From the unexplained to the mundane, come join
us on a journey to the fringe. Hello and welcome
to Journey to the Fringe. Pro Orca, just in case
they ask or someone happens to be blaring this
podcast out from an ocean voyaging yacht. I feel
it's important we at least put it in, I guess,
a hearable form for the Orcas. I don't think
they're going to bother learning an inferior
language. Yeah, what if they start blasting Journey
to the French to keep the orcas away because
they think that they're on their side? In which
case, should we say right now? No, I think the
orcas are smart enough to be able to differentiate
somebody pleading for a truce or at least not
to be hung by them versus the people on the ship.
You're right. They can identify the rudder. They
can identify who's a friend and who's an enemy.
I think so. Yeah, I think they just feel it out.
Anyhow, we are your podcast hosts, Taylor and
Chelsea, here today with a Chelsea episode. And
that's, I think, unless it's orca related, I'll
let her take over. If it was orca related, were
you going to just do the orca? Yeah. It's kind
of like going into the pile for go fish and getting
what you want. You just continue. Yeah, yeah.
Wildly speculating. I would generally say that
my favorite bro is the Mothman. However. In saying
Mothman, I feel like I'm boxing myself in a little
because I found out that there's a whole wide
world of winged humanoid cryptid type beings
that I would love just as much as Mothman. And
I say love loosely because it's based on a fear
-based love. And I also say it loosely because
I don't want Mothman to hear me and seek out
his revenge later. Today, I thought I should
expand my horizons. Let's take a look at one
of the other options of winged humanoids. Today,
that option is gargoyle. In contemporary fiction,
gargoyles are typically depicted as generally
winged humanoid race with demonic features, generally
horns, a tail, talons, may or may not have a
beak. Yeah, that come to life in the night, and
I believe they fight crime over New York. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, so we're talking about the same gargoyle.
Gargoyles can generally use their wings if they
have any to fly or glide as wings generally work
and are often depicted as having a rocky hide
or being capable of turning into stone in one
way or another. of reference to their structural
roots if they don't have wings they will scale
the building's outer walls and either walk the
streets at night it seems so much less scary
if they're just walking See, I think that would
be worse because they can be way closer to you
if that's the case. Really? Do you think? Oh,
yeah. I don't know. I seem to picture it as less
menacing because the wings give them super power.
Well, they still have the wings. They're walking.
They're just like everyone else. But they still
have the wings. They're huge. Not the ones that
walk. They don't have wings. They don't? Or do
you think they're like ostriches? They're just
too bottom heavy. And they're just for decoration.
Huh. I never thought of it that way. I mean,
I guess when you look up, when you look at like
gargoyles on churches, I guess not all of them
have wings and they're like, some of them are
what, like two feet tall. I guess those ones
seeing walking around would just be really troublesome.
But like, I just assume they all had wings. It
was my assumption fully. I just, do you think
they're jealous of the guys that do have wings?
Oh yeah. Especially like the two foot tall ones.
Like they're going to have to deal with a lot
of inferiority complex. Like, yeah, yeah. I don't
know what they're better at. Maybe they're good
listeners. I don't know. They'll walk the streets
at night or they'll just go inside the building.
I don't know why. Gargoyles are known to protect
buildings from evil spirits. Gargoyle comes from
the French. Oh, God, I meant to find this out.
Now you have me guessing. Gargoyle? Probably
not French at all, what I just said. But here
we are, unprepared. Which in English is likely
to mean throat or is otherwise known as the gullet.
Latin gargula or gullet or throat. And similar
words derived from the root gar to swallow, which
represent the gurgling sound of water. I guess
that makes sense that water is passing through
their throat. So they're just saying like quite
literal. Yeah. Obviously gargoyles are known
as a part of architecture. The term gargoyle
refers to figures carved specifically to drain
water away from the sides of buildings. I think
I ordered this wrong, but we're getting gullet,
throat, swallow, all going back to how they were
directing water away from buildings. And they've
been around for a long time. Even going back
to ancient Egypt in the form of a lion head at
that time, and then Gothic architecture, we see
more of a gargoyle as we know it today, carved
or formed grotesque. I really like that everybody
throughout history seems to agree, no, you got
to make where the water goes fancy, like somebody's
spitting it. You have to do it in the form of
an animal, and it's coming out of their mouth.
Like they're spitting it. It's one of those things
that defies cultures and time. A grotesque is
a broader version of a gargoyle, and I found
the architectural history so interesting of grotesques.
Grotesques often depict whimsical, mythical creatures
in dramatic or humorous ways. They have historically
been a key element of architecture in many periods,
including the Renaissance and medieval periods,
and have stylistically developed in conjunction
with these times. Although grotesques typically
depict a wide range of subjects, they are often
hybrids of different mythical human and animalistic
features, which is funny that I'm reading that
when we were in Barcelona, there's a building
that had a bunch of gargoyles on the side of
it. One of them was a unicorn. Well, and it's
funny they're saying like an animal creature
when like a gargoyle isn't really an animal per
se. Like the Egyptians used lions. And yeah,
I guess you could say a gargoyle is like animal
shaped, but it's not like depicting a specific
real animal. Yeah, so gargoyle is a type of grotesque,
which is, I don't know if the ancient Egyptian
ones fell under that, but we're splitting hairs.
Many scholars describe grotesques as being used
to ward off evil and as reminders of the separation
of the earth and the divine. Grotesques are predominantly
carved into buildings of religious significance,
in particular churches and cathedrals. Despite
their presence in religious spaces, their anthropomorphic
designs are largely not directly religious and
instead are often more whimsical without religious
connotations. commonly exist on high ledges and
rooftops and are frequently positioned out of
view from common areas. There are divided ideas
as to the purpose of adding gargoyles to religious
structures. Some state that gargoyles were meant
to illustrate evil and sin, while others have
posited that protests in architecture were apotrophic
devices. In the 12th century, before the use
of gargoyles as rain spouts, Saint Bernard of
Clairvaux was famous for speaking out against
gargoyles carved on the walls of his monastery's
cloister. St. Bernard emphasizes the absurdity
of these beastly figures, pointing out their
strange combinations of bodily parts. St. Bernard
was a... Oh, the dog guy. I guess so. Was he
a dog by chance? He was. He spoke out against
them, saying things like woof and grr. St. Bernard
were Cistercian, meaning he was unimpressed by
the more ornate and expressive decoration used
in any given cathedral church. Because of this,
he was repulsed by gargoyles and found them insulting
to the church. Gargoyles, traditionally believed
to ward off spirits, have inspired various interpretations
over time. Some view them as remnants of pagan
mythology, while others suggest they were designed
to imitate humans rather than demons. Yeah. Yeah,
I guess that makes sense. Why would demons be
intimidated by things that look like them, after
all? Yeah. Such as the acid -spewing gargoyles
at Amiens, meant to deter wrongdoers. Anthropomorphic
gargoyles like harpies or cynocephali symbolize
the punishment of sinners. Others serve purely
decorative roles, like the monkey statue of Jacques
Poirot's palace, reflecting the personal tastes
of exotic influences. Ultimately, gargoyles likely
held different meanings depending on their context
and viewers should avoid assigning a single purpose
to all of them. As Lester Brittenham cautioned,
gothic sculpture is, yeah. He said we shouldn't
assign like one purpose to all of them, but isn't
like every one of their purpose to spew water?
Like name wise? Yeah, I was going to say that
once I got to the end. I'm pretty sure that was
the purpose of them. Sounds like some of the
people just didn't like the way they looked.
Maybe it scared them. Maybe. Maybe that's the
person who came up with this intimidates me and
not the demons. Yeah, maybe. As Lester Burbank
Bordaham cautioned, Gothic sculpture is rich
in symbolism, but over -interpretation should
be avoided. Don't, you ever hear that? Like in
art history or something? Don't think too much
about it. Don't, don't overthink this. It's Gothic
sculpture. it is not to be overthought if anything
don't overthink gothic architecture a french
legend tells of saint romanus a 7th century bishop
of rowan rowan who saved the region from a fire
-breathing dragon called lagargui described as
having bat -like wings and a long neck. The beast
was either subdued by Romanus with a crucifix
or captured with help from a condemned man. Though
the monster was burned, its fire -hardened head
and neck survived and were mounted on the church
to ward off evil. In honor of the saint, Rune's
archbishops gained the right to free a prisoner
during his annual procession. Would you want
that? Yeah. Okay. I mean, I guess you could sell
it for money at a certain point. Oh, hold on.
Hold on. What part of that are you asking if
I want? Oh, no, the reward of getting to free
a prisoner once a year. No, I don't think so.
No, that feels like a weird responsibility. And
like, I don't know. I don't think I would do
the research, and I would feel guilty about that.
I don't know. You know what, though? In my mind,
and this is my mind, and if this is the times
of old, I just picture everyone in a prison like
Aladdin, and they're all just, like, good -hearted
young men who were just... There's diamonds in
the rough. ...to their family. So, yeah, who
are actually diamonds in the rough. But then
are you actually... Are you going to put the
effort in, or are you going to feel like, I don't
know, last minute, you're going to try to, like,
guess? Or are you going to just accept, like,
whoever pays you to say like my kid didn't do
this here's 20 bucks free them it could be a
mix of both i'm just gonna like it depends it
doesn't feel like a reward it feels like a responsibility
It does. And it depends on what I have going
on in my life in that time, I've got to say.
And how much thought and time I had to put into
that thought. But also now that I think about
it, they didn't seem to put any like asterisks
on that power. So you could the day before get
to use that power. You could go commit any crime
that the punishment isn't like instant death.
And then you could say, I'm the person I want
to free. That's true. But I mean, you're putting
a lot. The town's probably all prisoners. You
don't know how many prisoners there are. That
would be banking on that you're the only prisoner.
No, you get to pick. Right? Oh, if you picked.
Oh, yeah. I'd be the one committing all the crime.
I mean, you don't want to spend like the whole
year in there, but like you just commit close
to your like annual I get to pick and then just
say it's me. I pick me. Yeah. Do you know how
many people I'd be threatening in those few days
coming up to the procession? Like, don't fuck
with me. I could murder anyone and let myself
out of jail in two days. We could only wish.
Times were so simple. Anyhow. I know I did describe
what gargoyles look like a little bit, but I'm
going to do it again. Because this is about gargoyles
after all, and I feel like you really need to
know what they look like. They're creatures who
ward off evil spirits and presents. Sorry, I
was expecting the next words out of your mouth
to be like, Disney describes gargoyles as...
In Aladdin. I don't know why it said presence
there churches often had these creatures on the
roof to ward off the devil and demons somewhere
along the way gargoyles were seen as evil and
were taken down somewhere along the way they
were also used to divert water off the rooftop
are they Did I cover this? It's my episode. Were
they used as decoration? Yeah. Maybe I'll talk
about it. It seems like they're implying that
they were later used as decoration. Well, they
are. Yeah. And like the whole point is like to
make the water falling look fancier as if it's
being spit out by some ungodly demon like thing.
Exactly. Who doesn't like that? I'm surprised
we don't use them to this day on houses. I really
wish we did. I actually have a couple gargoyles
in my house and they are not doing that. They
are just purely to keep the evil spirits. I feel
like it's one of those industries that just priced
itself out of the average person's expenditure.
True. Yeah. You would need a mason to do that.
Gargoyles are guardians, protectors, and they
do no harm to anyone. Gargoyles are often seen
as evildoers and often hide in the shadows to
do this, which is directly contradicting what
I just said. Gargoyles have been known to step
in the light for someone strongly willing to
see them and have been known to bond with anyone
who truly believes they are good. Oh man, so
like this is all just evidence that none of us
truly believe enough, I guess? I really... do
feel like i do believe in them yeah or did like
most people that listen to this podcast have
like a very different understanding of garcoils
and they're like yeah these things are real like
you just like them so much and we're just the
outsiders who don't think of them as anything
but stone It's really hard to say. A gargoyle
is a creature that comes to life during the night
and turns to stone during the day. They are often
to be believed by many to be alive and can see
through their stone exterior. Those who truly
have respect for such a creature tend to bow
their heads in respect and the creature often
will return their respect. Hmm. See, now I don't
do that. I've never bowed my head to a gargoyle.
Not even the ones in my house. the gargoyle can
be of any shape and size some have beaks others
have hooves there are many different types of
gargoyles but the most common are the feline
looking ones with chains on their necks while
the chain means a few things the most common
one is control to chain a beast is to control
the beast Gargoyles, while enjoy being bonded
to someone, often do not like being controlled.
They also will never harm anyone in any way for
anyone. Gargoyles are often the best guardians
and protectors because not much can harm them.
And you know, in just thinking about it, this
isn't a part of my notes or any of the research
that I've done, but when you look at architecture,
there's nothing really other than a gargoyle
that is put onto a building like a gargoyle.
And of course, anything that has a face i would
say just theorizing here you would think something
on a building like that would be given realistic
characteristics that they come alive at night
or something like that because well especially
when you make them like creepy like that yeah
i mean even if it wasn't like oh i guess they're
statues i don't think that there are statues
do do people think of statues like that I think
there's one episode of Doctor Who where it's
like the entire concept of the episode is when
nobody's looking at a statue, they can move.
Yeah, like today's special. Like you put on a
hat. Who I'm sure stole it from Swedenberg or
something. Probably. I'm focusing on gargoyles
in this episode. There are other popular legends
around them that I'm not going to focus on too
much here, but here is a little snippet for your
consideration. Golems. They are usually made
of magically animated or transformed stone. but
have animal or chimera traits and are often guardians
of a place such as a cathedral or castle. They
can also be depicted as vessels for demonic possession
or as a living species resembling statues. Most
fictional gargoyles throughout the 20th century
have been evil creatures or horror villains,
but the notion of gargoyles as heroic defenders
gained popularity in the 1990s following the
animated series Gargoyles. And it is not uncommon
to see them depicted as sympathetic characters
who may work together with humans. Yeah, you
know what? Now that I think about it, there's
not that many works of like movies or TV shows
that I can think of where gargoyles are bad guys.
Despite the fact they look like bad guys. Yeah.
And I think that just comes back to the legends
around it that they're protectors. With that
being said, let's talk sightings. The best part
of any episode. And before we go too far, I'm
pretty sure one of the Mothman sightings in Chicago
described it as gargoyle -like. Yeah. Okay, good.
It did. I think that's a part of what's happening
in Chicago as well. And I do talk about that
a little bit. I think. Yeah. Well, what with
the Pope being from there and all. Is that why
they picked him? Is that why they've been rising
up so much? Is because the Pope needs to be from
there or they'll keep rising or something? Did
the gargoyles elect him? Hold on. How many gargoyles
are on the Catholic Church? The Vatican. Is it
run by gargoyles? We'll never know. They would
never tell us. Now let's talk sightings. First,
I'm going to focus on a rather large encounter
of the butler gargoyle in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
the butler gargoyle is described as a towering
winged humanoid with a grotesque appearance this
creature has been cited sporadically since at
least 2011 with some accounts stretching back
to the early 1990s but is this creature a genuine
paranormal entity a product of folklore or simply
a case of mistaken identity let's dive into the
mystery of the butler gargoyle and uncover what
makes it one of pennsylvania's most most intriguing
cryptids. The butler gargoyle is a cryptid primarily
associated with the towns of Chikora, East Brady,
Rimsburg, and Keppel's Corner. Witnesses describe
it as a humanoid creature standing seven to nine
feet tall with a muscular build, leather -like
or pale grayish skin, and bat -like wings. Its
head is often reported as flat or resembling
a bicycle helmet. Well, those are two very weird
things. Sometimes with a ridge or pointed ears
and its face has been described as smashed, swept
up, or even absent. The creature's claw -like
hands, backward bent legs, and deliberate movements
contribute to its eerie demonic appearance, earning
it comparisons to traditional gargoyles and even
the Mothman. Unlike many cryptids, the butler
gargoyle appears unafraid of humans, with witnesses
noting its calm, purposeful demeanor. It is typically
sighted at night or twilight, often crossing
roads, standing in fields, or disappearing into
woods, adding to its mystique as a creature of
the shadows. So let's talk the first documented
sighting. The most widely recognized first sighting
of the butler gargoyle occurred March 18, 2011.
on a rural road between chikora and east brady
in butler county a business it's always a business
a businessman driving at night initially mistook
the creature for a deer oh but was stunned to
see an eight foot tall figure cross the road
in just three steps He described it as muscular
with leather -like skin, darker tan or light
brown, to be clear, a flat head with a ridge,
pointed ears, claw -like hands, and wings tucked
against his body. He is seeing incredible detail
on this. The creature did not look at him and
walked into the woods, leaving the witness shaken.
The encounter was reported to paranormal researcher
Stan Gordon as noted in Cryptid Quest. Sounds
very official. Some sources, such as Cryptid
Wiki, mention an earlier sighting in June 1993
near Allentown, Allegheny County, where a group,
including a man named John, his girlfriend's
son, and son's fiancee, saw a seven -foot -tall
creature while looking out at Baker's Point.
This creature was described as fur covered with
wings, a protruding jaw. He had an underbite.
and muscular legs, and walk past their car without
fear before flying away. However, this sighting
is less detailed, differs in description, fur
versus leather -like skin, and is in a different
county, which makes me wonder if it wasn't of
a related but different creature. Maybe a flying
Bigfoot, perhaps. You know, I wouldn't rule that
out. Maybe they're just not reporting on the
Bigfoot with wings. The 2011 sighting remains
the primary starting point due to its detailed
documentation and subsequent reports, and I would
agree that first sighting the detail on that's
incredible following the initial march 18 2011
sighting several other reports emerged in butler
county suggesting a cluster of encounters these
were documented by stan gordon and shared on
platforms like phantoms and monsters march 26
2011 keppel's corner two witnesses stopped their
car in shock as they saw an eight foot tall dark
tan creature with a smashed face muscular build
Long arms, claws, and wings leap across the road.
The witnesses were so convinced of their sighting
that they offered to take a lie detector test
march 2011 east brady a motorcycle rider approximately
75 feet away encountered an eight to nine foot
tall creature with very dark leather skin swept
up eyes a pointed head wings and muscular build
the creature bolted into the woods and the witness
described it as straight from hell i'm just picturing
what he just described and i don't even know
what swept up eyes and a pointed head would even
look like What? March 2011, Rimsburg. Two witnesses
about 35 feet away saw a nine foot tall creature
with dark brown skin, long arms, broad shoulders,
a pointed head, another pointed head, flat forehead,
pointed ears, bat -like wings. I gotta say, the
descriptions that you're giving for all these,
it's very hard for me to envision, but I'm sure
they seem natural when you're actually seeing
it. Well, when you're seeing it, you're probably
like, there's no other way to describe it but
a pointed head. Like, is it like Patrick Starr?
Like, is that a good comparison? I guess, now
that you say that, yes. Bat -like wings with
see -through mesh and four claw -like fingers.
Jeez. Its eyes were squinted and swept upwards.
Huh. With a slit -like mouth. The witness also
described it as straight... Am I reading the
same thing? I guess. They had a lot of description.
Yeah. As noted with its abnormal arm movements,
the original witness from March 18 reported two
additional sightings. Early April 2011 on the
same road in daylight, the witness saw the creature
hunched beside a hay bale appearing three feet
taller than the bale. Holy shit. It had a grayish
cast black claws on the ground and wings above
its shoulders staring directly at the witness.
Oh no, I don't like that. I see Chelsea just
to bring it all back now that is a walking gargoyle
that is terrifying it's not flying at this point
no he has wings no he has wings but he's not
flying but he has wings april 2011 mid april
2011 He saw him at dusk, 500 yards from the previous
sighting. The witness saw the creature from the
side and back as it entered the woods. These
multiple reports in a short period fueled speculation
about the creature's presence in Butler County.
Now I gotta say, an overwhelming part of a gargoyle
is that it would never hurt humans and it's protective.
Where do you draw the line on testing that? Yeah.
Because obviously if it's a gargoyle, it's not
going to hurt you. It's going to protect you.
Well, I guess that's how you know whether or
not you're seeing a gargoyle or not is whether
or not it hurts you. But... Because it can't
be a gargoyle if it hurts you. Was anybody hurt
by a mothman? I can't remember now. I don't think
we've covered anywhere. You know, I don't think
we've covered many actual interactions with cryptids
or other creatures or there's an injury. It always
seems to be close, but like nobody's actually
been injured in anything I can think of. Now,
I will say with the mothman... And I'm interested
to see if it comes up here. You get the overwhelming
sense of dread and fear. And I'm guessing this
hasn't come up yet, but there's no mention of
like a sulfur smell. Not as of yet. So I'm interested
to see if those things do come up because maybe
that is what's setting a gargoyle apart from
a Mothman is that sense of fear. I don't know.
But to me, like this could potentially at this
point be the same thing, except I've never heard
with Mothman. and maybe it's just misfiled that
he had a pointed head or upward -looking eyes.
There seems to be a lot more variation in the
head with the gargoyle, almost like, you know,
because their heads can erode or something like
that. You think it's just like... Yeah, due to
water. It's all pointier. Yeah, it's true. After
the flurry of 2011 sightings, reports of the
butler gargoyle became less frequent but continued
to surface. Mid -July 2012 onwards, campers and
others in Butler County reported seeing a similar
large winged creature in the same general areas,
though these sightings lack specific details
as noted in Phantoms and Monsters. June 5, 2017,
a significant report came when a delivery truck
ran off the road about a mile from previous sighting
locations the driver visibly shaken told a witness
that what he saw was not a bear as claimed by
state police but a winged demon from hell rumors
circulated that others had seen similar creatures
around this time though no further details were
confirmed according to phantoms and monsters
now chelsea at this point Is it really safe to
say the gargoyle is non -harmful if like by implication
of what it's done this person has crashed? Is
this kind of like how Batman has like a moral
code where he can't kill people but he can leave
them like completely damaged and destitute and
basically dying by the implications? I want to
say I have a good feeling. I feel like I felt
them out like a little bit. I feel like, no,
they wouldn't do this. I feel like this is probably
Mothman. What if it's a dick? No widely documented
sightings have been reported since 2017, and
searches for encounters in 2025 yield no results,
suggesting the creature has either gone quiet
or remains unreported in recent years. The Butler
Gargoyle legend may have deeper roots in Butler
County's history. Some sources like Paranormal
Strange Wiki suggest its origins trace back to
the early 20th century, with sightings of a creature
lurking in rural areas and atop buildings. These
claims are vague and lack specific dates or witnesses,
making them more folkloric than factual. There
are also references to historical events that
might be connected to the cryptid. The Chicora
meteor explosion, an event in the area possibly
linked to unusual activity, though no direct
evidence ties it to the gargoyle. 1970s sightings
reports of a hair -covered creature north of
Butler County in the 1970s, which could indicate
a broader history of cryptid sightings in the
region. Fairly vague. One questionable sighting
mentioned in the cryptid wiki occurred in Chicora,
where witnesses claimed to see a Mothman -like
creature after leaving a bar, but this report
is often dismissed due to the witness's likely
intoxication, highlighting the controversy around
some accounts. So let's jump right to Reddit
after... I knew Reddit would have some juicy
stories. Oh yeah. User delicious underscore step
underscore 1814. When I was around 19 years old,
there's one occasion when I went up to the rooftop
of my house around 8 p .m. to fix an issue with
the pump device that supplied water to the storage
tank. As I reached the roof and leaned forward,
I looked up and just a few steps away from me,
there is a creature with its back turned to me.
Holy fuck. First of all, based on other stories
I've read or heard, I could compare it to something
people call gargoyle or maybe a mothman. I saw
how the full moonlight reflected off its head,
which seemed to have a texture like black leather.
I could make out point. Do you think they're
wearing a suit? This one might be. But overall,
no, I haven't gotten that feel from gargoyle
sightings so far. Well, they keep saying it's
like leather. What has skin like leather? Like
literally nothing. Cows? We literally make leather
from skin, Chelsea. That's true, but I wouldn't
go up to a live cow and be like, wow, leather.
Well, if it didn't have hair, though, you would
see the skin and it would be thick. What about
a rhino? That's true. Okay, okay. Or like hippos.
I misspoke. Yeah, I misspoke. Which I would say
would be like the most rock -like of mammals,
in fact. True. It does have rock -like skin.
Okay. Black leather skin. I could make out pointy
ears and a pair of protrusions that I assumed
were wings. Okay, so tiny wings, if he's calling
them just a pair of protrusions. Everything happened
so fast. From the moment I climbed onto the roof,
looked up, and saw it. I immediately made a sound
of confusion, huh? Which caused that thing to
instantly turn around. The last thing I remember
was a pair of yellow eyes and a sort of Batman
-like effect, and it raised its wings over my
face. What the? I'm, I hate that. The swings
had to be bigger than just like little nubs on
his back then. And what is a Batman -like effect?
I don't know. Did like music start playing? By,
like, John Williams. And he talked in a real
deep voice. I do know someone who does a good
Batman voice. I was proud of it like that. I'm
certain. I experienced a time lapse because of
feeling the flapping of wings over my face. I
lost my balance backwards, falling off the edge
of the roof. This is for sure Mothman. This is
no way. Yeah, I almost feel like the ones where
there's like passive severe injury to people.
It's Mothman, you are right. Like he seems like
the kind of dick who won't hurt people directly.
Yeah. Yeah, I'm just getting the vibes now. We've
never actually covered that with Mothman, but
knowing how gargoyles are now, I just feel like
that's Mothman. But when I landed, it was like
I had just dropped down hard onto my butt in
a completely different position on the rooftop.
What? I quickly looked around, but I couldn't
see anything. I think it must have been the adrenaline
because I got off the rooftop almost in one jump.
What the fuck is this guy doing? I thought he
fell from the rooftop. I thought he fell, but
I don't think. And now he's jumping off the roof
using the edge for support and ran into the house
feeling extremely disoriented and confused. Was
he Mothman? Was there maybe two levels of roof
that he fell from one roof onto the lower roof?
But I feel like he should have explained that.
It doesn't seem like he did fall. I even started
doubting whether I had really seen anything at
all. But that whole night, I couldn't sleep just
thinking that maybe I had seen something and
that it could come back and visit my house. What
an odd way to put that. So no dread there at
all. But also this person kind of had like a
very verbal huh, right? When he saw the wings.
Yeah. This is a weird guy. This is a weird guy.
Yeah. When I told my mom, all I got were skeptical
expressions. I only told one of my friends and
I haven't shared the story with anyone else since.
Greetings from Mexico. Okay. Next story. Good
for him. I have an experience I would like to
tell you about. I did not know this site existed.
Read it? And I was telling my brothers about
it a few weeks ago at my son's birthday party.
In brackets, they were laughing at me. I live
in... Itasca, Illinois, and two years ago in
August 2020, I went out at about 9 p .m. at night
and was putting something in my car. About 50
to 75 yards away, I saw something land in the
street. It looked like it was crouching, and
it looked the size of a coyote, or maybe bigger,
sitting in an upright position. It was too big
to be an owl, but kind of looked like a bat -owl
-looking creature, like a gargoyle with little
horns on it. his head i was focusing on it for
about a minute and kept asking myself what the
hell is that in a sudden burst with its wings
it kind of hopped up and exploded out of a crouching
stance with a thunderous stroke of its wings
and disappeared into the trees i yelped and stepped
back a bit as i could not believe my eyes it
looked like a five foot black bat animal thing
jumping or flying into the trees i've been reading
about other sightings in the area and my sighting
as what others have seen. I got a good look at
the creepy thing, but I do not believe that it
observed me because I was watching it quietly.
Strickler was able to interview the man via telephone.
Oh, this is from Phantoms and Monsters. Quote,
the witness stated that he was quite surprised
when he noticed the creature, Strickler said.
It was crouched under a fairly bright streetlight
and about 50 yards in front of him in his neighborhood.
This location is approximately two miles west
of O 'Hare International Airport. As he watched,
It was apparent that it had bat -like wings and
that the face was similar to a gargoyle's depiction
with small horns on its head. The coloring was
gray to black. There was no eye color recognized.
The man reportedly went on to tell Strickler
that the creature stood five to six feet in height
and that the body was somewhat emaciated but
defined. Interesting. The arms were attached
to the wide wings that spanned far off the body.
it was definitely a humanoid form strickler said
he used the word explode to describe the sudden
burst of energy when it took flight after just
one flap of the powerful wings the sound of the
wings and ascent burst like thunder it quickly
flew into the trees and disappeared as noted
by strickler the sighting location is approximately
two miles west of o 'hare international airport
which has been the epicenter of recent winged
humanoid sightings in the lake michigan mothman
investigation with over a dozen sighting reports
coming from the airport itself since August of
2019 and many more reported in the surrounding
communities. Reports from the larger investigation
have come from every state bordering Lake Michigan
and date back to 1957. So yeah, that's my episode.
Thoughts? Well, I have one thing, Chelsea, that
I think is its own conspiracy in itself. that
I googled while I searched while you were doing
your episode. How many gargoyles do you think
there are in the Vatican? Oh, good one. I want
to say there are some because it said specifically
on cathedrals or what have you. Hundreds, I'm
going to guess. There are zero. What? Because
it is built in Renaissance and Baroque styles,
not Gothic. And it actually tries to hide most
of the water drainage throughout. Yes. Well,
that's disappointing. So gargoyles are their
own form of architecture. And yeah, it's kind
of crazy that there's none there. But the rest
of all of the Catholic churches, they're everywhere.
Maybe it's because they are within the Catholic
church, running the Catholic church. It could
be. They're inside. But yeah, that's my episode
on gargoyles. Oh, that's awesome. Perhaps there
will be maybe a part two. And I never thought
about comparing Mothman to a gargoyle. But even
like we talked about early on, there was that
one sighting even before these ones that we talked
about where that person described the Mothman
sighting as gargoyle -like. That's true. And
if you don't know Mothman, but you know gargoyles.
That's what you're going to describe it as. Or
maybe a giant bat, which is basically what a
gargoyle is. It's true. I mean, for any paranormal
thing encounter that you're going to have, you're
going to use whatever or anything in life. You're
going to use whatever, you know. You're going
to use your experience to describe it because
that's the only thing you can derive it from.
Exactly. And they do have a lot of things in
common, which is why I felt like, especially
after the Hubei flying entity, that we look into
these because obviously there's more than just
the Mothman. There's a lot going on. Oh yeah,
and this is its own sub -episode category I think
we can continue on with because there's a ton
of very similar creatures like this throughout
the world. Yeah. So I thank you, Chelsea, for
taking us down this rabbit hole. I'm loving it.
I'm excited for the next one. And with that,
I have been Taylor, here with Chelsea. We are
Journey to the Fringe. Thank you all for listening
and we'll see you next week. Bye. Thank you for
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