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Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Cryptid Cocktail Party.
I'm your host Dave and today I am joined by once again my good friend Nick Eisman, host
of the Dad's Podcast.
Fuck.
Alright.
How you doing Nick?
Host of the Dadcast?
The Dadcast.
Whatever man.
The Dadcast.
I'm doing, Dave trust me man.
I'm breathing.
Well that's really the only requirement for doing a podcast is the ability to breathe
in and out.
Oh yeah and formulate some noises.
Yeah but I mean they don't have to be like cohesive.
It's just, you just gotta kinda flow together.
Yeah pretty much.
I mean listen I got a shrimp burrito in front of me.
I have chicken tamales in front of me.
Shrimp burrito.
That sounds so fucking gross.
I am obsessed with shrimp.
I don't know.
I love shrimp.
I can eat, if I can eat like one protein for the rest of my life it'd be shrimp.
Really?
Oh yeah.
I'm not gonna go full like whatever Forrest Gump's Bubba.
I'm not gonna go full Bubba.
But like it's such a versatile protein.
I guess man.
I don't know.
I'm not a big fan of seafood really which is weird because I grew up in New England.
But I'm aware.
I do like shrimp cocktail but I think it's because I just like cocktail sauce.
Didn't we have shrimp?
It's a good vehicle.
We had it at Christmas right?
Shrimp cocktail?
Yeah.
I don't know.
Maybe.
Who knows?
Probably.
I eat a lot of food.
A lot of the foods I eat are based off of what the condiments are that go with it just
because I like the condiments.
Not so much the actual food.
I'm not a big condiment guy.
No like Chipotle rain.
You can't eat your fucking horseradish sauce or some shit like that.
I can't say horseradish in general.
I hear that you're the worst.
Alright Nicholas.
Well I'm glad you're doing good.
I'm glad you could join me today.
It's a rainy shitty day here in Philly so we're both kind of hunkering down inside.
You ordered food.
I'm probably gonna order food later.
But before I guess in the meantime do you want to hear about a story about a cryptid?
A little spooky cryptid cocktail if you will.
Yeah.
Well today Nicholas I'm doing one that I didn't really know much about but I see its name
thrown out here every once in a while and I just enjoy the name of it.
So today Nicholas we're going to be talking about the Van Meter Visitor.
Are you familiar?
It sounds familiar but I'm gonna need to refresh ya.
Well good you're gonna get about a half hour of one.
Oh wonderful.
So the story of the Van Meter Visitor takes place in the small mining town of Van Meter,
Iowa.
And when I say, we talk about small towns a lot on this show and I usually preface it
by saying when I mean small I really mean small.
This time I fucking 100% mean like the smallest town I've ever heard of.
Is it like 50 people?
Well right now currently in 2020 I think the population is like a thousand even.
The time frame that we're talking about is 1903 and I think it was just under 400 people.
So it's...
Can you imagine what Tinder's like in Van Meter, Iowa?
It's probably a lot of like siblings and cousins being on.
Like you just gonna, you know everyone.
And half of them are probably your family members.
Not the shit on the town of Van Meter, sorry guys.
It's alright.
But yeah the story takes place in the small mining town of Van Meter, Iowa where over
the course of a week in the fall of 1903 several town folk, many of them respected and prominent
men in Van Meter, reported that they saw what they described as a nine foot tall half human
half animal with massive wings said to be like smooth bat wings.
A horn on its head that shot a beam of light out of its tip that witnesses said temporarily
blinded them.
Really think a pterodactyl with like a fucking spotlight on its forehead.
It's pretty much that.
It kind of reminds me of a...
It's gonna kill me.
My friend Gabe will be able to nail it.
What the hell is it?
It's like a Godzilla kaiju or a kaiju from like the Shoho universe.
Soho universe that like sounds just like this god damn thing.
Gabe I know you listen.
Find out what it is.
I have sent you this podcast Gabe.
Gabe if you're listening please ease Nick's mind and tell him what kaiju this reminds
him of.
It's gonna drive me nuts.
Like I kid you not Dave.
I'm gonna be driving lift at two o'clock this morning or you know when we're recording this
and it's gonna come to me and I'm gonna scare the shit out of whoever's in the back of my
car.
You're just gonna scream out a random name and they're like camera.
I'm gonna be like what?
Just look back at them like that's who it is.
I don't know if that's who it is.
I know it's not camera.
They're just gonna be like sure dude whatever can I go home now please?
They're gonna think it's like a bone collector scenario.
They're gonna think all the locks in the cars are just gonna go down.
One star.
One star for this kaiju screaming man.
Man screaming about kaiju.
Alright well the first sighting occurred at about 1 a.m. on September 29th when businessman
U.G.
Griffith was awoken by what he thought was someone fucking around with like a spotlight
on top of a roof.
He got up and went to tell whoever it was to knock it the fuck off but when he went
to investigate the source of the light he saw the light along with something massive
jump from the roof to another roof across the street after taking a few more steps and
clearly confused the light and the giant mass just kind of fucked off into the night.
So he didn't really get a clear look at it but he did see like the like the light emitting
from the horn.
It's kind of like that scene from Signs but a lot scarier.
Oh I don't know the scene from Signs where like Mel Gibson, Laquan, Phoenix are like
watching the alien like jump onto the roof.
It's like standing on the roof and jumps off and jumps back through.
No that's terrifying.
Trying to say the scene from Signs just now I think gave me a stroke.
I could see that in your face.
So the second sighting and the one where the initial description of the van meter visitor
came on the next night September 30th around 1230 a.m.
The town doctor Dr. Alcott was sleeping in the back room of his office I assume after
a long day of like prescribing cocaine for blood ghosts and putting leeches on people's
necks to balance their humors.
I don't know what medicine was like in 1903.
I'm just kidding.
I assume it's all medieval at this point.
And he suddenly was awoken by a bright light shining through his window onto his face.
And just like Griffith he went out to investigate who was shining lights into his window but
he made sure to grab his gun first because it's 1903.
Did he actually shoot it because I'm tired of hearing about these guys that grab their
guns and don't actually shoot at the thing.
Just wait.
Now as he approached the source of the light he saw what he described as a humanoid with
bat wings a blunt horn on its head that was the source of the blinding light that had
awoken him and clearly terrified with what he was seeing.
He raised his gun and fired five rounds at the creature but the bullet seemingly had
little to no effect.
So after shooting the visitor five times and not even flinching Alcott decided he was going
to like fuck off back inside and the van meter visitor just kind of like took off into the
night.
So he did shoot it.
At least he shot at it.
But like what the hell was he shooting at 22.
I don't I don't know.
I don't know.
I feel like back then I don't know what guns were like in 1903.
I feel like they were all just normal guns.
I have no idea.
To a Americans.
You can have my daughter but you can't have my Winchester.
No I did the same night or the next night on October 1st.
The sources say one or the other.
But either way the next sighting was from a local bank teller named Peter Dunn.
Now Peter was holed up in the bank because he believed this was what was happening was
an elaborate hoax being perpetrated by some would be burglars which is either some super
paranoid thinking or bank robbers back then were like Danny Ocean levels of smart.
But just after 1 a.m. Dunn heard what sounded like gargled gasps outside the window like
the sound of someone being strangled.
So he opened the door to investigate and he was immediately blinded by the van meter visitors
like Horn lamp.
But once the light led up he regained his bearings and he too raised a gun and fired
at the creature.
And again it was unaffected by being shot for like the eighth time in two days.
I'm glad that like people are shooting this damn thing because honestly like if I open
my door and there's just like a fucking creature with like it at this point I don't even think
flashlights are a thing but like did I have no idea.
We don't know the candle power of this guy's lantern.
It could be a million fucking calendar.
I'm shooting it like I don't even care who it is.
If I open up my door and there's like a like a literal lantern being held in my face I'm
being blinded.
That's my sort of blast.
Well all right.
So it's 1903 and I keep thinking like in my head 1903 is the same thing as like 1703 but
you think about it like in like 10 years we're in World War 1 like there has to be shit.
You know what I mean.
Like it's not.
It's not like a casual time in American history.
Shit's already fucking tense.
But I'm just saying like we're talking about like their firepower and if they have flashlights
or not like they clearly had all those things.
Yeah I mean true.
But it's true.
But it's funnier for me to think that doctors were prescribing cocaine for blood ghosts.
I'm sure they were.
I mean Hitler was giving people like meth to keep them as super soldiers so like cocaine
for blood ghosts doesn't seem that far off.
Yeah that's true.
God being a fucking patient back then must have been awesome.
Yeah until like you're depressed and like we're going to shock your brain until it works.
That's fair.
Get that energizer.
No less than 24 hours later O.V. White.
I just realized that a lot of people's names in this are just two initials and then their
last name.
But less than 24 hours later O.V. White a hardware merchant was asleep in the room above
his store.
A lot of people sleeping in the places where they work.
I don't know if that was just convenience or if that's just what I mean.
I mean if they owned it.
Yeah.
I know a few people that own shops that like own the building.
They live up top.
Yeah like the dudes from Gilmore Girls.
He owns that diner and then he also lives above it.
It's a coffee shop for yourself.
It's a diner.
Is it a diner.
Yeah you fuck.
Luke's diner.
Come on.
Ah that explains a lot of my ex-girlfriends obsessions with diners and people named Luke.
No fuck.
I know one Luke that listens to this show and that is very much about you.
Oh no.
Love you Luke.
No.
He was.
God damn it.
He was he was awoken by what he described as rasping sounds from outside.
He went to the window to investigate.
But again not before he too also grabbed his gun.
Now looking across the street from the window he saw the visitor perched on a telephone
pole.
So he did what any man would do and has continuously done throughout this whole story which is
to shoot at it.
Now again the creature was unfazed by this and returned fire in the form of releasing
a noxious odor back at White.
Now while all this is going down Mr. Sydney Gregg was awoken by the sound of White shooting
and decided to go outside and see what all the hullabaloo is about.
As he gets outside and looks down Main Street he sees the visitor lowering itself down from
the telephone pole and just as this is happening the mail train comes roaring into town.
Now this caught the van meter visitor off guard startling it.
So it went to a crouch down as if it were about to like jump and take flight.
But instead Gregg said that it flapped its wings and hopped away like a kangaroo before
breaking into a sprint on all fours and then like are we sure like that a this thing doesn't
have a few few questions about the.
I know yeah.
So it seems like it's rasping a lot right.
And then it's got like some you know some clear.
I guess respiratory issues.
Are we sure that this thing isn't actually a guy with like emphysema like a minor like
I mean could it not just be a minor that had like his helmet on he's like having a hard
time breathing and like everyone just a terrible shot because that's what it sounds like.
Oh like this like the light on his head would be like the headlamp from like.
Yeah exactly.
I don't.
Exactly.
I don't think so.
Well the other thing that I have there.
I mean like a spry minor if you can jump rooftop to rooftop like a fucking Spider-Man.
Minors are the backbone of American culture.
Don't ever fucking disrespect my family again.
What's it saying they aren't.
I have no no family members of mine who have been minors.
We are very large people we do not do well with small spaces.
All right Nick next question what do you got for me.
My other question is like before you answer this ask this question just know that like
I said I knew nothing of this creature until I did the research for it today to write this
episode so I might not have all the answers.
It's more of like a general idea.
I mean okay obviously it's a mining town so there is that like aspect of people that are
going to be walking around with this headlamps on.
What if this thing whatever it is was just trying to blend in and that's why it has no
I'm serious has like this lantern on its head because he thinks that it's like a way to
communicate it like observed our goings on for like weeks and there's like you know I'm
finally going to do I'm going to go in there integrate myself into their society and maybe
just wanted to make friends.
And as soon as he gets out there everyone just fucking popping rounds at him.
I kind of feel bad for the van meter visitor now.
Yeah he's just he's literally just trying to make friends and he's like these guys with
helmets on.
Dude first things first though like he we should probably get back to the story but
real quick like he hasn't done anything wrong and all the literally been shot at like 12
times so far.
A bunch of dickheads.
Twelve times.
So I mean he's hold on a second here.
She had to whip out some.
That's 38 times less than 50 cent.
We got to call this guy 12 cents.
I don't think 50 cent was the amount of times he was shot.
Really.
Yeah.
No that's not.
That's fucking stupid.
Yeah.
So.
So by now the whole town is aware of everything going on since there have been five sightings
by the town's like five most prominent citizens with miners in the town believing these sightings
have something to do with some of the noises they've heard coming from with inside the
mine.
Now what they're referring to here is just a few short days after the sightings in the
on the first the mine director heard what he described to the Des Moines Daily News
as quote Satan and a regiment of imps were coming forth to battle right before not one
but two creatures emerged from the shaft the second smaller than the first.
And as he watched they both took flight and he described them the same way everyone else
had with a horn on his head with those emitting a bright light and smooth like bat like wings.
Now you know what men from in a mining town in 1903 love more than anything Nicholas.
No.
I'm not a miner.
I have no idea.
I don't know the mindset of miners.
They love formals.
They love form and posses.
And that's exactly what the mine director JL Platt did.
He gathered up a gang of armed men and waited for the monsters to come back to what I assume
is their den.
Right.
What?
So I'm sorry.
I just want to make sure I heard you right.
So there is multiple of these little fucking things just hopping around.
Yeah.
There's two.
There's a big one and a small one.
OK.
All right.
So yeah, JL Platt formed his posse.
He gathered up a gang of armed men and waited for the monsters to come back to the den.
And just before dawn, after waiting for what to them must have felt like forever, the van
meter visitors returned and the men immediately opened fired.
Now, Jesus Christ, so many shots were fired that witnesses said that the that they said,
quote, the reception would have sunk the Spanish fleet.
That's how many fucking bullets were flying at these creatures when.
See, now I feel fucking horrible for the van meter visitor because clearly it's just a
single day.
It's literally the pursuit of happiness with Will Smith and Jaden Smith.
Like this thing is out there trying to make connections, trying to make networks, and
they're fucking shooting a single widowed father.
Yeah, it's bullshit.
It's kind of sad.
But as a running theme to this story, the bullets obviously did nothing but annoy the
creatures.
They let out the raspy cry.
They farted out the obnoxious fumes and they just kind of sauntered on down the shaft without
missing a beat.
As soon as the monsters were far enough down the shaft, the town folks started immediately
breaking and barricading the entrance to the mine.
Don't know how that would help, but that's where the story ends.
There was no more reports of the van meter visitor or dome light or smelly odor, and
the town just kind of went back to business as usual.
Minus the mining part since they kind of like bricked up the mine.
But yeah, that's it.
But the story lives on in many forms, from meadow zoo cards all the way to the annual
van meter visitor festival and in the hearts and mind of all of us or something.
I don't know.
I'm bad at ending episodes.
Do we know what this is?
Is there a picture of what this thing potentially looks like?
I have so many questions that are just unanswered.
Like have there been any?
It literally looks like a pterodactyl with a light on its head.
Let's do this Google search.
Van meter visitor.
Yeah, it literally looks just like a pterodactyl.
Oh, this poor guy.
He's literally just like going around trying to live his best life, live his best life
and raise his kid.
And these these fucking Iowans.
Is that what they are?
Iowans?
I think they're assholes that don't support single fathers.
So I mean the festival, right?
Yeah.
Now there's you were talking about this last week.
You know, the the rise of cryptid festivals.
Yeah.
Now for like these one off fest, right?
Because clearly the van meter is a one off or, you know, it's not like there's multiple
sightings.
It's not like Bigfoot or Tupacabra.
Yeah.
Like over the course of decades or centuries.
Do they just like walk around with flashlights on their heads or because if not, that is
honestly a very under.
No, it's a great idea.
And I think I need to monopolize on it.
Yeah, I think you should probably you should bring it up to the festival organizers, even
get on that LLC type deal.
No, but I think I think strap on flashlights.
Yeah, it's got to be like any other cryptid festival.
Like, you know, like it's just art vendors, food trucks.
Maybe speaking of do you want to go to squonk a Palooza?
I'm a sponsor of Squonk a Palooza, bud.
Yeah, I know.
So you're going?
I don't know.
It depends on if I'm still in the state.
Oh, OK.
Well, I mean, if not, I will go on your behalf.
Yeah.
All right.
So yeah, that's a that's the end of the episode.
What did you think of the story, Nick?
It was a little shorter than normal, but you know, a little shorter than normal.
I mean, listen, I feel bad that the single father was harassed.
I wish we like we got more.
I guess nighttime or daytime like sightings, but it makes sense because it's got a flashlight
on its head.
So clearly it's like nocturnal.
Yeah.
I don't know more about this gas.
Like did anyone else like get gassed?
Yeah, I don't know.
And they never they just said it was like a noxious odor.
They never said what it smelled like.
I mean, I can't imagine it's good, but I don't know.
Yeah.
I have so many questions and they're all just unanswered and I don't know how to feel about
it.
Yeah.
And that's the thing with these one offs.
You usually end up with more questions than answers like the Enfield monster, Flatwoods
monster, Mothman.
I mean, like you never know things.
You're never satisfied.
If you had to put this up against another one off cryptid.
Like do you mean like like in a fight?
Yeah.
Like who would like who would I pit it against to see who would win?
I don't I don't say I don't think that the the Van Beter visitor has like a bad bone
in its body.
Like I don't think it's violent.
Right.
So why the fuck was it getting shot at?
I don't know.
That's what I'm saying.
I don't think also like my another question for you.
This is again not to be you know that I want to hunt cryptids.
But like do we know if anyone ever shot the Mothman?
Oh, they definitely just they definitely tried.
OK.
Yeah.
They form posses to during the Mothman.
Like they had like people in their pickup trucks with a bunch of guns just going down
to the TNT factory or the TNT area.
Yeah.
But I mean, yeah, I'm going to do some I'm going to grab my cryptids A through Z book
and see if I can do some more digging here.
Yeah, I'm sure it's in there.
It has to be.
I'd be surprised if it wasn't.
The beard's looking good, by the way.
Oh, it's actually looking real nice.
Yeah, I got to trim it up.
All right, bud.
Well, I appreciate you coming on.
Do you anything you want to plug?
No, not really.
Just new episodes of the Dadcast coming out.
We recorded about four of them last week.
So season two is is on its way.
Hell yeah, bud.
All right.
Yeah.
Sick.
Follow Follow Cryptid Cocktail on Instagram at Cryptid Cocktail.
We'll have a Twitter.
I don't ever use it, but you know, we're followed by the Flatwood Monster Museum.
So it's kind of a big deal.
The same thing at Cryptid Cocktail.
We also have a co-fi.
If you want to donate to the show, it's co-fi slash Cryptid Cocktail Party.
Let's see what else.
I think that's pretty much it.
Follow Dadcast on Instagram.
It's the dot dadcast.
Yeah, the dot dadcast.
The dot dadcast.
Can't get wrong.
It's just straightforward.
Just a couple of dads who aren't dads spinning a wheel of topics talking about it ridiculously.
Yeah, that sounds pretty much like this show.
Well, Dave, I'm going to go enjoy this shrimp burrito and stay classy, stay sassy and don't
shoot single fathers.