The Van Meter Visitor

 

In October of 1903 the town of Van Meter in Iowa had multiple encounters with a strange, bird like cryptid, which was later nick named the Van Meter Visitor. The creature had leathery, featherless skin, a bird like head with a beak filled with teeth and leathery bat like wings. The most unusual feature of the cryptid was that it had a glowing horn jutting out from the center of its forehead. Some people reported seeing a more humanoid creature, which stood upright, and had its arms replaced by bat like wings. While others reported a more animalistic and pteranodon like being. Whichever version they saw, people consistently reported the same details about its strange head. The people who reported the sightings were some of the most prominent and upstanding members of the area.

The first sighting was witnessed by U G Griffith, a well know businessman in town. He was returning late at night from his work, around 1 o'clock in the morning, when he saw a light on top one of the buildings along main street. It shined down to the street bellow, like a lantern that had been left on the edge of the roof. Being that Van Meter was a small town, there were no businesses open at this late hour, nor would repair men be working this late. Griffith there for assumed that something criminal must be going on, and he must interrupt them and case them off. Griffith yelled out to the light to cease what the assumed thieves were doing. In stead of hearing men hurrying away, Griffith saw the light silently lift off into the air, fly further down the street and land on a different building. While Griffith was confused by how that happened, he still assumed there was some sort of criminal activity taking place, so he chased the light down the street and called out again. And again the light lifted off from the building and landed on the other one directly across the street this time. Griffith stared at the light, not knowing what to make of the situation. While he watched it the light took off into the sky and didn't return. Griffith never saw the source of the light. In the morning Griffith reported his sighting to the police, who subsequently searched the rooftops, but found no sign of anyone being up there the night before.

After midnight the next night, Dr Alcott, the town doctor, was lying on a cot at the back of his office, trying to get to sleep. He was awoken by a bright light shining through his third story window. Alcott had heard the town gossip about Griffith's prowler and assumed it was the same one, now trying to break into his office to steal medication. Dr Alcott took the pistol from his desk drawer and went downstairs and outside to the street facing his office. There, instead of a human thief, he saw the monster clinging to the side of the building near his window. Dr Alcott fired at the creature. The monster merely looked down at Alcott and blinded him with the light from its horn. Dr Alcott fired blindly another four times. The monster screeched and flew off into the night. Next morning police examined Alcott's window. They found shell casings from his gun, and damage to the bricks and window sill, but no blood or any other sign that the creature had been injured.

With the knowledge of both Griffith's and Alcott's sightings the town was now panicked with monster mania and citizens took to sleeping in their businesses to protect them from the creature. One such person was Clarence Dunn, a bank teller at the local bank. He had stayed to guard the bank, shot gun in hand. During the night Mr. Dunn dosed off. He was later awoken by whistling sounds coming from outside the window. He looked outside the window, but was blinded by a bright light that suddenly shined through. Dunn backed away from the window and saw the light move around the room like whatever was causing it was searching the room. As the light turned away from him to the opposite side of the room Dunn saw the face of the monster, which he described as birdlike, with leathery skin and a beak full of sharp teeth. He saw that the light was coming from the horn in the middle of the creature's head. Dunn shot at the monster, breaking the glass in the window. The monster silently left. It's unknown if any of the shot or glass actually managed to reach the creature or not. In the morning the police examined the scene. They found some three toed footprints on the ground outside the window, but attempts to make plaster casts of the prints failed.

The next evening the creature was spotted again. O V White was waiting out the evening in his hardware store, ready to protect it from the monsters. He heard whistling sounds outside and went out to see what the cause was. Outside he saw the monster perching on top a near by telegraph pole. Mr White aimed at the creature with his riffle but before he could fire at it the monster emitted a cloud of stinking, noxious gas which incapacitated Mr. White. Mr. White collapsed to the ground while coughing. At the same time Mr Gregg, the owner of another near by store, came out to see what the commotion was. Gregg witnessed the same creature fly off from the telegraph pole and away, towards the coal minds outside of town. The local coal mines had been ailing for business, and so had partially been shut down. Now only the most prosperous shaft was being mined, with several others lying abandoned.

After the two men reported their sighting and the direction the creature flew off to, the mayor called for the owner of the mines to be brought before town council. Mr Platt, the owner of the mines, reported that some of his employees has heard flapping and whistling sounds coming from the abandoned shafts, but he had assumed they were just nervous from the hysteria in town, or were trying to get out of work, so he ignored it. That evening the police posted some officers to watch the abandoned mine and report anything they saw. Soon after sunset they returned to report they had seen two of the monster exit the mine and fly off. Mine workers and worried residents were called from their evening off work and set off for the mine, where they waited until morning to ambush the creatures when they returned. As the sun rose the monster landed outside the mine entrance. There the group of men opened a volley of gunfire on the creatures. Even though many of the men saw their shots hit the creatures they didn't appear to be injured in any way. The creatures screeched and released a cloud of gas, as they had done the night before. As the men coughed and took cover from the gas the creatures retreated into the mine. Once the monsters were inside Platt bought out some dynamite from the mining supplies. With it the mine entrance was collapsed shut, sealing the monsters inside.

For the next month volunteers kept watch outside the abandoned mine shafts for any further signs of the monsters, but they were never seen again.