Phantoms and Monsters

What is a Sheep Squatch?
Just the Facts? - Mysterious UFO Over North Carolina Coast, D.C. Fireballs and Couple Eaten Alive
New Lizard Man Scuttlebutt In South Carolina

Posted: 07 Jul 2011 03:21 PM PDT

I received an unusual email a few days ago that, quite frankly, I thought was a prank...that's until I started to check into the claim. From what I can gather there is a bit of local folklore with this story. Regardless, I'll post it so you can comment. If you're familiar with the cryptid, feel free to respond:

Mr. Strickler - I hope you can give me an idea of what I saw a few weeks ago while hiking with a friend in Fairy Stone State Park in Virginia. We had been on one of the trails for about an hour when we stopped for a brief rest and drink. This was my first visit to this park and I was pleased that the area we were in was secluded.

After a few minutes of rest we continued to walk along the trail when my friend suddenly stopped and pointed towards the right at large group of rocks. Something was moving around but it was about 50 yards away so we didn't get a very good look. We could see that it was light in color and was quite bulky. We stood frozen wanting to know what this creature was though I was getting more frightened by the second. As we started to walk the creature moved onto a rock where we got a good look at it. It looked like a medium sized bear but the fur was very light in color, almost a yellowish gray. The head was very strange also. There was a snout like that of a bear but the dark round eyes were set lower on the head. It was looking in our direction and we had no intention on sticking around to see what it was going to do.

We got back to the car and immediately left for home. I have read online that this area has a strange history, thus the name 'Fairy Stone'. The creature is unlike any I have seen or heard about before. I had made an inquiry to a local historian who laughed at me and said I saw a 'Sheep Squatch'. What is that? Thanks for you help - Teena

As I stated previously, I thought someone was pulling my leg. I had never heard of a 'Sheep Squatch'...that is, until I started to look for references.

Monstropedia has a brief history about a cryptid referred to as a 'Sheepsquach', which is also known as the 'white thing'. It is supposedly a white woolly-haired cryptid that has been reported throughout the southwestern region of Virginia. Fairy Stone State Park is located in the southwestern region of Virginia.

This creature is described as "being the size of a bear, with completely white wool-like fur. Its front limbs end in paw-like hands, similar to a raccoon's but larger. The beast head is long and pointed, like a dog with long saber-like teeth and a single-pint horns like a young goat. SheepSquatch sports a long and hairless tail, similar to an opossum's and is reputed to smell like sulfur."

There have been a few reported sightings over the years. The counties with the most sightings of Sheepsquatch are from Boone, Kanawha, Putnam, and Mason. A large surge in sightings took place in Boone County during the mid-1990s.

In 1994, a former Navy seaman witnessed the beast break through the forest. The white thing drank for a few minutes, then crossed the creek and continued on across toward the road. The navy seaman observed the animal for a while, and then it moved on into the surrounding brush.

Also in that same year, two children observed the beast while playing in the yard in Boone County. They saw what looked like a large white bear, and it stood up on its hind legs, which made it over six feet tall. Startled, the beast ran away through the forest, breaking medium-sized limbs off of trees as it went.

Another encounter a year later involved a car. A couple driving through Boone County noticed a large white beast sitting in the ditch along the road. They stopped their car to get a good look at it. It was described again as a large white animal with woolly fur about the size of a bear. In this instance, it was described as having "four eyes". Then, it jumped out of the ditch and starts attacking the car. The couple drove off quickly, and when they got home noticed the large scratches on the side where the beast attacked.

Another incident occurred in 1999, this time a couple of campers were in the forest of Boone County at night around a campfire. They heard an animal snorting and scuffling around the camp, but it did not come into the light of the campfire. All of the sudden, the SheepSquatch appeared out of the darkness and charged at the campers. They jumped up and ran back to their house; all the while being pursued by the SheepSquatch. It stopped at the edge of the forest, however, and let out a terrible scream. Then it just turned around and headed back into the woods. The next morning, the campers examined their campsite and the trail home. It was torn up, they said, "like someone had tilled it up for gardening".

I still don't know what to think of Teena's sighting but I doubt is was a 'Sheep Squatch'...possibly a light-colored bear. I'm really at a loss for any other explanation. Here is a link to another reference to this cryptid - West Virginia's Weird White Monsters: Sheep-Squatch...Lon

Just the Facts? - Mysterious UFO Over North Carolina Coast, D.C. Fireballs and Couple Eaten Alive

Posted: 07 Jul 2011 02:00 PM PDT

Albemarle Sound, NC Mystery...what is it?

Three of us were on a sailboat in the Albemarle Sound (North Carolina) in route from Manteo (departed near 9:45 a.m.) to Coinjock (NNW). We were motoring at 7.5 nautical miles per hour & had passed Kitty Hawk to the East at 10:50 a.m. on July 1, 2011. I believe that we were southeast of the mouth of the Pasquotank River.

We were constantly scanning the water watching for crab pots, debris, sailing markers, etc and hoping to see dolphins. Around Noon I saw in the distance (NNW, 3-5 miles) a very large white shape, rectangular with rounded ends. It was so pale it blended with the skies & water but was distinct from the nearby trees. There was some smoke from the peat fires to the East so the view was not the best.

I studied the sight with binoculars & didn't have a clue about what I was seeing. I pointed it out to the other sailors who also looked and had a similar reaction. We could not determine if the object was hovering, floating, teetered or otherwise secured. It did not seem to move.

I took two pictures though it was very hard to see the object in the lens. I zoomed out (shutter speed 1/1250; focal length 60.0 mm) in the direction I was looking & clicked twice. Remember, we were on a boat so holding a camera steady is a challenge! The first picture shows the complete object that we estimated was over 200 feet tall and 1000 feet long. The second picture shows the object partially hidden by trees. (The object was NOT moving; our boat was taking us out of sight of it as we continued our trip.) Look closely in the trees to the right & see a house to get perspective of the size.

We wondered if it was a blimp since we had seen a blimp and blimp hangar on June 21 when we were leaving Elizabeth City. But, it was much larger and a different shape from any blimp we could recall. The bulges on either end of the object and the lack of "fins" plus the sheer size of it made us doubt that possibility. Also, there were dark squares that appeared to be windows near the mid-line along the right side of the object.

At the time we were wondering what it was, trying to figure it out, knowing we had never seen anything like it. We were curious but assumed there was a logical explanation. We chose not to investigate further as we were meeting friends and wanted to get to port before any afternoon showers might appear. - MUFON CMS

**********

Fireballs over Washington, D.C.

Witness One: On Friday evening, May 21, 2004, I was watching television in bed. At approximately 10:30 pm, an electrical storm began to develop.

I was beginning to get sleepy and was considering turning the television off and going to sleep. When there were two very rare bursts of static on the television about a minute apart (both at 10:42, according to my TiVo clock), my decision to go to sleep was made since I also feared that it might not be safe to leave the television on any longer. I pressed the "record" button on my TiVo so that I could finish watching the program at another time, very likely made a quick trip to the bathroom (though I'm not sure), took off my glasses (I'm very near sighted), and got back into bed.

I lay down on my left side facing the large panoramic windows in my bedroom. Even with my very impaired vision, I immediately became aware of some lights moving in the sky in a way I'd never seen before. I immediately sat up, retrieved my glasses from the night table, and put them on. Outside my window and over Rock Creek Park and a large residential building across the street, balls of light were moving rapidly and a bit jerkily in an oval-shaped counterclockwise pattern.

It's difficult to say exactly how many there were, but I believe that four individual lights would be a good estimate. After watching them for a stunned minute or two, I got out of bed, and went next door to get my sister. Together we stood at the window and watched this light show for approximately five minutes. Towards the end, the lights seemed to simply fade away through the heavy cloud cover until there was only one left. That light eventually faded as well. I did not look at the clock again until after my sister left. The time was 10:58.

Though I've called them "balls" of light, they weren't perfectly spherical. There was no hard edge to them, though I do believe there was a brighter intensity at the center of each. During the entire event, they kept moving in the same circular pattern – very, very rapidly and very, very erratically, Though pinpointing precisely where they were is tough, I recall that my sister and I both stooped a bit to get a full view of the "show". (I usually have the blinds in my bedroom about 1/3 of the way down.) I forgot until Saturday evening when I turned on my television and my TiVo that I had recorded during the exact time of the event. Because I'm very sure that it was the second burst of static that caused me to turn off the television, I can time the start of the event (using the TiVo clock) at precisely 10:42.

In retrospect, the static on the television is very interesting. Our cable service is very reliable here and is not affected by the weather at all. Neither my sister nor I can ever recall seeing bursts of static since we've had this service (more than four years) and they are dramatic. Both are preserved on my TiVo.

Witness Two: On the evening of Friday, 5/21/04 I was in my bedroom reading. A very powerful thunderstorm had been right over our building for approximately ten minutes when my sister came into my room and asked me to come look at something. I glanced at the clock and noted that it was 10:46PM. She asked me to look out the window in her bedroom at the sky over Rock Creek Park. I saw at different times 1, 2, 3, or 4 blurry, yet distinct white lights moving counterclockwise in an apparent oval shaped orbit. The cloud cover was heavy, but my perception was that the lights were within or circling one particular cloud. The lightning was intense and lit up the entire sky several times as we watched the lights. The lights moved constantly in an erratic, jerky fashion, seemingly unaffected by the lightning. Their movement appeared ghostly to me and I thought of Casper cartoons. Their shape is harder to describe. Narrow at the bottom and wider at the top is close – almost torch-like with indistinct edges. It was my impression that their blurry, undefined appearance was due to the cloud cover and extremely hazy skies. After about ten minutes the intensity of brightness dimmed and I realized that only one light was still visible as it gradually disappeared. The storm raged on for another few minutes. My sister and I talked for a minute or two and I went back to my room at approximately 11:00pm - MUFON CMS

**********

Dinosaurs and Aliens, oh my!

This article was posted in 2008 but that being 4 years ago, perhaps scientists have already succeeded and there are living dinosaurs among us!

Just because someone is exceptionally smart, does not mean they have any "common sense".

I've said for some time now, that I feel this http://www.blogger.com/has been done and is still going on today. As seen in the movie, Jurassic Park was a huge mistake and life could imitate art here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/opinion/23sun3-3.html
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/060814_extinct.htm

I also believe that "aliens" could also have a hand in re-introducing extinct flora and fauna to this planet. Evidently I am not alone in this "theory."

http://www.unsolvedrealm.com/2011/04/26/lazarus-species-back-from-the-deadreally/

We ourselves transfer alien species from one location to the next, by accident, or by design. On the downside, the cane toad and others.

http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/clever/control_ferals.html

On the good side, giant tortoises.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-introducing-new-giant-tortoises-area-native-giants-are-extinct-works-restore-ecosystem

Aside from all that, hypothetically speaking, what if extinct species were brought back, say the Wooly Mammoth and the Pleistocene Ice Age, steppe wisent (Bison priscus). No big deal, right?

Well what if the predators were brought back, those Carnivorous Monsters better left in nightmares and movies, the Sabre Toothed Tiger (Smilodon), the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Allosaurus and the exceptionally smart Utah Raptors.

Brought back in enough numbers, who do you think would become extinct? We would no longer be at the top of the food chain.

With people seeing flying Pterosaurs, water monsters like "Nessie" and "Champ", Mokèlé-mbèmbé and Bigfoot, just to name a few, is it just imagination, or is it a growing reality?

I may not have the answers in my lifetime but my grand daughter might. I hope it will be answers she can live with...

And if all this isn't enough, Men in Black II (also MB1 & MB3) director Barry Sonnenfeld, in collaboration with comic book writer Grant Morrison and Liquid Comics, is writing a novel and screenplay entitled Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens. Oh, I can't wait. - Sunny Williams - Lights in the Texas Sky

**********

Couple eaten alive by parasitic worms

A Victorian couple endured a health nightmare after tiny worms with teeth began eating through their bodies. It is the first time humans have been infected by the parasite in Australia. It is believed the couple became ill after eating a fish they caught on a WA camping holiday.

Alfred hospital infectious disease physician Andrew Fuller said that when the couple ate the fish, believed to be a black bream, they also ingested the gnathostomiasis larvae. "The worms are 1-3mm long and have got these sharp little teeth and they can go anywhere they like in the body," Dr Fuller said.

"The worm works its way around the human body until it dies or is killed by the immune system. They move under the skin and cause itchy lumps that can make you feel sick - and it can be very hard to diagnose."

The infected couple suffered muscle pain, fevers, vomiting and their skin began to look like orange peel. They were given antibiotics and have recovered. The worms can stay in a human for 15 years, leaving people chronically ill. They can make their way into the brain, other organs and the spinal cord. "They eat your tissues," Dr Fuller said. - heraldsun

**********

Indonesian hospital has increasing paranormal events

If reports are to be believed, the gynaecology department in the JNIMS hospital is haunted. The exact spot where the strongest paranormal activity has been reported is the area from the toilet and the entire stretch of the corridor leading to it from the ward.

Affected people describe the experience of sensing the presence of someone close by, or tingling sensations, or changes in temperature, or heavy footsteps following them when there was clearly not a single person in that are, that is apart from the victims themselves.

These experiences have been related mostly by attendants of patients, but it seems the staff on night duty have had similar experiences.

What makes this story relevant is how such activities, which only be described as paranormal, affect the attendants of seriously ill people.

It is traumatic enough tending after near and dear ones and to top it all face paranormal activity could be nerve wracking. One step to clam frayed nerves could be establish the facts, that is, whether paranormal activity is going on or not in that ward.

Even if is established that such activities do take place it could comfort a lot of people. The human mind is such that once faced with the inevitable it adjusts to live with it.

The answer would lie in finding intrepid people who can operate electronic voice sensors, detect movement and record temperature fluctuations. One believes temperature changes which take place suddenly are indicative of paranormal activity.

These can be done at the dead of night, and anyway the scary happenings, it seems, take place only late in the night.

The ambience of a hospital should be such that it soothes frayed nerves. The very presence of doctors, nurses and other competent staff should provide succour to those who feel their life is at the end of the tether.

It should be a place of treatment and convalescence, a place where supportive kith, kin and good friends go to see people in distress.

Fear of the unknown, particularly the scary type could be pernicious to inmates and their attendants, and in this superstition laden society of ours, the next thing we could be witnessing is bizarre spiritual cleansing exercises or downright exorcisms.

On the other hand we also do not want a scenario where you have a seriously ill patient who needs constant attention, scared as hell at the idea of dying, only to find his or her attendant coming back from the toilet ashen faced, trembling like a leaf and needing more medical attention than he or she does.

Or worse still who literally dropped dead out of horror and shock. - e-pao

New Lizard Man Scuttlebutt In South Carolina

Posted: 07 Jul 2011 12:27 PM PDT

On Ida Lane in rural Lee County, they're struggling to explain what took place Monday morning.

"I ran into the house and told my wife to call the police because something happened to the car," explained Leon Marshall.

"The tooth marks went completely through the fender," added his wife Ada.

Early that morning the Marshall's woke up to find their car mauled by something.

"That's metal! And it just bent it up. Like it was a piece of tissue paper," said Ada.

The question is by what?

"We have no idea. No idea. No idea what-so-ever."

To former Lee County Sheriff Liston Truesdale, this sounds all too familiar.

"This part here is how it all started in 1988," explained Truesdale. "We got a call to come and look at something that had mauled a car. I went out there and looked at that damaged car, and I haven't seen anything like that before."

About that same time there were bizarre calls coming in.

"They had been seeing a large creature about 7 feet tall, with big red eyes, with three pointed fingers."

So he started asking residents, "have you seen anything like a big tall creature round there? And the guys said, 'what you mean that lizard man?' That's how it started and you got it from the horse's mouth."

Back then, there was a media frenzy.

"Everyone thought they were going to get a glimpse of the Lizard Man but he didn't appear."

The damage on the Marshall's car is almost identical to the damage on the two cars from back then.

Was it the Lizard man?

"I'm skeptical about that. I'm not gonna go that far. I'll believe it when I see it," said the Marshalls.

"Everything it laid off on the poor lizard man," jokes Truesdale. "But at this point, he must have grandchildren!"

Whether you believe in the Lizard Man or not, he certainly did generate a lot of buzz. In 1988 it's estimated that about 50,000 visitors came to Lee County in hopes of spotting the creature. - WLTX

Click for video

NOTE: Here is a website that describes the 1988 encounter - The Lizard man of Bishopville, SC. BTW...back in April 2008, the one and only Tom Biscardi got involved in the Lizard Man stating that he thought it was a Bigfoot. So he packed up the circus tent and headed to the location. Biscardi didn't find anything in South Carolina but he did hit pay dirt a few months later a little further south in Georgia. This time the Bigfoot was already in the freezer...Lon

-----

Cryptid Investigator Thinks 'Lizard Man' May Be 'Bigfoot'

It's a story that got a lot of people talking in the Midlands. Back in February, a Lee County family woke up to find their van torn and bloodied. Some people thought the legendary Lizard Man had struck again, and many of you sent us stories telling about your own run-ins with him.

Now, an investigator says those who believe the legend have it all wrong. Instead, he says a very different type of creature is to blame.

"Think about it. It's incredible," says Tom Biscardi. He wants answers, so he drove all the way from California to Bishopville. Biscardi is traveling with his team of researchers - trying to figure out what could've chewed up the front of the van, biting right through metal.

Biscardi heard all the rumors. The only freak of nature that could do it was supposedly the Lizard Man.

A giant creature of legend was first reportedly seen near Scape Ore swamp nearly 20 years ago. Biscardi doesn't think so. "There's no Lizard Man. I'm telling you, you've got something else."

Biscardi, says his investigation - will debunk all the rumors. He can't prove it yet, but Biscardi traces the damage to a creature like the one in Texas. "I'm going to tell you, it's not a Lizard Man. What you've got is a primate, a thing called a swamp ape."

The creature Biscardi speaks of is more commonly known as "Bigfoot."

The team found 18-inch prints in Texas. Biscardi's team of Bigfoot hunters says it's found similar prints near Scape Ore Swamp. The team set surveillance around the swamp, and near the damaged van.

Forensic evidence was also gathered. But after two days of searching, no creature was spotted. Biscardi says, "No problem."

He'll be back next month with a bigger crew. "If anything does travel out on this area, we'll get it. I have no doubt in my mind."

Whether the Lizard Man story ends there remains to be seen. What's clear for now, the mystery's plot - has only thickened.

Spirit Rescue International™
Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance
Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind

The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum
*Join Our Group On Facebook*

Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and 'The Forkchop' each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

ANOMALIST BOOKS
Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog

Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook

"The latest news from beyond the mainstream"
Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcasts!
Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!

Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing

Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!

Join the
The Social - Paranormal Network

A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH
THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION