S6 Ep10: This Whole Affair Stinks! The Van Meter Visitor

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1:06Where do monsters come from? Are there really beasts lurking in the dark shadows of our world? Or are they only the products of the dark shadows in our own minds? How do we parse out more than a century's worth of yarn spinning to find the truth? Welcome to Strange and unexplained with me, Daisy Egan. I recently learned about Jimmathy, the Seattle-based raccoon who went viral for his endearing rotund form and who likely has a short spine condition. And considering Jimmathy, it made me realize that the Dover demon, whom I covered in episode 40 of season 5, was likely also just a raccoon with a short spine, but with mange. If cameras weren't as ubiquitous today, one could imagine someone describing Jimmathy and everyone assuming he was some kind of cryptid. Indeed, because we now have cell phone footage of baby Jimmathy being so lovingly looked after by his mama and siblings,

2:06there is no doubt that he's just a raccoon that's a little different. The world is now so in love with Jimmathy in fact that when you google him, an animated cartoon version of him gallops across your screen. As far as I know, this is a first. When I googled Punch the Monkey, there was no cartoon lumbering across my screen, dragging a teddy bear behind it. I imagine the first people to land on the Galapagos Islands, assumed what they were seeing, were cryptids. I mean, I suppose in some way they were seeing cryptids. Those animals were unfamiliar, strange creatures humans had never seen before. It must have seemed like they'd stepped into some mythical land. And then of course the humans did what humans loved to do. They ate the weird creatures. And there's all those old maps with drawings of sea monsters, which were probably just whales and dolphins. For as long as humans have thought themselves better than every other living being, the line between animal and monster has been blurry,

3:07in the eyes, stomachs, and collective imaginations of us sapiens. In their 2013 book The Van Meter Visitor, a true and mysterious encounter with the unknown, authors Chad Lewis, Noah Voss, and Kevin Lee Nelson describe the early 20th century during which today's story takes place, as a quote period of time in which science was still in its infancy, and to the general public absolutely anything seemed possible, no matter how outlandish it may have sounded. The idea that some previously unknown species of mysterious animal was out running through the woods, waters, and forests wasn't just fanciful thinking, it was a stark reality. End quote. That said, though, the descriptions of the subject of today's episode truly defy logic. For example, I can't think of any terrestrial animal that shoots light out of a horn on its head. Can you? The headline on October 9, 1903, in the Lafayette Weekly Journal, screamed,

4:21horrible monster, an awful winged form shedding a dazzling light terrorizes an entire Iowa town, is like a maniac's dream. On October 20, 1903, the Joplin Globe published this vivid story. Quote, The town of Van Meter containing 1,000 persons is terribly brought up by what is described as a horrible monster. Every man, woman, and child in the town is in a state of terror, and fully half of them fail to close their eyes and slumber except in broad daylight. The monster put in its appearance Monday night. UG Griffith, an implement dealer, drove into town at 1am and saw what seemed to be an electric searchlight on Marin Griggs' store, while he gazed at sail across to another building and then disappeared. End quote. The creature reportedly terrorized the residence of Van Meter for a few days before disappearing, ostensibly from whence it came. Described as some kind of flying humanoid animal with bat-like wings about 9 feet tall, one might immediately think of the mothbant,

5:25whom I covered way back in season 1. The book, The Van Meter Visitor, a true and mysterious encounter with the unknown, recounts this story about one Dr. Abbott. Quote, in a terrifying moment, the doctor was torn from his slumber by a bright light shining in his face. Standing behind the source of light, Dr. Alcott could make out a half-human and half animal that displayed even more mind-boggling traits, such as great bat-like wings. This strange creature before him continued to baffle his racing mind. The doctor could start to see where the light was coming from, and it only muddied the mystery visitor more. In the center of the creature's forehead, grew a single blunt horn. The light seemed to be somehow emanating from this blunted horn. The doctor was close to the creature at this point and felt the only course of action was to slay the mysterious and monstrous source of light, gripping his gun firmly the doctor fired at

6:27the monster. Not only once or twice to be sure, but five fearful shots were hurled at the beast. He must have had to quickly rethink his initial approach after not even one of the shots had any noticeable effect. With only one remaining shot left, Dr. Alcott quickly retreated back into his office, and quote, the so-called Van Meter visitor, according to a piece from 2015 in the Des Moines Register titled Half-Human Half-Bat Van Meter remembers a 1903 visit from a winged monster. The creature, quote, led off a powerful stench and scared the daylights out of them because it moved its speeds never seen before, and it shot a blinding light from its horned head, and quote, so across between the moth man Springheel Jack, who I covered back in season 3, a flying unicorn in an anglerfish and a skunk. Gorgeous. The daily yonder called the stench-ed-emitted memory erasing. That is one powerful fart. Listen, I get it. I also emit a powerful stench that

7:33times makes my husband forget why he married me. But, stranger, don't forget where we left off. When we return, our sketch of the Van Meter visitor fills in. Strangers, everything is super expensive right now, but your gorgeous wardrobe doesn't have to be. At quince, everything is sustainably made, and 50 to 80% off other similar brands. From machine washable silk to Mongolian cashmere, denim, leather, and even home goods, everything you need to look and feel comfortable is at quince. My black cotton t-shirts from quince are a wardrobe staple, and for the winter I have a Mongolian cashmere sweater in every color, and don't get me started on the sweatpants. I absolutely live in them from October to April. Quince specializes in effortless, high-quality essentials like ultra-soft organic cotton and

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9:35But, can a cryptid really make a splash without wings? Of that fateful visit on October 9th, 1903, the Lafayette Weekly Journal reported, quote, that night, Dr. O.V. White saw the monster climbing down a telephone pole using its beak, much in the manner of a parrot. As it struck the ground, it seemed to travel in leaps, like a kangaroo, using its huge, featherless wings to assist. It gave off no light. He fired at it and believed he wounded it. The shot was followed by an overpowering odor. Sydney Greg, attracted by the shot, saw the monster flying away, end quote. Doctors Alcott and White were not the only ones to shoot at the animal. Apparently, many gentlemen attempted the feat and were all thwarted. Due to their lack of success, the creature it was believed was bulletproof. According to the book The Van Meter Visitor, Peter Dunn, who owned the only bank in town, was worried the reports of the monster were actually

10:35vandals or robbers. With that in mind, he stayed at the bank overnight, carrying with him his trusty shotgun. Much to his shock, apparently, he heard the monster before he saw it. Quote, the noise was confusing. Was it that of garbled gasps for air by some unseen creature, whether wild animal or human? Peter thought that it was perhaps someone strangling, but before he could investigate further or listen longer, a mysterious light shown fall upon him through the front window. The light was revealed so suddenly and bright that Peter was almost blind. The light snapped off of him in what must have been a huge, if not momentary relief. As the light moved, it darted about the room and Peter was able to garner a better glimpse of the source. As his eyes began to relax, a great form of some kind began to reveal itself. Peter's nerves could stand it no longer, steadying the barrel of the shot gun towards the creature he fired point blank. In his haste, he did not give chase to the outside or even open the window,

11:38but out of such stymied shock, Peter's shot shattered the glass and part of the sash. Then, nothing. Peter thought he had killed the creature, but nothing remained to save a few tracks. In true modern-day cryptozoologist form, Peter even made a plaster cast of the great three-toed tracks. According to some later accounts, including a piece from 2021 in the Daily Yonder, folks described it looking like a teradactyl. The Daily Mirror piece from 2013 includes an uncredited drawing of the creature that is said to be based on, quote, eyewitness accounts. It looks like a figure in one of those creepy black plague masks wearing a cape with some kind of geometric shape on its chest. Kevin Lee Nelson, one of the co-authors of the Van Meter visitor, made a drawing that he said was based on accounts from contemporary reporting. It looks like something from a bad sci-fi movie from the 60s. A teradactyl shooting a laser

12:40out of a horn on its head. I had trouble finding contemporary accounts that described it as such, but Lord knows, I didn't comb through the entire archive. A special piece in the Des Moines Daily News, which is quoted in various sources, but which I couldn't find, alleges that at one point, the thing was seen with a second, smaller version of itself. The Des Moines Register quoted the piece from the Daily News in a 2013 article revisiting the Van Meter visitor affair. Apparently, a contingent of brave men took up arms, quote, charged near the old brickyard where J. L. Platt Jr. heard a noise down by the abandoned coal mine. Presently, the noise opened up again, as though Satan and a regiment of imps were coming forth for battle, end quote. And here is allegedly where the monster showed herself now with a smaller version of herself. I say herself because one has to assume if the smaller one was an offspring, the larger one had to be the mother. Animals are seldom seen out in the wild hanging out with

13:42just their fathers. Even Jimmethy's father seemed to have bounced. And according to the Daily News, the creatures flew away, quote, only to return in the morning where the men had gathered to rid the earth of them with their firepower heard far and wide. The reception they received would have sunk the Spanish fleet, but aside from honorily noise and peculiar odor, they did not seem to mind it, but slowly descended the shaft of the old mine. End quote. Some folks in town thought the beast had awoken when miners dug too deep into the earth, an early version of climate change fears. Hey man, whatever works, I guess. In their book, the van meter visitor, the authors offer an argument that could back up this theory. They write, quote, one very hypothetical theory could be that the plat mine and van meter, a shaft 257 feet deep, broke into a closed subterranean ecosystem, releasing an unknown bat-like creature into the upper world. They may have been an evolutionary offshoot or a surviving

14:46species from the distant past. End quote. They go on to explain that in Israel in 2006, a 330-foot deep cave that had been sealed off for millions of years was discovered to have within it, a quote thriving and totally independent ecosystem, including four undiscovered species of water dwelling crustaceans and four land dwelling invertebrates. End quote. Of course, it's a long way to go from land dwelling invertebrates and water dwelling crustaceans to a nine-foot man-bat kangaroo unicorn anglerfish skunk teradactyl that shoots light out of its horn. Maybe Iowa has some kind of portal to another dimension though. Turns out, this wasn't the first time folks in the area had encountered an inexplicable beast. After the break, what's that in the sky? It's a bird, it's a mosquito, it's a flying serpent?

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16:53delicious and get me going. They're also perfect for after the gym, if that's something you do. And right now iQbars is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all iQbar products, plus get free shipping. To get your 20% off, text Strange to 64000. Text Strange to 64000. That's Strange to 64000. Message and data rates may apply, see terms for details. Enjoy big savings with Red Hot deals at Vons and Albertsons. This week at Vons and Albertsons, baby back pork ribs are 299 per pound with membership where applicable limit 3 racks, and ballpark hot dogs or hamburger buns 8 count are 299 with digital coupon. Plus personal seedless watermelons or canelope are 199 each with digital coupon. Enjoy fresh and delicious savings for every meal. Hurry in, these deals won't last. Visit vonsoralbertsons.com for more deals and ways to save. Have you heard that McDonald's spicy chicken McNuggets made with spicy

17:55tempura and a blend of h cayenne are back? Remember to grab a few extra napkins. Papa Papa for limited time at the Spend McDonald's. Six years earlier, residents of Van Meter reported being terrorized by another flying creature. This one resembling a 9 foot serpent. The new era out of Humeston, Iowa reported this, quote, the Bedford Times Independent of last week tells a remarkable story about a flying serpent claimed to have been seen by a gentleman named quarter living near that place. Mr. Quarter says when first seen it resembled a buzzard, but as it drew nearer its appearance was different from any flying animal he had ever seen. As it descended lower and its outline became more distinct, it took the form of a great serpent, writhing and twisting. With protruding eyes and forked tongue, great scales which glistened in the sunlight covered its huge body, which appeared to be flat and nearly a foot in width. While they were gazing at it with awe

18:58and astonishment, it landed in a cornfield a few rods distant with a dull thud. Those who saw it were so frightened that they did not dare to go to the field and search of it, and it was allowed to pass on its way. Many theories have been advocated as to the probable nativity of the insect, but none appear plausible. The Times also adds, perhaps our readers will be inclined to doubt the truth of this story, but if any such will call on Lee Corp or any of the family who reside about five miles from this city, they may be convinced of its truth, as they are people of unimpeachable veracity. Only about two months before the van meter visitor began farting its way through van meter, the town of Estherville, Iowa had its own encounter of an unknown kind. In the van meter visitor book, the authors recount this tale, quote, in July of 1903, just two months before the van meter encounter, the town of Estherville, Iowa was enthralled over several sightings of a large serpent-like creature inhabiting east Okoboji Lake. The Estherville vindicator and

20:03Republican newspaper carried the sensational sightings, claiming that while Mr and Mrs. Bartlett were out on a fishing excursion, they noticed a terrible commotion in the water. Whatever it was, was moving quite rapidly through the water and quite close to the top, and had the appearance of being as large as an overturned skiff, end quote. Some thought the creature was just a large sturgeon or some other known water creature, but according to the book, the mysterious animal was never identified. And here we are, approaching that blurry line I spoke of at the start. When we fancy ourselves cryptozoologist swapping stories in an effort to sort through creatures beyond our knowledge, it's unclear where one cryptoz ends and the other begins. Was this potential sturgeon also the suspicious serpent resident spoke of? Or are they separate beings of inquiry, like cryptozoologist to the horned van meter visitor? To this list, let's add a new version of what form the mystery that befell this Iowa town could have taken. Apparently for her book Ghosts of

21:09Dallas County, author Laurie Pilak found stories of a river monster living in Raccoon River about 25 miles from van meter. The creature was allegedly caught by a fisherman who described it as about eight feet long with flippers and quote a tail like a fish but a hard-shelled body like a turtle. End quote. And unlike the thing that was possibly just a sturgeon, this beast was seen by multiple people. Pilak's account, which is retold by the authors of the van meter visitor, I couldn't access a copy of her book directly, goes like this. A father and son were enjoying dinner on the bank of Raccoon River when a gigantic splash in the water caught their attention. Quote as the beast made another splash, the two campers noticed the beast had a ripped shell body and long tail, complete with a long neck and teeth. Pilak also interviewed a gentleman whose family had spent generations living along the banks of the Raccoon River. Apparently the family has spotted the creature so many times over the years that it became routine. Similar to other sightings,

22:14the man also spoke of the creature's physical makeup being that of a cross between a giant turtle and seal. Whatever the creature is, it seems too cunning to be caught. As many believe it still inhabits the shallow waters of the Raccoon River. End quote. And then there was the humanoid bipedal hairy creature, some reported seeing over by Tara Bridge just outside Fort Dodge, Iowa. As described in the van meter visitor, this thing was quote the size of a giant bear that was covered with a thick, matted, down, shaggy fur covering its entire body, complete with a long pointed muzzle. The most puzzling aspect to the sightings was the fact that the creature could run effortlessly on its hind legs. For a lack of better description, eyewitnesses began calling it a werewolf. End quote. The folks who lived in the area were used to all kinds of ghost stories coming from Tara Bridge. This, it seemed, was the first sighting of a living, breathing, mysterious creature. Turns out though, it was probably just a bear. Bears, especially ones with

23:20injured front paws can easily walk on their hind legs. One wonders if perhaps visiting a place called Tara Bridge lends one to seeing weird things. The authors of the van meter visitor point out that around the turn of the century, many interesting animals of legend were being discovered, shifting the study of them from cryptozoology to actual zoology. Animals like the Komodo dragon, Okapi, and the mountain gorilla. So perhaps the population was ripe for thinking some strange undiscovered species was living right there in Iowa. According to Chad Lewis, one of the authors of the van meter visitor, or at least to an article from the rural news site the Daily Yonder in 2021 that claims their information came from Chad Lewis, the creature was seen in the 1980s by a man who claimed to have never heard of the van meter visitor. He was new to the area and according to the piece, quote, reportedly saw a five-foot-long bat-like creature fly over his

24:23head. End quote. The piece reports that Lewis said these things, but I will tell you I had trouble finding any of these stories either online or in the book. Anytime I tried to find it, I just got sent back to the piece in the Daily Yonder, and it's important to note they weren't actually quoting Lewis in the piece. It's as though the writer interviewed Lewis directly or wanted us to think she did, and then didn't quote him directly but chose instead to rephrase what he said? I don't know. Anyway, the piece also claims that Lewis said that a family saw the creature sometime in the 2000s, or at least saw a giant bird-like creature that was dead on the side of the road. Unlike RFK Jr., who would have pulled the car over immediately and cut the things penis off while his family waited in the car, this man chose to come back to the spot to investigate on his own, but when he did, the creature was gone. Also, that's not really fair of me. Birds don't even have penises. This anecdote is dubious at best. The giant bird-like creature could have been

25:29a crane, an eagle, an e-moo? If it was that unusual, why didn't they stop immediately to investigate? The Yonder piece continues quote around 2006, Lewis said a pastor waiting for a friend in Kohlfax, Iowa, spotted what he thought was a dragon in the sky. When he returned home, he googled Iowa dragon and came across a picture of what he had spotted, the van meter visitor. Later, in 2014, a couple camping in Iowa City reported an encounter with a giant bird. And quote, I could find neither of these examples anywhere else as well. What I did find in Lewis's book, The Van Meter Visitor, was a mention of Spring Healed Jack, which I didn't find until well after I'd compared this thing to Spring Healed Jack way back at the beginning of this episode. See, like I keep telling you, I'm not just a pretty face. Lewis and his co-authors posited that perhaps the residents of Van Meter had been exposed to the

26:30dime store pulp novel about Spring Healed Jack that they say was in wide circulation in 1903. Here's how the authors of the van meter visitor described Jack. Quote, he characteristically was described as a humanoid, but had dazzling lights, featherless wings, and even a putrid scent. End quote. Now, I'll rerun my Spring Healed Jack episode for you next week, but I must say, I didn't run across any descriptions of him as having any sort of light, let alone a dazzling one, nor a putrid scent. I mean, Lord knows Chad Lewis is a real paranormal investigator, and I'm just a podcaster who makes a lot of fart jokes, but I'd like to know what his source material for Spring Healed Jack was. To be fair, it was the 19th century, so I imagine the whole place stunk. Disregardless, perhaps the folks in Van Meter were primed by British pulp novels, or perhaps there was another explanation for this stinky, behorned hopping little devil.

27:34After the break, we'll try to solve the mystery of the Van Meter visitor using our own sniffers. Enjoy big savings with Red Hot Deals at Vons and Albertsons. This week at Vons and Albertsons, baby back pork ribs are 299 per pound with membership where applicable limit 3 racks, and ballpark hot dogs or hamburger buns 8 count are 299 with digital coupon. Plus, personal seedless watermelons or cantaloupe are 199 each with digital coupon. Enjoy fresh and delicious savings for every meal. Hurry in, these deals won't last. Visit vons or Albertsons.com for more deals and ways to save. Stop wasting your nights on a mattress that doesn't get you. Experience the most comfortable mattress in the world. The sleep number smart bed at the touch of a button. You can personalize your comfort. Choose firmer or softer. Adjust cooler to warmer. And right now, save up to $2500

28:41during our massive Labor Day event. Hurry into your local sleep number store today, because we have your number. Enjoy big savings with Red Hot Deals at Vons and Albertsons. This week at Vons and Albertsons, baby back pork ribs are 299 per pound with membership where applicable limit 3 racks, and ballpark hot dogs or hamburger buns 8 count are 299 with digital coupon. Plus, personal seedless watermelons or cantaloupe are 199 each with digital coupon. Enjoy fresh and delicious savings for every meal. Hurry in, these deals won't last. Visit vons or Albertsons.com for more deals and ways to save. A piece in the Daily Mail from 2013 includes a picture of a group of men reported to be the 1901 Bachelors of Van Meter, some of whom the caption reads claim to have seen the mysterious monster. I don't know if they saw a monster, but it looks like the man in the middle

29:42row on the right just received a rather unwelcome surprise, perhaps from the cheeky little fellow standing right behind him to the right. I don't think I'd want to be caught alone with any of these gentlemen, except perhaps that cheeky little fellow. Though I will say, I love the idea of an old Timy Bachelors Club where men sit around discussing local monster sightings and possibly giving each other old Timy Handys. I sailed, chopped, did you see that bat thing with the glowing horn that gave off that awful stench? Not now, Charlie, focus on the task at hand! I guess the picture is to help us see how respectable the witnesses of the Van Meter visitor were. One such respectable witness was the principal of the local school who declared that it was likely an animal from pre-flood Bible days. Now, I'm no biblical scholar, but shouldn't any animal from before the flood that wasn't brought on the ark have died? Wasn't that kind of the whole point of the flood? If there was a god, I would imagine he would have been pretty pissed here someone accusing him of having missed one particularly strange, terrifying, and foul smelling creature

30:45in his righteous earth-covering flood. Then again, I wonder what his plan was for all the animals who happen to make the water their home to begin with. They must have all been right as rain. Anyway. But while all reports on the initial sightings of the Van Meter visitor were careful to point out that the witnesses were upstanding members of society, it is true that even the most stand-uping as citizen can have the wool pulled over their eyes from time to time. So if it wasn't a mythical beast, what was the Van Meter visitor? The most obvious answer would be that some kind of very large bird somehow ended up in Van Meter and either escaped its captor or confines or was released. Obviously, there is no real life bird that lights up, farts like a skunk, and is impervious to bullets though. Also, the reports were that the creature's wings were featherless, so if it was some kind of large bird that somehow ended up in Van Meter through circumstances unknown, and lost all its feathers to some kind of bird mange, it would not have been able to fly as it

31:49was reported to have done so effortlessly. There are those who maintain the belief that ancient animals still creep around the nooks and crannies of this earth. Lewis and his co-authors claim, quote, there is indeed precedence for these concepts, such as the often cited seal-acquaint. This large ocean dwelling fish was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years until found alive in 1938. End quote. I suppose, though I would imagine it would be much easier for an ocean dwelling animal to hide from us than a nine-foot, light-em-up farting bird-bat thing. It is unlikely that the people of Van Meter, Iowa, were treated to sightings of a here-to-for-undiscovered and-or-once extinct species that was subsequently never seen again. The region in question was once home to indigenous Iowa people who had their own tales of magical-winged beings. In their book, the Van Meter visitor, the author's outline some of these beliefs, including the rather ubiquitous

32:53Thunderbird. Quote, it is interesting how traditional descriptions of Thunderbirds parallel the Van Meter visitor incident. Thunderbird traditions include large birds sometimes described as humanoid beings with strange speech that are known to shine or shoot light. End quote. Another tale, one of supposed Elini Confederation legend spoke of a dragon-like creature with horns and wings like a bat that would, quote, occasionally venture out of its lair, attack local villages, and carry off its victims to dine upon later. Finally, it was killed by tribal warriors when it tried to attack Chief Uotoga. Legend states, the rock painting was made to commemorate the creature's demise. End quote. However, according to historian Phil Center, quote, the alleged Elini legend and the character Uotoga are the inventions of American author John Russell. Russell created this fake Elini legend and published it in the Family Magazine in 1836, and again an Evangelical

33:54Magazine and Gospel Advocate in 1848. End quote. If the Van Meter visitor sightings did spring out of this legend, it feels a little bit like being fed one's own medicine. A white man makes up a tale about the exotic natives and their legends and other white people fall prey to it. After the break, the story of the Van Meter visitor gets a touch more alien. Enjoy big savings with Red Hot Deals at Vons and Albertsons. This week at Vons and Albertsons, baby back pork ribs are 2.99 per pound with membership where applicable limit three racks, and ballpark hot dogs or hamburger buns eight count are 2.99 with digital coupon. Plus personal seedless watermelons or canelope are 1.99 each with digital coupon. Enjoy fresh and delicious savings for every meal. Hurry in, these deals won't last.

34:56Visit vonsoralbertsons.com for more deals and ways to save. Stop wasting your nights on a mattress that doesn't get you. Experience the most comfortable mattress in the world. The sleep number smart bed at the touch of a button. You can personalize your comfort. Choose firmer or softer. Adjust cooler to warmer. And right now, save up to $2,500 during our massive Labor Day event. Hurry into your local sleep number store today because we have your number. Have you heard that McDonald's spicy chicken McNuggets made with spicy tempura and a blend of H.K.N.R.Bag? Remember to grab a few extra napkins. Lewis and his co-authors point out that there had been several sightings of strange lights in the sky in the region in the years leading up to the van meter visitor. Indeed,

36:00these sightings were more than just strange lights in the sky. The coverage in the Waterloo Courier in April of 1897 is breathless. First, on April 10th, it was reported that a mysterious object was seen in the sky that, quote, seemed to be twice the size of the largest and brightest star. End quote. And though it looked like a star, witnesses said it swayed from side to side and traveled rapidly, eventually sinking below the horizon at 10 pm. That same article reports that one JK Yoder, a local man, was heading home at one in the morning when he spotted, quote, what seemed to be a monstrous bat gliding through the air and coming toward him. For a moment, all he could see was an immense black object with what seemed to be eyes of fire. End quote. The object landed, and though the article reports he was, quote, too frightened to make accurate observations, he nonetheless tells a very plausible story of what follows. End quote. Quote, I succeeded in approaching within about a hundred feet of the ship, and would have quite a story to tell you, but for one thing, the sailors were all foreigners.

37:03I'm quite sure they were polinders, for they were quite small in stature and dressed in furs. They talked fluently, I suppose, but I couldn't understand a word. End quote. Yoder gleamed that they had stopped to make repairs on the ship, but also that they were hungry, and somehow, though he couldn't understand their language, they, quote, said by use of signs that they thought it would be of no use to ask for a handout in Waterloo, because Jack Kaspier didn't come down proper when they went over town a few nights since. End quote. That is some nuanced messaging to get just from signs. Anyway, Yoder said the repairs were presently made, and the group took off again. So maybe they were just Polish people with super advanced technology, or maybe aliens look Polish? The mystery of the airship, though, seems to have been solved when on April 21st, the Waterloo Courier published a long and fantastic tale of a man named Professor Jorgensen,

38:04who claimed to have traveled on this airship, which he'd landed on the circus grounds. The illustration and description of the ship cannot be further from the descriptions that townfolk and van meter described of their strange visitor, though. This thing seemed to have been some kind of blimp contraption that it's alleged pilot claimed to have shuttled from San Francisco. It is also not for nothing, hard to believe. Though the first airships were launched in 1852, they achieved a maximum speed of about 6 miles per hour. Professor Jorgensen claimed he clocked the speed of his ship at 100 miles per hour. The famous Zeppelin airships didn't come around until three years after this alleged event, and they only traveled about 20 miles per hour. So this, it would seem, is a red herring. There are those, of course, who do believe in so-called ultra-terrestrial crafts, though. The concept was coined by author John A. Keel in his 1975 book, The Mothman Prophecies. As described in the van meter visitor, ultra-terrestrial objects are,

39:10quote, not constrained by gravitational restrictions are usually completely silent, and it been known to pass through solid matter. The bodies of ultra-terrestrials can change shape and take on the aspect of creatures from myth and legends, or bogeymen that often reflect society's anxieties. Their behavior is equally strange and incomprehensible. A great number of incidents seem so bizarre and nonsensical that they appear to be the work of some kind of cosmic trickster, rather than the handy work of a presumably advanced race and rational civilization. End quote. I mean, I don't know. We are supposed to be an advanced and rational race, and yet we put our animals in cages and display cases and do horrible experiments on them and shine magnifying glasses on slugs. I'm sure those animals are looking at us and thinking, why would an advanced and rational race do such things? Not to mention, of course, what we do to other humans. But the most likely answer is that this is just another example of something we humans love to do.

40:15Pass on stories. Gossip. Wag our tongues. We love to tell each other tales that send chills down the spine. It's why campfire ghost stories are so popular. All it takes is for one gullible person to not understand that a story is fiction to start passing it around as though it was fact. Or one scallywag who knowingly spreads a fiction as though it were fact. Listen, I know I've said this before, but I fell for the viral marketing of the Blair Witch Project. I thought it was a true story. Recently I watched a video of a young woman telling her Italian mother the story of the movie Home Alone as if it were a true story. The mother was completely taken in by it. If her daughter hadn't told her it was a movie, I'm sure the mother would have gone on and told the story to someone else with her own embellishments. Apparently the very first article in the DeWine Daily News was a special, or what we might today call an op-ed. It was not in fact a

41:16news item written by a reporter or journalist. Indeed, there is no name attributed to the article at all, which was it seemed standard practice at the time. I suppose the reader was just supposed to take it on faith that the person writing the article was A, employed by the paper and B, following some standard of journalistic practices. But it seems any Tom Dick or Harry could just submit a piece to the local paper and pass it off as journalism? I don't know how widespread this practice was, and I'm not sure I want to know. It's a horrifying thought. Let's say for the sake of argument that someone fancied themselves a writer and rather than going about trying to publish a book, they just printed an anonymous story in the newspaper and passed it off as a news. Just like the panic that Orson Wells wore of the world's created when it was passed off on the radio as though it were a real account, this story might have created a panic in the area causing people to be on edge. Maybe someone took advantage of the panic and perpetuated

42:19a hoax by dressing up and shining bright lights and people's faces in the middle of the night. Of course, the battery operated flashlight wouldn't be invented for another couple of decades. I suppose they might have used a lantern and a mirror? But then one has to ask oneself why? To what end would someone have done this? Nothing, it seems, was stolen. The only property that was damaged was the bank window when that dude shot at the creature right through it. And as far as I know, there are no bulletproof people. Unless this someone or someone's were extraordinarily lucky, with all the shotgun fire being flung at them, it's a wonder no one got shot. Maybe someone submitted the story as a piece of fiction and it just ended up on the wrong desk. Maybe it was a slow news day. Although I will report that the article immediately below this one was about an 11 year old girl who'd been beaten so badly by her teacher that she was left permanently disabled. I dare say that should have gotten a more prominent spot in the paper.

43:25There is a wonderful episode of the podcast Normal Gossip about a story that gets retold over the span of a few months. With each telling the details change until by the end, the story is hardly recognizable from its origin. And the last teller is certainly told the story exactly the way he heard it, except for one unimportant detail. The episode is called Telephone Game with Alex and Justin. It's from August 10th of 2022. I highly recommend it. We tell stories in order to understand the unknown. In the case of the van meter visitor and really all of the cryptids of your mentioned, we may not have conclusive evidence as to what it was or why it came to Iowa. But we can take in the tales of people who think they saw it, smelled it, or felt its presence. In place of science, we have our own versions of those stories to digest and pass on. And believe me stranger, I'm aware this podcast is a further iteration of that. This is my story

44:31of encountering the story. What's yours? Next time on Strange and Unexplained, in two very different places, thousands of miles apart, unexplainable phenomena plagued innocent people and their pets. One came from the skies, the other, it seems, from hell. The Oakville Blobs and the Mongolian Deathworm. Strange and unexplained as a production of three goose entertainment with help from Grabbag Collab, special thanks to Grabbag Executive Producer-level member Richard Nasey. This episode was written by me, Daisy Egan, with research by Joe Gordette. At a tutorial help from Becadie Grigorio and Sound Design and Engineering by Jeff Devine, Music by Epidemic and Blue Dot Sessions.

45:37If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a member of Grabbag Collab. We have built an incredible community of listeners who support a small, profit-sharing, woman and non-binary own business. At Grabbag, we're committed to giving a platform to voices who might otherwise get overlooked by bigger networks, plus all our contributors get to keep ownership of their content. It's a whole new approach to podcasting. Come check it out at grabbagcollab.com. For just four bucks a month or forty dollars a year, you can get strange and unexplained early and ad-free. And for just eight bucks or eighty dollars a year, you'll get all the shows Grabbag has to offer, including my other shows, Dear Daisy and Shut the F-Up Nick Lachet, as well as Amber Hunts' Crimes of the Centuries, The Catalyst, Tales of the Resistance, What If They're Wrong and All of Our Quarterly Shows. You can even sign up to join our live recordings. We have book clubs, live hangs, watch parties and more. If you're feeling extra generous, you can sign up at the fifty dollar level for even more perks, including all our shows and

46:39extras and have your name read in the credits of our shows. Head to grabbagcollab.com today to join. To suggest an episode for Strange and Unexplained, you can email me directly at contact at strange and unexplainedpod.com or go to strange and unexplainedpod.com and fill out the contact form. You can follow me on Instagram at SNUPod or Daisy Egan and join the Facebook page to be a part of the conversation. Thanks so much for listening and stay strange. If you want a healthier home without the hassle, meet Canopy, beautifully designed wellness essentials for cleaner air, fresher water and everyday self-care, including humidifiers, air purifiers, shower, bath and faucet filters, from clean, filtered moisture to help support restful sleep, to filters that help reduce chlorine for softer skin and hair. Canopy upgrades your and your

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