Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, ancient artifacts, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.
Bigfoot sightings are the type you usually expect when you hear a monster’s been sighted. If it’s not the big, bipedal monkey then we’d expect it was an alien, a vampire or the mustachioed 400 lb Lebanese girl from our 10th grade English class.
She was really something to see.
Every now and then, though, stories of a lizard man encounter creep up and make us swear off murky-water swims for the rest of our lives. Such is the case of the Green Clawed Beast.
The Green Clawed Beast has had exactly one encounter – way back in 1955. Mrs. Darwin Johnson was out swimming in the Indiana section of the Ohio river when a large, powerful hand/claw grabbed her around the knee. We’ll let AmericanMonsters.com do the talking:
“While enjoying a leisurely swim with a friend ? one Mrs. Chris Lamble ? Mrs. Johnson claims that she was suddenly clutched around the knee by a large, hairy, claw-like hand. Only 15-feet from shore, Mrs. Johnson struggled to disengage herself and head for safety. Mrs. Lamble could only stare in horror as her distraught friend was yanked beneath the surface of the river. Miraculously, Mrs. Johnson managed to kick her leg free, but almost instantly she was seized again, this time from behind.”
This time around she somehow managed to lunge for an inner tube. The creature wasn’t seen again. Well – it wasn’t seen again unless you count the very similar Loveland Frog, or the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp.
But you know, right now we’re not counting either of those. Johnson then kicked her way to shore. Once on dry land she discovered bruising (but no cuts, surprisingly) in the grabbed area… and a strange green palm print. It was a stain – one that couldn’t be washed off for several days.
As you can imagine the whole thing was quite traumatic for Mrs. Johnson. It got even stranger when she was visited by an Air Force Colonel. The Demoniacal.blogspot.com fills us in on this bit:
“According to investigator Terry Colvin, the Johnson’s claimed they were visited by a man in black-type figure who introduced himself as an Air Force Colonel. The man interviewed the couple, taking down Mrs. Johnson’s story and then afterwards, advising her to never speak of her encounter.”
Perhaps even stranger than all of this – is that the underwater attack happened on the exact same day as The Little Green Men of Kelly incident. Remember that one? A family was trapped inside their cabin firing shotguns at aliens as they scampered across the roof. Or something.
But that’s two green-men attacks on the same day. Was it a coincidence? Or double paranoia? Possibly.
But then again…
Tom J says
Could someone shake Gimmers out of his grief filled gin stupor and remind him he’s supposed to be editing Hecklerspray? I loved Nielson too but there are people out there that need vitriolic observations about pointless celebrities.