Decemystery (2024) 28: The Head-scratching Encounter with Headless Aliens

 

So, yesterday, I said I had scrapped two stories. One of them was an absolutely wild and crazy story involving extraterrestrials. In truth, I could have covered it, but I’d prefer it if I had a few days to work on it. As it stands, I’m writing these articles the day before they go up.

However, I did want to somehow keep my word by providing one final whacky foray into the realm of aliens—even if it wasn’t the story I’d planned to cover. Lucky for me, I had no shortage of stories to pick from!

While most think of Greys when they think of extraterrestrials, the truth is that there are numerous types of aliens in ufology. Don’t believe me? Go look at the “UFO/Aliens” tag on this blog. Alternatively, go look at the intro to “The 8-foot-tall Alien of Fort Wayne,” where I listed out a bunch of cases I’ve covered.

When deciding on which case to go with, I considered going to the database of the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) to poach a story that sounded odd.

However, I quickly opted against that when I was browsing through my Google documents. Yes, just like the other day with “The Ghost Who Took a Pair of Socks,” my own archive came to the rescue. How quaint.

Just like the story mentioned earlier, this one was planned for last year’s Decemystery duology and even briefly on the schedule for this year—I think. It might’ve been one that got added and subsequently removed about a dozen times because I can be woefully indecisive.

Today, dear reader, we’ll be taking a look at… well, just read the title of the write-up. Despite the lack of a head, it speaks for itself. If you’re unable to hear its voice, it’s known as the case of The Head-scratching Encounter with Headless Aliens! Now, strap in, dear reader, because this is going to get oh-so-delightfully weird—and absolutely ridiculous.

Decemystery (2024) 11: The Durham Force Field

When it comes to Fortean mysteries—or any type of mystery, really—there’s something about ones that lack much, if any, information that makes me excited. It’s something I’ve come to love in the past couple of years; it sets off a fire inside me that causes my mind to wander.

Now, sure, I hate making an abundance of assumptions, but I do enjoy a good rabbit hole—especially when I’m one of the first people to go down it—if not the first person to do so. There’s a certain thrill to it if that makes sense. If it doesn’t, then perhaps I enjoy covering ridiculous stuff a bit too much.

Regardless of how I feel, there’s one place that best exemplifies this thrill, and that’s what’s known as the “Fortean Map.” If you’ve been visiting this blog since 2021 and haven’t stopped under the assumption that it’s dead, thanks to the content droughts that have plagued it ever since 2022, then you might be familiar with that name. If you aren’t, it’s a massive map that someone made; it’s filled with a plethora of mysteries from across the planet.

As it stands, I’ve visited it a total of four times: twice for Decemystery 2021 (where I wrote about “The Elevator Riddle” and “The Signal of Isla Han Samar”) and twice during last year’s Decemystery duology (where I covered “The Groves Kurt Incident” and “Terry Lopi’s Disappearing Barn”). This year will mark the fifth and sixth times I’ve visited it.

Now, each time I visited the map in the past, I’ve covered something that I now refer to as a “Fortean Map Enigma.” They’re stories that have little to nothing about them available on the Internet. In the previous four write-ups, I’ve labeled them as stories made up by the map’s creator for fun. Today, however, all of that’s about to change because there’s a new possibility at play, and it all but makes me want to go back to the previous four write-ups and reexamine them with a fine-toothed comb.

So, for our inaugural visit to the Fortean Map, we’re taking a trip across the Atlantic Ocean and going to good ol’ England—northern England, to be exact. It’s here where we’ll find something labeled The Durham Force Field. On its own, that name is fascinating and would pique my interest. However, the summary given makes border on irresistible. In fact, I considered writing about it last year. However, I believe I swapped it out with Terry Lopi’s case.

Ah, but I digress. Come along, dear reader. Let’s discuss another Fortean Map Enigma and find out how everything’s about to change with these cases!

Decemystery (2023) 31: That Time a Russian Managed to Noclip Out of Reality

 

Salutations, dear reader. Welcome back to my blog for the final time this year. This month has been filled with the wildest, strangest, and most unbelievable stories I’ve ever written about in the five years that it’s been around. Or, well, four years if you wish to pretend 2022 didn’t happen, given I only wrote a single movie review that year. Thank you, COVID brain fog, for robbing me of a year of my life.

But I digress. When I put the two Decemysterys together, the capstone entry for 2022.3 remained the same; the Professor Oak story was always what I had in mind. However, the one for today was not what I originally had in mind. I won’t spoil what it is since I’m hoping to use it as next year’s capstone entry, but I will say that I began work on it earlier in the year. I believe in June. I can’t remember precisely because of just how much I wrote in such a short amount of time.

However, I ultimately decided to hold off on finishing it because it would have been disgustingly long. It’s a case that’s extraordinarily personal to me, and I believed that if I’d rushed it, I would have felt so disappointed in myself for not giving it the proper love and care that I believe it deserves. So, that left me in limbo for a bit; I wasn’t sure what I’d use to end this absolute beast of a month off.

The biggest challenge in finding what I believe to be a truly worthwhile case was that this month was a never-ending one-upping of strangeness. Almost every story was just pure, unadulterated: “What in the world!?” through and through. So, in order to find what I felt was a proper capstone entry, I went looking for something that was not only weird but also encompassed everything that made this month special.

That story came to my attention a few months ago, in October, when I was looking at sustained_disgust’s Obscure Unsolved Mysteries Iceberg. We started out this month over there, and we shall end it off there. So come along, dear reader, as we end off 2023—and Decemystery—with That Time a Russian Managed to Noclip Out of Reality!

Decemystery (2022.3) 25: The 1974 Talladega 500 Sabotage

 

This write-up is dedicated to my closest friends, most of whom I know thanks to my love for NASCAR. To each and every one of you, thank you for being among the greatest folks I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.

I make it no secret that I’m a die-hard NASCAR fan. My late grandfather was a Dale Earnhardt, Sr. fan, and it’s thanks to him that I got into the sport. The very first race I watched—in full—was the 2004 Daytona 500, won by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. I remember being really unhappy because I wanted Tony Stewart to win. My reason was I liked the color orange, and Stewart’s car was orange (he was sponsored by Home Depot). I envy my 8-year-old mind; the littlest things made it happy.

Also, as a random fun fact for those who don’t watch NASCAR: the number in a race’s name refers to the number of miles raced. This fact has no actual bearing on today’s write-up; I just wanted to share it.

Anyway, I eventually stopped watching NASCAR for quite a while; I forget the exact year. However, last year, I spontaneously decided to resume watching it. To my delight, my love never faded as I’ve been following it religiously once more. In fact, I attended my first race this year—the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. It was awesome!

Though, I digress; this isn’t meant to be about the life and times of yours truly. No, we’re here to talk about a mystery—and as you can likely tell, it’s related to NASCAR. It’s one I’ve had my heart set on writing about for the entire year. It’s also one that has an incredibly small amount of documentation; I honestly cannot believe a case like it isn’t talked about much more.

But let’s not delay any further. With the engines roaring with life and the green flag waving in the air, let’s get the show underway. This, dear reader, is the story of The 1974 Talladega 500 Sabotage!

Decemystery (2022.3) 23: Terry Lopi's Disappearing Barn

 

I won’t lie; I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to think of an introduction for this story. I swear, this is the hardest part of these write-ups; it wasn’t always that way. Oh well, I shouldn’t complain too much about my woes because today’s story is one I alluded to earlier this month!

Back when I wrote about The Kentucky Horsewalker, I said that I hoped there were no stories of disappearing barns. Well, surprise, surprise, there are. One of two safe havens for one man in Utah disappeared; that’s like a 50% Defense nerf! But what could cause one man’s barn to up and vanish? Well, come along, dear reader, let’s find that out; it’s time to dive into the story of Terry Lopi’s Disappearing Barn.

Decemystery (2023) 19: The Gargoyle at the Window

 

Have you ever gotten that feeling you’re being watched? I sometimes do, though it’s that someone is watching and more that there’s a spider looking at me from on the wall. I’ve driven myself into anxiety attacks because I get so paranoid that one is near me. How I achieve such amazing feats of idiocy, I will never know, but I do.

The concept of being watched by something is a core part of today’s story. It was one that caught my eye for two reasons. The first was the title. Aside from sounding interesting, gargoyles are something I’ve not talked about since Decemystery 2018—half a decade ago. I have no idea why it’s taken so long for me to talk about them again, but it has.

The second was the creep factor. There are stories out there that have sent a shiver down my spine, but this one hit a chord few others do. I was listening to a video by Sacrow—whose content is outstanding—and he mentioned how he has an innate fear of being watched through a window. Or, well, something to that effect. I’m in the same boat; I find the idea of being watched through a window or anything like that incredibly scary.

So, as you can tell by the name of today’s story, this is one that evokes a sense of paranoia that I seldom feel. Given I’m writing this a week before Halloween, however, that means I’m all for it. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the story of The Gargoyle at the Window!

Decemystery (2021) 29: The Giant Space Brains of Palos Verdes

Remember when we talked about the Long Prairie Cans? Remember how I said that there were two stories—one of which was the one about the cans—and how I picked both? This was the other one. In hindsight, I should have covered this one before I posted the Gargantuan Globulous, Kinnula Humanoid and Arboreal Abomination write-ups. The only reason I didn’t was I thought this was perfect for one of the final stories. Oh well, no harm, no foul.

Anyways, today’s story is known as the Giant Space Brains of Palos Verdes. With a name like that, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that it’s not only the craziest extraterrestrial story I’ve come across, but it’s also truly one of the most insane stories I’ve ever come across, period. So come along, it’s finally time we talk about these… things.

Decemystery (2021) 17: The Kinnula Humanoid

First things first: here’s a random fun fact for you. This is the last intro I’m writing—and it’s on December 12th, not long before this story goes up. Really good job on my part for doing these stories out of order, but that isn’t even the best part.

No, the best part is I have no idea where I originally found this story. I was scrolling through my list of mysteries that I have, and I noticed the name. It caught my eye because stories that involve the word “humanoid” always intrigue me, so I had to know. When I looked up the name, I was greeted with results from the ObscUrban Legend Wiki, the Cryptidz Wiki, and the It’s Something Wiki. That kind of answered where I found it, but which one it specifically was from is beyond me. For the sake of keeping in with the fact I’ve found nearly every story from the ObscUrban Legend WIki this month, we’ll say that that’s where I found it.

Anyways, the thing that brought back memories of what this story was about was when I saw this image, plus the one you can see as the header. It was the image that I hyperlinked that reminded me of what the story was, and why I picked it. It was a good old alien sighting, and I live for them!

Still, that wasn’t the biggest reason I picked it. No, that reason goes to the fact that I have a friend from Finland. Last year, I’d had her pick out a story that I was going to cover for that year’s Decemystery, but I didn’t. Then, I had thought about doing it this year, but I didn’t because it would’ve taken too much time to do. So I scrapped it and have no idea when I’ll get around to covering it (especially since I have some plans for next year). So, I opted to do this story for her.

So come along, dear reader. It’s time to talk about the green scuba suit extraterrestrial known as the Kinnula Humanoid. And to my dear friend: I hope you enjoy this.

Decemystery (2021) 10: The Enfield Horror

 

At the time of this writing, I want to just say that I’ve been reading a lot on TVTropes. Great site if you’ve never visited it; lots and lots of fun. Though I guess that’s not the point of today’s story. No, the point of today’s story is a cryptid—one of the most fascinating and confounding.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that throughout the world, there are reports of weird creatures. A lot can be explained away as misidentifications of known animals; someone sees, say, a bear or wild dog, but because it’s night: they mistake it for Bigfoot or some sort of hellhound (or El Chupacabra). Though every now and then, there’s a creature which is reported that is a bit too… odd; one that’s so bizarre in its appearance, along with the circumstances that surround its initial sighting, that you can’t help but tilt your head in confusion.

That’s where the Enfield Horror comes in. If I were to make a top ten list for “most bizarre looking cryptids”, this would be in the top five. Though there are plenty of folks out there who say that it’s all perfectly explainable and can be rationalized. Is that truly the case? Well, let’s find out; it’s time to head on over to Illinois and talk about a story that’s been on my radar since 2019!

Decemystery (2021) 5: The Disappearance of Ellen Patricia Bresch

 

Author's Note: a family member of Ellen's left a comment on February 4, 2024, regarding her husband's death. In the write-up, I said that his cause of death was unknown; as it turns out, he passed away due to diabetes. I thought I would clear that up here, rather than leave it unaddressed, unless you read the comments.

Ah, true crime. It’s my favorite thing—at least next to consuming product and getting excited for next products. It’s a really fascinating world to dive into, especially when you find something really obscure. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what today’s story is: something obscure and, as far as I can tell, not really talked about anywhere big. It’s about a woman named Ellen Patricia Bresch. A seemingly ordinary woman who made one really unordinary move prior to disappearing. So come along, dear reader, it’s time for us to take a trip to Kentucky and see what happened on one fateful night.

Decemystery (2021) 2: One-Eyed Jack

Okay, so, funny story about today’s, well, story. It was an unidentified person; I had originally had it written, completed, and ready to be posted. However, as the day drew closer, I began to dislike it more and more. The writing was rushed, it glossed over so many details, and I felt it was rather crude at times. I made a lot of stupid remarks that really made it feel like I didn’t care about what I was writing.

Though that’s probably because I was desperate to write. I wrote most of it when I was on medication that had made it an absolute nightmare to write and I was accepting literally anything I wrote as worthwhile. So, while we might not be covering the story that was intended, I did find a worthwhile replacement. It’s the story of a man known only as One-Eyed Jack. He too is an unidentified person. So come along, dear reader. We’re off to Alaska.

Decemystery (2020) 17: The Wrecking Ball Theft

 

This story makes my head hurt. It’s like it was hit by a wrecking ball that was stolen.

Mystery: Now They Hear It All The Time

The realm of Reddit is one that I’m highly hesitant to ever go near when it comes to content. While some may see it as more reputable than, say, 4chan, I think that Reddit’s voting system causes it to create not only a hivemind, but a sense of believability that can be passed along to the average user. This, in turn, can create the aforementioned hivemind. With a website like 4chan: there may be a hivemind at work on some boards, but it’s at least transparent about being one. Reddit isn’t that way, but that could just be my experience with the site.

In spite of that, there are times when Reddit provides me with something that’s a bit too good to pass up. In this case though, I didn’t find it myself. Rather, I found it from the fandom site “Paranormal World”. I went to this site when I covered the Nickelodeon Killer back in May and I made it clear (or at least I hope I did) that I didn’t want to seem like I was poaching content from the site. The person who operates the site deserves every bit of credit for finding these stories; I think that the stories they’ve covered are extremely fascinating (if a bit on the hard to believe side). Today, I want to make a journey back there because this one in particular really caught my attention as being something exceptionally interesting.

The story in question is about a mysterious PSA that a few Reddit users recalled seeing, but have never been able to find anything regarding its existence. That, on its own, is worth a write-up. Missing/lost media is something I’m really into, though I seldom cover it on its blog as it requires a fair bit more work, though I intend on covering it a little bit more as the year goes on—though I hope to have something like that posted this month.

Moving on though: it’s worth mentioning that this story, aside from just being something related to lost media, also reads a lot like a horror story. That, to me, is usually indicative of a creepypasta and given that this is related to television, one’s mind would drift into the realm of, say, Candle Cove, The Wyoming Incident, or Happy Appy. A mysterious piece of television history that hardly anyone remembers, but a few recall it and talk about it online. That screams of the the first and third (Happy Appy’s original story being a direct, shameless ripoff of Candle Cove) with the second being a broadcast intrusion as far as my shoddy memory can be asked to recall. Though I digress; let’s get back on track. We’re here to discuss a PSA and I don’t wish to waste too much time on the intro.

Due to how the story reads like a creepypasta, I was a bit hesitant at first to cover it. However, given it’ll be a bit before I believe I’m truly able to get my life fully back on track, I wanted to take a leap into a sort of “real life” creepypasta. So that brings us to the story at hand. As stated earlier, it takes us back to Paranormal World. It’s here that there is a page entitled Now They Hear It All The Time. I wish to take a look at this story because it’s certainly odd to see a story that screams “creepypasta” that’s treated with genuine sincerity. So let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this peculiar PSA and have a bit of fun with a potential piece of television history.

Mystery: Is Five Nights At Freddy's Based on a True Story?

I promised a few friends of mine last month that I would cover this story this month. Given how miserable I’ve been as of late, I figured I’d try to cheer myself up by writing about it today. In hindsight, this was a terrible idea because I want to use glass shards to brush my teeth simply looking at the title. So without further ado, let’s ask a very simple (and silly) question: is Five Nights At Freddy’s based on a true story? 

Mystery: Cookie Monster

The only known source for this story.

I want to return to Michael Newton’s Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology for today’s story. Yesterday, we (very briefly) talked about the Easter Bunny. That isn’t the only weirdly named Bigfoot-type cryptid out there though. There’s also the wonderfully named Cookie Monster. Let’s take a gander at this story.

Mystery: William Bradford Bishop

Last December, I covered the story of a man named Robert William Fisher. If you’ve either forgotten who he is (or was), or simply haven’t read that write-up, he was a man who murdered his wife and children and blew up his house. It’s a very dark and morbid tale of a seemingly normal, well-to-do man who hid his true self with terrifying grace.

That wasn’t the only story I had in store that was like that though. I had another one in mind, but after I was done writing about Fisher, I realized that the two were extremely similar—to the point that they were nearly interchangeable content wise. As such, I opted to scrap the second one and instead cover it this December. Though the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this month has had a lot of very silly, offbeat stories that really showcase a bit too much of the goofy side of unsolved mysteries. So I decided to yank it from this year’s Decemystery and instead cover it today.

As such, after yesterday’s short tale of a terrifying spectre that resides in your mirror, I thought that I should balance the length paradigm by having today’s story be a lengthier, much more thorough write-up. So without further ado, let’s dive into the world of a fugitive who disappeared into thin air with the story of William Bradford Bishop.

Mystery: The Grand Canyon Grim Reaper

I couldn't find the image without the arrow. Sorry.

After the whirlwind of craziness that made up the story of Seth Rich, I felt it was best if today and tomorrow, we focused on a very fun, light-hearted, and down-to-earth mystery. It’s something you may have heard of, especially if you watch—or listen to—a lot of mystery-centric videos/podcasts. It’s little more than a photo (which serves as the header image for this write-up) and shows a man at the edge of the Grand Canyon with a fishing line. However, if you look a little closer, there’s something deeply unusual about it all: a man peeking around from behind a bush. This man has garnered the nickname of the Grand Canyon Grim Reaper. Edgy name, but is it really Death himself? Let’s find out.

Decemystery (2019) 28: Annabelle

Annabelle as displayed in the Warren's museum.

Dolls are interesting. Beloved by children as toys, adults as collectables, and residential living places for the deceased, they have no age limit. They can be played with from ages newborn to 500-year-old dead men.

As for me personally, they creep me out. Their unblinking stare that bores into my soul, coupled with their perpetual smile, reminds me of a clown made of plastic. The only difference is that one thankfully won’t come to life and kill me a la John Wayne Gacy.

Or at least, that’s what I tell myself. Being a huge fan of the paranormal, I’m well aware of the reputation that dolls have for attracting ghosts—both benevolent and malevolent—to inhabit them.

I’m sure you’ve seen the videos on YouTube or on social media. Whether it be from a baby monitor or from a parent randomly recording their child playing. Somewhere, there’s a doll that suddenly turns its head or shifts around. There’s no visible strung or sign of another person. The child doesn’t move in a way that could cause the doll to move in the manner that it did. Rather, it seems like the doll came to life in a way that one would expect to see out of the Blumhouse version of Toy Story.

Why dolls are prone to being the toy of choice for spirits is a mystery in of itself. Perhaps next December, I’ll cover this. For now, my personal favorite theory is that the human-like appearance of dolls human-like appearance attracts ghosts to use them as a vessel to take up residence in. Helping matters is children are significantly more prone to come into contact with ghosts. Why this is is yet again another mystery entirely, so let’s get back on track.

As stated before: dolls can attract spirits that are both benevolent and malevolent. Today’s mystery is a case of the latter. She’s one of the most infamous haunted objects in the world. Odds are, you’ve heard of her name. Whether it be in passing, on television, in a YouTube video, or in a book.

That name is Annabelle.

Decemystery (2019) 13: Snuff Films (SFW Version)

Life is cheap.

Today’s entry is special. There are two versions of it: one that contains extreme levels of horrible detail and one that’s much less grisly since I don’t want to alienate those who want to follow this blog series religiously.

This diversification of the blog is easy to explain: today’s entry is on Snuff Films. If you aren’t familiar with them, then boy oh boy are you in for a trip. If you’re reading this particular intro, odds are you’re doing it in passing or you’re looking for something less nightmarish and hard-to-stomach. So let’s get to it! Or you can scroll down for the NSFL version.

Decemystery (2019) 13: Snuff Films (NSFL Version)

Life is cheap.

A serious warning: this entry contains graphic discussion of murder, torture, animal abuse, and child rape. Reader discretion is highly advised.

Today’s entry is special. There are two versions of it: one that contains extreme levels of horrible detail and one that’s much less grisly since I don’t want to alienate those who want to follow this blog series religiously.

This diversification of the blog is easy to explain: today’s entry is on Snuff Films. If you aren’t familiar with them, then boy oh boy are you in for a trip. If you’re reading this particular intro, odds are you’re doing it in passing or you’re feeling gutsy. It’s the NSFL version and it’s the one with all of the fun, brutal, hard-to-stomach details. So let’s get to it! Or you can scroll up for the SFW version.