The Mysterious Enfield Monster

    Today's tale was brought to my attention by YouTuber Capn Krome who suggested I look into the mystery of what has become known as the Enfield Monster of Enfield Illinois in the United Sates. 

    In April 1973 a man by the name of Henry McDaniel was confronted with the sound of something scratching at his door. When he looked outside he saw something that he thought might be a bear, so taking a gun and a flashlight he went out into the night to face the creature. 

    However the creature he would encounter was not a bear! Instead standing between two rose bushes was something incredibly unexpected. Standing about four and a half feet tall was a grayish-coloured being that stood on three legs, with large pink eyes the size of flashlights, and brandishing two small arms, almost human-like in shape were it not for the extra leg and strange eyes. 

    McDaniel fired four shots at the strange beast, successfully scoring a hit. The creature hissed at McDaniel in much the same way as a wild cat before taking off in the direction of a railway clearing a distance of 50 feet in no less than three jumps. Henry McDaniel notified the police who, upon investigating, discovered evidence of footprints near the McDaniel's home, almost dog-like, except with six toe pads instead of five. 

    The police had no cause to blame henry's account on insanity or alcohol. His reporting of the incident had been rational and sober. Upon talking to the press about his encounter McDaniel seemed convinced that should the creature be found by the authorities they would find more than one and that it wasn't of this world. 

    Perhaps the most intriguing part of this tale is that Henry's encounter with the creature didn't end on that evening alone but two weeks later McDaniel called the radio station WWKI after witnessing the creature again at 3am of the 6th of May. There in the dead of night the three-legged oddity rambled along the train tracks near the McDaniel home. McDaniel said, "I saw something moving out on the railroad track and there it stood. I didn't shoot at it or anything, it started down the railroad track. It wasn't in a hurry." 

    The second encounter sparked a search party which included the radio station's news director. Later that day they too encountered what they described as an ape-like creature standing in an abandoned building near McDaniel's house. The most disappointing part of the story is that the search party claimed to have recorded the creature's cries but, although investigated by the cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman, the recording seems to have disappeared from public record. 

    Reports of the creature attracted a flurry of investigators and monster hunters. One group even claiming to have sighted the creature. But the White County sheriff dismissed these reports, and the five would-be monster hunters were charged with hunting violations. The locals of Enfield themselves were becoming concerned that trigger-happy monster hunters might be a threat to the livestock and local community.

    Perhaps this is why the narrative began to turn towards suggestions of the creature being an escaped kangaroo, which uses its tail when it walks thus giving the impression of a third leg. However McDaniel denied the possibility on very good grounds - Henry McDaniel had personal experience with kangaroos while on military service in Australia and knew all too well the difference between their narrow faces, that did not match the creature's large pink eyed gaze. 

    Another source even suggested that the Enfield monster may have been a wild ape, as such creatures had been reported in the Mississippi area as early as 1941. 

    But what do you think? Was the Enfield monster simply an ape or a kangaroo or was it something more mysterious or in McDaniel's words something from another world? Have you ever experienced anything like this? Have you ever seen an animal that could only be described as a monster or a being from another world? 

    Share your experience with me at tellyourtalehere@gmail.com and until next time watch out for mysterious kangaroos





Location: New Zealand

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