The ObscUrban Legend Wiki is home to a lot of stories (you needn’t look further than how many times I’ve mentioned it this month), and it’s where I found today’s story. However, swear that I’ve seen it before; it was likely on a scary video compilation on YouTube. I just can’t pin down which channel included it. Oh well, no use in trying to remember something that isn’t important. Sit around the campfire, dear reader. This is the story of the Campfire Creature… or the Louisiana Swamp Monster… or the Arizona Camp Monster… I’ll explain in a bit.
The Story (Simplified)
Today’s story is a lot like the Enfield Horror. No, not because the creature has three legs, but rather because the coherency of the story is extremely bad. There are three variations of it, and all three deviate in wildly separate directions. Because of that, I’m dividing this write-up into four sections: three are dedicated to each of the variations, while this one is simply dedicated to the most basic version of things (which is more or less the first of the three variants).
As stated in the intro, I found this story on the ObscUrban Legend Wiki—or was at least reminded of it when I went there. There’s an article there about something called the “Campfire Creature”, and it’s exactly what you’d expect. A group of campers were out camping near a large campfire when the one filming caught something nearby crawling—or hopping. Take a look at the video; it was uploaded to a YouTube channel named NGBfilms on January 30, 2009.
For those who either can’t understand them in the video though—whether it be due to an accent, hearing problem[s], or because they simply don’t want to watch it—I’ve done my best to transcribe it. I’m only doing this because the video’s really short and I felt like doing it; don’t question me.
Camper 1: This stick’s getting pretty damn sharp.
Camper 2: Aw f—k, the smoke’s in my face!
Camper 3: Well, you’ve been sharpening it for like two hours.
Camper 1: No…
Creature in the background: Sneed.
Camper 3: You hear something?
Camper 2: The dog?
Camper 1: Probably Shiloh.
Camper 3: Here, I’m going to take pictures now.
The origin of this video is completely unknown; no one knows where it was filmed or who filmed it. Because of that, one can only speculate about virtually everything. There are theories about it—a great deal of theories in fact. However, because of the numerous variations to the story, a lot of it is muddled unless you focus only on the image (which serves at the header). Unfortunately for us, much like the infamous Trail Cam Photo, that has tied the image to other stories (which is why this story is being divided). So, without further ado, let’s start off with what’s more or less the “main” story.
The Story (From The Video)
Now then: picking up where we left off above: the origin of this video is shrouded in mystery. What can be concluded from it is that the campers are speaking English and don’t appear to have any accent (at least from my perspective; I’m certain that to many others, they do). I’m going to hazard a guess and say it was filmed in the United States, but I could be completely wrong about that. Besides that, the name “Shiloh” is a Hebrew name, but given that’s likely the dog’s name, I doubt it’s anything noteworthy and won’t help us to narrow down where the video was shot.
So what does that leave us with? Well, we can talk about the creature in the video, which is certainly interesting. For the brief period it’s seen, it’s clearly naked, pale, has very long limbs, is skinny as heck, and is remarkably agile. In short, it’s the perfect example of a Pale Crawler. It also moves in a very bizarre manner; its back looks to be arched upward, like if someone were stretching before doing yoga or working out. That could just be me, but it looks very odd.
With that said, one other thing that’s worth noting is the creature looks like it’s hopping a bit. If you look closely, the manner in which it’s moving is akin to that of a deer or horse prancing around, albeit in a more controlled manner (likely due to it being a forest and all). Again, this could just be me, but I thought I would make note of it anyways.
Now that we’ve talked about the creature itself (or what little there is to talk about given the video itself is a meager fifteen-seconds-long before it loops and zooms in on the creature), I want to move onto the origin of the video. That’s something that, as I said at the start, has never been determined. If I were to guess based on the video quality, I would assume this footage was shot in the 1980s when three friends were camping before going to a Journey concert. That doesn’t appear to be the case though as nobody has hair that requires three cans of hairspray. If we’re to go by the other two variants of this story, one of them takes place in the 2010s and the other in the 1990s.
That range in years is ridiculous and really doesn’t help us narrow anything down. Not only are we talking about an entire generational gap, we’re also talking about an enormous stretch in technology; there’s no reason that someone filming their friends camping in 2010 should have camera quality this bad. Then again, every single piece of evidence tied to the realm of the paranormal/supernatural/cryptozoological/ufological looks like trash. ‘Tis the law of the land after all.
With that said, one intrepid commenter on the video had a bit of interesting evidence to put forward about when this video first surfaced. Seven years ago, user by the name of “WackadoodL” posted a comment stating that the video had “come out” in 2007 from “another person”. They also stated that they had looked at the video “for hours” and concluded that it wasn’t fake, and that “2007 computers” weren’t capable of creating an image like the one of the creature in the video.
I’m going to take a moment to say here that this is all total nonsense; computers were more than capable of producing some incredibly great images back in 2007—and before that. Michael Bay’s first Transformers film came out in 2007, and the CGI in that film is still outstanding. Jurassic Park was released in 1993 and still has phenomenal CGI work. James Cameron’s Avatar came out two years after this (or the same year as it was uploaded should the 2007 posting date be incorrect) and that’s still considered one of the greatest looking films ever made.
If WackadoodL meant CGI on a small-scale, I still disagree. The first Paranormal Activity film came out in 2007 and that managed to handle CGI well, and that only had a budget of $15,000 ($215,000 if you count post production). So I don’t know where they’re getting at this with “2007 computers did not have the technology to create this kind of image”. They most certainly did—and they had it over a decade before that too.
Now that my little rant is done, WackadoodL goes on to list off some reasons that they believe that the video is a hoax; they state that the way it moves isn’t like that of a human or animal; and that it’s “too short and skinny” to be a human or dog. They also state that it isn’t consistent with 2D animation because “the creature comes from behind the tree”. However, WackadoodL does concede that the sound that gets the attention of the person filming was faked (though to add my own two cents in for a moment, it’s possible this was added in afterwards for spook factor; more on this in the theories section).
The only other thing of note is something that the ObscUrban Legend Wiki states, which is that the YouTube channel Bedtime Stories showcased the clip in one of his videos. I’m not sure which one it was (the wiki doesn’t give a link), but it does state that he believed it to be a hoax. In spite of that, he still posited that it was a Wendigo. Seems contradictory, but without context, a lot of things can come across as contradictory.
With that though, the story more or less comes to an end. It’s really short and honestly, in a lot of ways, I could’ve easily slotted this into the Pale Crawler write-up as an example of supposed proof that they exist. However, I didn’t, because the footage appears on various wikis I use, and it seemed big enough that it warranted its own write-up. Though whatever, that’s beside the point. What is the point is that we still have two other stories to go over, so let’s get to ‘em!
The Story (From Louisiana)
If I’d been going solely by the ObscUrban Legend Wiki, I would’ve assumed that this story was absolutely nothing more than just some video that was found on YouTube. There are plenty of those and the vast majority can be chalked up to hoaxes designed to simply scare people for entertainment purposes. However, when I started going through various other wikis that had the image which serves as this write-up’s header, I found myself going down a rabbit hole similar to that of the Enfield Horror. Only this time, the rabbit hole couldn’t even stay on one track.
If you were to go to the Cryptidz Wiki, you would find that the video is featured in an article for something called the “New Louisiana Swamp Monster”. I’m not really sure what “New Louisiana” is, so if anyone from Louisiana can tell me, I’d appreciate it. With that said though, let’s get onto the story.
The article itself surprisingly doesn’t have anything to really do with the video. While it’s featured, the actual content is a lot closer to that of the Trail Cam Photo. Down in Berwick, Louisiana (which is roughly 90 minutes from New Orleans), a deer hunter was looking through his trail camera images when he found that he’d captured a photo of a strange humanoid running (said image is the aforementioned Trail Cam Photo). After realizing that he had proof of something that would change what we know about zoology forever, he apparently went to the media.
The rest isn’t exactly remarkable. The image got a bit of media attention and perplexed folks, who weren’t sure if it was a hoax or the real deal. In the Enfield Horror write-up, I stated that it was a promotional image for Insomniac’s video game Resistance 3. However, someone on the subreddit Crawler Sightings posted a question asking whether or not the image had been debunked. A user by the name of “AmbitionOfPhilipJFry” responded to someone saying it was viral marketing with a post from a blog named “Byjov”. In it, the writer goes over how the image was created by using a creature from a video game; the actual image I think being of a deer. That would debunk my claim that it was from Insomniac, but things don’t end there.
On April 19, 2021, a YouTuber named Missy Sterling uploaded a video entitled The “Rake” Trail Cam Photo Was NOT Debunked - How The Internet Got It Wrong. In it, she goes over how the image was, well, not debunked and how the debunkers got it all wrong. I admittedly haven’t watched it, but a fair number of people in the Reddit thread kept mentioning the video. Meanwhile, folks in the video’s comments section talk about their own experiences, while a few people even mention how they too have seen creatures like the one in the Trail Cam Photo. For example, one guy claims he saw two of these creatures in eastern Tennessee. It’s not every day that you hear a story which involves more than one Pale Crawler, so that’s rather fascinating.
The Cryptidz Wiki article has its own conclusion on what the image’s origin is, which is for the J.J. Abrams film Super 8, which was released in 2011. That film was about some alien escaping from a train and then a lot of Steven Spielberg whimsicalness occurs (I think, I never saw it, though Spielberg did produce the film). Critics liked it, audiences liked it, and I recall acquaintances of mine liking it. Presumably, the creature in the photo liked it too.
A few websites, like io9 (which is now gizmodo) state that the image was likely used in Super 8’s viral marketing (a viral marketing campaign that could rival Cloverfield, which was produced by Abrams). However, as far as I know, this claim originates from an “anonymous source” who was “close with the production”. Nobody related to Super 8’s marketing or production has ever come forward to confirm or deny this, but as far as I can tell, this theory that the Trail Cam Photo was tied in any way to Super 8 has largely been ignored.
Anyways, let’s move on from this (I’d rather save my rambling about this photo for the future when I finally decide to do a full-fledged write-up on it). That is, by and large, the story of the supposed New Louisiana Swamp Monster. It’s really short and more or less solely revolves around the Trail Cam Photo. The Campfire Creature is more or less only here in name only; the video is inexplicably tied to it for reasons I can’t name.
However, before we move on, I want to make note of one thing that caught my attention when trying to find more information on this supposed swamp critter. In the article for this story, there are two images in the gallery section. One of the Trail Cam Photo, the other is of a disheveled humanoid looking into a camera; said image is also featured in a post on a blog named paranormal headquarters. Take a look.
I think a lot of people who spent time on YouTube in the mid-2000’s and early 2010’s may recognize the picture; it has nothing to do with The Rake, Pale Crawlers, or anything of that sort. It’s a still image from a video entitled "THE FALLEN ANGEL" -Real Angel caught on video ., and was posted to YouTube on December 13, 2007, by a user named samthedevil007. Here, watch it, it’s only a minute long.
The image from the gallery and the aforementioned blog is simply flipped, but it’s the same one. I’d recognize it anywhere; it always spooked me as a kid. Though as far as I know, it was a hoax. Sorry, no fallen angels for us to discuss today. Maybe in the future though.
Now on one final note, I want to take a moment to admire the sheer early YouTube era description for the video.
FOR THOSE WHO CONFUSE IT TO BE AN ANGEL
THE FALLEN ANGEL REFERS TO THE DEVIL.. IT IS SAID THE DEVIL WAS ONCE AN ANGEL WHO WAS KICKED OUTTA HEVEN FOR TRYING TO TAKEOVER GODS THRONE !
SO PLZ DONT CONFUSE IT WITH AN ANGEL !
"FALLEN ANGEL " IS A TERM THAT CAN BE USED TO REFER ANYTHING DEVILISH OR THE DEVIL HIMSELF :)
plzz read full!!!
WELL.. WATCH THIS KEWL VIDEO OF A REAL ANGEL .. ITS A REAL ANGEL PEPLE.. OR JUS A GUY ! :p .. U DECIDE
Gotta love how great descriptions were back then before they became a way to promote your various sponsor links, Patreon, social media profiles, Discord server, contact info, and whatever else YouTubers leave in the description for business purposes. Now then, onto the third and final story!
The Story (From Arizona)
I’m not going to lie, I have a really hard time figuring out how to start off this story because it’s extremely oddly presented. I guess I should start off with where I found it: the It's Something Wiki. When I did a reverse image search for the header image, I found that that wiki had a page dedicated to the Campfire Creature. I was actually quite happy since I’d hoped to find more information there. To a degree, I did. However, the page contains information on not one, not two, but three separate stories.
For starters, in the first paragraph, the writer[s] state that this creature is referred to as the “Campfire Creature”, “Camp Fire Creature” (no idea why there’s a separate cryptid known by that name, but okay), and the Louisiana Swamp Monster. The mentioning of this creature as the Louisiana Swamp Monster is one of the reasons I included the previous story in this write-up; it’s the one and only time that the two are mentioned side-by-side. However, in spite of the two being mentioned side-by-side, the article doesn’t indicate in any capacity that they’re the same creature.
Anyways, after the introduction, the article goes on to briefly tell us what both cryptids are; as we know by now, the Campfire Creature is the creature seen in the header image and in the YouTube video and the Louisiana Swamp Monster is the crack-addicted monster that lives in my closet and thinks it can sing Christmas carols. The only major difference is the article states that the two creatures are similar, and the writer posits it may be a Skinwalker (also known as a Fleshgait).
After this, we get to the new stuff. Yes, just like a recap on your favorite television program at the start of a new season after a long hiatus, we can get into the fun stuff. This article has a section entitled “sighting”, which is normal for a wiki like this. However, this sighting has absolutely nothing to do with the Campfire Creature itself. No, it’s a totally separate sighting that a husband and wife had near Flagstaff, Arizona (which is two hours from Phoenix and about three-and-a-half hours from Tucson) in May of 1994. You can find the actual sighting, along with more, on a website called ufoinfo.com, it’s at #43, and it—along with numerous other reports—were collected by a man named Albert Rosales (the web page I linked has a total of 147 listed). I’ve talked about him before; he wrote a series of books about “humanoid sightings”; I bought the collection earlier this year and want to pick some of the stories out to cover on this blog when I get the chance.
With that said though, let’s talk about the story that’s mentioned on the wiki. To its credit, it does at least involve camping and not a trail camera this time. You see, a couple (whose names aren’t mentioned) were out camping in an “isolated pine forest”. I tried to find where this might be (since “near Flagstaff” isn’t exactly helpful), and I found that Coconino National Forest is 39 minutes from Flagstaff. So I’m guessing that might be it, but I can’t verify this. Anyways, that night, the couple built a campfire, but it strangely kept dying. On top of this, the woman had an unexplainable feeling of fear. That isn’t me just saying that by the way, the actual report outright says:
During the very chilly night they built a campfire. But for some unknown reason the fire kept failing. The woman felt uneasy and scared for no apparent reason.
Gee, I don’t know why you’d feel scared in a dark, isolated forest without any light or warmth. Seems like a real conundrum to me.
Whatever, that’s beside the point. Unable to get a fire going, the duo decided that it wasn’t worth the risk of freezing to death out in the middle of a pine forest where wild animals would just feast upon their corpses—and where they’d most likely never be found. However, things didn’t quite go as planned inside the car. Not long after they got comfy inside of it, the woman saw something in the sky. No, it wasn’t a sky full of stars (though I’m sure there were some up there), but rather a really bright object. It was supposedly “star-like”, but I don’t really know how to visualize that since stars usually appear as dots of light (barring the Sun, which makes me see weird black spots after I stare into it for too long). This strange object was reportedly over the tree line, and it was moving around in all directions.
To my utter surprise, this event didn’t make either of them want to get the heck out of dodge. No, instead, the woman (and I’m guessing her husband, it isn’t explicitly stated) simply watched for a staggering twenty minutes. No, that isn’t me making things up—that’s actually stated in the report. Seriously, look for yourself!
After about 20 minutes they looked to the west and saw five more similar lights above the tree line.
I dunno about you, but if I saw some random orb of light moving around, I would be like, “haha, good prank bro, gotta go!” Then I’d hightail it outta there and never look back. Anyways, as stated above, five more orbs appeared and supposedly started to “dance”. Usually, with stories like this, “dancing” more or less means rapidly moving around in some sort of synchronized movement, or just moving around frantically with no real pattern. If you ever want to visualize it for yourself in real life: take one a laser pointer and move it around on your wall or floor; just make sure your cat isn’t nearby, you may tick it off.
My pointers about treating your potential pet cat aside, the couple watched as the first light they’d seen floated downward and vanished behind the tree line. Some unknown amount of time after this, a multi-colored craft appeared from the northwest. It moved at an astonishing speed and vanished as quickly as it arrived. In response to this, both husband and wife began to pray. Whether by coincidence or by divine intervention, the lights disappeared. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story—far from it in fact.
You see, after the lights went bye-bye, an “oblong bright-white light” flooded the forest’s floor. I won’t lie, I had no idea what “oblong” meant until I read this story as I don’t recall ever hearing it while I was in school, but it’s apparently a rather archaic word that was used during the 1800s but is still used in mathematics and other fields akin to that. According to both Google and Bing’s dictionary definitions, as a noun, oblong means “an object or flat figure in an elongated rectangle or oval shape”. Meanwhile, as an adjective, oblong means “having an elongated shape, as a rectangle or an oval”.
I know I likely look like a buffoon for not knowing what oblong means, but I genuinely had no idea, and I really don’t know whether or not you know what it means, so there you go. Perhaps you and I both learned something new by reading about this story. Anyways, with that said, an oddly specifically shaped light lit the forest up like a California wildfire. As any God-fearing American would do when confronted with something mysterious, the couple grabbed some guns (in this case: a shotgun and pistol, not sure who had what gun) and proceeded to go outside, taking cover in their tent.
While in the confines of said tent, the two could hear what sounded like someone like people walking outside. Yes, people. According to Albert, both husband and wife stated that it sounded like there were six to ten people outside, wandering around everywhere. Periodically, one of them would come over to the tent and either “tap” or “prod” it. Interestingly, neither of them saw any sort of outline of the entities outside (though I’m guessing that the mysterious light by this point had disappeared), nor did they see what the finger that touched the tent looked like. This is probably me overestimating how much they could see in the darkness, but it’s a bit disappointing.
All of this went on for an hour—or at least I’m guessing it was estimated to have been an hour. Then, out of nowhere, a strange sound filled the air (or, according to Albert, “came over the tent”). With that sound came something else—something that honestly sounds like flowery prose I’d read in a book written by an author who wanted to sound fancy. As Albert puts it:
[T]he ground under the tent floor moved like waves of energy.
I mean no disrespect to Albert as I’m almost certain I’m not smart enough to really understand what he’s trying to convey here, but this had me tilting my head trying to really envision what was happening. The only thing that comes to mind is pebbles, dirt, and/or objects in the tent vibrating/moving as something shakes it. However, the idea of “waves of energy” makes me think of something you would pick up on a seismograph (which, yes, would also cause things to move), but it just strikes me as sounding fancy for the sake of sounding fancy. I dunno, maybe I’m just too simplistic with how I like my writing/wording; if it can be put into simple words that don’t cause needless repetition, just do it that way.
My needless ranting and criticism of someone who’s far more successful and no doubt smarter than me aside, the sound and “waves of energy” still had more company enroute. As those two were doing their thing, a mysterious light arrived; the wife having noticed it through the screened roof of the tent. This light came in the form of an orb, which was white-blue in color. As pleasant of a color as it sounds, the result it brought with its presence was anything but positive. It produced a big old beam—white in coloration—that shined through the tent. Whether because of that, or a byproduct of another beam that was outside, I don’t know, but it was at this moment that both husband and wife could hear more sound outside.
A whole dang lot more sound.
According to Albert, the duo stated that it sounded like there were 30 to 40 people/entities outside now. Never could I imagine that I would one day encounter a story where a group of cryptids or aliens decided to hold a party out in the middle of the woods. This is truly a day worthy of celebration; let us all go out to the forest and party like it’s 1999. Let Y2K commence, baby!
Anyways, now that the party is over and we’ve all picked up our garbage (because littering is cringe), let us continue. New sounds were heard after the arrival of the new party goers. These included “whipping wind” (which I’m guessing is what you’d call that sound when you swing something really fast) and a “yipping barking noise”. Not to digress once more, but in my time hearing about things like Pale Crawlers, Wendigos, and Fleshgaits, I can’t remember any time where anyone hasn't said they’ve produced a “yipping barking noise”. In fact, I’m not sure of any cryptid that’s produced such a sound. I’ve heard of high-pitched giggling, but never something that I’m guessing sounds like a small dog barking. In all honesty, that description unsettles me a bit.
At some point during all of this chaos, an “orange-white-blue” light appeared right near the tent at the forest’s floor. Evidently, the New York Mets had arrived to join the party. The light increased in size over time, then it vanished; nothing ever came of this. It simply appeared and then disappeared. It’s just like the Mets in the yearly baseball season!
Eventually, night turned to day. At some point during that time frame, the creatures all left; it isn’t specified when, but I’d hazard a guess and say they all departed one-after-another. Whatever the case was, the couple found quite a bit outside the tent. Scattered all around their campsite, they found handprints, footprints, and hoofprints. In the case of the handprints, they were “on the dust of the car”. They appeared skeletal and were both long, thin and had four fingers. The footprints, meanwhile, were in the dirt itself, and had three toes. The hoofprints were toed and cloven.
Unlike every other time that something unusual, unsettling, or just downright terrifying happened, the couple didn’t opt to stick around and see what would happen. Instead, they left. Nothing followed them, nor did they experience anything else strange. However, they did tell “their families”. Not exactly sure if they told their respective families independently or together, but it doesn’t matter. Both the husband and wife were told that they were “possessed”. I didn’t know that possessions just end after a night of terror; I figured they lasted until they were exorcised, or the possessor kills its host.
Oh well, that’s where the story itself ends. Back on the It’s Something Wiki, the only remaining section is the appearance; it’s nothing we’ve not talked about before, barring a few details that I feel are better to mention when we discuss the theories. After this, and just below the section, you can find the video that features the Campfire Creature.
So with that, this version of events comes to an end. You can poke a considerable number of holes into why this story has nothing to do with the video this write-up is centered around, though it is nonetheless a rather creepy and weird story. I don’t know what exactly happened to this couple (if it did happen at all anyways). If it really did happen, then it only further reinforces my desire not to go camping ever!
Anyways, with all of this said and done, it’s time to move onward; let’s go!
The Story (From Vertigo’s Bedroom)
I’ve got pancakes as I write this section. Yummy!
Theories
1. It was a Pale Crawler
For this theories section, we’ll be solely focusing on the main story; the one featuring the video that is. I’m sure you knew that, but I wanna just specify because… reasons. Anyways, the first theory—and most obvious when a story involves a pale, thin, humanoid entity is that it was a Pale Crawler. They need no introduction since I already mentioned all there really is to them just now.
I really don’t know how to expand upon this theory because—aside from having talked about them two days ago (thereby making almost everything I’ll say redundant)—the video itself doesn’t give us a good enough look to really argue in or against the theory’s favor. All we see is something strange walking, crawling, or hopping that looks pale, thin, and humanoid. Though I guess I can try to make a few arguments on my own, so this theory isn’t just two paragraphs.
For starters: forests are one of the most common places to (supposedly) find Pale Crawlers—if not the most common. Why this is, I really don’t know, but forests are strange places where many odd things supposedly happen. As such, this would be prime real estate for The Rake’s real-life counterpart.
Second of all, the creature does move remarkably swiftly and easily on all-fours, in spite of forests not being ideal places for humans to perform quadruped parkour. While I’m sure there are outdoorsmen who can do that very easily, I would say that almost 99% of people aren’t able to move like this creature did.
Third, and perhaps the most obvious: the appearance of the entity very clearly resembles that of a Pale Crawler. Yes, there are other explanations for said appearance (we will get into that), but at face value: the appearance is extremely similar. Sure, it isn’t perfect (Pale Crawlers can supposedly get very tall and gauging this figure’s height would be extremely difficult).
With that said, there are some things that go against this theory. The first is that the creature didn’t emit any sort of odor; Pale Crawlers are usually said to have a distinct smell to them. Whether you believe the 4chan stories of them reeking of “blood and copper” or generally just smelling awful because they’re a humanoid that’s lived in the forest its entire life (meaning it likely hasn’t ever bathed, unless it somehow got a bar of Dove soap from someone’s campsite) is entirely on you. Either way, one would likely be able to smell something like this if it was as close as this thing was.
The second is that most Pale Crawlers don’t just come and go. Like any wild creature, they tend to be curious as to why there are strangers in what they consider their home. Whether you believe Pale Crawlers to be benevolent, malevolent, or some sort of neutral entity is once again up to you, but it’s not really normal for a creature to just waltz on by. It’s possible it was afraid of the fire, but one would still think it would observe from nearby or afar, and it would eventually try to ward off the intruders with a screech (which Pale Crawlers are known to make).
Third and most importantly, the dog in the video didn’t appear to notice the creature. Animals tend to know when another animal is near, and if a dog was with them, it surely would’ve been able to smell (or at least be aware of) the Pale Crawler. The fact it didn’t is really strange, and we’ll get into this in later theories.
Of course, my arguments here will likely not deter or convince people who already disregard or subscribe to this theory. Though for any fence sitters, I invite you to decide if you believe that this theory is at all plausible (or not). Though don’t put all of your money on this one; we’ve got a lot to go.
2. It was a Fleshgait
The notorious shapeshifting monsters of the forest, Fleshgaits are what I consider the sadistic, demonic counterparts to Pale Crawlers (and that’s saying something given Pale Crawlers are said to rip animals apart and eat their insides). The only real difference is that Fleshgaits are said to have supernatural powers, such as being able to alter one’s perception of reality, making them dizzy, and other weird powers. That difference aside, a lot of what I said above can be applied here, so I will make quick work of those details.
Appearance wise, Fleshgaits resemble Pale Crawlers—almost uncannily so. They’re said to be tall, flesh-colored or pale, very thin, and emit high-pitched screams/shrieks. They also reside in the same places Pale Crawlers can be found. They’re said to be very fast, and their appearance is similar to the creature in the video (tall, lanky, flesh-colored, you get the idea).
Another major similarity is that Fleshgaits are said to smell unbelievably badly. This isn’t all that surprising when you consider they’re said to be shapeshifters, and they can only shapeshift after mutilating and devouring their prey in a messy display of unholy goriness. Some have gone so far as to say that Fleshgaits smell like a decomposing corpse (which if memory serves me well, most say is the worst smell on the planet). This raises the question, once again, as to why nobody was able to notice this thing was nearby.
Much like their pale, crawling counterparts: Fleshgaits are also said to not just “come and go”. Rather, on the contrary, they’re said to at least try to mimic the voice of someone they hear or see to lure that person’s companions away so they can kill their target so they can get close to the others for whatever purpose they have (be it curiosity or to feed on the others). Some say that Fleshgaits can simply shapeshift into anyone they see, so if we’re to believe that version of the legend/lore, then this thing likely would’ve at least looked more human and less like… whatever you want to call it.
Yet another similarity—and one that will be brought plenty of times in the theories section—is how in the world the dog didn’t notice this thing was near. This is extremely odd since nearly every story involving a Fleshgait that includes a dog has man’s best friend going ballistic when one is near; it’s to the point that some outright bolt after the creature and usually end up dead. So the fact the dog wasn’t at least barking its head off is certainly odd. Granted, sometimes, the Fleshgait makes the dog terrified, but that still raises the question as to why the dog wouldn’t be whimpering.
So what else is there to add? Well, really, there’s only one thing: the creature didn’t act like a Fleshgait. As stated before: they tend to try and separate people so they can attack. Whether it’s fear of being outnumbered or simply the thrill of instilling fear, I don’t know, but Fleshgaits almost always aim to pick groups of people one-by-one. Even if it wasn’t aiming to feed upon the campers and instead wanted the intruders to get lost, I’m skeptical of it getting so close without at least trying to intimidate them by screaming (and as far as I can tell, none of the campers looked or sounded scared).
Maybe my Fleshgait lore is rusty though. I dunno, but I’ll leave this theory up to you to decide on. For now, let’s move onward, since we’ve still got a lot of theories left to cover.
3. It was a Wendigo
A favorite of 4chan, Reddit, YouTube, and creepy story lovers ever, the Wendigo is a creature from Algonquian legend. It’s said to turn even the greatest, wisest, most lawful men evil. This can include driving them to commit murder and acts of cannibalism. Truly, the Wendigo is a force to be feared, and one must always aim to ward them off at all costs.
The legend itself is a lot more complicated than I can really do justice; I’m not well-read when it comes to Native American stories. So with that in mind, what I know primarily comes from the “mainstream” version of it; the one that I’ve heard in those spooky greentext stories from 4chan, the posts on Reddit, and the stories read by “storytime” YouTubers like Let’s Read, Darkness Prevails, and Corpse Husband. So if anyone knows the actual legend of the Wendigo in detail, I’d really appreciate it if you left a comment. For now, let’s get on with this.
The Wendigo is said to be a disgustingly thin and horrifically tall creature that has a skull on top of its head (though some say the skull is their head), they have fur around their necks, and also sport large deer antlers too. Its arms reach down to its legs, and in some cases: you can see its skin wrap around its ribs. Like Pale Crawlers and Fleshgaits, the Wendigo is said to emit absurdly shrill screeches that can pierce the hearts of even the strongest men. Some also say they can be pale or grey in coloration.
These beasts are also said to be exceedingly violent; far more violent than Fleshgaits. This isn’t really shocking given the Wendigo is more or less born of violence and hatred; it’s a demon. They attack without being provoked, they slaughter animals for fun, and they’re by no means afraid to slaughter humans apparently. To kill one requires a very specific ritual that ‘ll copy and paste from my write-up I did on the creature last year:
[Y]ou must pierce its heart with something made of pure silver. In order to permanently end its life however, you must chop up the body with blades made of, once more, pure silver. After that, you must burn the pieces and then scatter the ashes. This will prevent the Wendigo from presumably coming back as a spirit and will rid the world of one of the most evil, vicious entities it has ever known.
With everything I just described, I think it’s safe to say that the creature isn’t a Wendigo. For starters, the creature in the video doesn’t even look like what I described just now. Second of all… I mean, the appearance part really just says it all. Still, some variants to the Wendigo story have them resembling Fleshgaits, so I guess if you subscribe to that version, it could be it. Though I’d rather not sit here going over the variations of stories until the end of time, so let’s move on.
4. It was an alien
There’s a weird fascination that Pale Crawlers, Goatmen, Fleshgaits, and all those other humanoid horrors of the forests and deserts are aliens. I’ll try my best to cover them next year (be it during the main year or for Decemystery 2022; no promises though), but for now: just know that that is the main idea here.
Honestly, I can’t really present any solid proof to back this idea up. It was listed in the ObscUrban Legend Wiki’s theories section for the Campfire Creature, but given that that section is usually devoid of any links or citations, all I can really go off of is what I know of the aforementioned theory that those creatures are aliens (which is why I don’t want to try expand upon it; all I really know is that they’re supposedly aliens—and that sometimes, they appear after a rash of UFO sightings).
Whatever, the main idea is that the creatures are here to study us; I mentioned it in the Pale Crawler write-up two days ago. Presumably, the creature in the video was simply observing us for its overlords/masters/employees/whatever. Exactly why it didn’t stick around to watch more, or try to stay further out of sight, I don’t know. Whatever you choose to believe is entirely on you (as per the norm), though I can’t imagine anyone was happy when they went onto YouTube to watch funny videos, only to find out their little minion was caught on camera.
On one final note, and to break my rule of solely focusing on the actual Campfire Creature, I will say that this theory is the most likely explanation for the Arizona story (assuming it wasn’t completely made-up).
5. It was a drunk man
This theory is… really, really odd. I’ve only been truly drunk once; by which I mean I had trouble walking. I remember trying to go from my bedroom to the bathroom and I had to hug the wall a bit. It wasn’t exactly fun, but the rum and coke I had earlier was pretty good.
Anyways, enough about my drinking life. My point is: when you’re drunk, it can be hard to walk. When you’re really drunk, you can do some pretty wild stuff, and you can have a great deal of difficulty walking. Granted, that doesn’t go for everyone out there; some people can handle alcohol far better than others. So logic dictates that the idea that the figure in the video was in fact a drunk guy, perhaps from another camp, just doing something because he was tanked.
However, there are a few flaws with the theory. First of all, had it actually been a drunk person, common sense dictates the person would’ve made far more noise than he did. As far as we can see, there’s simply the sound of a twig or branch snapping (which was almost certainly added in after the video was shot—perhaps to boost up the noise that was heard by the campers so the viewer could hear what they heard). Given that drunk people aren’t exactly known to be the quietest people around, I don’t think this guy was just running on by on his own without at least going, “YAHOOOOOOO!” or “WOOOOOO!” like an opening night audience at the latest Avengers film.
At the same time, I must concede that there’s no law or rule which dictates a drunk guy has to be obnoxious, so you can either choose to agree, disagree, or agree to disagree with the above paragraph. That said, there’s the manner of how fast the figure was moving. This is probably the thing that goes against this theory the most. Generally, it’s very hard to move when drunk; I said that above. While yes, some people can handle being drunk far better than others, the more intoxicated you are, the harder it is to move at any meaningful speed. The figure was moving extremely fast and without any inhibition. I sincerely doubt that anyone, even the most “experienced” of alcohol drinkers, could move like this figure did, especially in a forest. At the very least, it would’ve stumbled or stopped for a second or two to collect itself before moving again.
Still, that’s mostly going off of what I have to say. It is perfectly possible that the person was drunk and got lost/went off to be a goofball. However, there are two things that demand an explanation—and they aren’t exactly easy to dismiss.
The first is that the figure in the video appears to lack any sort of genitalia. This is very easy to explain away with the first four theories; Pale Crawlers, Fleshgaits, and Wendigos aren’t said to have sexual organs. I’ve never heard of a story where any of the three have any; none appear to even have features related to either sex. This makes sense for the Wendigo since it’s said to be a demonic entity. Granted, there is a version of the story which presents it (the Wendigo that is) as more of a virus which “infects” those it possesses, but I’m not focusing on that version; I’m focusing on the Wendigo as a physical entity (which, as far as I can tell, has no discernable sex, gender, or anything of that nature).
In the case of Pale Crawlers and Fleshgaits, that whole aspect honestly just raises one major question: how they reproduce—should they be real. It’s possible they’re like snakes and their genitals retract into their bodies. However, I don’t want to discuss such speculative facts because God knows that I’m not an anatomical expert. I can barely figure out how my own body works since I flunked biology, so let’s move on.
The point I’m trying to get across is: the figure in the video doesn’t appear to have any genitalia. I’m well aware of how touchy the topic of gender and sex is nowadays; it’s a minefield and I know that I can very easily hurt someone. With that said, this is extremely important because this was clearly decades ago and the concept of being openly transgender, nonbinary, gender fluid, and/or simply non-gender conforming was openly embraced. While transgenders and crossdressers have existed for far, far longer than just the past few years, they were significantly more likely to remain in the closet and not draw attention to themselves.
This makes the lack of any discernible features on the figure all the more perplexing. Should the individual have been male, you would’ve at least been able to see that it had a penis. Should the individual have been female, you would’ve been able to see the breasts (and they would’ve been far more prominent than a penis).
Now granted, if the person had had sexual reassignment surgery, it’s possible that they were male-to-female—or female-to-male. This can explain the lack of a penis or breasts, though one would imagine that having such an operation would have resulted in the desired genitals being given after the removal of the biological ones. However, it’s entirely possible (and extremely likely) that the reason this isn’t determinable is because the video quality is horrendous.
Whatever the case may be, the lack of being able to see any genitalia isn’t the only problem with this theory. There’s one other problem and I would say that it’s arguably far more demanding of an answer. That problem is the figure’s overall body structure. If you even so much as watch the video, you may notice that the figure doesn’t exactly look… right. As I stated way earlier, I mentioned how the figure appears to have its back arched upward—akin to how one would stretch before doing something (like yoga—as I mentioned earlier). However, even that is normal compared to the rest of it.
The creature’s arms (if they are arms) look to be extremely long, its legs (or hind legs, should the forelimbs be legs too) are abnormally structured. They’re equally long, and there’s a point where the forelimbs connect with the hindlimbs. While that isn’t exactly special, the manner in which they do looks peculiar to me. However, there are very flexible people out there, so I’m not gonna be too judgmental.
Besides the abnormal length of the entity, the coloration is also off. It looks pale—almost greyish. It also appears to lack any hair—and I mean any. Nowhere does it appear to have hair; its head, arms, legs, nothing. You can pass this off as a person who’s been waxed or shaved, but it’s still unusual how there’s no discernible hair anywhere.
Still, the overall build and physique of the figure isn’t exactly human. It more fits that of a Pale Crawler or Fleshgait, but we’ve already gone over the flaws in those theories, so is there anything to save us from having me repeat why that’s unlikely? Well, yeah, there actually is. It’s entirely possible that the person had something called Marfan syndrome
For those who don’t know what that is: it’s an extremely—and I mean extremely—rare genetic disorder that causes someone to have abnormally long arms, legs, and can make them extremely thin. Some may be familiar with it if they know of an actor by the name of Javier Botet. Marfan Syndrome is what made him famous and has allowed him to portray an array of characters in various films, such as Slender Man in Sony’s less-than-stellar 2018 film about the character. He also did motion capture work for the Xenomorph in the 2017 film Alien: Covenant, played The Witch in both IT and IT; Chapter 2, and played The Toeless Corpse in 2018’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
So should this person have had Marfan Syndrome, then yeah: it could have been a human. Whether they were drunk or not is up for debate. Now as for the elephant of a question: it’s possible the video quality prevented us from seeing any genitalia, but it may have also been someone who was transgender. However, I’d argue that that aspect is likely less important than I made it out to be, but I thought it was necessary to go over since the lack of sexual organs being visible was brought up on other websites. If I offended anyone: I’m sorry; I’ll try better in the future.
5b. It was a man on drugs
This is just a minor variation of the theory above, only the person was on some sort of controlled substance. I’m as familiar with drugs as I’m not (since I’ve read and seen a lot of true crime stuff in my life), but I don’t really know what narcotic would’ve made someone strip down naked and run around a forest like a mountain lion-human hybrid. LSD? Crack? Meth? I dunno, but whatever it was: I’ll pass if I’m ever offered in the future.
6. It was a hoax
I saved this theory for now since I wanted to get all of the hubbub about genitals and Marfan Syndrome out of the way so we could have smooth sailing. This theory is really simple: the whole thing was staged and designed to just be a scary video meant to, well, scare people. Who was behind it is a bit hard to figure out since, as stated way earlier, the origin of the video isn’t known. Whether it came from the channel that uploaded it or if it predates it is anyone’s guess. However, that’s not entirely important (especially since there are plenty of videos out there whose original creators have also been lost to time).
If I had to guess: I would imagine that a friend of the group—perhaps someone in either a costume, with a condition like Marfan Syndrome (or who outright had it)—simply waited for a subtle cue (perhaps from the person filming) and ran by after they were given it. The whole intent was just to make, as I said above, a scary video. Early YouTube was filled with plenty of scary videos; enough that I honestly have the urge to do something of a megalist on them just for fun. Most of those videos were just that: scary videos, staged by folks who wanted to scare people for the sake of scaring them. This may have been one of them.
It’s also possible that the video was made by the group to scare their own friends by saying they encountered some strange creature while camping—or maybe it was some sort of weird school project where they had to film themselves with their friends and they wanted to add in an easter egg of sorts. You decide!
On one final note though, this theory would explain why the dog didn’t go ballistic. Although dogs can get scared by people in a costume, it could’ve gotten accustomed to the person in the costume so it wouldn’t draw attention to said person when they filmed the event. In fact, as I type this, this theory explains almost everything, it would just be a matter of explaining how the figure has such elongated limbs and how it moved to effortlessly (though this could be explained by a day or two of practice, should the person have been an athlete of some sort).
7. It was prank
This theory is very similar to the previous one, though with one key difference: the folks filming weren’t in on it. Rather, it was another group of campers who saw that there was a nearby camp, so they decided to have a bit of fun and try to spook them. By coincidence, their targets were filming and while they didn’t directly scare them (nor did they appear to have alerted the dog—somehow), they did get caught on film.
Beyond that, most of what was said in the above theory stands true, whether it be the idea of a costume being used (or simply someone with Marfan Syndrome), and/or being highly athletic. The only thing that could feasibly be added besides that is: why on Earth would someone randomly keep a costume on them when going camping if there’s no guarantee they’ll get use out of it? Maybe it’s because I don’t go camping, but that seems like unnecessary weight. Ah well, whatever, to the next theory!
8. It was a government experiment
First thing’s first: this theory is going to be another one that goes on for quite some time. So if you don’t want to read the entire thing, that’s fine; I just want to try to be as thorough as possible since I think it really deserves to be covered in some significant fashion or form. The short version is: gubmint wanted to do something with a creature, it got loose, escaped a facility, and is (or was) now loose.
Second thing: this theory is technically fixated on the United States government being behind this. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t imagine your own government being in on the fun; there are plenty of theories that every country is low-key buddy-buddy with each other and shares information like this all the time. Though just know that when I say, “the government”, I mean Team America: World Police.
Now then: just like I said when I covered Pale Crawlers, this theory would really help to explain why this creature wouldn’t be sporting any genitalia. Usually, when something is created in a lab or super-secret government facility, it’s created with the intention of not being able to reproduce on its own. Rather, it’s either one-of-a-kind or they’re engineered so they obey their creator (and the risk of having off-spring means that they would have to be trained on their own to obey orders, thereby creating the risk of gaining free will).
With that said, this theory is one which enters the realm of conspiracy. I’d really like to go into detail about what entails with the whole idea of government experiments and how the US gubmint is behind Pale Crawlers, Fleshgaits, and other humanoid horrors of the forests, I would normally say that I don’t want to be here for an extremely long time, but as stated above: I think that would be foolish of me. So, I’ll go into as much detail as possible without turning this into a full-fledged write-up. So let’s go, dear reader.
This theory more or less redirects us to the theory that this was a Pale Crawler or Fleshgait, or possibly the government’s attempt at trying to replicate those creatures. Exactly what the purpose for such an experiment was would vary based on who you’re talking to; some would say the government simply wanted to know what the creature was like, while others may say they wanted to turn it into a weapon that they could use for some nefarious purpose. No matter what version you buy into, the end result is all the same: the creature escaped and now roams the forest and was spotted by the campers. Why it didn’t attack, I have no idea, but it’s possible this fellow wasn’t as malicious as would make it out to be.
That’s more or less the theory, but is there anything to back it up? Well, that’s where things get muddy. Before I continue, I would like to fully state that I—personally—have absolutely nothing against someone believing in this sort of thing. That, to me, is all fine and dandy; you do you. I personally think the government is hiding some stuff from us (it really wouldn’t be surprising given the fact that some stuff is potentially highly dangerous and not every country is friendly with each other). However, this theory does really raise some bizarre concepts.
For starters, it requires Pale Crawlers and/or Fleshgaits to be real, and for the government to be aware of that. This leads us down the path of two theories that are on the Conspiracy Iceberg: Cryptozoology and Advanced Cryptozoology. If you read my fifirst megalist (if you haven’t, the entry is #11), you may remember that I summarized the latter of the two theories. In short, Advanced Cryptozoology is the belief that cryptids are extraterrestrials. That is true, but I do believe there are other ideas as to what it means. It’s possible that the government is aware of cryptids and simply covers them up for one reason or another, and that there may be a secret government agency dedicated to studying them. If you want to play the “it’s just like that movie”, you can compare it to M.O.N.A.R.C.H. from Warner Bros’. Monsterverse.
The idea that the government knows of cryptids is by absolutely no means something novel; one of the original entries I had in mind for Decemystery was something known as the Beast of the Land Between the Lakes (sometimes called the “Beast of LBL”, which I will call it from here on out). I won’t get into the nit and gritty of that story, but the gist of it is: it’s a werewolf-type humanoid that is said to be extremely aggressive and cruel. It resides in, well, the Land Between the Lakes, which is an area between the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. What makes it noteworthy is that two of these creatures supposedly slaughtered a family of four—a husband, wife, son, and daughter. One person claims he survived and was told by a federal agent to just forget that anything happened (surprisingly, the survivor claims that this agent was extremely gentle and didn’t intimidate him; rather, he said it in an almost fatherly way).
This person—who went by “Roger”—originally did an interview with a YouTube channel named Cryptid Studies Institute, which has a few pretty neat videos—including a few on the Beast of LBL. One of these is an hour-long documentary on the creature, which you can view here. Anyways, this interview has since been privatized and I have no idea why. Maybe it turned out Roger was lying, or maybe it was some other reason. Whatever the case is, the story of the Beast of LBL’s murderous rampage remains one of the most well-known stories of the government being aware of cryptids.
As for the beast itself, I will cover it one day, but I would like to do as much research into the conspiracy aspect of it first. One other interesting thing I’ll put into this write-up (partly for you, dear reader, and so I don’t forget it in the future), is there was a State Trooper who, while on a podcast known as Darkness Radio, claimed that the creature was a Nephilim. You can listen to the excerpt here, it was posted by a YouTube channel called Abrahamic Faith (which has a ton of videos on Bigfoot-type creatures being Nephilim, among other things).
Anywhoozle: with all of that in mind, let’s get back on track. The idea of the government knowing about cryptids is, naturally, going to divide people; some will buy into the idea, while others will dismiss it as absolute nonsense. For the sake of this theory though, we’re going to run with it, and we must then ask the question: why would they do this?
As stated earlier: there’s the idea they want to just see what these creatures are, or they want to make them into weapons. Other ideas posit that they’re aliens, or that aliens are assisting. Others say they’re interdimensional entities (which is a whole other rabbit hole on its own that I won’t get into in this write-up). No matter what the case is though, the end result is the same: the government captured a cryptid (likely a Pale Crawler, but it could’ve been a Fleshgait or Wendigo if you think they look like the aforementioned two) and brought it to a secret facility/lab.
These secretive facilities/labs are usually referred to as D.U.M.Bs (Deep Underground Military Bases), and are typically said to be located in deserts, but some say they’re scattered everywhere. A very famous example of a D.U.M.B. is Dulce Base (which I briefly covered in the second megalist; it’s at #417). A very abridged version of these bases is that they’re where super-secret experiments and weapons are made, and where humans and aliens work side-by-side. Dulce Base, meanwhile, is all of that, plus terrible human experiments occur in a place known as “Nightmare Hall”.
Anyways, with the cryptid now in custody, the experiments would take place. No matter what the motivation, the end result is once again all the same. The creature escaped; maybe you think it killed the scientists like it was some sort of SCP containment breach, or maybe it just ran out and was too fast (and too furious) to be caught once again. Sorry folks, no Poké Balls were available.
That is where the theory ends—and where this summary of what I’ve meant by “government experiment” for most of this month. I know it was silly to wait until now, but the more I thought about how I’ve basically repeated myself over and over for so many write-ups, I figured that I might as well do it now; better now than never, right?
As stated at the start of this theory, I do want to get into much more detail and cover the idea in greater detail, but just know that this is what the gist of it all is. You’re free to make up your own mind if you believe the government is really in the know about cryptids and trying to create hybrids, genetically engineer them, or some other horrific via them. Likewise, you’re free to think it’s all bunk. Anyways, let’s move on before this segment gets any longer; I already feel rather self-conscious about it.
9. It was an interdimensional entity
While I said I wouldn’t get into this rabbit hole, it’s still a theory that needs to be covered, so I’ll keep it short, sweet, and to the point. The idea here is that the Campfire Creature was an interdimensional entity; it crossed over into our world briefly before going back to its own. I’ve mentioned this theory enough in previous Decemystery write-ups this year, so you likely know the song and dance. There’s nothing to add, so let’s move onward.
10. It was a deer
This theory is pretty popular in the comments section of the video. Don’t believe me? Well, have a look for yourself; no typos were fixed, and real names have been more or less redacted just to protect the identities of said commenters:
Catfish
3 years ago
After using software to slow this down frame by frame..I can tell you that is a deer. It seems to step down slope like then back up..like maybe there is a small ditch there or something. Not sure what the sound was in the background
ctiger69
9 years ago
I've been night hunting for 20 years. That is clearly a deer.
GDrone T
8 years ago
Is that filmed in New Brunswick ? I think so. But anyway it looks either a really big cougar(really rare in eastern Canada) or the lower part of a deer.
Matthew Z.
8 years ago
I applaud you on not knowing how a deer moves... Obviously you are not a hunter or you would know.
Michael N.
9 years ago
It looks an awful lot like the Deer Cam Monster that was caught on film not to long ago, which had also been seen in another video with two guys walking at around in the woods.
TheAbuck78
8 years ago
Your only catching the white underbelly in the light when it stands up so it looks like a thin alien creature but its most likely a white tailed deer, tough to call unless I knew where this was filmed.
marinegolfer68
8 years ago
definitely a deer!!
MakoRuu
9 years ago
Looked like a deer walking by.
Jacob T.
9 years ago
It looks like a deer
Robert H.
5 years ago
looks exactly like a deer
jasminetigerlily1
10 years ago
looks like a deer to me, they do walk around at night
Noah M.
8 years ago
It's a deer, you just edited out part of the deer and added in a sound effect, hence, your a liar,
Patricia R.
6 years ago
Boys, that was a deer.
MuckRaker
9 years ago
It's called a "deer" ...
Moon B.
8 years ago
It's probably just a deer
ShadoeLandman
10 years ago
looks like a deer to me
Nick F.
8 years ago
looks like a deer to me
bigpaws101
9 years ago
Yeah it called a deer
Anthony b
8 years ago
thats a fricken deer!!!!
Jamin S.
8 years ago
Seriously? Lol it was a deer.
There are other comments, though there are a lot who think it was a deer. That may or may not be very obvious.
Anyways, this theory has a few things going for it, and a few things going against it. Let’s start with the latter. The first thing is the fact we don’t hear the figure moving on by. Deer aren’t exactly quiet when running and given the speed at which the figure runs (or hops/crawls/whatever), you’d think it would be really dang noisy.
The second thing is that it doesn’t quite look like a deer. It’s missing ears and a tail. The coloration also doesn’t match any deer that I know. While there can be grey deer, the figure doesn’t quite match that color. It’s a lot more… I really don’t know how to put it actually; it’s just not really right.
The third thing going against the theory is that the dog doesn’t respond to the presence of the deer. I know that not all dogs are the same, but in my experiences: I know that dogs tend to react to anything that’s on their territory, or at least near them or their owners/packmates. I find it very strange that the dog didn’t at least growl. Even if the deer had been just passing, you’d think the dog would be at attention and make some sort of noise to try and alert its companions.
With that said though, there are some things working in favor of the theory. The first is that the figure does move like a deer; it has a skip to its step that’s in line with a deer. The second thing is that the overall shape of the body is very similar to a deer. These two are arguably the biggest and strongest pieces of evidence and in spite of the fact I said that the figure does resemble a Pale Crawler, that doesn’t mean that it can’t look like something else too.
The next thing is something that Noah M. mentioned: that part of the deer had been edited out, and a sound effect was inserted. This is actually very possible, and it could easily explain away some of the issues that plague the video (such as the lack of a tail and ears). It’s also not uncommon for videos to be faked thanks to some slick editing; I remember one video of a spooky ghost pushing open a door. Can’t remember if it was the Pantry Ghost or something else. Ehh, not really important; the point is that you can make a lot of things look convincing if you’re a good editor.
That may be the case here; the person filming (or the group as a whole) realized they caught a deer on camera, thought it could be turned into something spooky, and did so. As a result, this technically ties back into the theory that it was all a hoax. At the same time, it’s possible it was a deer, and the lack of light didn’t pick up all of its features. Whichever version you believe is entirely up to you though.
11. It was a ghoul
I went over what these are in the Pale Crawler write-up and there’s virtually nothing I can add that I didn’t say there. Because of this, I’m simply going to take what was posted the day before yesterday and reword it a bit so that it’s fresh, new, and not simply plagiarized. A truly big brained move by yours truly!
Ghouls are demonic entities which feast upon human flesh and the corpses of those who’ve recently died and been buried. Because of this, they’re said to live near graveyards and go there to disturb a grave and eat the person who was buried there. Really pleasant lore to a creature; I don’t think I’ll cover it anytime soon because I’ll likely get sick from the mental image of a creature eating a dead body.
In spite of that lore though some say that these entities reside elsewhere. This includes forests, abandoned buildings, deserts, and just about everywhere you can find your local Pale Crawler (hence the reason some believe that the two are one-in-the-same). However, as I said in the Pale Crawler write-up: I have no idea if the appetite of a ghoul is anything like that of the pale ones who are crawling in my skin. I really hope not because I’d rather not imagine my deceased relatives potentially being eaten after being laid to rest.
Anyways, with that said: this theory really has its roots in the theory of the Pale Crawler one. The primary difference is that this creature originates from superstition and folklore, rather than something a bit more modern. So your mileage is going to vary considerably more than a simple pale humanoid creature. No, it’ll depend on whether or not you believe in a pale humanoid creature that eats dead bodies.
I feel sick.
12. It was United States Senator Benjamin Eric Sasse
I ALWAYS KNEW HE WAS UP TO GOOD!
My Take
Holy smokes, I feel I might have overdone it with the length of each theory. I simply wanted to try something a bit new by adding more meat to them, rather than having them be short and rather shallow. I hope that nobody hates me for how much I wrote there. If you do, please let me know in the comments down below. Now, with that said, let me get into my actual take.
I’ve already stated that I do believe Pale Crawlers exist. However, in the case of this video, I’m extremely skeptical as to this being one. Besides the lack of anyone smelling it, the dog didn’t make a fuss about sensing something strange being near, and I simply can’t see one of them passing by without wondering why strangers were in its territory. This applies to the theories about it being a Fleshgait and a Wendigo. I also still have the issues about the lack of a smell and the fact the dog didn’t bark at it. I know that some dogs are said to immediately cower when one of them is nearby, but I imagine the dog would’ve at least growled. If it didn’t and instead whimpered, then why wasn’t it picked up in the video? If it did and we simply couldn’t hear it, why did nobody take immediate notice to the dog whimpering?
At the same time, I find it really hard to believe that this was a human—let alone one who was either drunk or on some sort of controlled substance[s]. While yes, I did say that someone having Marfan Syndrome could explain the freakishly elongated arms and thin appearance, that is extremely rare, and I still feel the creature is probably a bit too large (height wise) to be a person. It’s very hard to determine the possible height though since the creature isn’t seen for long enough, the video quality is abysmal, and I don’t believe we see the entire thing at one full point to truly get a feel for how large it may have been.
As for the theories that it was an alien, government experiment, interdimensional entity, or ghoul: I sincerely doubt those. While it’s fun to imagine it being one, I imagine that, in the case of the first and third theories, this thing would’ve probably raised absolute hell if it saw anyone. As for the second one: I can’t help but feel like—if this entity appeared just then and was from another dimension—that the group would’ve been transported elsewhere too. Though maybe I don’t know how dimensional slips work. That’s very possible.
That leaves us with the idea that it was a hoax, prank, or a deer. Lemme get the one that I think it’s the most plausible out of the way: the idea it was a deer. The creature certainly moves like a deer; it’s agile, nimble, it certainly has an appearance similar to that of a doe, and it hops like one. However, I feel that this thing should’ve made a lot of noise. I’ve had fawns run down the lawn while I’ve been on the porch; I was no more than 10 or 15 feet (3–4.5 meters) away and let me tell you: the stomping of their hooves is loud. It made me jump actually (even though I should’ve expected them to come since they couldn’t get over a fence to be with their mom). So yeah, if a deer (one that I think was either fully grown or almost fully grown) should’ve made enough noise that it would’ve been heard. The fact it wasn’t is ridiculous. Though if the one commenter is correct, the sound could’ve been edited out and replaced with something else to make it seem like it wasn’t a deer and was instead something mysterious.
Another thing that really irks me is the lack of a tail; that bothers me immensely. I guess it’s possible the deer lost it, or that it was digitally removed, but I can’t prove this in any way, shape, or form. The only other thing I can think of is that it simply wasn’t visible, but I imagine it should have been. Even though deer tails aren’t big, I imagine that it should’ve been at least kind of noticeable.
The final two things that bother me about the deer theory—and I’ll try to keep them as short as I can—are the color of the animal and the lack of ears. The former could be explained away by the lack of proper illumination, or the deer potentially being very ill (I think the latter is more me grasping at straws though). The latter, however, is a lot more irritating. Deer have ears that stick upwards, and the creature in question doesn’t appear to have any whatsoever. The only thing I can think of is that they were out of sight, submerged in darkness (that sounds like something out of a Kingdom Hearts game), or they were edited out. Or maybe I’m just that much of a dimwit and I can’t think of the most obvious, rational explanation.
The other two theories I mentioned—that this was a hoax or a prank (the latter more so)—fall victim to the same issues that this was someone who was drunk or on drugs. While it’s possible this was a hoax done through the use of clever editing, the idea that this was a person in a costume—or a person who was nude—simply bother me a bit too much. While I stated in the theories section that an athletic person could explain the ease at which the figure moves, I still can’t buy into it. I feel there should’ve been more hesitation with each movement.
I also think that, if this was a prank, that the dog should’ve been barking because of a stranger nearby. Dogs are protective of their owners/friends/companions/packmates. I doubt they would simply ignore when someone is near, even if they’re the most social, friendly dog on the planet. At their heart, they’re still pack animals and will protect those they love. With that said, that also raises the question as to why the dog didn’t bark when/if a deer was nearby. The only way I can explain that away is if the deer had come by earlier and the dog had already barked at it; maybe it stopped because it figured the deer got the hint.
With all of that said though, I think the most likely explanation is that it was, in fact, a deer. However, I still have grievances with the theory and can’t say I’m 100% sold on it. I simply think it’s the most likely/plausible explanation given the issues the other ones have.
Conclusion
This was an experience. I didn’t think I’d encounter two stories in one month that were this inconsistent. Oh well, life’s full of surprises. So with that: thank you as always for reading; remember to stay happy and healthy.
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