The Van Meter Monster Part 1
When most folks hear about a fantastical cryptid sighting, they just assume it was a dubious, one-off, misinterpreted encounter by the town drunk, or overimaginative prankster kids, if they believe any of it at all.\xa0 But none of this applies to the incident where a mystical creature terrorized the small farming town of Van Meter, Iowa, in 1903.\xa0 For five nights starting September 29, an impossible visitor made its presence known to the townsfolk.\xa0 Upon returning at 1:00 am from a job out of town, implement dealer U.G. Griffith spotted a dark figure on a downtown rooftop, which seemed to be shining a bright spotlight around.\xa0 Thinking it may be a burglar, Griffith approached to inspect when suddenly, the large shadow leaped to another rooftop across the street and disappeared.\xa0 The following night, around the same time, the town\u2019s doctor, Dr. Alcott, was also alerted to a bright light shining through his window and ran outside to investigate.\xa0 Dr. Alcott, though, got a better view of the intruder.\xa0 The figure was described by him and others as standing eight to nine feet tall, half-human, half-animal, with enormous, smooth, leathery wings, a beak, and most curiously, a blunt horn in its forehead from where this bright light was said to have shown.\xa0 Most disturbingly, the creature appeared immune to the bullets fired at it on multiple occasions.\xa0 Far from the town\u2019s undesirables, these encounters happened to merchants, a doctor, and a bank manager \u2013 some of the community\u2019s most prominent and well-respected members who didn\u2019t care for the notoriety this story brought.\xa0 Having had their fill of fearsome appearances, a heavily armed posse confronted the antediluvian monster at its lair in a mine on the edge of town, intending to rid the earth of its existence.\xa0 Grab a pitchfork and a torch, and join us as we hunt down the Van Meter monster.
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