In April 1973, a small town in Illinois was gripped by fear and curiosity after several reports of a bizarre creature lurking in the night. The creature, dubbed the Enfield Monster, was described as having three legs, two arms, a short body, and two large pink eyes. Some witnesses claimed to have shot at it, heard it hiss, and seen it jump over 50 feet in three leaps. Others speculated that it was an alien, a cryptid, or a product of mass hysteria. But what was the truth behind the Enfield Monster?
The First Encounter
The first person to encounter the Enfield Monster was Henry McDaniel, a resident of Enfield, Illinois. On the night of April 25, 1973, he heard a scratching sound at his front door and went outside with a gun and a flashlight. He was shocked to see a creature that he thought might be a bear, but soon realized it was something else entirely. He later said “It had three legs on it, a short body, two little short arms, and two pink eyes as big as flashlights. It stood four and a half feet tall and was grayish-colored.”
McDaniel fired four shots at the creature, one of which hit it and caused it to make a hiss “much like a wildcat’s”, before fleeing towards a nearby railway embankment, covering 50 feet in three jumps. McDaniel called the local authorities who discovered footprints in the soft earth near the house, which McDaniel described as dog-like in shape, with six toe pads. The police considered McDaniel to be “rational and sober” in his reporting of the incident.
The Subsequent Sightings
McDaniel was not the only one who claimed to have seen the Enfield Monster. A 10-year-old neighbor, Greg Garrett, said he encountered the creature half an hour before McDaniel did, and that it stepped on his feet, tearing his tennis shoes to shreds. However, he later admitted that his story was a hoax “to tease Mr. M and have fun with an out of town newsman.”
Two weeks later, on May 6, McDaniel called the radio station WWKI claiming to have seen the creature again, at 3 a.m. that morning. He said it was walking on the railroad tracks near his home, and that he did not shoot at it or bother it. A search party including WWKI’s news director Rick Rainbow explored the area later that day, and reported observing an “apelike” creature standing in an abandoned building near McDaniel’s house. They claimed to have made a recording of the creature’s cries, and fired a shot at it before it fled.
Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman investigated the case and the sound recording, but did not find any conclusive evidence of the creature’s existence. He suggested that it might have been a misidentified animal, such as a kangaroo, a bear, or a large dog.
The Theories and Explanations
The Enfield Monster attracted a lot of attention from the media and the public, and various theories and explanations were proposed to account for its origin and nature. Some of the most popular ones were:
An alien: McDaniel himself believed that the creature was not from this planet, and that there might be more of its kind. He said “If they do find it, they will find more than one and they won’t be from this planet, I can tell you that.” Some UFO enthusiasts supported this idea, and pointed out that there were several UFO sightings in the area around the same time.
A cryptid: A cryptid is an animal that is not recognized by mainstream science, but is claimed to exist by some people. Some examples of cryptids are Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Mothman. Some cryptozoologists speculated that the Enfield Monster was a new or unknown species of animal, possibly related to other cryptids.
A hoax or a prank: Some skeptics dismissed the Enfield Monster as a hoax or a prank, either by McDaniel or by someone else. They argued that the creature’s description was too absurd and inconsistent, and that the evidence was too weak and unreliable. They also pointed out that McDaniel had a history of alcoholism and mental illness, and that he might have been influenced by the movie The Legend of Boggy Creek, which featured a similar creature and was released shortly before his encounter.
A case of mass hysteria: Mass hysteria is a phenomenon where a group of people share a false or exaggerated belief, often triggered by fear, stress, or rumor. Some sociologists suggested that the Enfield Monster was a result of mass hysteria, and that the witnesses were influenced by each other and by the media coverage. They cited the episode as an example of collective behavior where a group or crowd can be affected by the spread of “group emotions” such as “panics, hysterias, collective visions, and extreme instances of suggestibility.”
The Conclusion
The Enfield Monster remains a mystery to this day, and no definitive answer has been found to explain its origin and nature. Whether it was a real creature, an alien, a cryptid, a hoax, a prank, or a case of mass hysteria, it certainly left a lasting impression on the people of Enfield and beyond. The Enfield Monster is one of the most bizarre and intriguing cases of unexplained phenomena in Illinois history, and a testament to the power of imagination and curiosity.