The Grafton Monster

of the various territories across the USA few have produced as many high-profile crypted encounters as West Virginia this mountainous region has been the backdrop for both the Flatwoods Monster and the Mothman sightings of the 1950s and 60s however a lesser known creature is also said to haunt its Countryside an entity that would later become known as the Grafton monster [Music] during the 1830s plans were devised to construct a vital Road link through the inhospitable Appalachian Mountains as part of this endeavor those involved began to consider locations along the proposed route which might lend themselves to

the establishment of new communities one of the sites eventually chosen was a patch of land situated on a steep Hillside adjacent to the tigart river the few families who initially established farmsteads in the area had tentatively named their Community Grafton a decade later this fledgling town would expectedly become the intersection between a new stretch of railroad and the existing Highway fully accessible by Road Rail and River Grafton began to expand significantly however along with the prosperity that accompanied such development the town's residents soon found themselves in a precarious position Grafton strategic importance made it the

sight of violent clashes during the American Civil War despite this the years following that conflict heralded a period of unrestrained economic growth which would continue for nearly a century with numerous companies selecting the settlement as a place for Keen investment by the 1950s however this prosperous era came to an end as both financial and environmental factors led to the widespread withdrawal of Industry this left the once thriving community shell of its former self marked by abandoned and dilapidated factories and struggling to maintain its identity amidst the chaotic politics of the Cold War it is fair

to say that its residents were completely unprepared for an unexpected and haunting encounter which would thrust them back into the national Spotlight at roughly 11:00 p.m. on the 16th of June 1964 a young man named Robert cochrell was driving through the town making his way home from work cochrell a reporter for the local newspaper known as the Grafton Sentinel was eager to head straight to bed and get some sleep after working late at the papers offices that evening he had been traveling along Riverside Drive not far from where he lived but had to reduce his

speed as the road ahead transitioned into a series of Meandering bends as the reporter was negotiating one of the sharper bends he was suddenly forced to slam his foot on the brakes the headlights of his vehicle illuminated the outline of a bulky figure standing in the middle of the carriageway staring Straight Ahead cochrell could not quite believe his eyes as this lumbering creature ponderously continued its Journey from one side of the road to the other considering the size and shape of the Shadow It cast he had at first reasoned that the hulking frame must have

belonged to a bear but at the same time he realized it was almost completely white rather than the black or brown he would have expected to see in addition the vehicle headlights were reflecting off what appeared to be a slick and almost oily Pelt like that of a seal as opposed to the furry coat of an nursing mammal perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this creature was that no matter how much he stared the young reporter could not discern anything that remotely resembled a head situated anywhere at to its body instead it appeared to possess

a powerful set of upper arms and shoulders which emphasized an almost rectangular profile supported by two short and stocky legs seemingly unaware of either cochrell or the he was driving the enormous being continued on its way regardless emitting a shrill and high-pitch whistling sound as it did so despite lacking any discernable mouth or other orifice which might have enabled it to produce such a commotion seconds later it was gone pushing through the long grass at the side of the road and penetrating the tree line before disappearing from View for the next 30 seconds or so

cochrell remained dumbfounded at the wheel of his car his eyes flitting from the center of the road to the point where he had last seen the creature his mind eventually made up he turned the vehicle around and headed back into the center of the city in order to share the story of this encounter with two of his colleagues at first neither Jerry Mor nor Jim Mouser had been Keen to assist their cowork work reasoning that he was merely over tired from the long day they had shared in The Newsroom but through his persistence cockrel was

finally able to persuade both men to accompany him back to the location where he had seen the mysterious creature several minutes later the trio found themselves standing out on the roadside surveying a trail of trampled floor and forer which led off into the woods no sooner had they plucked up the courage to venture further through the tree line in pursuit of the strange entity than all three men suddenly stopped in their tracks a strange and protracted whistling sound came from in amongst the trees ahead of them accompanied by the snapping of twigs and branches under

foot this commotion immediately prompted the three reporters to retreat to cockrell's car and drive directly back to their offices where they would remain until Daybreak debating with whether they should share the story of what they had experienced with the rest of their Community having missed the deadline for publishing a fresh news story cochrell instead spent the day writing an article on his encounter with the creature before submitting it to his editor thus it was the following morning that the citizens of Grafton awoke to the news of a towering monster which had been seen lurking on

the outskirts of their City far from the ridicule that Robert cochrell had anticipated he instead found himself besieged by requests for further detail about what he had experienced within days National newspapers had taken hold of the story with the offices of the Grafton Sentinel being sent accounts of identical creatures seen around neighboring cities so great was the interest in the sighting that for the of that summer the local police were forced to turn away armed hunting parties and gangs of drunken youths looking to enter the woods many of these groups were causing issues for the

residents on the outskirts of Grafton as they rampaged across boundaries and fence lines searching for evidence of the creature despite several further sightings the city authorities moved to quickly push back on cockrell's account in an effort to stem the rising tide of would be Monster Hunters but over the coming years more witnesses would approach the newspaper with their accounts of having seen the beike entity that the cockrel incident had made famous during one such encounter a father and son had been felling trees in a patch of Woodland which was situated not far from Grafton city

limits as they had been coming towards the end of their task the two dogs which they had brought with them for company had begun to bark uncontrollably lowering their chainsaws the pair now became aware of a commotion approaching them coming from deeper Within the Woods thinking they were being stalked by a bear the two men moved across to their vehicle and retrieved their shotguns turning to face whatever was approaching their jaws fell open in Surprise the Bracken ahead of them parted to reveal an enormous being entirely covered in a glistening white Pelt as if it

had recently emerged from some water source this BEAST's torso was Broad and powerfully built giving it the appearance of a gorilla or other large primate but where there should have been a head there was instead only a thick Corpus of senu and muscle taking in the creature reach's powerful frame and large hands both men immediately cocked their weapons and took aim as their dogs continued to bark they did not however open fire as it became increasingly clear that the Towering interloper seemed to be completely unaware of their presence it stood for a moment as if

surveying the ground despite having no eyes or ears and then took a step forwards slowly covering the 50 yards between it and the two wood cutters it moved past them in their animals utterly oblivious to their watching eyes before then moving out of sight into a thick patch of trees the pair were left dumbfounded whilst their dogs barked and held themselves horse beside them a decade later during the mid 80s police officers based in Grafton responded to reports of a disturbance at a local campsite upon their arrival the deputies found several Good Samaritans huddled around

a bedraggled camper who had obviously fallen into the water as he slowly regained his composure the Shivering victim explained how he had decided to take a boat out on the nearby River to do a bit of night fishing over the next hour or so he had gleefully netted a few sturgeon pleas pleased with his decision to fish when there was nobody around to compete with that was until he had felt something firm and unyielding bump heavily against the hull of the boat he had appropriated leaning forwards to look down over the side the fisherman could

not see anything that might impede the boat's progress only for the water behind him to suddenly explode in an upwards torrent the cause of this disturbance was a large and deathly pale figure which was thrashing all around itself in a wild and seemingly distressed manner its huge fists hammered back and forth until they made contact with the side of the boat which it immediately began to push down upon the force of this action caused the hull to quickly disappear beneath the surface of the water sending its sole occupant into the river as he thrashed around

and screamed for help desperately trying to avoid drowning the fisherman became aware of Lights now being switched on in the nearby campsite meanwhile the pale skinn giant continued to grab and reach out around itself as if it was searching for him as with the two wood cutters it seemed unaware of any audible stimuli as it didn't appear to react to his cries for help it then moved off away from him until it disappeared from sight beneath the flowing water seemingly satisfied ifed with having sunk the boat as if that had been the creature's goal all

along the fisherman was rescued in short order by his fellow campers who saw no sign of the boat he had been in nor any evidence of his attacker save for a few loose items left floating on the surface of the water which slowly drifted away on the river's [Music] current the Grafton monster is markedly different to similar crypted encounters which have been reported across the United States due to the unique description of the creature involved there have been multiple sightings of sasquatches dog men and lizard-like entities amongst many others but nothing that seems to match

what was described by the Grafton Witnesses it has been speculated that this being is likely an unknown species which has only sparingly come into contact with humans possibly something with no natural predators to inhibit it and which usually resides within a dark and watery environment with no need for sensory organs pertaining to light and sound others have theorized that the creature May well be an existing species such as a bear which has either been badly injured or mutated by an external Factor it is equally possible that the entity May indeed possess a head but that

the stress brought on by its monstrous appearance has affected the the recall of those who have encountered it this was certainly the belief during the initial reports of the encounter with Robert cockrell's editors believing he had seen someone pushing along a heavily Laden handcart with the upper body and head of The Pedestrian being obscured behind the load they were moving they theorized that cockrell's fatigued mind had instead constructed what he believed to be a headless creature but there is one final hypothesis which is unlike any other we have explored in any of our previous episodes

it focuses upon the lack of an obvious head or the need for one and suggest that what was witnessed was in fact a Golem this is a type of being fashioned or created out of mud and Clay by those of the Jewish faith and borne into existence through religious belief this would mean that it had no mind or consciousness of its own and therefore lacks the trappings of an organic creature it simply wonders the land long after the death of its creator requiring neither sustenance nor rest in order to prolong its existence although sporadic reports

of this headless creature have continued into recent times they have steadily diminished since the initial wave experienced during the 1960s a decade that was Notorious for sightings of strange and unknown entities this was perhaps largely due to the stresses exerted upon the population by the looming Spectre of possible nuclear war which in turn created a need for distractions we can only wait and see if the remains of a similar creature are ever recovered either from below the Waters of West Virginia's rivers and lakes or deep within the boundaries of its woods and forests until then

we are left at the mercy of anecdotes and unending speculation [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] time story