One of the most bizarre of all cryptozoological cases comes out of Crawfordsville, Indiana during September of 1891. A story carried by the Indianapolis Journal for September 5th said that at two o'clock the previous morning a "horrible apparition" appeared in the sky overhead, where two men who were working on a wagon saw it. The men estimated that the creature was about one hundred feet in the air, twenty feet long and eight feet wide. And living it did seem, as it was apparently propelling itself with several pairs of fins and circled a neary house. It disappeared shortly after into the east but soon returned. The two men at that time fled for their lives. However they were not the only observers of this monstrosity, a Methodist pastor named Rev. G. W. Switzer and his wife also saw the animal, if that is what it was.


The creature returned the following evening, and this time there were hundreds of eye witnesses. The citizens of Crawfordsville described a violently flapping "thing" with a flaming red "eye." The creature writhed as though in great pain, "squirmed in agony" and sounded a "wheezing, plaintive noise" as it hovered at 300 feet. At one instance it swooped down on a band of onlookers who swore they could feel it's "hot breath."


Was the story true? Charles Fort investigated the matter, he was convinced that there was no Rev. G.W. Switzer. To his surprise he learned that there was indeed such a man and corresponded with the man who did affirm the story. Later a reporter named Vincent Gaddis investigated the matter. He interviewed dozens of witnesses who all related the tale of the mass sighting, telling him the story was true. Gaddis wrote that "All the reports refer to this object as a living thing."