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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Does the ghost of a murdered girl haunt an oak tree near Sanger?

A reader shared this with me last week about a weird encounter that happened to his cousin outside of Sanger late one night. This is what he sent me:


Alright so here's a true story that happened to my cousin. He's about 14 years older than me, I'm 35. This happened to him in the early 90's. He was going to college and was working graveyard part time at one of those convenient gas stations that's open 24 hours. He lives in Parlier but he used to work that job in Sanger. This happened one night in the winter. He got off around 1 in the morning and he would take Newmark to get from Sanger to Parlier. He was driving and it was foggy so he was going slow. He was going down Newmark when he sees what looks like a young girl walking down the side of the road. My cousin is genuinely a good guy, a good Samaritan type. He pulls over and lowers the window and asks "hey did you need a ride" the girl keeps walking and doesn't even turn around. He tries one last time, and he asks again "are you okay, do you need a ride." He said he turned the light on in his car for whatever reason, but after he asked that 2nd time, she poked her head in the car and repeated verbatim what he asked her. He said she had the ugliest face ever, like someone over did it or got crazy with black make up. After she spoke she started laughing and he said that laugh sent shivers down his spine. He freaked out and sped off. He said after that he NEVER took Newmark to get home when he was getting off late. 

Creepy story to say the least and it reminds me of the stories I've heard that happened on Channel Road. Talking to the person some more they told me of a local Sanger story of a young girl that was supposedly raped and killed by an oak tree on Newmark and Central and haunts the road where she was killed. He thinks this is what his cousin saw driving on Newmark late that one night.



The oak tree in question. Just south of Newmark and Central. Image courtesy of Google Maps.


Looking at a map I saw this was very close to Snake Road. I'm still researching this story, but if it's true could this be the actual origin for the Snake Road ghost? Granted they are very different stories, but is it more than just coincidence that two haunts are near each other? I've already been on record saying that I think the Snake Road story is nothing more than a retelling of La Llorona. But I've witnessed weird things on that road and know others who have as well. Could the things I and others have witnessed actually be this poor woman haunting the area and people used her story to spin a cautionary tale for Snake Road? Or is Sanger cursed with two ghosts that both share tragic, but different tales?


Thursday, October 23, 2014

Top five WTF moments in horror movie.

I love horror movies. Hell I've wrote about my favorite (and not so favorite). Watching American Horror Story Freak Show and freaking out at all the scenes of Stabby the Clown (I still refuse to call him Twisty) it got me into thinking of some of the biggest "what the fuck" moments I've seen in horror movies. So with Halloween in a week I thought I'd do another Top 5 horror movies, this time the biggest WTF momemnts.

Number 5: Misery - the hobbling scene
When I think of Kathy Bates and horror I think of this scene (and the nude hot tub scene she did in About Schmidt *wretch*). I remember watching this movie and getting terrified as Kathy Bates' character descended more and more into madness. Then this scene came up and as soon as that sledge hit poor Sonny Corleone's foot I was screaming in shared agony. But when she says "God I love you." I was effing done. To me movies like this will always scare the shit out of me more than gory ones.




Number 4: The Exorcist - spider crawl scene
Another of my favorite horror movies (I even sweded it) and this scene is seriously a huge WTF moment. This scene is just plain wrong. Something about seeing Regan walking backwards like that down the stairs is just plain wrong. This was cut out of the original theatrical release, but not because it terrified people so much as the legends say. It was cut because the special effects of the day weren't able to make the scene believable. The scene was reinserted later when the wires holding up the actress were digitally removed.




Number 3: Dead Alive - the lawnmower scene
Oh Peter Jackson, I love you man but after watching this movie I wonder how in the hell he was able to convince New Line to do Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, I love Dead Alive, it's one of my favorite zombie movies, but going from this to LotR baffles me (yes I know he's done movies in between but still). That being said I had heard of this movie for years and the famous lawn mower scene. Let me just say Rick on Walking Dead could learn from this scene. Interesting bit of trivia here. This scene used over 300 liters of blood, a record for fake blood used in one scene.



Number 2: Scanners - head explosion
Something about this scene. I swear there are times where I wish I was Michael Ironside and I had his head exploding powers. I sometimes catch myself staring intently at someone annoying me, but the only thing that happens is I get a headache and a weird look from the person. That being said this is one of my favorite death scenes and definitely a WTF moment.



Number 1: The Shining - guy in dog costume
Oh Stanley Kubrick you bat shit insane man. I could have done an entire post dedicated to you (perhaps in the future I will) but I had to go with this scene from The Shining as when I first saw it I literally said "what the fuck?" The scene where Wendy is running wildly through The Overlook when she comes across a man in a dog costume getting real friendly with a guy in a suit. It was just so random and chaotic and made no sense. Only years later when reading the book did I find out that the man in the suit was a former owner of the hotel and the guy in the dog suit was his lover. The movie didn't go into this story, so I don't know if Kubrick had to cut the story or just threw this in just to add to the chaos of the scene. Whatever the case it's the most bat shit fucked up scene I've ever seen. Even the screen clip shot below is just fucking weird. Scenes like this are why Kubrick was the best at what he did. Mind fucking with you.



So that's it. Bit different I know. Have a favorite WTF scene of your own? Let me know. I love a good mind fuck.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Weird Fresno wants to hear your ghost stories!

So I want to share some ghost stories for Halloween, but not mine. It seems everyone has a ghost story or knows someone who has. And I want to hear them, but don't e-mail me. I want to hear the story in your own words and the emotions that came with your story.

So here's what I want to do. Whoever wants to share their story, call the Weird Fresno hotline at (559) 481-1057. From now until October 30 I will take any call and will compile all the stories together (I can download them as a .mp3 file) and upload it to YouTube and on Halloween post it and share it with everyone.

Can't wait to hear what you guys have to share.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Creepy clowns stalk small town near Bakersfield



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Yeah definitely not Krusty the Clown there.


As I was watching American Horror Story: Freak Show over the weekend and being terrified by what I have named Stabby the Clown (I know he's called Twisty, I don't care),  it got me to thinking of the creepy clown sightings down in Wasco (which is near Bakersfield). For those who haven't heard (seriously where have you been?) an individual dressed as a clown has been posting photos to Facebook and Instagram that were taken around the town of Wasco. It's even gone as far as using Twitter to let it's victims fans know where it will be next.



At first it seemed to be just one individual posting photos but soon others popped up and began posting photos of their own. No one really knows what's going on. If it is just copycats of the original Wasco Clown, a theater group having some early Halloween fun, or some evil cult of devil worshiping clowns trying to take over Wasco. I say all of these are wrong and I know the true answer.

This:



That's right Killer Klowns for Outer Space are back.

Think about it. In the original move they were aliens that looked like creepy clowns and invaded a small California town looking for victims to eat. Well Wasco is a small California town and this time the clowns are using social media to lure their victims into a false sense of security (seriously who feels safe after watching Stabby on American Horror Story) and then do whatever they wish with them.

Whatever the case may be, its definitely Halloween season. Let's just hope this guy doesn't come up to Fresno. My sister just got a gun and she hates clowns.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Recent UFO sightings over Central California

It’s been a while since I've posted any UFO sightings in the Central California area so I decided to check out the National UFO Reporting Center and see if I could find anything of interest. The site never disappoints and I was able to find several and I wanted to share them in hopes that maybe someone else saw the same thing and can report their sighting as well. If you do see something strange in the sky don’t hesitate to report it to NUFORC.

Note: Every report is copied over as it was written. So for once any spelling or grammar errors aren't my fault.


Occurred : 10/2/2014 03:00
Reported: 10/2/2014 11:36:50 AM 11:36
Location: Mariposa, CA
Shape: Unknown
Duration:45 minutes
Motionless bright twinkling red and green lights in the southeast horizon of the sky.


We live just outside of Yosemite National Park in a small rural town in the foothills. It was Thursday, October 2, 2014, between 2:30 am and 3 am. I was looking out of my bathroom window towards the southeast sky as I sometimes do to admire the night sky. First I noticed that the Big Dipper was very bright and then something right below it, near the horizon, I noticed a ball of colored lights twinkling. At first I thought it was an airplane but it didn't move. It just twinkled bright red and green lights. I knew couldn't be a star because all the stars are bright and white.


I went to the livingroom to get a pair of binoculars to go outside to view it from my patio. My husband was still sitting at his desk at his laptop as I told him what I was doing. He went outside with me to see if we could view it better. Sure enough, there it was...still shinning brightly with red and green lights, like a small ball just twinkling on the horizon looking southeast of our house. It never moved from the spot just below the Big Dipper and the rest of the stars. In other words...its position only moved with the earth's rotation.


Since my husband works nights and doesn't get home until approximately 12:40 am, I'm usually up waiting for him to get home. We don't head off to bed until some time after 1:30 am and 2:30 am. So we will probably look again for this bright twinkling ball of light tonight.


By the way, my husband called a friend who is a deputy sheriff on duty until 6 am. He acknowledged seeing the same ball of red and green lights in the sky in the same direction as we did.


I hope I've provided enough information that is needed to investigate this unusual sighting. Thank you.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 9/19/2014 19:15
Reported: 9/19/2014 8:22:13 PM 20:22
Location: Los Banos, CA
Shape: Sphere
Duration:10
Eight visible stationary orbs seen in the western sky.


The 8 "objects" were high above the horizon in the western sky and were noticeable once the sun set below the horizon. What started out to be bright white in color eventually turned orange as the sun completed its setting. In effect, they "just appeared" in the sky (west-northwest direction from my position in Los Banos). The "objects" remained in the sky for about ten minutes changing color and dimming in intensity in the process. No time during the observation did the "objects" move in the sky. The "objects" were spread out in a wide "plus-like" formation.


Small amount of clouds but no evening stars visible yet at the time of observation to confuse what was being observed.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 9/12/2014 06:05
Reported: 9/12/2014 6:23:50 AM 06:23
Location: Visalia, CA
Shape:
Duration:30 seconds
Red light ascends to moon in burst of white/blue light.


Bright red light circular shaped looked unusual moving towards me in sky, called my girl over, it started ascending toward moon very fast color changed from red, to white with a huge burst of blue mist and vanished.


Mist disappeared after. 40 seconds in total. Blew my mind.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 9/12/2014 06:00
Reported: 9/12/2014 6:36:08 PM 18:36
Location: Visalia, CA
Shape: Flash
Duration:15 seconds
Mass Witnessess.


It was 6am, Friday morning. I was walking to school for our Senior Sunrise, (event where the entire Senior class takes a photo during sunrise), but it was still very dark. There was about 40 or more kids that made it early. I hear a student say, "what's that?" I turned around and at first I thought it was just a helicopter searching for someone. Then, the bright light started spinning and growing in size.


At that point it was like a flare. My other friend told me that if it was a flare it would've been brighter. A bright haze surrounded the object and then it disappeared.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 8/24/2014 20:30
Reported: 8/24/2014 8:44:59 PM 20:44
Location: Atwater, CA
Shape: Cigar
Duration:5 minutes

From 20:30 to 20:35, my wife and I observed a slow moving, cylindrical/cigar shape object moving SILENTLY from NW to SE direction with no mandatory running lights, only a huge "spotlight" like light on the middle.


It maintain s teady speed until disappearing into the SE direction of the Central Valley.


We confirmed it NOT to be the Goodyear blimp as we've seen that many, many times

Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 8/20/2014 23:30
Reported: 8/21/2014 12:00:49 AM 00:00
Location: Coalinga, CA
Shape: Light
Duration:1 minute
UFO sighting 4 lights


My daughter, son in-law, his sister & kids were driving northbound I-5 about 11:30 pm when they saw something with four lights fly right over their car.


She says it was too close to be a plane & when they looked back, it was gone!


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 8/12/2014 22:15
Reported: 9/22/2014 11:23:39 PM 23:23
Location: Clovis, CA
Shape: Triangle
Duration:7 minutes
Triangle craft with three red lights; one on each corner. It also had smaller white lights that flashed along the side.


My husband and I were in our front yard watching the Persieds meteor shower between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 12, 2014. We had a pair of binoculars with us to see the stars better. I walked inside the house for a moment when I heard my husband yelling my name in an urgent manner so I ran back outside and he was looking up at the sky in Northwest direction. I looked up and saw a red light low in the sky, moving slowly from North to South directly over a house about 4 houses down. As it came into my view, a second light was directly behind it. The distance between the two lights was about four times the distance of the length of a helicopter. As I watched, a third red light came on next to the second red light making a shape of a triangle.


The first thing I noticed was how huge the object was. I had never seen anything even close to this size; it was enormous. I also noticed there was no sound at all. The object was extremely low so it was odd that it was completely silent. As soon as I realized this was no ordinary object, I called for my son who also came running outside and witnessed this as well. I had the binoculars at the time so I watched the object through the binoculars for the remainder of the sighting.


I could see that the three lights were large red spheres on the bottom of the craft and there were much smaller rectangular white lights along the side of the craft that flashed on in a sequence. As I watched through the binoculars all three red lights stayed on at once for a short time and then one of them turned off but I could still see the sphere, it was dark grey or black. All of a sudden all of the spheres turned white at the same time for a couple seconds and then two of the lights turned off while only one white light remained. I could still see the spheres with the binoculars, but when I looked at the object without the binoculars I could only see the white light. At this point the object appeared to be an ordinary aircraft with my naked eyes. We continued to watch the object for a few minutes until it was too far to see anymore.


Link to the original report can be found here.



Occurred : 8/8/2014 23:28
Reported: 8/9/2014 1:01:17 PM 13:01
Location: Fresno, CA
Shape: Triangle
Duration:2:00 minutes
Me and cousin saw triangle shaped objects with three lights at each tip gliding through the sky at a quick speed, the craft was silent


Me and my cousin were going to pick up my brother from work when we seen a triangle shaped object with three lights at the tips gliding through the sky right above us in a diagonal direction.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 8/3/2014 21:00
Reported: 8/19/2014 4:16:05 PM 16:16
Location: Los Banos, CA
Shape: Unknown
Duration:1-2 minutes
Close Road encounter on hwy 152


I have never been a big time believer in UFO's.


While driving on 152, I witnessed a craft with three lights in a row fly from right to left quickly and then later on whizzing back from left to right.


At some point the craft got really close to the road, but I could not see the shape of it due to the lights being so bright.


It came down close to the car and then flew off and disappeared.

((NUFORC Note: We have amended the time above to 21:00 hrs., to reflect an evening sighting. We have sent an e-mail to the source of the report, requesting confirmation, but have note heard back from the gentleman, yet. PD))


((ADDENDUM FROM WITNESS))


Hello Peter,


I apologize for the confusion. It was in the evening.


((END ADDENDUM))


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 7/29/2014 21:10
Reported: 7/31/2014 12:12:22 PM 12:12
Location: Lemoore, CA
Shape: Triangle
Duration:60-90 seconds
Triangle Shaped Object Red w/Green Lights - No Sound


My husband and I were driving on Highway 41 towards Fresno, Ca. This is flat farmland country and you can see for miles.


We had a clear view of the horizon at all times, when we approached Highway 198. I saw a large triangle formation above us (approx. 500 feet), with 5 lights, green with red behind the green lights. There was 1 in the middle and 2 down each side.


This object appeared to be at least a football field in width, we have no idea on length. I yelled to my husband "what is that," he was as startled as I was. It appeared to change shape into a straight line, mimicking the radio towers we have seen in various locations.


This object made no noise, we had our windows down. We just couldn't believe what we were seeing.


We immediately pulled off the road within 10 seconds we were out the car, and we saw nothing, heard nothing and there were no radio towers. The sky was just black, like we had seen the prior 50 miles.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 7/24/2014 14:25
Reported: 8/24/2014 2:53:51 AM 02:53
Location: Clovis, CA
Shape: Other
Duration:20 minutes
Loud hovering sound...couldn't see anything in the sky


Loud hovering sound like a huge aircraft above house.. But I did not see any craft at all...


Second night in a row…


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 6/18/2014 14:30
Reported: 6/18/2014 5:09:10 PM 17:09
Posted: 6/20/2014
Location: Madera, CA
Shape: Oval
Duration:10 minutes

There was a silver oval object that moved in a rectangular motion high above the flight pattern of an airliner, then it shot to another location east in the general area of another flight pattern, where another plane was traveling before facing off in a upward motion before we lost site of it.


Myself and two other co workers witnessed it.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 6/4/2014 02:00
Reported: 6/4/2014 10:09:16 PM 22:09
Location: Atwater, CA
Shape: Rectangle
Duration:15 seconds
Dark silent rough looking craft.


I was laying down on chair cushions enjoying the shooting stars. I noticed a rectangular rough looking object flying approx.150mph. No lights and no sound came from it. It was maybe 3-1000 feet from ground level. It was heading eastwards. I was a little frightened realizing it is intentionally meant to not be seen.


I hesitated for 20 minutes to call 911. But if someone else seen it then I would feel better about such a strange call.


Anyhow 911 responded "what is your emergency"?. I said it isn't an emergency but more a inquiry. Has any one called about a dark large craft flying eastward no sound or lights?


They were understanding and asked shape and size. I guessed on size and said about size of a football field but it was more size of a 18 wheeler. I just got excited, I guess.


Link to the original report can be found here.


Occurred : 5/30/2014 19:00
Reported: 5/31/2014 11:36:47 AM 11:36
Location: Fresno, CA
Shape: Disk
Duration:All night
When reported the tower control men said he saw it.


On May 30, 2014, I happened to look out my window and saw a low flying object over my nneighborhood, at first I thought it was a plane but I said it's to low so I grabbed my binoculars a went outside and what I saw was no plane it was a flat round object that had multi colored lights all around it.


The object traveled N then turned E went up high then SE when it traveled SE another object followed it as to give chase then stopped. The main object still traveling finally stopped in the SE sky.


After about 30 minutes the main object started to travel back to my area traveling now NW coming low once again I then saw a small plane traveling N, it seem when the object came close to the plane it retracted back to the SE sky.


I then tried to call my local airport but no answer, I then called a local news room while I was speaking to the woman I saw other objects flying high in the eastern sky giving off bursts of light or flashes the woman thought I was nuts and hung up.


I then called Lemoore air base they told me to call my local 911 so I did so they in turn connected me to the fresno airport tower and after telling them what I was viewing and the location of the object in the SE sky changing color he then said hold on as he looked for it he told his co-workers what the report was and he said to them "I'm dead serious"


He the picked up the phone and said that he could see it as well he then told me to call 877 787 7444 Bigelow arrow space ((sic. Aerospace)) I said okay and hung up I then called the number but it was a bunk line.


There is something going on in the eastern sky of fresno and it must be looked into


Link to the original report can be found here.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

My review of Deliver Us From Evil.



Over the weekend I decided to see the new horror/thriller film Deliver Us From Evil, inspired by true life demonologist (and former NYPD officer) Ralph Sarchie. I was a bit familiar with Ralph Sarchie as I knew he had trained under Ed and Lorraine Warren (the investigators that were portrayed in last years horror hit The Conjuring) so I was looking forward to seeing how Deliver Us From Evil would be.

 I won’t give away any spoilers, but I will say this. This movie isn’t based on one event (as were films like The Conjuring or Amityville Horror) but was a mashup of different cases that Sarchie did over the years (hence the inspired by disclaimer and not based on a true story one). That being said it still didn’t take away from the entertainment value of the film, Eric Bana did a good job of portraying Sarchie and you could see him struggling with the paranormal events that were occurring and trying to make sense of things. Though to me the most interesting character was Father Mendoza (played by Edgar Ramirez), a fictional priest who assists Sarchie with the exorcisms and was based on two priests, Bishop Robert McKenna and Father Malachi Martin, two real life demonologists that assisted Sarchie in what he did over the years. Sean Harris played the main antagonist Santino, and  he did a great job with the creep factor through the entire movie. The climax of the film was the climax of the film. I don’t want to give much away, but it was one of the better exorcism scenes I’ve seen in a while.

 The story itself was well done, though it had me wondering what case inspired what part. The scares were definitely there, though I wish a scene with Sarchie’s daughter was expanded on cause it definitely was the creepiest. I’m glad I didn't see the trailer until after, because one of the creepiest scenes was shown in the trailer. I get why they do that, to lure you in. But you need to have more to that scene, which they really didn't. That being said the final act of the movie goes about a different way in showing an exorcism performed

 I liked the movie, but it’s not the best one I’ve seen. Definitely won’t make my list of worst horror movies ever (which I think I need to do another one btw, I'm looking at you The Purge), but I don’t know if it’s because I’ve seen this same type of movie before and the scares have been done or if it’s something else. What saves this movie is the actors portrayal of their characters, especially that of Bana and Ramirez. Those two had some great chemistry and if the producers try to make a series out of this I’d like to see both actors come back.

All in all I’d recommend seeing it. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. And I’ve learned never to buy my children (when they exist) a jack in the box or a talking owl head. Actually anything to do with creepy dolls is out altogether. Horror movies have taught me that much. 

Monday, May 26, 2014

An evil gnome like creature terrorizes a farmhouse in Porterville

Looks innocent doesn't he? 

I love strange creature stories and am always lamenting the fact that the Central Valley is lacking in them (unless you want to count the numerous sighting of dogs with mange being reported as Chupacabras). So imagine my surprise (and a bit of shock) when I came across a story of a supposedly evil gnome that was terrorizing a farm house near Porterville.

The first incident occurred when a woman by the name of Tammy moved herself and her three children into a small farmhouse on the Tule River near Porterville. Soon after moving in Tammy started feeling like something was watching them and had an uneasy feeling ever time she walked by the old barn. For some reason most of the animals on the farm seemed to avoid the rickety old building and soon she noticed that the number of her ducks and chickens had started to dwindle, but couldn't figure out why. She was soon going to have an idea why.

One night Tammy and her son were coming back from grocery shopping when, as she parked the car and got out, noticed movement to her right. Thinking nothing of it she picked up a grocery bag and noticed it again, this time accompanied by what she described as a "very freaky, very evil sounding chuckle". Looking in the direction of the noise Tammy noticed about 50 yards from her a small humanoid looking figure. Or as she described it, a gnome.

The figure was about two to three feet in height, wore black baggy pants and a gold colored shirt. The face was partially covered by a long salt and pepper beard and on top of the head was a long, red pointed hat. The nose was large and bulbous and the eyes were rather deep set. As the figure grinned at them, Tammy noticed that the grin was almost from ear to ear and the teeth looked to be an ugly brown color and appeared to be either pointed or jagged.

Horrified, Tammy dropped the groceries and grabbed her son and ran off towards the house with the cackling little man right on her heels. Tammy was able to get inside the house and was in the midst of telling her two daughters what she saw, when she saw movement outside the kitchen window. Upon investigating she saw the top of the figure's red pointed hat moving back and forth underneath the window. Finally after what must have seemed like an eternity, the figure disappeared and Tammy was able to get the groceries from the car. This was the only time she actually saw the figure, but until she moved out she would always hear creepy chuckling coming from the old barn, as if it was taunting her or something.

You would think that this would be an isolated occurrence, but it seems the gnome wasn't satisfied with just terrorizing Tammy and her family.

In March of 2010 a family moved in to the same house on the Tule River. According to the wife, Charlie, it was perfect for what their family needed. Her husband took a particular liking to a pond on the property and decorated it with fairy, gnome, and toadstool yard ornaments and stocked it with Japanese koi fish. Not surprisingly, Charlie and her family also had an eerie feeling about the old barn on the property and tried to stay away from it as much as possible.

One night, at around 3:00 am, Charlie and her husband were woken by what can only be described as a "raspy, gurgling singing". Charlie and her husband looked out their bedroom window and what they saw defied what they considered their reality. Standing by the pond and holding one of the garden gnomes was a creature that came out of a Grimm's fairy tale, as Charlie described it. The creature was two to three feet tall, wearing maroon pants and a baggy yellow shirt with a brown vest over it and a dark waistcoat. It had a large gray beard and was wearing a reddish brown pointed hat. Charlie went on to say the most horrible part of the creature were its eyes and teeth. When it grinned it's teeth appeared to be jagged and pointed and the eyes were small and beady and had a dark mean look to them.

Apparently the creature saw the couple looking at him (it?) and reached into the pond and grabbed a koi and dropped it into its mouth and swallowed it. Furious, Charlie's husband pushed open the window and yelled at the creature to leave the yard or he'd call the police. The gnome grinned and laughed as he gave them the finger and disappeared. The police were called, being notified that an "intruder" was on the property, but when they got there an hour later the only evidence that was found was small footprints, about the size of a child's, around the pond.

This wasn't the only time the gnome would visit the pond. Night after night it would be seen holding a yard ornament and eating a fish. The family eventually wised up and moved the ornaments and put the fish into a tank inside the house. Apparently this didn't go over well with the gnome. Upon the usual time of its appearance of 3:00 am, when the gnome saw that the yard ornaments and fish had been removed it went into a crazed frenzy and began yelling and screaming in some language that nobody could understand. But they understood it was pissed. It began to run around the house screaming in whatever language was native to it. The family felt safe until Charlie realized the dog door in the kitchen was unlocked and feared the creature would try to enter the house through that. She was able to lock and then ran upstairs to close the rest of the windows. The last they heard of the creature was a very loud screeching, cackling sound that was heard underneath one of the living room windows. Charlie's husband went to investigate and saw the top of the creature's hat underneath the window.

Given all that had gone on the family decided to get out of the house and Porterville in general. One has to ask, was this the same creature that Tammy saw a few years prior? I first heard of both Tammy and Charlie's story on MysteriousUniverse.org and it seems the author of the article was able to put the two women in contact with each other. After exchanging info and indeed confirming that both had lived on the same property, they agreed to meet and revisit the property where their terrifying encounters had occurred. Upon arrival, they noticed the barn structure that had given both of them an eerie feeling had been torn down but the property still had that dark feel to it. Before they left they decide to knock on the front door of the house to see if anyone was home. A woman answered but was not happy to see them and told them to leave the premises after being asked about the barn or if she had experienced anything weird.

This story intrigues me to say the least. First you have two witnesses describing a similar looking creature that they saw years apart from one another.  Then you have a creature that is known only in folklore but is usually of a pleasant nature, not the mean asshole that was seen by the two women (for some reason I find it hilarious that he flipped off Charlie and her husband). So what did these two women see? I'm going on a different theory here and I know I'll probably get more grief than I usually do, but I think what Tammy and Charlie saw was one of the fairy folk. Namely a redcap.

Redcaps come from English folklore and were said to be a type of malevolent murderous fairy that mostly inhabited ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland. They would murder any traveler who was foolish enough to stray into their homes. Redcaps got their names from the practice of dying their hats with the blood of their victims. They were described as having the appearance of an old man with red eyes and large teeth.

So how in the hell did a mean little creature straight out of English folklore get all the way to Central California? Remember the United States used to be a British Colony and the early colonist brought over their beliefs from their home land. What if somehow the things they believed in became real? Tibetan Buddhism has a concept called a Tulpa, or a thought form. Basically the idea behind it is that if something is concentrated on enough it is somehow brought into existence.

What if some of the early settlers that came here still held a belief that redcaps were real? So real that they took form and had a life of their own? And over the many years the now very real redcap wandered the country and somehow wound up in California. How else do you explain what was seen? If it was just one person that saw the creature the idea of a hoax of prank could be brought into consideration. But the fact that two people saw the same thing years apart has me wondering what the hell is on the outskirts of Porterville.

Now obviously this is merely conjecture and nothing more. It can't be real; it's just some creature out of a fairy tale right? Tell that to both Tammy and Charlie. Whatever they saw was real to them and it scared the hell out of them. And I have a feeling it's still there, waiting to terrorize someone else.



Since I found this story on another site I feel I have to link back to the original MysteriousUniverse article. You can find it here.

Also it seems the show Monsters and Mysteries on the Destination America network did a story on the creature. You can find the episdode on YouTube but you have to pay $1.99 to see it. I see the show on all the time and imagine they probably run repeats of this episode.