I Bigfoot, demons, walking raccoons, sure.. .but in Nebraska?
By Chris McCubbin
Staff Reporter
When people think of appropriate
settings for unexplained phenomena
— UFOs, bigfoot, apparitions, psychic
phenomena, etc. — a certain sort of
place comes to mind; a mist-enshrouded
New England churchyard, or an ancient,
crumbling British castle. Perhaps a
dense Amazon rain forest or a remote
Himalayan monastary. Certainly few
would think of the milo fields and feed
lots of Nebraska as obvious settings for
weird happenings.
But according to some reports, Ne
braska is a much stranger place than it
appears.
Lincoln’s Fortean Research Center
is a non-profit organization devoted to
collecting and investigating reports on
all sorts of unexplained phenomena.
The center is named after Charles Fort,
an important pioneer in the investiga
tion of the unexplained.
Scott Colborn, associate director of
the center and the host of the KZUM
radio show "Exploring Unexplained
Phenomena” said that Nebraskans are
good sources of reports on the un
explained.
“These people (most Nebraskan
sources) are not publicity seekers. . .
They’ve had an experience that’s very
strange... and they’re trying to get on
with their lives as best they can,”
said Colbom.
The following reports are taken from
the Journal of the Fortean Research
Center:
For years westerners have been fool
ing “dudes” with tall tales about jacka
lopes — jackrabbits with horns on
their heads. Gifted taxidermists have
been selling these non-existant critters
for years. But some reports indicate
r
that Nebraska is the home to creatures
infinitely stranger than the jackalope.
On Halloween of 1968 a small animal
walking on its hind feet was struck by a
pickup, then shot by one of the truck’s
occupants. The creature, which in coat
and coloring bore a superficial resemb
lance to a raccoon, could not be
identified by either the truck’s occu
pants, one of whom was a trapper, or by
the State Game and Parks Commission.
Photos of the mystery creature still
exist.
Since before the tum-of-the-century
reports of a bigfoot-like monster have
come from the area of Minersville, a
small town near Nebraska City which
no longer exists. In November of 1968
the Minersville creature was reported
to have grabbed an 11-year-old boy and
thrown him into a ditch.
On July 5, 1980, a motorcycle driver
had to “dump” his bike to avoid hitting
a bigfoot-like creature at 26th and
Fairfield streets in Lincoln. The man
said the creature was 7-foot tall, over
300 pounds, covered with long, dark
hair, looked like an ape and smelled
like a creek.
In the Autumn of 1956 Mr. Hanks
(not his real name), a Falls City man,
had just returned home from a family
outing when he noticed what he first
thought was a loose kite.
As the object drew closer Hanks saw
that it was actually a man like figure
with wings. Hanks said the creature’s
face was “very frightening, almost
demonic.”
“Its eyes were very large, blue in
color, and watery,’’ Hanks said. "The
skin on his face was like tan leather. It
was very wrinkled and seemed to over
lap in folds ... he was between eight
and nine feet tall.” The wings appeared
to be artificial.
As the creature approached, Hanks
found himself unable to move. The
paralysis disappeared after the creature
passed.
If you know of any unreported
phenomena you can contact the Fcrtean
Research Center at P.O. Box 94627.
Lincoln, NE 68509.
4th celebrations
From staff and wire reports
The Lincoln Jaycees will again be
sponsoring a Fourth of July celebration
at Holmes Lake, said Connie Knapp,
chairperson.
Events will start at 11 a.m. with
children's games. Mime performances
and puppet shows will take place at
12:30 and 2:30 p.m., she said.
Four bands will play beginning at 3
p.m. The bands from country to rock 'n'
roll, sponsored by KZKX-96 radio station
will play until the 9:45 fireworks dis
play.
Seward, “the Fourth of July capital”
is planning at least one hundred events
for Saturday including a pancake feed,
teen dance, concerts, art displays and a
parade that begins at 4 p.m. They will
also have a fireworks display at 10 p.m.
Many events are planned in the
Omaha area. A fireworks display by the
famous Grucci family from New York
will explode over Rosenblatt Stadium
after the Royals’ game. The $50,000
display is expected to draw a crowd of
100,000.
A “Shakespeare on the Green" festi
val will be presented in Elmwook Park
by the UNO and Creighton University
theater departments. The play is free
and begins at 8:30 p.m.
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