Originally posted by genius/idoit
The vast reaches of forest and open fields of southern Illinois, combined with the sparse population in some areas, seem to invite weirdness that might not occur in cities and more crowded locales. In the most southern portions of the region, the Shawnee National Forest covers miles and miles of territory. The acres of forest seem almost untouched by man and some believe that strange things occasionally pass through here, unseen by human eyes.
This southern portion of the state is sometimes referred to as the “Devil’s Kitchen”, a designation left behind by the Native Americans and the early settlers to explain strange sights and sounds like unexplained balls of light, apparitions, screams in the night and various other unsettling types of phenomena. The Native Americans often considered such sites as “sacred” but the settlers usually believed them to be “cursed”, or at least well avoided. The idea that such locations were linked to the "Devil" was the first thought that crossed the minds of the bible-reading, god-fearing folks and they promptly set about to do two things. They learned to avoid these strange and haunted places and secondly, they gave names to the spots to alert other visitors and settlers of the dangers of the area. In the case of the Devil’s Kitchen, just about anything is possible, from ghosts reports to mystery animals and weird monster sightings. Perhaps strangest monster reports to ever take place in Illinois began in April 1973 in the small town of Enfield. This tiny community in southeastern Illinois became the scene of bizarre happenings for a short period of time and while the case has largely been forgotten today, it remains a part of the high strangeness of the region.
www.prairieghosts.com...
there is a reported tape of the creatures hiss but I can't find it.
The Enfield horror was a strange creature spotted in Enfield Illinois. It was first seen by a local named Daniel Machoy. It was described as having three legs, two arms jutting out of its chest, and two eyes the size of flashlights. The eyes were pink. It was trying to break in his house by wacking on the door. He slammed the door shut and ran to grab his pistol. He opened fire at the creaature and hit it on the first try because it "screamed like a wildcat" as the local described it. Then it fled. He called the police which found dog-like prints only with six pads. Soon the towns tourist population skyrocketed and six men were arrested because they opened fire on a gray thing in the underbrush. The last sighting was by Rick Rainbow. He got a recording of the creature's strange hiss. We shall never know what the creature was.
www.cryptozoology.com...
Artists conception;
I owned property in the area just outside the Shawnee national forest (in better times)A campground with about 80 acres of land surrounded by forests and farms very sparsely populated and I've spent many nights alone in dark there and let me tell you the sounds at night are enough to make a grown man cry!I slept with my rifle like it was a teddy bear!
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[edit on 28 Nov 09 by Gools]
Cryptids are the yet-to-be discovered animals or recovered supposedly extinct zoological species that are being sought by cryptozoologists, zoologists, anthropologists, and other researchers through fieldwork in the wild, reexaminations of specimens in zoological collections, and searches of archival materials. For me, it all started with the Abominable Snowman (see Yeti) in 1960, moved quickly to an awareness of a world filled with cryptids. Here's my list of the top fifty cryptids actively being investigated and pursued today.
