While spring cleaning I decided to part with books that even I wouldn't read again. But in that process came across my "Book of Lists", books from the 1980s. Always interested in trivia, these I can't part with. It was divine intervention that the book opened up to a chapter named, "8 Worst Monster Hoaxes." Being almost 40 years old, I had to open it up one more time.

They pretty much were the same ones we keep hearing about: Lochness Monster, mermaids, Jersey Devil. But I thought I'd share the story of 86-year-old Rant Mullens of Toledo, Washington, who, in May 1982, admitted to being the father of bigfoot.

Although the huge apelike creature reported to "inhabit the forests of the Pacific Northwest had for centuries been a fixture of Indian legends, it was the mischievous Mullens who fabricated the first hard evident of the beast's existence. In 1928, forest ranger Mullens whittled a pair of oversized wooden feet, put them on, and stomped around the woods near Mt. St. Helens, leaving 'bigfoot' prints to be discovered by hikers. Over the years, he carved out six more pairs of big feet and with the help of accomplices made tracks throughout the Northwest. "I tell you, people will believe just about anything," said Rant Mullens."

That story has been shared many times over the years, but it's always fun to reprint things as they seem to appear in just about any book. Back in the 1920s, word of mouth was the fastest thing around, and newspapers many times wouldn't bother to use it. Radio was pretty new on the scene, so a hoax like this would be believable as 'who would want to propel such a hoax?" Apparently Rant Mullens.

In this same list was the the Jersey Devil: "Since the mid-1700s throughout the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, people have reported encounters with mysterious winged creature. In January, 1906, a wave of sightings spread through eastern Pennsylvania and nearby New Jersey. Publicist Norman Jefferies caught the Jersey Devil and exhibited in at the Arch Street Museum in Philadelphia for ten cents a peek. Jefferies' devil was in reality a kangaroo painted with green stripes and bronze wings attached by a rabbit-skin harness. It was set in a cage with previously gnawed bones. For years afterward Jeffreries made money selling the notion he was responsible for all the devil sightings."

The Feejee Mermaid: Phineas Taylor Barnum, master hoaxer, came into possession of the Feejee Mermaid in 1842. In an elaborate scheme to gain wide notoriety, Barnum mailed letters to the New York Press from various locations, announcing the wonderful discovery of a mermaid taken from the Feejee Islands, and preserved in China. Barnum's well-thought-out plans were very successful, and great numbers of people came to his American Museum to pay 25 cents to see the dried, ugly specimen labeled "The Feejee Mermaid." This single exhibit transformed the American Museum and P.T. Barnum into national institutions. Later in life, Barnum admitted the mermaid was a hoax, having been created by uniting the upper half of a monkey to the lower half of a fish.

Of the eight 'monsters' on this particular list, the giant grasshoppers of butts orchard was the funniest:

On Sept. 9, 1937 the following headline appeared on the front page of the Tomah (Wis.) Monitor-Herald: "Giant Grasshoppers Invade Butts Orchard East of City". The accompanying story gave details of the invasion. Apparently, after eating some special plant food that farmer A. L. Butts had sowed on his apple orchard,the grasshoppers grew to an astounding three feet in length - large enough to snap

off tree limbs as they leapt about the orchard. Along with the article, there were photographs of the mutant insects being hunted with shotguns. Because the story was continued on page four, many readers never got to the final paragraph, which suggest that it was all a put-on: "If there are those who doubt our story it will not be a new experience, inasmuch as most newspaper writers are thought to be the darndest liars in the world." The elaborate hoax, was concocted by Mr. Butts and the Monitor-Herald publisher, B.J. Fuller.

Is as much as things change the more they stay the same. There are still hoaxes out there, just more sophisticated. Some people get away with it for awhile, but in today's fast-paced world of technology, not for long. If by some chance someone does get a real good picture of a bigfoot, ghost or UFO, most people would believe it was something created by computers.

But, we still like to hear the stories!

The Bigfoot Controversy in Pine County, Minnesota

Although sightings of Bigfoot in Pine County (Minnesota) have hit the news the last few years, via several newspaper reports and "Finding Bigfoot" television series, just when it seems like the talk is fading away, another twist rises to the top.

I've seen Chad Lewis give a talk in Henderson, Minnesota three years ago, about haunted places in Minnesota. He also sells several books about the topic for Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and does 'headline' books and books on other creatures people reported seeing, mostly in the Midwest. He is entertaining, which is why people come to his seminars. It seems most of us just can't get enough scary stories.

I came across this story and received permission from Editor Mike Gainor of the Pine City Pioneer (Minnesota) to reprint his article that ran March 7, 2013. Although Lewis has come and gone, if you want to learn more about him and his talks, go to "Unexplained Research" on your favorite search engine.

"by Mike Gainor

Pine City Pioneer

Some say Bigfoot is a myth, but Chad Lewis isn’t so sure. What’s more, the paranormal researcher knows many who say they have spotted the creature  right here in Pine County. 

Lewis, author of “Mysterious Creatures of Minnesota,” said he first started receiving reports of Bigfoot sightings in the northeast corridor of the St. Croix State Park and Nemadji State Forest 19 years ago.

“[Reports] trickle in maybe once a year,” Lewis said. “People [are] seeing this large biped walking around on its hind legs, somewhere [between] six to eight feet tall. It’s got this thick, matted-down, shaggy fur.  From all accounts, for lack of a better word, they tell me it looks like a Bigfoot.”

Lewis shared a photo of a plaster cast of a footprint, and a drawing of the creature pictured on this page.

“The drawing is from Dennis Murphy, who spent 30 years in the area just west of Danbury tracking Bigfoot,” Lewis said. “He had that sighting ... and then another with a smaller one he thought was maybe a female or offspring creature. It’s very rare to see something like that.”

Lewis holds a Master’s of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and said he comes by his interest in the odd and supernatural, well, naturally.  

“I blame it on my home state of Wisconsin,” he said. “I grew up in Eau Claire which is not too far from one of the three ‘UFO capitals of the world’ that we have in Wisconsin.  When I was in high school, I was really interested in these people who kept seeing UFOs, or believed they were seeing them. So I just traveled there and started talking to people.”

In college he studied the psychology behind why people believe in the weird and unusual. 

“I would give presentations at statistical conferences ... but people in the audience would come up and say, ‘I know this isn’t quite what you’re doing, but I think my home is haunted,’ or ‘I saw something in the woods I can’t explain. Can you help me out?’ I said ‘Sure,’ and that spiraled from [studying] why they believe to what’s actually happening.”

Since then, Lewis has traveled across the world in search of the paranormal, reporting on tracking vampires in Transylvania and chasing the Chupacabras in Puerto Rico, to searching for the elusive monster in Loch Ness, and pursuing ghosts in Ireland’s castles. He has been on the Discovery Channel and ABC’s “World’s Scariest Places” among many other media appearances. 

But with so many tales of the odd, uncanny and supernatural, how many does Lewis actually believe? 

“Probably about half and half,” Lewis said. “After 20 years of doing this, I’m left with more questions than answers. But when you look at the ‘Phantom Pig of the State Fair,’ do I give that more credence than an undiscovered large creature like the Bigfoot? 

Probably not.

“But then again,” he added, “when you’re dealing with the weird, what’s too weird?”

Lewis will read from his new book, “Mysterious Creatures of Minnesota,” at the Hinckley Public Library on March 14 at 7 p.m."

As a journalist by nature, when I read accounts I want to talk directly to the source. So hopefully in the future I can give you a first hand account from those who experience mysterious encounters.

My intention is to just contact those in Minnesota - that should keep me busy for quite awhile, if they decide to go on the record. It will be tough though, because just adjacent to Pine County is the Wisconsin county of Burnett, where a bigfoot was sighted years ago near Danbury - where my family's cabin is located. 

Maybe it's the same bigfoot family? We'll just have to wait and see.

And if I happen to find a Bigfoot or mysterious creature or find out someone else who did in the Pine County, Gainor said give him a call. He'd be interested in whatever I find.

Him and umpteen others.

Minnesota's history of UFOs

As a young girl growing up in rural southern Minnesota, there was plenty of time to observe the heavens without city light interference. Many a time I checked out the skies for constellations and marveled at those before me who used these stars for direction. Things would move across the sky and most were airplanes. I was too young to think they would be UFOs, until some made quick turns and lightening fast speed across the atmosphere. What were they? I don't know, but they would send shivers up and down my spine as I contemplated the possibility of life outside our universe.

Unidentified flying objects continue to grab headlines. Ancient civilizations communicated mostly through cave/wall art beings that do not resemble human beings. It's not possible for the Romans, Aztecs, Egyptians to have built the pyramids, aqueducts, acoustic block structures without the help of someone from outer space. Television shows, movies, video games strike gold anytime they take up the subject to the general public.

Man continues to tinker with those claims of ancient days, many times proving those theories wrong. Still, each year thousands of people continue to report UFOs, alien abductions, crop circles and the like.

A picture supposedly of a UFO crash in Russia

In Minnesota the earliest documented UFO came from the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1897:

"Late on the evening of April 13, 1897, as they were passing through Lake Elmo, Minnesota, on their way to Hudson, Wisconsin, Frederick Chamberlain and O. L. Jones spotted a shadowy figure in a clearing two blocks away. The figure carried a lantern and seemed to be looking for something. Thinking there might be some emergency, Chamberlain and Jones turned toward the clearing, but the figure and lantern disappeared into the trees. Moments later they heard the crackling of twigs and branches, followed by a "rushing noise . . . like the wind blowing around the eaves of a house," Chamberlain told the St. Paul Pioneer Press (April 15). "A second later and we distinguished a long, high object of a gray white color."

Although the two men could not get a clear view of it in the darkness, the object, which had two rows of red, green, and white lights on each side, looked like "most of the top of a 'prairie schooner,'" Chamberlain said. It rose at a sharp angle, then headed south just above the treetops.

At the clearing, the two witnesses found, impressed in the wet ground, 14 two-foot-long prints, six inches wide, and arranged in an oblong pattern seven on a side. Apparently, these were traces left by the craft.

Around that same time Adam Thielen, a farmer in the Lake Elmo area, heard a buzzing sound above him. When he looked up, he saw a dark object with red and green lights sailing overhead.­"

Later on, Minnesota is one of those cases ranked highly in photos of UFOs: (http://www.ufocasebook.com/bestufopictures2.html)

The picture of UFO in 1960
Minnesota

1960 - Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is one of those "hard to be sure" images. It was taken on October 20 of 1960, and seems to show a large oval light source. No object is actually seen, but then again... where there's smoke, there's fire.
The object seems to be moving from left to right, as you can see a trail of some type to its right in the full size image.



Today's technology is either making it more difficult to debunk UFOs or making it easier to manipulate evidence. This video was taken in the Twin Cities area in 2010 by a KSTP-television reporter and cameraman ( it is similar to videos caught by people in Arizona a few years back over Phoenix):

http://www.ghosttheory.com/2010/08/11/tv-news-crew-capture-ufo-over-minnesota


And finally, although there are many reports and not enough time and space here to report the best of the UFOs in Minnesota, this lone siting sits alone in credibility: (thanks to 1979-Minnesota Sheriff Vehicle Hit by UFO, by Billy Booth, About.com Guide)

Summary:
A frightening UFO case which involved physical trace elements occurred in Minnesota on August 27, 1979. This baffling account centers around Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson of Marshall County. Johnson was patrolling near the North Dakota border about 1:40 AM, when he noticed a bright light coming through his side window. Johnson knew it was not typical vehicle lights. He thought it might be a small plane in trouble and about to crash.

Unconsciousness for 39 Minutes:
He made a left turn to get a better view of the unknown light, and make a report if needed. All at once, the strange light moved directly toward his squad car, a 1977 Ford LTD. In a second, it was upon his vehicle. He estimated that the light had traveled 1 1/2 miles in an instant. He was blinded by its brilliance, heard the sound of breaking glass, and then lost consciousness. Johnson would later relate that "I was rendered either unconscious, neutralized or unknowing for a period of approximately 39 minutes."

Sent to Hospital:
When he came to, his vehicle was sitting off the road, and he could see where he had braked and skidded across the highway. He felt drugged, weak. At 2:19 AM, he radioed police headquarters, and asked for back-up. Another Deputy would soon arrive at the scene, and seeing Johnson's condition, radioed for an ambulance. Soon, he was under a physicians care at Warren Hospital. The doctor found that Johnson was in a state of shock, and his eyes had suffered "mild welders burns."

Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson

Baffled by Incident:
As the Sheriff's office began to investigate what had happened to Johnson and his vehicle, they were baffled by the unusual damage done. The inside headlight on the driver's side was destroyed but the one to its immediate left was untouched. On the left side of the front hood, there was a circular dent about 1/2 inch in diameter. It was close to the windshield, which was also cracked. The crack was from the top of the shield to the bottom, with four distinctive impact spots.

Clocks 14 Minutes Slow:
Another unexplainable fact was that Johnson's wristwatch was, although still running properly, 14 minutes slow. Also, the clock in his vehicle was also 14 minutes behind. The car's radio and Johnson's wristwatch were always synchronized with the official police station time. No explanation could be found for the missing time. Also, beginning at about 6 inches above the base, his car's police antenna was bent at a 60-degree angle. Also there was unexplainable damage to the trunk antenna.

Investigation Finds No Cause:
All of the damage to Johnson's 1977 Ford LTD was to the driver's side. The investigation determined that the police cruiser had traveled 950 feet from the initial impact. The Sheriff's Department could not determine what happened to the vehicle, and theories like being hit by a low-flying plane, or another vehicle, or even a hoax were quickly ruled out. The Center for UFO Studies also made an on-site investigation, along with officials from the Ford Motor Company.

Mechanical Forces of Unknown Origin:
No one could offer a tenable explanation for the damage, and the damage to the windshield was the most bizarre. Meridan French, from Ford, noted after examining the windshield fractures that "Even after several days of reflection on the crack patterns and apparent sequence of fractures, I still have no explanation for what seem to be inward and outward forces acting almost simultaneously. I can only [conclude]... that all cracks were from mechanical forces of unknown origin."

Conclusions:
The incredible sequence of events on August 27, 1979 in Marshall County, Minnesota mark one of the best documented cases of physical trace evidence left by an encounter with an unknown flying object. The incident was investigated by three separate organizations and no hint of a hoax, or an explanation of natural means was forthcoming.


As we all continue to scan the heavens for life beyond our own troubled earth, there are as many reports of landings or flights observed by reputable people. My opinion is that unless a person can exactly identify a flying vessel, it is an unidentified flying object. It most likely is not a saucer holding little green men, but until humans can find ways to surely explain what they are, UFOs will continue to enter everyday conversations.


For more information on Minnesota UFO reports see: http://www.mnmufon.org/