1903 Van Meter monster case revisited

Image credit: John Conway

110 years ago a strange creature was said to have paid a visit to the small town of Van Meter in Iowa. According to reports made at the time, the incident took place over several nights in the autumn of 1903. Several respected members of the community told of a mysterious half-animal, half-human winged creature that terrorized the town's residents during the night. Descriptions of the beast suggested that it had large bat-like wings, left a terrible stench wherever it went and, even stranger, fired beams of bright light from its forehead. The bizarre account recalls how several of the locals attempted to shoot the beast but their gunfire didn't appear to have any effect. Fed up with the menace, a group of townsfolk banded together one evening and pursued the creature to an abandoned coal mine.



There they confronted not one, but two of the beasts, which both turned and disappeared down in to the gloom of the mine as the men opened fire, never to be seen again. The story offers a glimpse of rural Iowa history and lore. The superstitious mindset at the turn of the last century, oddly, mirrors a resurgent 21st century trend of Bigfoot hunting and paranormal investigating that populate cable television today

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