WEBVTT - Season 08 Episode 41: The Visitor 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Hello, it's Richard mccleinsmith here with a quick update before 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.800 we dive into today's episode. Unexplained is very excited to 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.280 be a part of Crime Wave at Sea this November, 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:12.600 joining forces with some of the eeriest voices in the 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.800 world of true crime and the paranormal four Nights in 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.960 the Caribbean, with amazing podcasts like Last Podcast on the Left, 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:24.400 Scared to Death and many more live shows, Meet and greets, 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.960 creepy Stories under the Stars and you can be there too, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.960 but don't wait. Rooms are nearly sold out. Head to 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.360 Crimewave Atsea dot com forward slash Unexplained to grab your 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.400 fan coat and lock in your cabin. We'd love to 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:55.160 see you on board. The town of Van Meter sits 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.480 in Dallas County, Iowa, one of many small, once hopeful 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:04.160 community out in the wide flat middle of America. Today 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.560 it is easily missed by those barreling east or west 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.280 on the I eighty, though, were anyone to pull off 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:14.880 the interstate, they may find a history far deeper and 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:20.360 more interesting than they might expect. Indigenous Americans had long 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.920 made the area their home. Members of the Sac and 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:29.080 Fox Nation hunted, fished, and settled along the banks of 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:33.320 the Raccoon River for centuries until an eighteen forty treaty 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.600 come land grab with the U. S Government forced their relocation. 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:43.199 Van Meter's first colonial settlement began in eighteen forty seven 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:47.520 when brothers Lewis and Daniel Stump built a cabin there, 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:53.440 attracted by the area's natural and geological rewards. Soon another 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:58.160 pair of brothers, Levi and James Wright, would become their neighbours, 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.400 constructing their own cabin on the banks of the Raccoon. 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:08.919 Before long, other adventurous pioneers joined them. Isolated cabins clustered 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:13.360 into accidental neighbourhoods. A church was built, and in eighteen 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.440 sixty eight, the newly extended railroad brought the first train 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:22.560 to what was then named Tracy, Iowa. The following year, 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.080 the budding town of four hundred and fifty people was 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:31.240 renamed van Meter, commemorating the early Dutch pioneer Jacob Rhodes 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.640 van Meter, whose family had been instrumental in the early 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:39.000 days of the community. Like many such towns in the 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:44.160 middle of the country, van Meter was born from localized industry. First, 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.720 it was mining. The van Meter shaft was sunk in 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:52.480 eighteen seventy eight. Nearly three hundred feet deep, it tapped 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.520 a huge seam of coal and was regarded as a 0:02:55.560 --> 0:03:00.920 model for successful mining nationwide. The traveling out of town 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:05.720 were loaded heavily with anthrokite, and in return came prosperity 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:10.280 and growth. Van Meter was suddenly on the map. In 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:14.120 eighteen ninety three, the mine owners sought to further capitalize 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:18.680 on their success, establishing the Plat Pressed Fire and Brick Company. 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:23.040 A factory located near to the mine transmuted the red 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.520 clay from a mining byproduct to the raw material for 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:30.720 quality bricks and tiles. Even when the mine was closed 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.679 in nineteen o two due to labour shortages and repeated strikes, 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:40.600 the factory continued to pump money into the town for decades. Nonetheless, 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:45.120 Van Meter never really grew For much of the twentieth century, 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.000 its population numbered less than one thousand, and the twenty 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.560 twenty census recorded only five hundred and thirteen households and 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:58.640 four hundred families. It's a limited but relatively dense population 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.400 for a town covered only one point three square miles. 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.920 It's a small, quiet place, the kind of town that 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:12.520 some might derisively describe as one that epitomizes the flyover States, 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:17.800 a place of little importance or standing. They imagine nothing 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:21.320 of interest ever happens. But not only would that do 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.960 an immense disservice to its people, they would be wrong. 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.640 In nineteen oh three, something paid a visit to Van Meter, 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:36.120 and its brief presence would mark the town forever. You're 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:49.480 listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McLean Smith. Ulysses Griffith 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.159 was the first person to see the visitor. A local 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.240 farm equipment trader, the thirty five year old Griffith served 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.880 on the Van Meter Council and was a member of 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:05.400 both the Masonic Lodge and the Modern Woodman Society. He 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:09.359 was a highly respected member of the tiny community, considered 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:14.640 trustworthy and solid. In the early morning of Tuesday, September 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:19.000 twenty ninth, nineteen o three, Griffith was returning from a 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:23.640 long circuit of salesmanship around Dallas County. It had just 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:26.880 gone one a m. When he drove his new Model 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.240 a Ford down Main Street and drew to a brief 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.359 stop in the town center. Something had drawn his attention 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:40.000 to the roofline three stories up. An unexpected light beaming 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.360 out from the top of a local business named Matha 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.839 and Greg, bright enough to cast shadows across the silent 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:53.479 nighttime street. Concerned that he was witnessing a burglary in action, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.760 Griffith eased the car forward to get a better look. 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:01.520 When the unexplained illumination appeared, leaped suddenly from the roof, 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.520 clearing the entire street before landing on top of the 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:11.200 building opposite. What the hell, he said to himself as 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.440 he tried to focus in on what on earth he 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.599 was looking at. The only thing Griffith knew was that 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:20.839 whatever he was seeing, it wasn't burglar's because it couldn't 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:25.719 possibly have even been human. He tried again to inch 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.200 closer to the source of the light, but almost as 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:33.159 quickly as the brightness had appeared, it was gone. With 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.279 nothing else to be done, Griffith retired to bed, no doubt, 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.240 exhausted from the day, but left restless in his curiosity 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:46.320 about its closing moments. The following day, he told several 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:51.239 people about his strange sighting. Griffith was well regarded enough 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.960 not to be dismissed, but in the bright morning sunshine, 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:59.400 his uncanny tail generated far more of amusement than anything 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:05.200 resembles fear. The following night, in a small bedroom behind 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:10.080 his office, Doctor Fred Orcot slept as storm winds buffeted 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:14.160 the town and rain spattered against the pine walls outside. 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.600 Neither woke him, Yet, just after one a m. He 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.920 was wrenched from sleep by a beam of intense light 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:27.840 shining through his window. Immediately alert, all Cock leapt from 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:31.800 his bed and reached for his gun. The light was 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.600 brighter than any torch he'd ever seen, and the doctor 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:39.280 had been awoken by enough nighttime emergencies to know that 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.480 this was no fellow citizen seeking his help. All Cock 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:47.800 rushed outside in his NightWare to confront whatever was making 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.760 such a blaze, and came face to face with a 0:07:50.840 --> 0:08:05.720 sight that stopped him dead in his muddy tracks. Outside, 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.520 doctor Orcott squinted into the light beyond which he saw, 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.560 to his horror, a bizarre creature that he later described 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:19.480 as being half human and half animal. According to Allcot, 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.640 it stood eight or nine feet tall, with a huge 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:26.600 pair of bat like wings and a sharply protruding face, 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:30.560 almost like a beak, and from the center of the 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:35.320 creature's forehead jutted a single thick horn. It was this 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.280 appendage that seemed to be the source of the light. 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:43.480 The man and whatever this other thing was stood only 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:47.320 a few yards apart as the rain continued to lash down. 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.480 Scared for his life, Allcot raised his pistol and fired 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:57.160 five times at close range, but the winged creature showed 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:01.000 no sign of impact or injury. It merely stirred in 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:07.320 passively watching, still emanating its strange light. Doctor Orcott beat 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.000 a fast retreat, diving back into the relative safety of 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:16.840 his office. Understandably terrified, Alcott hurriedly barred the door, then 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:20.920 rushed around, securely locking every window of his office and home. 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.440 By the time he returned to the one facing the street, 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:29.040 there was no sign of the strange entity. Alcott shivered 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.280 in his damp night clothes as he secured the last 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.400 of the windows. He spent the rest of the night 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:40.960 trembling in bed, his pistol right beside him. The next day, 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:46.160 doctor Orcott told several people about his nighttime encounter, and, 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:51.040 in the way of all small intimate communities, word quickly spread. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.280 Some people scoffed, worried what it meant for the health 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.080 of the town that the local doctor seemed to have 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:03.520 gone crazy. However, had caught wind of Ulysses Griffith's sighting 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.400 just twenty four hours earlier, and they began to wander 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:12.760 two pillars of the community, each with an outlandish story 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:18.600 what on earth was happening in Van Meter. One person 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.880 who treated the doctor's tale with special incredulity was twenty 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.079 six year old Clarence Done, known as Peter to his friends. 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.960 Done was a man on an upward trajectory in van Meter. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.720 Later in life, he would go on to manage the 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.480 town's bank before becoming town treasurer, mayor and head of 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.760 the school district. On the evening of Thursday, October one, 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.720 nineteen o three, however, Done was still a cashier in 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.760 the bank he would one day run, but as a 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:54.360 committed member of the community and a loyal employee, he 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:58.240 felt a responsibility to protect both his town and place 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:03.439 of employment. Was convinced that Griffith and Orcott had misconstrued 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:08.439 criminal activity in van Meter. Because the strange sightings had 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:12.320 been made around the same time each night downtown. It 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.440 made sense to Done that they were simply part of 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:20.640 an orchestrated plot by thieves to rob local businesses, and 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:24.880 so one night, instead of clocking off for work, Done 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.960 armed himself with a shotgun full of buckshot and settled 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:32.000 down in the middle of the bank's small foyer and 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:42.400 waited for the robbers to appear outside the bank. It 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.160 was an overcast night, and the shadows were in constant 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:50.360 flux as the clouds shifted across a bright half moon. 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:56.240 Clarence Done was on edge. After all, it's no small 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.680 feat preparing to face thieves in the night with no 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.080 knock of just how dangerous they might be. For the 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.040 first few hours, at least, he took solace in the 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.560 presence of all the townsfolk, still going about their day 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:15.840 in the street outside, heading home from work or evening drinks. 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.840 But as midnight ticked past, both the dark and the 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:25.040 silence of the night settled deeper. Done gripped the gun 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:29.240 tighter in his hands. It had just gone one when 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.000 Done was suddenly distracted by a strange rustling at the 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:36.920 front window. He raised his gun, only for the noise 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:41.360 to then change to something far more disturbing. He later 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:45.040 described it as a gurgling, choking sound, as if some 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:49.920 person or other animal was gasping for air. Just then, 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:54.240 from only meters away, a bright light struck through the window. 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.360 It landed first on Done, dazzling him for a moment 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:02.200 before swinging left and right like a spotlight from a 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:07.280 watch tower. As his eyes readjusted, Done saw, to his 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:12.360 immense alarm the shadowy bulk of an inexplicable creature beyond 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:16.880 the glass. Then the light swung back round and fixed 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:21.400 once more Undone. In a panic, he raised the shotgun 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:25.839 to his shoulder and fired. Though they were separated by 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:30.880 the window pane, the shot was practically point blank, with 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.800 a deafening blast, The shot shattered the glass and ripped 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.920 the wooden sash free, But just like doctor Orcott's bullets, 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.000 the buckshot seemed to have no effect on the creature 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:46.360 at all. Stunned by what he had seen, Done none 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.800 the less righted himself and rushed to the door, But 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.280 in the seconds it took him to spill outside, the 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:58.360 winged figure had already disappeared. He scanned the street, but 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.360 saw nothing. Whether he thought to look up in the 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:07.200 air or not, we shall never know. Understandably, Shaken and 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.680 well passed the limit of what company loyalty could demand, 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:15.920 Done went home to his family. Six hours later, at 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.920 the first light of dawn, Dun returned to the bank, 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.880 determined to find evidence of the strange thing he'd encountered. 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:26.840 He arrived to find the remains of the damage he'd caused, 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.960 half spilling out into the street, but there was no 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:34.640 blood to be seen anywhere. Then, finally, imprinted in the 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.240 mud at the base of the boardwalk, he apparently found 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.240 what he was looking for, a three toed track bird 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:47.120 like in configuration, only much much bigger than any bird 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:51.400 he'd ever seen before. Dun made a plaster cast of 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.440 the claw marks and displayed it to anyone who would listen. 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.440 On that cloudy fall day, the most residents of Van Meter, 0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:05.040 like millions of other Americans, were well distracted because October one, 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.760 nineteen o three, just happened to be the day in 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.360 which the first game of the modern Baseball World Series 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:17.440 took place. All ears were turned to radios, temporarily deaf 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.800 to the growing anxiety of those few in Van Meter 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.840 who knew something very strange should come to their town soon, 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:36.880 though everyone would have reason to listen later that evening, 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.360 a few hours after the Pittsburgh Pirates had beaten the 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:43.640 Boston Americans in the first game of the World Series. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:47.680 The citizens of Van Meter slumbered under a light fall 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:52.200 drizzle in a room above Fisher and White, the town 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:57.200 hardware store. The proprietor, mister White, was woken from sleep 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:02.480 by a loud, scraping noise outside. His startled, he reached 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:06.400 immediately for his gun, instinctively worried that a robbery might 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.360 be taking place, But then a whole other, terrifying thought 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.680 entered his mind. Had the creature now come to pay 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:19.720 him a visit. Gathering his thoughts, he decided against rushing 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:24.640 outside or firing indiscriminately as others had done, and instead 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:28.760 quietly made his way to the casement window, gently slid 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:33.520 it open, and peered out into the dark. At first 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:37.000 he saw nothing, but as its gaze landed on a 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:40.440 telegraph pole at the corner of Main Street, he saw, 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.120 with a sickening lurch in the pit of his stomach, 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.120 standing on top of it, statue like was the exact 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.480 same creature that he'd heard so much about over the 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:54.720 previous days, And, just as Peter had done had reported 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.840 the night before, a light seemed to be emanating from 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:04.160 its head, ringing pendulously up and down the street. Mister 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:08.520 White steadily took aim when suddenly the light landed right 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:13.080 on his face. Without thinking, the shopkeeper pulled the trigger, 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.640 but once more, the gun had no effect on the visitor, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.840 as it would later be named. Instead, it seemed as 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.440 if the shot had merely served to wake it up. 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.800 To mister White's horror, it then began to slowly descend 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:33.120 the pole down to the street. At this point. In 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.159 some tellings of the tale, mister White was said to 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.840 be rendered almost insensible by a putrid smell emanating from 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.840 the creature, after which White claimed to have no further 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.440 memory of the evening's events. If that all sounds a 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:52.560 little bit far fetched, it's worth knowing that, incredibly, there 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:56.840 was another witness to this event across the street from 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:01.240 mister White and its hardware store, Sydney Gregg, just happened 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.720 to be gazing out of his window when he saw 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:08.600 White appear with its gun. After hearing shots, Greg frantically 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:11.320 scanned the street to try and see what an earth 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:15.320 mister White had fired at that's when he too saw 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:20.480 the same shadowy form sliding down the telegraph pole. Greg 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.119 described its movements as parrot like and that it used 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:29.600 its elongated, beaked appendage for extra traction. He estimated the 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.439 thing to be at least eight feet tall, and, like 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:36.640 other witnesses, was amazed by the sprawl of featherless wings 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:50.320 that stretched out from its back. When the creature got 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.320 to the ground, it beat its wings once with a 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:57.480 whip crack of air. Then it swept its bizarre light 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:02.200 around once more. It was as bright, Greg said, as 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:05.880 the headlights on the brand new automobiles he sometimes saw 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:10.439 around town. The young man watched dumbfound it as the 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:14.679 creature loped down Main Street, hopping like an injured kangaroo. 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:19.360 Greg continued to watch with terror as it stopped right 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:23.320 outside its property, less than a dozen feet away and 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:27.080 only a single story below him. Then it turned to 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.879 face him. Greg had just enough time to feel the 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.640 rush of fear before the early morning mail train came 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:38.360 ripping along the tracks parallel to Main Street and spooted 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.679 the animal. The creature dropped quickly to all fours and 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:47.240 started to run, then popped out its wings and took 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:52.520 flight Sydney. Greg kept his eyes firmly fixed on the 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:55.680 creature's dimming light as it flew off toward the old 0:19:55.800 --> 0:20:00.000 coal mine on the edge of town. By the time 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:04.520 in Friday October two dawned, heavy and humid, van Meter 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.200 was a wash with anxious rumors, not least of all 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.520 because there'd been rumblings about strange goings on at the 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.879 mine for some time. The van Meter Brick and Tile 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.800 Factory was situated close to the now defunct mine shaft 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.440 for the past few days. When the factory day crew 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:27.480 returned from their shift, they brought tales of ominous sounds 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:32.240 emanating from the mouth of the pit. One worker described 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:35.680 it as though Satan and a regiment of his imps 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:40.000 were preparing for battle. So when Sydney Gregg revealed that 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.920 he'd seen the creature flying off in that direction, it 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.760 was easy to draw a connection. The people of van 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:51.119 Meter began to wonder if the mine that had once 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.240 served so well as the beating heart of their town 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.160 had now become the nesting place for something hell bent 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:02.560 on attacking it. The following night, the brick and tile 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:06.640 factory's chief operator, J. L. Platt, was working a late 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.920 shift when at some time around one a m. He 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:13.480 heard the strange noises again emanating from the edge of 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:17.359 the mine shaft. Like many of his men. He'd heard 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:21.000 the noises several times during the previous days, but this 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:25.080 was different. No longer faint as they had been before, 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:29.800 the noises now sounded much closer, as if whatever was 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:34.240 making the rattling, gasping, growling sounds was no longer in 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:37.640 the bowels of the mine, but just below the surface. 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:43.240 Platt peered into the open mouth of the shaft, only 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.600 able to see a few feet before darkness and the 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:51.679 twists of the seam obscured things. Suddenly, without any warning, 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:56.240 something large burst from the mine. It all happened too 0:21:56.320 --> 0:22:00.520 fast and hectically for Platt to notice any details other 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:06.160 than its gigantic size and its odd half human shape. 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:10.720 As Platt recoiled, stumbling away and blinded by a bright light, 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:15.040 he then saw another smaller figure emerge from the shaft 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:26.159 before shooting up into the sky. As it happened. J. L. 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:29.639 Platt wasn't the only witness to the sudden appearance of 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:34.119 two creatures escaping the mine, with the brick and Tile 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.960 factory only a few hundred yards away. Having heard the commotion, 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:41.840 more than a dozen colleagues came rushing over to investigate, 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:46.160 just in time. To see the creatures disappear into the night. 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:52.640 Many of them later reported the now familiar features illuminated horns, 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:59.280 beak like faces, and those broad bat like wings. Astonished 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:02.919 by what they'd say, the men promptly stopped work and 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:07.359 went straight home to report their sighting, and, as is 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:10.840 so often the case when a community feels under threat, 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:16.240 a posse soon materialized. As a heavy rain began to fall, 0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:20.080 the men of van Meter gathered on main Street, many 0:23:20.080 --> 0:23:24.000 of them armed with rifles and shotguns, and promptly set 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:28.200 out together for the mine. In their wake, the remaining 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:31.840 people of van Meter turned on all the lights around town, 0:23:32.400 --> 0:23:37.400 both in solidarity and out of fear. Walking out into 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:41.000 the surrounding scrub in the dark, their backs turned to 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:44.080 the lights of home, the men must have felt like 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:48.760 ships sailing out into the night. It wasn't long before 0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:51.720 the posse reached the old mine, where they formed a 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:55.680 loose curve around its entrance. The plan was to either 0:23:55.800 --> 0:23:59.399 trap the creatures inside or keep them out if they 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:03.520 were still yet to return. As the hours passed by, 0:24:04.000 --> 0:24:07.600 the men grew more nervous and disheartened as the cold 0:24:07.720 --> 0:24:12.919 rain crept through their oilskins and soaked their clothes steadily. 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:16.600 One by one, many in the group grew bored and 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:20.320 headed back to bed. By the time dawn broke just 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:24.119 after five forty five, only a handful of the makeshift 0:24:24.160 --> 0:24:29.560 company remained at their post. Just then, someone shouted out 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:34.080 in alarm, pointing to the sky, and there, against the 0:24:34.119 --> 0:24:38.800 weak dawnlight, a peculiar figure could be seen coming towards them. 0:24:39.440 --> 0:24:43.719 Behind that a smaller iteration of the same thing, just 0:24:43.760 --> 0:24:48.680 as Platte had reported stealing themselves. Each of the men 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:53.840 grabbed their weapons, and, taking aim, fired at the approaching duo. 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:57.080 The blast was loud enough to be heard all the 0:24:57.119 --> 0:25:01.360 way back in Van Meter, but the teachers didn't flinch 0:25:01.800 --> 0:25:06.000 and responded with their own unearthly noises As they drew 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:10.280 ever closer to the mine. The men took aim and 0:25:10.400 --> 0:25:14.920 fired again, but could only watch, bewildered and impotent, as 0:25:14.960 --> 0:25:19.199 both creatures casually proceeded through the hail of bullets and 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:30.040 disappeared once more into the mine. With nothing else to 0:25:30.080 --> 0:25:34.679 do and understandably unwilling to give chase into the darkness 0:25:34.680 --> 0:25:37.480 of the mine, what was left of the Van Meter 0:25:37.640 --> 0:25:43.360 posse dispersed. Most returned to town while an unlucky few had 0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:46.439 no other choice but to go to their Saturday shift 0:25:46.480 --> 0:25:49.760 at the factory, and no doubt kept a wary eye 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:54.160 on the mine shaft throughout the day. Back in Van Meter, 0:25:54.680 --> 0:25:58.120 it was decided that the only reasonable response was to 0:25:58.119 --> 0:26:01.040 wall up the mine as quickly as possible, in the 0:26:01.080 --> 0:26:05.760 hope of trapping the visitors in their burrow forever. It's 0:26:05.800 --> 0:26:09.359 not known if the townspeople manage this feat before another 0:26:09.520 --> 0:26:15.000 night set in. H. H. Phillips, the local postmaster, who 0:26:15.040 --> 0:26:17.960 published an account of this strange event in the Des 0:26:18.000 --> 0:26:22.760 Moines Register, does not go into detail on the attempted barricade, 0:26:22.800 --> 0:26:25.720 so we are left to wonder whether the visitor was 0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:28.960 trapped or whether it had the chance to fly free 0:26:29.359 --> 0:26:34.000 along with its companion. And what of that companion? Was 0:26:34.040 --> 0:26:37.800 it a mate or an offspring? Could it be there 0:26:37.880 --> 0:26:41.920 was even a breeding population somewhere out in the flatlands 0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:47.159 of Iowa. The van meet a visitor is treated, like 0:26:47.280 --> 0:26:51.679 most small town monsters, as a gimmick, a tourist trap, 0:26:52.000 --> 0:26:55.199 and a chance to celebrate and sell the quirks of 0:26:55.280 --> 0:27:00.440 those small towns they come from. Since twenty thirteen, has 0:27:00.440 --> 0:27:05.080 hosted the annual than Meet Visitor festival with walking tours, 0:27:05.240 --> 0:27:09.760 games and lectures on crypto zoology. It's a way to 0:27:09.880 --> 0:27:13.440 remember the law while presenting it as a safe, half 0:27:13.520 --> 0:27:18.080 humorous nod to a more credulous era in American life. 0:27:18.560 --> 0:27:22.560 But no amount of marketing can fully defang the legend 0:27:22.600 --> 0:27:26.359 of the Visitor, because that week in late September and 0:27:26.520 --> 0:27:29.840 early October of nineteen o three is far from the 0:27:29.880 --> 0:27:33.640 only time that something odd has flown through the local 0:27:33.760 --> 0:27:45.560 Midwestern skies. For centuries, the Indigenous people of the Upper 0:27:45.600 --> 0:27:50.920 Midwest shared tales of the thunderbird, a giant avian creature 0:27:51.240 --> 0:27:55.120 that could create thunderstorms and fire lightning from its eyes. 0:27:56.200 --> 0:28:01.160 Though tribal traditions differ, those features remain consistent, and perhaps 0:28:01.160 --> 0:28:05.560 it is worth remembering the unexpectedly vicious storms that came 0:28:05.600 --> 0:28:09.000 to van Meter on almost every night of that fateful 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:14.640 week in eighteen ninety, thirteen years before the Van Meet visitation, 0:28:15.119 --> 0:28:20.199 townspeople in Independence, another small Iowan town, claimed to have 0:28:20.280 --> 0:28:25.840 seen something large with wings, horns, and an alligator shaped 0:28:25.880 --> 0:28:30.440 snout on the outskirts of town. When confronted, it made 0:28:30.480 --> 0:28:35.240 a terrible rattling, roaring noise, and its eyes gave off 0:28:35.280 --> 0:28:41.360 electrical light. In the states neighboring Iowa, sightings of oversized 0:28:41.440 --> 0:28:46.160 flying creatures were even more common. In eighteen sixty eight, 0:28:46.600 --> 0:28:49.640 an eight year old named Jemmy Kenney was said to 0:28:49.680 --> 0:28:53.480 have been killed by a huge bird. The boy was 0:28:53.480 --> 0:28:57.360 snatched from his school yard in Tipper County, Missouri and 0:28:57.480 --> 0:29:00.800 dragged into the air before being dropped to his death. 0:29:02.040 --> 0:29:06.120 His teacher described the bird's talons as having torn into 0:29:06.200 --> 0:29:11.560 the child's flesh. Over a century later, in nineteen seventy seven, 0:29:11.960 --> 0:29:15.800 a similar terror would strike ten year old Marlon Lowe 0:29:16.040 --> 0:29:20.720 in Lawndale, Illinois. This time, the boy was attacked by 0:29:20.760 --> 0:29:24.200 what were described as a pair of nine foot bird 0:29:24.360 --> 0:29:30.000 like things. As his horrified mother watched screaming. Marlon was 0:29:30.120 --> 0:29:35.480 dragged thirty feet before being dropped. This time, however, thankfully, 0:29:35.520 --> 0:29:40.400