Is Fresno County's town of Friant a paranormal hotspot?

Millerton Lake which is near Friant, CA. Is this location a paranormal hot spot?
Photo courtesy of Rennett Stowe from Flickr.

I know it's been A WHILE since I have written anything. Given the past year and a half it's been hard to really go anywhere but hopefully that will be changing soon. Still I was itching to write something as it's been over two years and since then I had focused more on social media and let this site lay fallow, something I want to fix. So I decided to check out the National UFO Reporting Center for any local sightings but with a different focus, not on the newness of the sightings, but the location.

I found a few that occurred over in Friant by Millerton lake. Now you are probably asking yourself why I picked Friant, and here is why. I've been reading a lot the past year on different theories about UFOs, ghosts, cryptids, etc. and came across the idea of a place that is considered "thin". This is an old (think pre-Christian) Irish concept of where the veil between worlds is thin. Now you are probably asking yourself "Ok but why Friant and UFOs?" Well I am glad you asked that. There is a theory out there with some paranormal researchers that UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, etc. are all from the same place so to speak. Ever hear of Skinwalker Ranch? That place has everything and is considered to be a thin place. And I think Friant is also one of those. And here's why.

Remember the story I wrote about Lost Lake and the ghosts that haunt the place plus the weird creature that was supposedly seen in the water? Right near Friant. Remember the story of the phantom police officer on Friant Road? Yep, that's another. Oh remember that poor woman who was found amnesiac wandering near Millerton thinking she was a mermaid? Also Friant. And let's not forget the numerous sightings of large fish or some other strange creature swimming in the waters of Millerton Lake.

So we have all these weird things around this one location? But no UFO sightings right? Well that's where the before mentioned National UFO Reporting Center comes into play. I was able to find two sightings reported sightings around the Friant area. Now I know these are only two sightings within the last twenty years of so, but imagine all the UFOs that weren't reported either because people didn't know how or weren't aware of a way to report these sightings.

That said below are the two reported sightings. Both were of strange lights seen in the skies. I have included the text from the original reports as well as the link to them.


Reported: 8/1/2018 6:19:06 PM 18:19
Location: Friant, CA
Shape: Light



Summer of 2017, Friant, California… On the Madera side of Millerton, there is a dead end in which families can set up BBQ's and a dock for people with boats. It was approximately 9:40 when my boyfriend and i noticed people hanging out on the dock enjoying the stars.

We decided to walk down to the dock and do the same. When we got to the dock we sat down for a few moments to wait for the other people to leave so we could sit at the very end. Eventually they left and we sat on the end. Just looking into the sky discussing our relationship problems no more than two minutes into the conversation we notice a light flying smoothly threw the sky, not fast like a jet and not slow like a airplane.. It just glided vertically through the sky and before we knew it, it zoomed up into the sky horizontally and just disappeared. As it zoomed up to disappear it didnt just move at a crazy speed its almost if it just faded up into the sky. We could depict what it was, we were ! so shocked we couldn't bring our minds the the thought of us actually sighting a ufo. Crazy part is, you'd think we'd be so stoked and tell our family, but its as if the whole moment slipped our mind cause we never brought up… i'm a strong believer so how could something like this just slip my mind til this year of 2018? How did i not instantly react and pull out my phone? It's like being stuck in the moment made us forget what was really happening…

Link.


Reported: 9/25/2012 11:40:00 AM 11:40
Location: Friant, CA
Shape: Light
Duration:5 minutes
Flying colors in the middle of nowhere.

I was driving down the road which was empty at the time and looked up at the sky because I saw pretty colors which were red, green and blue

At first I thought it was a reflection of something but quickly noticed it wasn't. I pulled over so I could get a clean clear picture because it was so close and my phone froze, which has never happened before.

By the time my phone unfroze it was gone.

And I don't do drugs or drink and I wasn't sleepy, it was not my imagination playing tricks on me.

Link.

Back to the thin theory and why I think Friant is one of these places. It's rare to have the trinity of paranormal in the same area (Bridgewater Triangle in Southeast Massachusetts is another). I know I have been saying this but I definitely need to explore this area some more, specifically Lost Lake. But I wouldn't be surprised if the town of Friant has some stories. And lets not forget that the original town of Millerton lies at the bottom of the lake ever since the dam was built. Now no one died due to the flooding but I wonder what lies at the bottom of the lake? That said the area is definitely a place I need to revisit soon and hopefully it won't take me another two years to write about it.

Strange things going on at Lost Lake

Photo courtesy of Richard Johnstone from Flickr

I've recieved several stories regarding some rather interesting things happening at Lost Lake. The Fresno County recreation area, located on Friant Road just north of Fresno on the way to Millerton Lake, has been the site of some rather odd sightings recently.

One witness and their sister in-law were fishing late one evening alone at one of the day beach areas. The witness reported that as they were shining their flashlight on an island across the water, they saw a dark figure moving in the brush. At first they figured it was a coyote or something, but then realized it was too big to be an animal. Just as they were about to turn off their flashlight, the light hit the figure. It appeared to be a young Asian boy, perhaps four feet tall, pale, and only wearing swim trunks. Right as the flashlight was turned off, the person heard a large splash like something heavy was thrown into the water. The witness claims it couldn't have been a fish as whatever it was made a loud splash. They then turned the flashlight back on and searched the area for the little boy, but found nothing. Spooked by this incident, both parties left in a hurry and have never gone back.

The second incident comes from the same two people mentioned before, but this time at a different location in the park. Once again they were fishing late one night, this time off of the broken bridge. Both were talking as their poles were in the water when they looked down towards the water and noticed a large figure in the water swimming to shore. When it reached land, it beached itself and stayed motionless for several minutes. What happened next terrified the two witnesses. Whatever it was, it then stood up on two legs and began to walk around as if it was searching for something. They estimated it was about five feet tall, but couldn't really make out any features as it was so dark. The creature then crouched down on all fours, layed on it's belly and then slithered back into the water and disappeared. Both witnesses were terrified and needless to say, got the hell out of there.

So here we have two seperate types of incidents at the same (generally) location and by the same witnesses. Two possibilities here. One is that whoever told the story is fabricating it, but given the ghost sighting and the stories I've heard about Lost Lake I'm not sure. There's been stories of a young hmong boy hanging himself from one of the trees there as well as several other suicides. Could the ghost they saw have been the same little boy that hung himself?

But what about the strange creature that they saw near the broken bridge? Rumors of a "vortex" of sorts and the land used to be an Indian burial ground have been told for years, but they don't really explain this creature. Granted it was dark that night and maybe they mistook some mundane animal for the thing they saw. But what creature swims onto land, walks around on two feet only then to lower itself back onto all four before sliding back into the water and dissapearing? Plus the fact that whatever they saw was about five feet tall when it stood up. I think Lost Lake needs to be added to the list of places that I need to investigate, so I can hopefully figure out what's going on.