This is the man-bat of Briggs Road.
40:24
Now, this encounter happened on Tuesday,
40:26
September 26, 2006 on Briggs Road near
40:29
La Crosse, Wisconsin around 9:30 p.m.
40:32
The witnesses were a 53-year-old
40:34
resident who prefers to be known only by
40:36
his Cherokee name, Wawawai.
40:38
And his 25-year-old son.
40:41
The creature they encountered was
40:43
described as 6 to 7-ft tall with
40:45
bat-like leather leathery wings spanning
40:47
10 to 12 ft.
40:50
Had long claws on his feet and hands and
40:52
a snarling expression.
40:54
It flew towards their windshield, stared
40:56
at them, and swooped upward into the
40:58
night sky.
41:00
The creature reportedly screamed at them
41:02
before sailing straight up into the air.
41:04
Wawawai
41:05
change stated that he did not know
41:07
whether the creature had been on the
41:09
road and then bounced up at them.
41:12
Or if it had already been flying when it
41:14
came toward their vehicle.
41:16
But he was certain that the thing was
41:18
physical and real unlike anything he'd
41:20
ever seen before.
41:22
Their reaction was immediate and
41:24
extreme. Within seconds, both men became
41:26
physically ill.
41:28
The son, who was driving, swerved and
41:29
then pulled the truck over into a ditch
41:32
so he could vomit.
41:34
He vomited six or seven more times.
41:36
Wawawai
41:37
retched as well and both men reportedly
41:39
remained sick for an entire week.
41:42
The son was so frightened by the
41:44
encounter that he refused to discuss it.
41:47
Wawawai, however, said that he felt it
41:49
was important for people to know what
41:50
was out there.
41:53
He also described seeing distended ribs,
41:56
long human-like legs with claws, huge
41:58
bat-like wings with arms stretched or
42:00
attached, teeth, and a scream that he
42:04
described as terrifying.
42:06
Now, Wawawai's account and and sincerity
42:08
convinced researcher Linda Godfrey
42:11
that he had a credible sighting and it
42:12
was something he had not heard described
42:14
before.
42:15
Or she had not heard described before.
42:17
Now, Godfrey noted that he had been
42:19
nothing to gain by making it up or
42:22
talking about it, and that he believed
42:24
the more he talked about it, the more
42:26
power it gave the creature.
42:28
And Godfrey stated that she felt it was
42:30
important that someone record his
42:32
experiences.
42:34
Now, the man bat of Briggs Road ranks
42:36
among the more notable weird experiences
42:38
connected to Wisconsin.
42:42
Now, another similar entity was reported
42:44
when a man and a boy were searching for
42:46
a lost dog.
42:48
They saw what they described as a lizard
42:50
man covered in brownish scales and very
42:52
reptilian-looking.
42:54
Around the same time, a state DNR warden
42:57
and separately a group of highway
42:58
workers reportedly saw what they
43:00
described as the reptile man on Highway
43:02
13 near Medford or Marshfield.
43:06
It also had a wings
43:08
and could fly out of their view.
43:11
Now, the Medford location was near the
43:12
Black River, which flows up from the La
43:14
Crosse area.
43:16
Now, since these sightings, some people
43:19
have suggested that this creature may
43:21
have been a Mothman-like entity,
43:22
especially given earlier reports of
43:24
strange activity in La Crosse region.
43:27
Could these sightings have been related
43:29
to Chicago and the Lake Michigan winged
43:30
humanoid phenomena?
43:32
That question remains open.
43:36
Now, the Briggs Road encounter is
43:38
important because it links several
43:39
recurring Wisconsin elements: roadways,
43:42
nighttime travel, winged humanoids or
43:44
winged beings, violence,
43:46
physical reactions, and a witness left
43:48
convinced
43:50
that what appeared was not imaginary or
43:52
symbolic, but a physical presence.
43:56
There was also broader connections worth
43:58
considering.
44:00
Some have wondered whether such
44:01
sightings related to the Mothman
44:03
phenomenon, especially given the La
44:04
Crosse area's own history of strange
44:06
associations and drowning lore.
44:09
Others have compared winged
44:12
Wisconsin reports to the later Chicago
44:14
and Lake Michigan winged humanoid wave.
44:17
But Wisconsin's roadside phenomena do
44:19
not stop with winged creatures.
44:21
Our next account begins near Milwaukee
44:24
with two friends driving north at night,
44:26
simply exploring roads they did not
44:29
know.
44:30
They exited into an area cornfield with
44:32
no visible homes, no gas station, and no
44:34
town lights.
44:37
Then they saw two children standing
44:38
beside the road. At first the situation
44:40
seemed odd.
44:42
Then the driver saw the eyes.
44:46
The witness states, "This story happened
44:48
to me about 16 years ago. I was around
44:50
24 at the time.
44:52
I worked in hospitality, so my friends
44:54
and I hung out later at night.
44:56
So at around 9:00, my friend and I
44:58
decided to go for a drive, someplace
45:00
we'd never been, just to get the car and
45:02
go.
45:04
I offered and waited to drive because my
45:05
mother was out of town and I was using
45:07
her Mercedes-Benz.
45:09
It was one of those early '90s E-bodies,
45:12
the one that were
45:13
big piles of heavy steel, a real tank of
45:16
a car.
45:17
I only mention the car body because it
45:19
becomes relevant later in the story.
45:23
He happily agreed and he hit the road.
45:26
We live near Milwaukee, Milwaukee,
45:28
Wisconsin at the time. We drove north
45:30
out of the city and drove about an hour
45:32
when I saw an exit I didn't recognize
45:34
and decided to get off there.
45:37
There was nothing at this exit other
45:39
than cornfields, no gas station or
45:41
restaurant signs, no visible light of a
45:42
town in any direction.
45:45
So we were in a place we didn't
45:47
recognize, but that was the point, just
45:49
driving to get nowhere because the speed
45:51
limit was 35 and we were in no rush.
45:55
The moon was out enough that everything
45:56
was pretty visible.
45:59
About a mile into the the
46:00
we could see two kids on the right side
46:02
of the road.
46:03
We commented on how weird it was because
46:05
there was no housing, stores, or even
46:07
lights on the horizon.
46:09
Plus, it was around 10:30 at night.
46:12
Naturally,
46:14
uh we were two large of guys, so we
46:16
didn't worry about anything.
46:18
I slowed down so we could check whether
46:20
their car had broke down or if they were
46:22
okay.
46:24
And as we pulled up, I noticed the kid's
46:26
in the front's clothing. It was stained
46:29
cream colored tweed-like shirt with real
46:31
tattered sleeves and overalls and only
46:33
one strap.
46:35
He appeared to be maybe 12 years old.
46:37
The second kid was taller, wearing a red
46:39
flannel-type shirt, and old-time looking
46:41
khaki pants. However,
46:44
I could barely notice the taller kid
46:46
standing further behind the smaller one
46:49
because as I pulled up, I noticed the
46:51
clothes
46:52
and got to see the whole child.
46:54
His arms were to his sides, slightly
46:56
raised, almost, you know, iconic zombie
46:59
way.
47:00
But his eyes,
47:01
I couldn't take my eyes off them.
47:04
I did my best to mutter to my friend,
47:06
"You're seeing this, too, right?"
47:09
His eyes were pitch black,
47:11
blacker than night,
47:13
but easy to see as he stood there
47:14
staring at us.
47:16
I did not know what the heck I was
47:18
seeing,
47:19
but I'll never for-
47:21
been so frightened in my life, and I've
47:23
had several odd experiences that have
47:25
left me unable to deny that there is
47:27
more in this world than we understand.
47:30
So, we stopped for a moment locking eyes
47:32
with whatever this thing was. It was no
47:34
child, it was evil. I have no I have
47:37
zero doubts about that.
47:40
We quickly agreed to go, and fast. We
47:43
were not going to inquire with them.
47:45
This is straight out of the Twilight
47:47
Zone, and I remember the hitchhiker,
47:49
and that it was not happening tonight.
47:52
So, we went, and we clamored between
47:55
ourselves,
47:57
"What the heck did we just see? What was
47:59
that? What the hell was that? Still no
48:02
signs of homes, just open cornfields.
48:05
How these two kids could be there, I
48:07
don't know, but I believe they weren't
48:09
kids.
48:11
So, I kept driving and we got out of the
48:13
field onto the winding wooded road
48:15
shortly after, probably around 5
48:17
minutes.
48:19
In Wisconsin, there are no random
48:20
historical markers that display
48:23
the year the event occurred. It only
48:25
mentioned that because I passed one on a
48:27
curve, so I glanced at that.
48:30
And as I was driving through the curve
48:32
going about 45 mph, a creature walked in
48:34
front of my car.
48:36
And as I saw it, it was nothing like I'd
48:38
ever seen.
48:40
Its spine was tall and it
48:42
stuck above the hood ornament as I hit
48:45
it.
48:46
It was a gray color and it looked like
48:48
nothing I'd ever seen.
48:49
It had a very tall arch in its spine,
48:52
almost like when a cat hisses and goes
48:54
on its toes. That kind of shape, but
48:56
very tall and gangly creature.
49:00
I hit this thing straight on with the
49:02
tank of the Benz.
49:06
My friend was freaked out at this point,
49:09
as was I, to say the least. I stopped
49:11
immediately,
49:13
but now we were both scared because of
49:15
the children in the cornfields and now
49:17
this thing literally within minutes of
49:19
one another.
49:20
We decided getting out wasn't going to
49:22
happen, but I decided to stay in the
49:24
locked car and use its lights to see
49:26
what we hit and make sure whatever the
49:28
hell it was was dead.
49:31
I need to know what I just saw.
49:34
I drove in tiny circles, backing up and
49:36
forward, looking for the creature, but
49:38
after checking every inch within 100
49:40
yards and not seeing a thing, including
49:43
not a drop of blood where I hit it
49:45
straight on with the Benz, making
49:47
contact with the spine, body, and head,
49:50
there was just nothing.
49:52
That was unnerving, and although I want
49:54
to check my mother's car, I would deal
49:56
with that further down the road.
49:59
We were not going to get out there, so
50:01
we decided to head home at that point.
50:04
So, 15 minutes later before I got back
50:06
onto the freeway,
50:08
I needed to get out and see how bad the
50:10
car was, and as I got out to check
50:12
quickly,
50:13
since I wasn't taking chances tonight, I
50:15
noticed my grill was busted in.
50:18
But, nothing too bad.
50:20
So, I made sure it was secure and got
50:22
back in as quickly as possible. My
50:24
friend decided to stay inside the car.
50:27
Now, recently I heard about black-eyed
50:28
kids and freaked out a little.
50:30
I don't know if they're a real thing. I
50:32
thought just a couple of demon kids or
50:35
damn ghost or I didn't know what to
50:37
think.
50:38
And to this day, I've looked through a
50:40
tons of photos of supposed cryptid
50:42
beasts and mythological creatures
50:44
looking for what I hit.
50:46
And the closest I've found is some
50:47
Algonquian drawings of Wendigos.
50:50
And they were very close to what I saw
50:52
and hit that night.
50:54
It seems very odd to me that both things
50:57
could happen so close to one another and
50:58
not be related.
51:00
Possibly it was an evil area or ley
51:02
line. I just don't know.
51:04
I would like to point out that I've
51:06
lived in Wisconsin for a long time, and
51:08
it was not a deer or coyote or anything
51:09
else.
51:10
What I hit was nothing native to the
51:12
known Wisconsin landscape, and neither
51:14
were those hard kids.
51:17
I'll never forget either. Those faces
51:19
and just hope I never come across them
51:21
ever again.
51:26
Now, the Milwaukee area port is one of
51:28
the strangest in this collection because
51:29
it appears combined two separate
51:31
anomalies within minutes.
51:33
First, the witnesses encounter what have
51:35
been black-eyed children standing alone
51:37
in a remote rural area.
51:40
Then, only a short time later, they
51:42
strike a tall gray arch-spined creature
51:44
with the car, damaging the grill, but
51:47
find nobody, no blood, no physical
51:49
remains.
51:51
The witness later wondered whether the
51:53
two events were connected, perhaps tied
51:55
to an evil area, a lay line, or another
51:57
zone of heightened strangeness.
52:00
That idea, an area rather than a single
52:02
creature, is worth carrying into the
52:05
next report because our next case takes
52:08
us to the Kettle Moraine State Forest
52:09
area near Whitewater Lake, and not far
52:12
from Bray Road, a region already famous
52:15
in Wisconsin cryptid lore.
52:18
There, a group of young people in
52:19
Carolan encountered a massive figure on
52:22
a trail.
52:25
Now, the witness says, "I grew up in the
52:27
Kettle Moraine State Forest in Southern
52:29
Wisconsin.
52:30
I would constantly ride ATVs and dirt
52:33
bikes in Natureland Park on the south
52:35
end of the Whitewater Lake.
52:38
Now, this section of Kettle Moraine has
52:40
122 acres of trails and wilderness for
52:42
people to enjoy.
52:44
>> [snorts]
52:44
>> It borders the south end of the
52:46
Whitewater Lake. The trails are fairly
52:48
well used during the summer, but never
52:50
packed with people.
52:53
Now, when I was younger, some friends
52:54
and I would run around in Natureland
52:56
Park doing what dumb kids do.
52:59
And just for the record, I live about 18
53:01
mi minutes from Bray Road, the supposed
53:03
home of the Beast of Bray Road.
53:06
Anyway,
53:07
some friends and I were running around
53:09
the trails in Natureland Park back in
53:11
the day, probably about eight of us.
53:14
We heard something breaking branches off
53:16
the trail, not too far away from us.
53:19
We all stopped to listen. There were no
53:20
bears, no cats, nothing too scary
53:22
around.
53:24
Maybe the occasional coyote, white tail,
53:27
raccoon, etc., but whatever this was had
53:29
to be large.
53:31
So, as we got a bit concerned, this
53:33
thing must have moved because he we
53:36
heard a large snap of a branch.
53:39
We took off running like a bunch of
53:40
lunatics.
53:41
We could hear this thing running behind
53:43
us. It was literally like something out
53:44
of a movie.
53:47
My friend tripped and fell as we were
53:48
trying to catch up with the rest of our
53:50
friends who had left us in the dust.
53:54
And as I stopped to help the other kid,
53:55
we both looked back down the trail to
53:57
see the silhouette of something enormous
53:59
standing in the trail and staring at us.
54:03
I couldn't make out any detail. It was
54:04
just a massive black mass of something
54:06
that looked like it wanted to dismember
54:08
us.
54:09
I yelled, "What the hell is that?"
54:12
Just about the same time this thing
54:13
dropped down on all fours and bolted off
54:15
toward the timber
54:17
like a freight train.
54:19
We got out of there as quickly as we
54:20
could.
54:22
We could hear the thing busting through
54:23
the woods getting further and further
54:25
away from us.
54:27
And as we got to the parking lot,
54:29
everyone around us heard the commotion.
54:31
We got on our bikes and rode like crazy
54:33
all the way back home.
54:36
It's not too much of an encounter, but
54:38
it was enough for me to never go back to
54:40
Natureland Park at night ever again.
54:43
This all happened about 35 years ago and
54:45
I've heard only a handful of people
54:48
or in total handful people. I actually
54:50
feel a bit better getting this out. Not
54:53
too much happens around this small town.
54:57
Now of course the the Kettle Moraine
54:59
report is brief but powerful. A group
55:01
hear something large breaking branches
55:03
off the trail. They run. One of them
55:05
falls. Looking back, they see an
55:07
enormous black mass
55:09
standing on the trail watching.
55:11
And it drops on all fours, bolts through
55:13
the woods like a freight train.
55:15
That detail is especially interesting
55:16
because it echoes many upright canine
55:18
Sasquatch and unknown biped
55:20
uh reports where the figure alternates
55:22
between two-legged and four-legged
55:24
movement.
55:26
Now our final report takes us back to
55:28
Walworth County near Darien, Wisconsin
55:31
on Creek Road near Turtle Creek Bridge.
55:34
The witness is driving to work early in
55:36
the morning when she saw a large winged
55:38
being at treetop level gliding towards
55:41
her vehicle.
55:42
She described it as a flying witch.
55:45
And then it distended descended towards
55:48
her car.
55:51
Now on February 25th, 2019, I received a
55:54
telephone call from an eyewitness
55:55
referred as NV.
55:57
He reported seeing a winged being early
56:00
that morning around 5:30 a.m. near
56:02
Darien, Wisconsin.
56:04
Now NV was traveling west on Creek Road
56:06
on her way to work. And as she
56:08
approached the Turtle Creek Bridge, she
56:10
observed a large winged being that she
56:13
described as a flying witch.
56:16
The being was at treetop level gliding
56:18
toward her.
56:20
Although it was early dawn, there there
56:22
was enough light for NV to make out its
56:24
form.
56:26
Suddenly, the winged being descended
56:27
toward NV's car nearly missing the hood.
56:30
NV described the being's wingspan as
56:32
much wider than her car and its body
56:34
appeared to be a brownish color like a
56:37
paper bag.
56:39
She noted the body looked feminine and
56:41
slight with enormous bat-like wings.
56:44
Remarkably, she did not notice the wings
56:46
flapping and the speed at which the
56:47
creature descended felt unnatural.
56:51
The being's face was unremarkable,
56:52
almost blank. NV swerved a car and
56:54
nearly hit the guardrail.
56:57
Now after the encounter, NV did not see
57:00
where the winged being flew.
57:01
Now being of Hispanic descent, she
57:03
mentioned that the being resembled the
57:05
image of a witch
57:07
she had been told about as a child.
57:10
Now NV expressed distress and anxiety
57:12
about the possibility of encountering
57:14
this being again
57:15
in the future.
57:17
Which is something we hear from a lot of
57:19
winged humanoid encounter witnesses.
57:23
Now when viewed separately, each of
57:24
these Wisconsin reports is strange
57:26
enough. A black
57:28
road running humanoid near Lake Geneva,
57:31
a pale caped figure haunting Mineral
57:33
Point, a winged entity seen at Wisconsin
57:36
State Fair, a vanishing woman in a
57:39
Madison parking lot, an invisible
57:41
heavy-footed presence near Sturgeon Bay,
57:44
a demon-like striped animal south of
57:46
Bearn, a screaming man-bat near La
57:49
Crosse, black-eyed children and a
57:51
vanishing road creature near Milwaukee,
57:53
a massive black figure in Kettle
57:55
Moraine, and a flying witch-like being
57:58
near Darien.
57:59
Now, on their own, these cases might be
58:02
placed into different categories:
58:03
cryptid, apparition, angelic figure or
58:06
encounter,
58:07
folklore,
58:09
humanoid, winged anomaly,
58:12
Glimmer Man, black-eyed children, an
58:14
upright canine, or an unknown animal.
58:16
But together, they reveal a pattern.
58:19
Many of these encounters happen near
58:20
roads, bridges, trails, wood edges,
58:22
cemeteries, fairgrounds, parking lots,
58:24
lakes, and old communities.
58:26
These are not random spaces. They are
58:28
transition zones.
58:30
A road is A road is a transition between
58:33
places. A bridge is a transition over
58:36
water. A cemetery is a transition
58:39
between the living and the dead.
58:41
The fairground after closing is a
58:43
transition between crowds and emptiness.
58:46
A wooded trail is a transition between
58:49
civilization and wilderness.
58:52
And in 14 cases, transition zones
58:54
matter.
58:56
Witnesses repeatedly describe not just
58:58
seeing something, but feeling something.
59:01
Terror, paralysis, nausea, dread, calm,
59:04
euphoria,
59:05
sudden certainty.
59:08
The environment itself often seems
59:09
altered. Darkness feels heavier. Silence
59:13
feels unnatural. The witness's body
59:15
reacts before the mind can explain what
59:17
is happening.
59:18
That may be one of the most important
59:20
details in these Wisconsin accounts. The
59:23
experiences are not merely visual.
59:25
They're physical, emotional, and
59:26
environmental. And the witnesses are
59:29
changed by proximity.
59:31
In several cases, the entities do not
59:32
behave like ordinary animals. They
59:34
appear aware. They watch, they react,
59:36
they pursue, they evade,
59:38
they disappear. Some seem to understand
59:41
where the witness is looking.
59:43
Some seem to occupy the edge of
59:45
perception itself.
59:47
And yet, Wisconsin's unexplained
59:48
encounters are not all monsters.
59:51
Of course, we have the Madison Angel
59:52
report reminds of unknown and not always
59:55
hostile.
59:56
Sometimes it appears a moment to
59:58
disappear, gives strength, and vanishes
59:59
before the mind can fully grasp what
1:00:01
happened.
1:00:03
>> [sighs]
1:00:03
>> That contrast is important because the
1:00:05
unexplained is not
1:00:07
one thing.
1:00:08
It's not always a beast in the road or a
1:00:10
winged horse in the sky. Sometimes it's
1:00:12
a presence in the trees, sometimes it's
1:00:14
a pale figure in an old cemetery.
1:00:16
Sometimes it's a child with black eyes
1:00:18
standing where no child should be.
1:00:21
Sometimes it's a woman in a car window
1:00:22
offering prayer when a person's breaking
1:00:24
apart.
1:00:26
Wisconsin's landscape is layered with
1:00:28
these accounts. The old mining towns,
1:00:31
the lake roads, the wooded trails, the
1:00:33
rural intersections, the bridges,
1:00:35
the frozen fields, the deep forest all
1:00:37
seem to hold stories that refuse to
1:00:39
settle in ordinary explanation.
1:00:43
Perhaps some are misidentifications.
1:00:45
Perhaps some are folklore wearing modern
1:00:47
clothing.
1:00:48
Perhaps some are creatures we just don't
1:00:51
yet understand.
1:00:52
And perhaps some are not creatures at
1:00:55
all, but events, intrusions,
1:00:56
manifestations, or intelligences that
1:00:58
appear briefly
1:01:00
where the conditions allow.
1:01:02
Whatever the answer, the witnesses come
1:01:04
away with the same realization.
1:01:07
Wisconsin is not a quiet as it appears.
1:01:09
And on certain roads at certain hours
1:01:11
and when the trees close in and the the
1:01:13
headlights
1:01:14
reach far enough to show you what is
1:01:16
standing ahead, the old warning still
1:01:18
applies. Keep moving.
1:01:20
Do not stop too long.
1:01:22
And do not assume that what you're
1:01:24
seeing belongs to the world you thought
1:01:26
you knew.
1:01:28
This is Unexplained Wisconsin.
1:01:31
Now, if you've had any unexplained
1:01:32
encounter in Wisconsin or anywhere else,
1:01:34
contact me at fams and monsters. Your
1:01:36
report may help identify a pattern that
1:01:39
has been hiding in plain sight for
1:01:40
years. And as always, thanks for
1:01:42
listening.
1:01:44
Now, we kind of went a little over. So,
1:01:46
uh if you have any questions, go ahead
1:01:48
and put them up there and we'll see if
1:01:49
we can answer them for you.
1:01:55
>> [clears throat]
1:02:08
>> Anything, folks?
1:02:14
I see Paranormal Par- Paranormalist Ned
1:02:17
has anyone reported juvenile dogman, dog
1:02:19
kids, or families.
1:02:22
I've heard of smaller
1:02:25
cryptid canines, but I don't know if
1:02:26
they're
1:02:27
children or not or
1:02:29
juveniles. Other than that, I really
1:02:31
don't know.
1:02:33
I don't know. But, I heard of smaller
1:02:35
ones.
1:02:39
>> [snorts]
1:02:41
>> Dag nammit.
1:02:42
Rumor has it that a family of
1:02:44
mothman-like creatures were spotted
1:02:45
around uh Perrot State Park near the
1:02:48
town of
1:02:50
Trempealeau, Wisconsin in 1975. I have
1:02:54
not heard that.
1:02:56
You may be right. If you have an
1:02:58
encounter and report anywhere, send it
1:03:00
to me. I'd appreciate it.
1:03:09
Anything else, folks?
1:03:17
>> [sighs and gasps]
1:03:18
>> Okay. Well, we're going to wrap it up
1:03:19
for the evening and um
1:03:22
I want to thank everyone for listening,
1:03:23
participating in the chat. And if you
1:03:25
provided a donation, I truly appreciate
1:03:27
it. Please like, subscribe, and share.
1:03:30
So, until the next time we meet, stay
1:03:31
alert, trust your instincts, and
1:03:33
remember sometimes the strangest places
1:03:35
this is just aren't that far away.
1:03:38
Have a nice evening. Have a great
1:03:39
weekend. Have a great holiday here in
1:03:41
the US. See you next Friday. Good night.
1:03:47
>> [music]
1:03:53
[music]
1:03:58
[music]
1:04:23
[music]
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