Decemystery (2022.3) 18: The Air Battle Above the Netherlands

 

Something I’ve been meaning to do is cover older mysteries from medieval times and even before that. Unfortunately, when it comes to them, documentation can be spotty at best. At worst, it’s close to non-existent. That’s to be expected, though, given these are reports from centuries ago. It’s amazing there are even accounts of strange happenings at all; I would have thought everyone who said they saw lights in the sky would be burned at the stake.

Still, for this year, I wanted to finally stop telling myself I’d do that and, you know, actually cover an older mystery. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done since, as I said, a lot of stories are very scarce when it comes to information. You’d be amazed at how many cases tend to be a few sentences long. One story I found was a whopping four words long.

Luckily, after some digging around, I found some stories that were more than just “lights were seen” or “a weird animal was spotted.” It took me a lot longer than I care to admit, but I digress. For today’s Decemystery entries, we’ll be taking a time machine back to the 17th century—the first time we’ll have done that on this blog, oddly enough.

For our first case, we’ll be taking a trip across the Atlantic and visiting the beautiful kingdom of the Netherlands, the home of the Dutch and host to a lot of fascinating stories. It’s here where we’ll find quite possibly one of the most fantastical UFO sightings I’ve ever come across. It reads like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, but that can’t be the case because this was actually satisfying to read and didn’t leave me feeling like I’d wasted 11 bucks on a movie ticket, along with 2 hours of my life. Nay, this was fulfilling; come along as we dive into the tale of The Air Battle Over the Netherlands!

Decemystery (2023) 17: The 2023 Turku UFO Sighting

This story is dedicated to my dear friend Nea. Thanks for being an amazing friend!

I have an aversion to covering recent mysteries—cases from the current year or previous few. I’m not completely opposed to it, but unless it’s a truly bizarre cryptid sighting or something else, I feel it’s best to wait and see if it’ll get solved.

Today, though, I want to make an exception and cover a UFO sighting I found from this year. Funnily enough, it occurred around when I began consistently writing again. Maybe the aliens were the result, and I just didn’t know it; thanks for sending assistance from thousands of miles away!

Anyway, today, we’ll be taking a trip over to Finland. Come along, dear reader, as we dive into the story of The 2023 Turku UFO Sighting!

Decemystery (2022.3) 17: The Brooklyn Subway Vampire Girl

Growing up, I was never a big fan of vampires. I always preferred werewolves. Indeed, for whatever reason, I never found vampires particularly interesting or terrifying. Despite that, I vividly recall having one God-awful nightmare when I was younger about a vampire outside my living room window trying to get in. It had the most inhuman look on its face, and it scares me to this day. If I had the ability to draw, I would have no trouble recreating the look on that thing’s face. With that said, that nightmare is an exception; beyond that, I just don’t find vampires to be frightening.

Nevertheless, like plenty of other things, I still enjoy reading about them. So, when I came across the story of The Brooklyn Subway Vampire Girl, my interest was immediately piqued. It’s a story from a major metropolitan area that I’ve visited quite often, and it involves a vampire. That’s definitely something that I definitely would not expect to hear about in a place like New York City. So, come along, dear reader; it’s time for us to go vampire hunting!

Decemystery (2023) 16: The Alien Tree Stumps

 

Yeah, I didn’t know what other image to use; enjoy the picture of baby Groot.

Something I take a bit of pride in is my ability to tell my friends about the wildest and most absurd things imaginable. Though, even I have my moments where I find myself scratching my head, wondering if what I’m reading is real. It always leaves me with a feeling of disbelief, like my life was just flipped on its head. Today’s story is a quintessential example of that feeling.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you will know all too well that extraterrestrials are more than just Greys or Reptilians. They come in all shapes and sizes. We have seen robotic flowers, giant brains, and way too much else for me to listen. Heck, just this month introduced us to even more baffling types!

Today, however, is what I believe to be the most dumbfounding. It’s something that I truly cannot believe I read; the fact I laid eyes upon it renders my brain unable to function. This, dear reader, is the utterly mind-boggling case of The Alien Tree Stumps.

Decemystery (2022.3) 16: Emerald Island

 

Picturesque, calm, and surrounded by water, islands are depicted as the ideal retirement spot in a lot of media. Personally, as much as I love the sea, I wouldn’t want to live somewhere where a bad storm could have me become food for a shark, but that’s just me.

There are an estimated 900,000 islands on Earth, and, as it stands, the odds of there being an undiscovered one are slim. There could be a few submerged, however, and that is the perfect lead-in to today’s story. I know, sudden, but I don’t feel like rambling about remote landmasses for five paragraphs.

It’s been a long time since I’ve covered a phantom island; the last one I covered was all the way back in 2020 when I went over the Terra Nova Islands. I’ve wanted to talk about another one of these enigmas for a couple of years now, but for one reason or another, I nixed it from my schedule. Today, however, we’ll be taking a trip down to Antarctica once more to talk about these—and it’s one with a pretty name: Emerald Island. Let the expedition begin!

Decemystery (2023) 15: The Tuttle Bottoms Monster

When most people hear the word “cryptid,” they likely think of Sasquatch or Nessie. However, there are a plethora more creatures out there than everyone’s favorite hairy hominid and Scottish plesiosaur. Heck, there are more than El Chupacabra and the Burrunjor.

Cryptids are a group whose reputation ranges from the timid to the downright brutal. For every shy apeman, there are beings like The Beast of the Land Between the Lakes, who’s said to have slaughtered an entire family that was camping.

Indeed, cryptids can have quite a homicidal reputation. While that may seem rather outlandish, you would be surprised at just how many are blamed for the deaths of hikers and swimmers. Ol’ Nessie’s very first sighting involved a swimmer who was attacked by the Loch’s resident cryptid. Meanwhile, Pensacola, Florida, has what is now known as “The 1962 Pensacola Sea Serpent Incident.” Hopefully, we’ll cover that in full next year. For now, if you want to know more about it, I briefly covered it in the second Conspiracy Theory Megalist (it’s entry #335).

There are tons and tons of aggressive cryptids out there—far more than I can name. My favorites are the humorously named Sheepsquatch and today’s topic: The Tuttle Bottoms Monster. This fellow is one that I wanted to cover last year, but life dealt me a Dead Man’s Hand and then some.

Luckily, we’re finally getting around to it. So come along, dear reader; it’s time for us to head back to Illinois to hunt one of the most bizarre-looking cryptids I’ve ever come across! You won’t want to miss this one because it has everything: government conspiracies and secrets, experiments gone wrong, urban legends, rumors of a cryptid murdering people, and an apeman with an anteater snout.

Decemystery (2022.3) 15: The 20-foot-tall Monster in Montana

Montana is a state that I feel is sorely overlooked when it comes to beauty and mysteries. There are a surprising number of cryptids, ranging from Bigfoot and Wendigo sightings, UFO reports, unsolved murders and disappearances, and the folkloric “Shunka Warak’in,” a hyena-like quadruped whose name translates to “carries off dogs.”

Indeed, there’s a lot that Montana holds; God willing, I’ll cover a few of those stories next year. Until then, today’s story is one of the more fantastical cases from The Treasure State—not to mention one that is more “out there.” I call it The 20-foot-tall Monster in Montana because there’s no other way to put it. So come along, dear reader, let’s explore Big Sky Country together!