A Boy's Alien Encounter

The following narrative is part of a MUFON CMS report filed on 11/6/11. This incident occurred in New Jersey 11/1975...no other location information was provided. The statement has not been edited:

It was late night in late October early November of 1975 I was a 10 year old child. At that time I was going through a late bed-wetting phase and remember I was determined to end that embarrassment. I awoke for the second or third night in time to relieve myself and remember being happy and proud that I caught it in time again.

As my eyes creaked open slightly I saw movement in the room and at least what I thought were African American kids in my room moving around. I remember thinking that the only thing they could steal of any value was my prized small black & white TV that was on my dresser next to my bed. As you can imagine at this time my heart was pounding through my chest and just wanted them to take the TV and leave. I creaked my eyes open ever so slightly as not to be noticed and was shocked to realize that they weren’t afro’s (which were common at that time) but were whole heads.

I can’t really express my thoughts of that instant realization when I saw who was really in the room at that time other than how in a nanosecond I went from (There’s no such things as aliens-to-Oh, my GOD there real-to-What do they want). At that time there was no such things as “Greys” or anything similar to what has been so defined into pop culture today.

Being late October early November there was a harvest moon and I had a fairly large picture window in my room which lead to some fair amount of ambient room lighting which I shared with my 5 year old brother who slept in a adjacent bed next to mine.

During this event I was creaking my eyes open enough as not to be noticed, laying on my back when I woke up and my bed covers were at my waist. ALL I wanted was to get my bed cover up to my head so I was ever so slowly and methodically creeping them up during this entire event. As not to be noticed. There was a larger one that stood against the wall directly across from the foot of my bed that just stared at me. There was another knelt down on the opposite side of my brothers bed and what I thought at the time was that he was doing something to his arm.

I my head at the time my mind was reeling, my parents room was directly behind me and if I screamed my father would come running in. I remember thinking that the one next to my brother I was taller than and equated him to being in “my grade” remember I was 10. So if he came over to me my big plan was to jump up and dive on him and scream for my dad. The one against the wall just standing there I remember as being a grade or two older than me and he would probably do something before my dad to get in.

I remember thinking I could end the whole debate that are we alone in the universe and the weight of that thought being succumbed to he’s killing my brother and not being able to muster the internal strength to do something. My next thought was that if he comes over to me he can’t put a needle in me so I started to tear up and that diffused my sight to what was happening in the room.

Then the one that was knelt next to my brother got up and came at me, pure horror as my eyes were teared and he rounded my brothers bed and in one motion knelt down on his right knee and in one motion opened his toolkit and kind of flipped and twisted his left wrist and reached in. At that very moment I couldn’t hold it anymore and thought needle! and I made a audible pre-cry whale. The face that the creature made still haunts me today. Honesty. It’s the same face people make when they make a surprise mistake a “eek I did something embarrassing” facial expression. His mouth was just a slit so when he made that expression his face rippled and wrinkled like a old man.

Immediately whatever he was taking out of his box which was a really weird shape then but not now, it was (Hexagonal with a diagonal opening and handle) put it back in got up and they marched out. Again another part of this is memory that has crept me out is how they moved like the military and moved or better said marched out of my room. I was shocked and with unreal timing as I looked down the hallway when they passed my parents room two more came out and filed in line which such precision and marched down the hall and all turned down the stairs out of my sight.

Again I must stress the timing was if they were one. Needless to say I didn’t sleep the rest of the night. My younger brother was fine in the morning, and no one in my family knew anything of the nights event. I lived near a large metropolitan area at the time and our house was the only house surrounded by 260 acres of woods.

I only told a handful of people since then and find it very difficult and seriously doubt many of these accounts I read of abductions myself. Ironic isn’t it. They were very, very real, and I wish I dreamt it but I didn’t.

My impression then and my life of the events of that night is that these beings are cold and indifferent to us, basically they are not our enemies but most certainly aren’t our friends. There might be a very good reason our government has kept this secret for so long.

Side note:
Physical appearance is not as "Sinister" as depicted. More of blue/grey arctic silver color than grey. Bulbous joints with slightly distended stomachs, very similar to dwarfism. Seen mouth slits move slightly along with large head movement just as like they were speaking but heard nothing.

Click image for larger version

NOTE: Reminds me of Alien Close Encounter / Abduction - Aguada, Puerto Rico - Updated w/ Video...an encounter scenario referred to me by a wonderful woman, Maria M. Rivera. Have you had any close encounters or other strange experiences? Please contact me if you wish to disclose the information to my readers. Thanks...Lon

Secret Life: Firsthand, Documented Accounts of Ufo Abductions

Atlantis, Alien Visitation, and Genetic Manipulation

The Ancient Alien Question: A New Inquiry Into the Existence, Evidence, and Influence of Ancient Visitors

Just the Facts? London River Monster -- 'Blade Runner'...Deux -- Underground Martians

River Monster Alert at London's Olympic Park

A mystery creature that eats geese in the blink of an eye has returned to haunt murky waters around the £9billion Olympic Park.

Six years ago there were fears a crocodile was stalking big birds as they were sucked from a river’s surface – never to be seen again.

Some experts then suggested a giant turtle was the culprit, but before the riddle could be solved the killer monster apparently vanished.

Now it seems to be back. Mike Wells, a boat-dweller living on the River Lea in East London, was last week sitting on his barge with a friend when their peace was shattered.

Mike said: “We were just passing the time of day looking at a Canada goose 30 yards away, but then it just suddenly disappeared.

“It went down vertically. There wasn’t any hesitation, it went straight down. It didn’t come back up. My friend and I looked at each other slack-jawed.

“Being a river person, I pieced together what we’d seen in seconds. The goose was prey to something.

“A Canada goose is not a small bird. They weigh about 16lb, so whatever took it was also large.”

Searching for answers, Mike then came across several similar incidents from 2005 when there was speculation a crocodile might have taken up residence in the River Lea.

Mike now wants the Environment Agency to investigate. A campaigner against the 2012 Olympics’ impact on East London, he also joked: “My hope is Lord Coe will fall in and the creature will have him for lunch.” - express

River Monsters: True Stories of the Ones that Didn't Get Away

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Ridley Scott Says He’ll Direct ‘Blade Runner’ Sequel

Film director Ridley Scott plans to make a follow-up to his groundbreaking 1982 classic, “Blade Runner.”

In an interview with Speakeasy, Scott said he is on board to direct a “Blade Runner” follow-up and has been interviewing writers who can help him with the screenplay. Scott says the new project is “liable to be a sequel.”

Scott, 74 years old, recently finished shooting the sci-fi movie “Prometheus” and is an executive producer of a new TV series on Discovery Communications Inc.’s Science Channel, “Prophets of Science Fiction.”

Earlier this year, production company Alcon Entertainment said it was planning a new “Blade Runner” project with Scott at the helm, but it didn’t reveal whether it would be a prequel or sequel to the original film.

“Blade Runner” devotees may not have to wait long for the new movie. “I think I’m close to finding a writer that might be able to help me deliver,” Scott says, “we’re quite a long way in, actually.”

The original film was inspired by sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick’s novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and told the grim story of Rick Deckard, a “blade runner” who hunts down “replicants” — androids who long to live free lives. Scott says Dick, who he says was “stressed” when he met him, found a romanticism in his pessimism. And similarly, “Blade Runner” didn’t offer a romantic view of the future.

“That’s why I think I was so unpopular” when the film was released, Scott says, because at the core of the film is a story about mortality. “Even though people think it’s a cool Philip Marlowe film with Deckard played by Harrison Ford,” he says, “the film is very much about humanity.”

Scott says the new “Blade Runner” project is moving ahead “not with the past cast, of course.” No Deckard? “No, not really,” he says. - wsj


Blade Runner (Five-Disc Complete Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

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Owls attacking, eating pets

Residents in Albuquerque's foothills say a huge, hungry owl has moved into their area and is eating small dogs and cats.

"We've seen him 3 or 4 times. He's huge. One day when we were walking, he swooped down over my husband's head. He's a huge owl," said Cindy Hummel.

A lot of people who live near Tramway and Academy say the owl or owls have gone after their dogs. Regina Johnson says she thinks she found what were claw marks on her dog.

Marie Iverson says an owl who lives near a church behind her home killed her puppy. She says she let the dog out on the patio, then heard the puppy yelp. When Marie went outside, the puppy was gone.

News 13 contacted a zookeeper from the Rio Grande Zoo to ask about owls. The zookeeper says owls are night hunters so if an owl lives near you, it's a good idea to keep your pets in at night. - krqe

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Click for Irishman Talks About the Wall Street Wankers - I had to chuckle at this one...give that man a pint! Warning: NSFW

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Martians may have lived underground

If life ever existed on Mars, it's likely that its longest-lasting enclaves would be underground.

"If surface habitats were short-term, that doesn't mean we should be glum about prospects for life on Mars," says Bethany Ehlmann, the lead author of a new NASA report on the Red Planet, "but it says something about what type of environment we might want to look in."

The study, which examined different types of clays on the Martian surface, indicates that the most promising environments were likely subterranean – or, more probably, sub-Martian. "The most stable Mars habitats over long durations appear to have been in the subsurface," said Ehlmann in a statement announcing the findings.

"On Earth, underground geothermal environments have active ecosystems," she said, leaving open the possibility that such conditions may have existed – or may exist – on Mars.

The study was based on years of mapping Mars' surface minerals, conducted by both NASA and European satellites cruising around the planet, which examined more than 350 sites. From comparing the clays deposited at those sites by surface water, during a relatively brief period millions of years ago, with clays that were developed by subsurface waters, the researchers came to the conclusion that most of the action was underground.

"The types of clay minerals that formed in the shallow subsurface are all over Mars," said study co-author John Mustard. "The types that formed on the surface are found at very limited locations and are quite rare."

Clays, which form from the interaction of water and rock, were first discovered on Mars in 2005, thanks to the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Since then, scientists using that vehicle's OMEGA spectrometer and the CRISM spectrometer on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have been busily mapping different types of clays at thousands of Martian locations.

Another indication of underground hydrothermal environments came with the discovery of the mineral prehnite, which is formed at temperatures of around 400°F (~200°C), typical of such environments.

Co-author of the study and CRISM's principal investigator, Scott Murchie, notes that there might be "limited exceptions" to the brief existence of surface water on Mars – and NASA is gearing up to investigate one of them, the Gale Crater, with the Curiosity rover that will land on the Red Planet as part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, scheduled to launch this November 25.

While it's unlikely that Curiosity will find life in the Gale Carter, with the new evidence of long-term subsurface water on Mars we're still holding out hope for a possible meet-up with the Morlocks and Eloi – well, maybe just the Eloi. ® - theregister

The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must

Landscapes of Mars: A Visual Tour

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White House: No sign of E.T. or UFO cover-up. No surprise

The White House has responded to two petitions asking the U.S. government to acknowledge formally that aliens have visited Earth and to disclose any intentional withholding of government interactions with extraterrestrial beings.

"The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race," Phil Larson from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy reported on the WhiteHouse.gov website."In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public’s eye."

The petition calling on the government to disclose any knowledge of or communication with extraterrestrial beings was signed by 5,387 people, and 12,078 signed the request for a formal acknowledgement from the White House that extraterrestrials have been engaging the human race.

“Hundreds of military and government agency witnesses have come forward with testimony confirming this extraterrestrial presence,” the second petition states. “Opinion polls now indicate more than 50 percent of the American people believe there is an extraterrestrial presence and more than 80 percent believe the government is not telling the truth about this phenomenon. The people have a right to know. The people can handle the truth.”

These petitions were sparked by an Obama administration initiative called "We the People." Initially, the White House said staffers would respond and consider taking action on any issue that received at least 5,000 online signatures within 30 days. The requirement has since been raised to 25,000 signatures.

Larson stressed that the facts show there is no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth. He pointed out that even though many scientists have come to the conclusion that the odds of life somewhere else in the universe are fairly high, the chance that any of them are making contact with humans are extremely small, given the distances involved.

"However, that doesn't mean the subject of life outside our planet isn't being discussed or explored," Larson wrote.

Larson mentioned that a scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is keeping an “ear” out for signals from alien civilizations, with none found so far. (He noted that this at first was a NASA effort, but is now being funded privately.)

He added that the Kepler spacecraft is searching for Earthlike planets in the habitable zones around other stars, and that the Curiosity rover will launch to Mars this month to "assess what the Martian environment was like in the past to see if it could have harbored life."

Regarding any evidence for alien life, all anyone has now is "statistics and speculation," Larson said. "The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth."

The Paradigm Research Group, one of the organizations promoting the petitions, said that the response by a "low-level staffer" was unacceptable and that it would begin a new petition campaign. - MSNBC

A.D. After Disclosure: The People's Guide to Life After Contact

UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities

Unearthly Disclosure

'Genuine' Lion Reports Cause Problems in Shepley, Yorkshire

Rail passengers are used to delays caused by the wrong type of snow or falling leaves.

But yesterday the excuse was much wilder: lions on the line.

Services to and from Shepley in West Yorkshire were halted after police received two reports from members of the public of 'a lion and/or a cub' in the area.

They believed the reports were 'genuine' and dispatched officers, backed up by a police helicopter, to the area to conduct a thorough search around 3.30pm.

But nothing was found and train services in the area, near Huddersfield, soon returned to normal after officers gave the all clear.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said last night that investigations into the incident were continuing.

A spokesman for Network Rail said one train service was delayed for 17 minutes while police carried out the search.

She added: 'There were slight delays to services because of the alleged sightings of a lioness and her cub.'

Inspector Carlton Young, of West Yorkshire Police, said the search would be resumed if there were any more reports.

National Rail Enquiries wrote on its Twitter feed: 'Passengers are currently unable to alight from trains at Shepley due to reports by police of a lion in the area.'

It later issued an update that normal service had been resumed.

In May a police helicopter was scrambled and a golf course cleared after a white tiger was spotted in a field in Hampshire by members of the public - only to turn out to be a stuffed toy.

Police received several calls reporting sightings of the tiger in a field near Hedge End, Southampton.

Specialist staff from nearby Marwell Zoo were called in to advise and potentially tranquillise the wild animal and a local golf course was evacuated.

But as police officers carefully approached the dangerous animal they realised it was not moving and the helicopter crew, using thermal imaging equipment, realised there was no heat source coming from it. - dailymail

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Is there a lion on the loose in Shepley? - Have you seen it?

Resident in Shepley were last night left wondering: Have we a lion loose in the village?

The big cat, thought to be a cub, had been spotted three times in the space of a few hours by three different people.

And their reports were taken deadly seriously by police, who mounted a huge hunt for the cat.

That ended as a cold darkness descended on the village but police confirmed inquiries were continuing.

At one point during yesterday afternoon’s drama, rail passengers were not allowed to get off at Shepley station after one report suggested the lion had been seen on the line.

Police brought in the West Yorkshire force helicopter to join the big search yesterday afternoon.

They confirmed they had three reports of a lioness or lion cub seen in the area yesterday afternoon.

One sighting was in the car park of The Cask & Spindle pub in Abbey Road, a second at Birdsedge about two miles away and a third on the rail line near Shepley station.

Insp Carlton Young, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “We’ve had unconfirmed reports of a lion or a lion cub in the area. We’ve had officers looking around.

“At the moment we’ve had nothing confirmed and we’ve not located anyone who is claiming to have lost an animal.”

Officers believe the woman - who claimed to have seen a lion on Penistone Road, Shepley – was a genuine caller.

Around 12 officers were dispatched to look for the lion along with the police helicopter.

Insp Young added that the search would be resumed tomorrow if there were any more reports.

Abbey Road resident Sam Swindin, who was at home with wife Sarah and family, said: “The police knocked at the door and told us not to be alarmed but said they had reports of a lion cub in the area.

“They said it had been seen in the pub car park, which is only a few yards away, and also on the rail line.

“They did a search of the area but left without apparently finding anything”.

A spokesman from the Cask & Spindle said: “A woman called the police saying that she had seen it out of the restaurant window.
Cask

“She didn't tell anyone here at the pub – the police arrived here at about 3.30pm and were here for a good couple of hours.

“They said there had been three separate sightings - from three separate people - so they were taking it seriously.

“I find it all a little bit strange”. News of the big cat search spread through the village into the evening and there was a flurry of activity on social networking sites. - examiner

BIG CATS LOOSE IN BRITAIN

There's Something in the Woods

Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monsters, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men

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Esoterica: Haunted Flight Attendant Layovers -- The 'Black Flash' -- Marilyn's Ghost?

You may never relax in a hotel room again....

gadling - A few layover hotel ghost stories from flight attendants...

At a hotel in San Francisco the water kept turning itself on during the night. After the 3rd or 4th time, instead of getting up and turning it off, I had a little talk with the ghost. I was thinking I must have lost my mind. Water went off automatically. Never came on again! - Vicki Howell

At our current Paris hotel, I had an apparition appear at the foot of my bed. At first I didn't think it was anything until I felt somebody sit on my bed. I turned on the light near the bed and of course there was nothing there. – John Gonzales

On a layover in Miami, I felt someone/something pull the covers off of my shoulder and breathe cold air onto the back of my neck. I jumped out of bed, ran for the door, turned on the light... and no one was there. On the next trip another flight attendant couldn't get into that same room with her key. Security couldn't get in either. They had to change her room. Gives me the chills even talking about it. - Penni Reynolds Piskor

At a Sheraton in New Jersey in 1989, I kept thinking there was someone in my room. Woke up several times convinced. Searched the room. Nothing was there. Found out later the hotel was reputedly haunted, and one of the elevators was known to run all night, stopping at each floor even though nobody called it - Julie Meyer

I always clip my curtains closed so the light will not shine through and wake me up. In the middle of the night it was like someone used their hands to push both curtains back forcefully. I was lying there freaking out! Another time I woke up to find the decorative bed quilt folded neatly in the corner of the room. I don't fold at home nor am I good at it, so I know I didn't do it in my sleep. The third time we did a seance. We asked for a sign and all the elevators opened simultaneously. We jumped up and ran! – Lynne Smith

In Mexico a friend had similar experience as John did above. A guy sat on the edge of his bed in the middle of the night, but when he turned on the lights, no one was there. He mentioned something to the front desk and they sheepishly asked if he was gay. When he said yes, they said that Jorge always visited gay guys in their rooms (I was never visited!) I don't believe in haunting and have waited for them every time! – Gordon Valentine

Lights, faucet and bathtub all turned on during my sleep at the layover hotel in New Orleans. Just asked the naughty perpetrator to behave themselves because I needed the sleep before an early roll out. - Alx Stellyes

It was an old hotel in Boston, next to an historic graveyard. I was having a crazy dream about a Nun. My room was in a corner and I woke up in the middle of the night to repeated pounding. Turned the lights on, it stopped. Asked the driver the next day what the deal was with the hotel. (Didn't tell him about my dream) He said a certain floor was haunted ( mine, of course!) by a NUN. – Lori Polka

In Manchester England we used to stay at a hotel with huge vaults and all were opened except one where someone locked themselves in it hundreds of years ago. The skeleton key is still in the lock, from the inside, but nobody can get it opened. Then you go into the bedrooms and they are all different themes. Mine was very opulent. She (the ghost) Kept turning on the sink faucet. After getting up 2 times to turn it off I was getting pissed. The third time I just screamed "turn that effing water off! And it did. Never picked up another Manchester trip. - Daniel Koukes

At Tower Air there was an aircraft (604) we ferried a lot. A spirit would walk up and down the aisles and wake us up. It also would unlatch everything in the galley and open all the carts and bins. You would close them and tell her to stop. A little later you'd hear it happening again. – Lynne Smith

The hotel Jakarta is known for having all sorts of ghost stories, especially amongst female, Chinese, Japanese and Korean crew. They tend to sleep 2-3 in a room instead of alone in that hotel! – Sodwee.

There was an Eastern Airlines airplane that went into the Everglades. It was Flight 401. The airline finally had it dismantled and used parts in other aircraft - Vicki Howell

Eastern Airlines L-1011 #318 was a haunted plane. It had ovens taken from the airplane that crashed in the Everglades in the early '70's. So many sightings and occurrences were reported that the a/c # had to be changed. Who knows where it is now - Julie Meyer

I remember reading the book of Eastern flight 401 and all the happenings from that incident. Came to be they had to remove all the extra parts from the plane and any carts that were used on other flights had to be grounded as they were all linked to Flight 401 – Gordon Valentine

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Ghost?

In a small basement theatre on West 50th Street and 8th Avenue I once photographed Scarlett Johansson accepting the Theatre World Award for her performance in “A View From The Bridge.” When she got to the part in her acceptance speech where she thanked Arthur Miller, the shutter speed on my new Nikon mysteriously slowed and I was unable to snap a close-up.

When I left the theatre I crossed the street and stood in front of a white apartment complex that had once been the hospital where Rudolph Valentino died and Marilyn Monroe was hospitalized while studying at the Actors’ Studio.

When I looked at my LCD screen to review the photos, Scarlett looked like Marilyn in all of her slow shutter-speed close-ups.

A young girl, no more than 10 years of age was leaving the apartment complex, and she asked me what I was photographing.

“Ghosts,” I answered.

“Well, ” she replied. “There’s a lot of them around here!” - John Quilty

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The ‘Black Flash’...The Legend Lives On

It started with the children. Coming home in tears and shaking, the children of Provincetown, MA told of a monster that frightened them on the way home from school. Something big. Something that growled. Something all in black. Something that appeared from nowhere and then took off in a flash. Their parents smiled, gave them hugs and maybe a cookie to calm them down. But it did little to appease the children’s fears of this ghoulish phantom they knew was lurking somewhere in Provincetown. No matter how hard they insisted that what they saw was not a figment of their imagination, the adults would not believe them. That is until Maria Costa was walking home by herself one night. Then, some of the townspeople began to believe that maybe the devil had come to Provincetown.

By October in 1939 the summer crowds were long gone. The tourist season ended sharply on Labor Day in those days. By mid-October the town was pretty much only the 4,500 year-rounders and a few stragglers who had not yet returned home after a summer of painting or partying, or both. That’s why no one was around one October night as Miss Costa walked by Town Hall and from out of the bushes an inhumanly tall figure dressed all in black jumped out in front of her. He had glowing blues eyes, big silver ears, and the ability to jump like a gazelle. Costa ran into a coffee shop screaming and several men inside ran down Commercial Street looking for the apparition, but found nothing. The police apparently chuckled after taking a statement from the visibly shaken Costa. But over the next week, several more residents reported being scared to death when this tall, beastly banshee appeared out of nowhere right in front of them as they walked through town. Some called it the Provincetown Phantom, others the Devil of the Dunes. But the name that stuck was the Black Flash, both because of his long, hooded black cape and his super human ability to run away before anyone could get a good look at the fiend.

The reports grew so rapidly of townspeople being terrified by the Black Flash that the police began to investigate. Not only were sightings increasing, but also calls to the police department gave credence to the idea that perhaps this was some sort of paranormal being. A call would come in from the West End that the Black Flash ran through someone’s yard on Tremont Street, and then just a minute later, a call would be placed from a home on Howland Street begging the police to come quickly as now the demon was in the East End. Clearly no human could move that fast!

The Black Flash seemed quite at home in 1939, as it had been a very weird and anxious year for Provincetown. In January, a “sea monster” washed ashore near Wood End. Newspaper reports from around the country carried the story that this hideous sea beast, which was 35 feet long, might just be the same creature that town crier George Washington Reedy reported seeing in 1886. However, once a Harvard University zoologist took a look at the carcass, he quickly identified it as a decomposing basking shark. According to a year-end police report, dog bites and stray cats reached an all time high that year. A move to repeal a local bylaw preventing the killing of seagulls set off a firestorm of controversy and met firm resistance led by resident Martha Atkins who said that slaughtering animals was the kind of violence that eventually leads to war. And then in September, an arsonist appeared on the scene setting fires around town until the police arrested 40-year-old Joseph Viera, who a jury convicted of his crimes early in the new year.

Then there were the very real monsters looming just off the coast of Provincetown - Nazi submarines. With war breaking out in Europe, the waters off of Cape Cod became dangerous, so much so that British submarines and ships began using the Cape Cod Canal to avoid the perilous pass by Provincetown. But that canal was not an option for the fishermen of the town who worked those waters with the enemy maneuvering below. Like most of America, Provincetown could sense that war was on the horizon, giving the air a definitive feeling of tension. That’s usually the time that the boogeyman makes his appearance.

Radio news reports around the world picked up the story of the Black Flash haunting this tiny village stuck way out in the North Atlantic. It was the perfect sequel to the previous Halloween’s scare - Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast - which sent folks across the country in a panic out into the streets believing an alien invasion was underway. A story about tiny, eccentric Provincetown and a demon from the dunes was ripe for embellishment by the dramatics favored in radio news reports of the 1930’s. Strangely and ironically enough, the place that had the most sober response to the whole phenomenon was Provincetown. In regards to the Black Flash, the Provincetown Advocate ran a headline on October 26 that read, “Fall Brings Out The ‘Black Flash’” with the sub headline, “Hard Winter Certain As ‘Cabin Fever’ Stories Start.” While the world heard of a town gripped in fear, in reality, Provincetown viewed the whole debacle as humorous and annoying. By now theories were not about whether this was a beast from hell, but perhaps the star sprinter or high jumper on the high school track team playing a prank, or one of the leftover “weirdoes” from summer still in drag and looking for attention (yes, even in 1939).

“It was a peeping Tom,” says a Provincetown native in his 90’s, who said he would talk about the Black Flash anonymously as he learned a long time ago to stay out of town gossip. “Just some kids. They had the whole town worked up. Scared quite a few of the ladies. But it was just a bunch of kids. No one ever knew who it was though.”

Chief of Police Anthony Tarvers was quoted in the paper that as far as he was concerned, “the Black Flash is dead and buried.” He meant that figuratively, of course, as he reported that the Black Flash was actually four local teenagers playing a Halloween prank on the town. One boy would get on the shoulders of another, covering themselves in a long black cape with a flour sifter over his face, thus the silver ears, which were the kitchen device’s handles. According to Tarvers, he’d spoken with the boys and their families, and this Black Flash nonsense was over. Nevertheless, the children were too afraid to go out trick-or-treating that Halloween, so the town threw a big costume party at Town Hall with games, plays, and a costume contest. The winner of the one-dollar grand prize was three-year-old Manuel Jason, Jr., who came to the party dressed as the Black Flash.

The legend of the Black Flash stayed largely a local oral tradition, until 1984 when Robert Ellis Cahill wrote a book titled New England’s Mad and Mysterious Men, which included a chapter on the Black Flash and also claimed the beast terrorized the town for years. Other ghost story anthologies have since picked up the tale, which many paranormal researchers say is greatly embellished. The story was once again passing on its way to obscurity until the Internet age arrived, giving access to a new generation of ghost story enthusiasts all over the world.

The Black Flash greatly resembles the legend of Spring Heeled Jack, a similar phantom from Victorian England who wore a black cape, had glowing blue eyes, spit fire, and could leap great heights. That’s what attracted the attention of Theo Paijmans, a researcher and writer from the Netherlands who specializes in anomalous phenomena and who has studied the stories of Spring Heeled Jack and the Black Flash for years. It appears that the similarities may have been added over the years to make a better story, as it is hard to see how a British horror fable from the 1840’s made the jump to 1930’s Provincetown. In 2007, he wrote an essay in the anomaly research journal Intermediate States where he details the findings of his research.

“I found the original accounts in the Provincetown Advocate and with the help of these accounts I was able to reconstruct a clear timeline and to throw out a lot of the stuff that had grown onto the Black Flash over the years, but was clearly fabrication,” says Paijmans via e-mail from his home in Holland. “One of these inaccuracies was the timeline; the Black Flash did not strike between 1938 and 1945 as is often alleged, but only for a few weeks in 1939. Since the publication of my article on the Black Flash in 2007 no new, important materials came to light, hence my article has become the point of reference for those interested in the capers of the Black Flash. This is not to say that everything is told: there still is one mystery to be cleared up after all these years: who was (or were) behind the Black Flash?”

Alas, as he promised, Police Chief Tarvers took that secret to his grave as he said this town is “too small” and he didn’t want to embarrass the families of those involved. Theories abound, but no one ever stepped forward claiming responsibility nor has any evidence surfaced that clearly points to the identities of those that pulled off this massive Halloween prank that became the stuff of legend. It may always remain a mystery. - provincetownmagazine

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