I am a little slow in publishing its contents as I have recently moved. Today’s Cryptid File is a new addition to the overall cryptid cabinet. A personal submission was made to me last week. All names have been changed to protect the individuals identities. Did you know that you can have your own story appear in a Cryptid File post? Just find the tab and send me an email with your encounter. Let’s get into todays file!
Tallahassee, Florida 2002
Veronica was walking home one warm wet Florida summer night when she would have an experience that would shape the rest of her life. Being a carefree teenager in Florida with no school and no responsibilities she was out late every night that summer. It was an important summer as well as she would be a senior next year and then she would have to start thinking about college and work.
On this particular night Veronica and her friends had been hanging out at a fast food restaurant. Some of the boys flirty antics were beginning to be quite annoying so Veronica and her friend Abby decided to walk home so they could talk and laugh at the nights events. It was a pleasant walk and all was normal. While they were laughing and having fun a sudden rustle in the bushes made them both jump. They had stopped their conversation and watched the darkened trees and greenery and listened carefully. They saw an outline of a man wearing a hoody walking into the trees and assumed it was nothing but a homeless man.
After no other noises they kept walking, this time a little faster. They had almost made it to Abby’s house which sat on the other side of the street from a swampy wetland, a nature reserve of sorts. Again their conversation was cut short but this time it came from behind them. A sharp clapping or clicking that softly echoed around them. They spun around and could see a tall man in the darkness walking towards them.
They began to back up when one of the streetlights revealed their stalker. It was a very tall bipedal creature. Veronica described it as a slender feather covered man with large clawed feet and hands. patches of the brown feathers were missing revealing bare skin underneath. Large wings arched over its head creating a type of hood shape about a foot over its head. The wings twitched and moved seemingly on their own as the tips of the large feathers dragged on the sidewalk behind it. His head was that of a large mutant owl or hawk which cocked from side to side as it looked at the girls. Its large yellow eyes gazed at them steadily. It walked very slowly towards them, clacking its beak open and shut as if it were hungry and was considering these two girls as a fair meal. It made a soft hissing noise that sounded like static through a speaker.
They screamed and ran as fast as they could to Abby’s home. They creature pursued them on foot and eventually took to the air. It began diving at them and shrieking as it lashed out with its clawed legs. Abby’s father heard the girls terrified screams and ran out to the front yard. Abby’s father also saw the winged creature and described it as “the biggest hawk or owl in existence”. He described its wing length as that of a truck. After the girls arrived at the front porch the winged beast flew away into the dark Florida sky.
Veronica and her friend and family reported the sighting to the police, but with no evidence the police believed it to be a prank call and dismissed the report. No investigation ever took place.
They never saw the beast again.
My Biologist Opinion
After a few long conversations with Veronica over email she believed that her and her friend experienced an encounter with Owl man or a hawk humanoid. I educated her on the difference between owls and hawks and falcons. Based on her description I am leaning more towards a type of hawk man.
Birds of prey can be very large. Hawks and Falcons have been known to attack humans that venture too close to a nest or a meal. They are however, mostly diurnal. Owls on the other hand are nocturnal. This incident occurred at night, which makes me think it is more likely that it could be a type of owl. But not with Veronica’s description.
Birds of prey hunt by diving onto their prey suddenly. Humans have always hunted for food by stalking. This cryptid had been stalking them of course and then proceeded to dive at them. A combination of these two species groups is not known or known to be possible, but the idea is exciting to say the least.
In the terror of the moment, a large bird could have been mistaken as something more sinister. But the detail described by Veronica is too perfect. I also consider the possibility that this very well could have been a person dressed in some sort of feathered garb, looking to scare some innocents.
With clawed hands and no opposable thumbs, a hawk or owl man being able to get inside your house is unlikely. So lock your doors and draw your blinds and stay inside at night. Bird shot through a shotgun is an effective tool to ward off any type of bird attack.
To capture a winged creature like this. A net or netgun would be very effective as it would prevent the wings from being used without hurting them. A beak that large and sharp would be very devastating though. So a taser or pepper spray would subdue the creature long enough to put a hood over its head.
Putting a hood over the head of a bird engages the relaxation part of their brain since they are so sight dependent. Just watch out for those dagger like claws while you tie it up. And remember this is a specimen and not a trophy. Take care that it gets into the right hands for further studies!
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed todays viewer contribution. I thoroughly enjoyed conversing with Veronica about her experience. She is much more mature now, but still stands by what she saw and so does her friend and father. So I’ll leave the decision to you, what do you think Veronica saw that night? Is there large humanoid cryptids flying around on enormous wings? Feel free to leave a comment or you can email me personally your thoughts. If you would like your own cryptid encounter to be featured on the blog like Veronica’s story today, send me an email. Make sure to like this post and share it with your friends you think might enjoy it as well. Until next time, enjoy digging through Cryptid Files and stay safe out there!
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