The first tweet does seem to be from the actual Secretary of State of Kentucky, who is a Republican. Not sure if he´s being sarcastic towards Democrats or Trump supporters? Many on X takes his tweet as confirmation that people in the Appalachian cultural region really are just as stupid as everyone assumes!
I always thought that the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter was the "best" paranormal/alien encounter on record, I mean, how dafuq do you explain *that* incident? However, it seems that there is a natural explanation. And yes, it was the darn owls all along!
Can you tell me more about natural explanations proposed for the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter?
Yes — the Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter (1955, Kentucky) is one of the most famous and sensational UFO/“alien” cases in U.S. history. A rural family claimed their farmhouse was under siege for hours by small glowing creatures. But despite the dramatic story, natural explanations have been proposed that offer a grounded alternative to extraterrestrial visitors.
Here’s a breakdown of those natural explanations:
This is the most widely accepted skeptical explanation.
Great horned owls are large, territorial, and active at dusk and night — the same time as the encounter.
They have large, glowing eyes (due to eye-shine when light reflects off the retina) and feather tufts that can look like ears or horns.
Their silent flight and sudden swooping could appear as “creatures” dropping from the roof or trees.
They're known to be aggressive if defending a nest.
The witnesses described creatures that were about 3 to 4 feet tall, with clawed hands and pointed ears — matching owl proportions when seen in poor lighting and from a distance.
🔎 Supporting clues:
One of the “aliens” was said to float down from a tree — just like an owl gliding silently.
Witnesses shot at the creatures but found no blood or bodies — owls would likely flee or be missed in darkness.
Earlier that evening, witnesses saw a bright green object streak across the sky.
This was likely a meteor or fireball, which are very common in summer (especially during the Perseid meteor shower in August).
A brilliant meteor might easily be interpreted as a “craft landing” if someone is primed to expect something extraordinary.
The appearance of the light could have triggered the family’s fear response, causing them to interpret later ambiguous events (sounds, shadows, animal noises) as part of an invasion.
The encounter happened in an isolated, rural setting involving a large extended family — around 11 people. The group dynamics may have influenced the experience.
Fear, excitement, and suggestion can spread quickly in tight-knit groups, especially under stress.
Multiple people seeing glimpses of movement in the dark can lead to shared misperceptions.
Firing guns, hearing strange noises, and staying awake for hours all increase emotional arousal and memory distortion.
The area around the farmhouse had dense trees, open fields, and darkness — prime for pareidolia (seeing shapes in shadows).
The family used kerosene lamps and flashlights, which cause harsh light/shadow contrast and can create illusions in rural nighttime settings.
The family fired at the “creatures” with rifles and shotguns for hours.
No blood, tracks, or bodies were ever found.
Investigators (including military police and local sheriff’s deputies) found no physical evidence of a battle.
This suggests the targets may not have been real or were animals that escaped unharmed.
This is the least supported theory, but it’s been floated:
Some skeptics suggest it was a hoax for attention or media coverage.
But the Sutton family actively avoided publicity and even refused money offers later, making a hoax unlikely.
Most researchers today, even skeptical ones, believe the family sincerely believed what they experienced — even if they were mistaken.
| Proposed Cause | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Great horned owls | Glowing eyes, silent flight, aggressive behavior explain "aliens" |
| Meteor/fireball | Green streak in sky seen as spaceship |
| Psychological dynamics | Group suggestion and fear amplifying misperceptions |
| Environmental misreads | Low light, flashlight shadows, pareidolia in rural setting |
| No physical evidence | Suggests no actual physical creatures were present |
| Hoax theory | Unlikely due to family’s avoidance of attention |
The Kelly–Hopkinsville case is a fascinating example of how a mix of natural events, misperceptions, and group psychology can create a seemingly supernatural experience — one that has persisted in public memory for decades.
Would you like a comparison between this case and the later 1977 Broad Haven school UFO sighting in Wales (also with multiple witnesses)?
Yes — monkeys and raccoons have both been proposed as natural explanations for the Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter, though these theories are much less supported than the owl explanation. Here's how they factor in:
Claim: The "aliens" were escaped or released monkeys, possibly with silver paint on them (to account for the glowing or metallic look).
Origin: This idea may have originated as a rumor or joke in the years after the event — possibly fueled by public fascination with UFOs and “space monkeys” in the early space race era.
Problems with the theory:
No evidence of missing monkeys in the area.
No confirmed reports of exotic animal owners in rural Kentucky with monkeys.
Monkeys are diurnal (active during the day), not likely to be out at night.
If 11 people fired guns at them, it’s likely one would have been killed or injured, but no bodies or blood were found.
The theory of silver-painted monkeys is almost certainly apocryphal or satirical — it’s never been supported by direct investigation.
Status: Considered folklore or satire, not a serious explanation by most researchers.
Claim: The witnesses saw raccoons moving around the farm — possibly on rooftops, trees, or approaching the house.
Support for the theory:
Raccoons are nocturnal and curious, and they often investigate human settlements.
Their glowing eyes (from tapetum lucidum reflection) can appear bright in flashlight beams.
They move in unusual or unpredictable ways, and from a distance or in low light, could be mistaken for something more exotic.
Raccoons sometimes stand on hind legs to look around, which might be interpreted as a humanoid figure.
Problems:
The creatures were described as 3–4 feet tall, much larger than raccoons.
Witnesses said the beings had large ears or “horns”, a feature raccoons don’t possess.
The Sutton family were familiar with local wildlife, so it’s unclear why they’d misidentify a raccoon as something alien.
Status: Some skeptics still mention it as a partial contributor, but raccoons alone likely don’t explain the entire case.
| Theory | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Owls | Fits size, behavior, glowing eyes, night activity | No direct sighting confirmed, but plausible |
| Raccoons | Fits glowing eyes and movement | Size too small, unlikely to provoke such fear |
| Monkeys | Explains humanoid appearance (if true) | No evidence; likely urban legend or satire |
In conclusion:
Monkeys have been proposed, but the idea is usually dismissed as a myth or joke.
Raccoons are more plausible but don’t account for all the reported features.
The owl hypothesis remains the most consistent with the physical and behavioral descriptions — especially when combined with environmental factors and human psychology.
Would you like links or excerpts from skeptical investigations (e.g. from Joe Nickell or the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry)?
Trump and Musk are apparently going to the United States Bullion Depository ("Fort Knox") to see if the gold is still there. LOL. Of course it is, but it´s apparently an old conspiracy theory that the gold is gone. Per Wikipedia:
>>>For security reasons, visitors are not allowed inside the depository grounds. There have been only three reported occasions when guests outside the Treasury Department have made inspection tours of the vault.
>>>The first was by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1943. A second inspection was made by members of the United States Congress and the news media on September 23, 1974, led by the Director of the United States Mint, Mary Brooks. The tour was in response to a conspiracy theory, circulated by Peter Beter that elites had secretly removed the gold in the depository and that the vaults were empty.
>>>The third inspection tour was on August 21, 2017, when Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell visited with a small group of officials and staff, including Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin. According to a tweet by Mnuchin, and an internal email by Chief of the U.S. Mint Police Dennis O'Connor, he was the first Treasury Secretary to visit the depository since John Wesley Snyder in 1948.
In other words: Trump and Musk are going to Fort Knox as a nod to QAnon-style conspiracy theorists!
Donald Trump: "We´re going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is still there"
"Expedition Dogman" (available at YouTube) is supposedly a "cryptid hunters documentary", but the cliffhanger makes me suspect that it´s really fiction. Indeed, that cliffhanger (about two minutes long) is the only good thing about the entire production, which is otherwise even more dragging than the average episode of MonsterQuest!
The plot? A team of intrepid cryptid hunters get in touch with one Kyle, a pseudonymous witness never shown (except with his face blurred out) in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. Kyle had an encounter with a werewolf-like creature in the woods, the famed Dogman (a very modern cryptid). The team investigates the area. Several strange things do happen...but all of them off the camera. At one point, a mysterious white figure supposedly walks right across the desolate road on which the team´s car is driving. Weirdly, the team-members react by claiming that there is a "killer bee" inside the car and then starts giggling very loudly?!
One of the hunters supposedly gets a glimpse of the Dogman, but the description is very vague. Large, grey and with some kind of face. OK, sure, no such creature seems to exist in the Appalachians.
What about the cliffhanger? Well, it turns out that Kyle and his family had a nocturnal visitation, not from a Dogman, but from an antlered Skinwalker, a creature *even more dangerous* (and even less likely) than an upright-walking wolfie. Unless demons are real. And show up on cue from Stash Movies. Which I kind of doubt...
This is a somewhat
peculiar documentary about a werewolf-like creature said to stalk eastern Kentucky.
It´s popularly known as Bearilla (think bear and gorilla…or is it Godzilla?)
and seems to have appeared in the Appalachians out of the blue during the 1970´s.
Some locals claim to have seen it up front, and the local cryptozoologist Ron
Coffey is a true believer in its existence, even organizing a little expedition
for the benefit of an eye-witness (and the TV crew).
The
creature is described as large, either black or silvery, walking on its hind
legs, having a dog-like snout and pointed ears. It´s supposedly behind cattle
killings and have even attacked and killed humans (although this is
unconfirmed). Obviously, no “real” creature looks like this, although Coffey
likes to think that it could be a bear-dog or amphicyonid, a carnivoran that
went extinct 5 million years ago according to modern science. Werewolf folklore
is a more likely explanation, but a local zoologist believes that people are
simply misidentifying black bears. The reason? The black bear, long extinct in
Kentucky, started to return during the 1970´s, exactly when people started to report
Bearillas in the woods…
Bears can stand
or walk on their hind legs, and their front legs then look like long “arms”. They
also have snouts and (in this case) black fur. Young bears in particular look strangely
“humanoid”. Of course, this explanation tacitly assumes that many of the
reports are exaggerated or even hoaxes, since Bearilla can apparently run
across highways on its hind legs, is sometimes seen in broad daylight and (as
already mentioned) often has a silvery coat. DNA tests of cows supposedly
killed by Bearilla shows canine DNA, consistent with feral dogs.
The
documentary features non-token skeptics, which is unusual for a
paranormal-themed production, and it´s obvious that many locals in the area don´t
really believe in the creature. I also veer towards the misidentified bear
explanation, perhaps in conjunction with huge quantities of Appalachian
moonshine, but sure, you never really know what may lurk out there…
The Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter is one of the most famous, and also one of the most bizarre, UFO cases. It´s up there with the Flatwoods Monster!
It also seems to lack an obvious natural explanation...unless you postulate that 11 people suffered from exactly the same form of mass hysteria for hours after misidentifying completely normal owls. Or escaped monkeys from a Gypsy circus?
Nothing´s impossible on *this* crazy planet, I suppose, but somehow it´s easier to believe that the fairies were behind this one!
I heard about Kelly-Hopkinsville already as a kid, as it is mentioned in Hilary Evans´ classical little book "UFOs: The Greatest Mystery". And here we are, decades later, but not any wiser...
The Dogman is a bizarre werewolf-like creature situated in the greyzone between flesh-and-blood cryptozoology and demonology. It´s not clear from this YouTube documentary (featuring Matt from Mattsquatch) what the enthusiasts really believe it to be!
It´s not even clear whether the eye-witnesses are phenomenologically seeing the same thing, or whether the cryptid-hunters have decided to interpret certain stories which are really very different as "Dogmen".
That being said, if ghost stories and emerging folklore is your thing, this production might be of some interest. Cultic tulpas, government-created chimaeras, imaginary friends of children...or something even scarier? Watch and decide for yourself!
I never heard of Dimoo before, but I suppose it´s good to know that COVID lockdowns or Great Proletarian Cultural Revolutions isn´t the only crazy game in Chinatown...
Or any other town, for that matter.
Chinese consumer group urges boycott of KFC over toy give away
"Edge of Tomorrow" is a peculiar science fiction film from 2014 starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. The whole thing starts off as borderline comedy, as the main character, the US "media officer" William Cage (a tenderfoot with no military training whatsoever) is forced to join a misfit squad of robot-clad soldiers during an attempted invasion of France (which is held by bizarre aliens from another world). The invasion fails miserably, as the aliens have paranormal abilities. They can both anticipate the future and somehow change the past. Cage gets the same supernatural powers as he accidentally comes in touch with the blue blood of an "Alpha" alien. This makes the film more and more annoying (and more confused), as Cage and Rita Vrataski (a female combat veteran) are transported back in time, over and over again, to relive exactly the same events...until they can find a way to change the timeline (and save planet Earth).
The plot isn´t entirely logical even apart from the constant bungy jumps through time and space, and I got the feeling that the script writer "jumped the shark" (or was it an alien) more than once. But sure, if you´re much younger than me and like comics or videogames, this might be just what you were looking for!
The cultural references in "Edge of Tomorrow" are uber-obvious, with the war against the aliens having strong resemblances to World War II, most specifically D-Day. Emily Blunt´s character is said to be a war hero from Verdun, a reference to the first world war. There are also obvious similarities to other scyfy flicks, such as "Starship Troopers". The aliens (called Mimics for unclear reasons) look like hybrids between the Arachnids in "Starship Troopers" and the Sentinels in "The Matrix". The Louvre Pyramid in Paris was popularized by "The Da Vinci Code". Here, it houses the alien super-brain, rather than a tomb of Mary Magdalene. Speaking of which, the US media apparently anoited Vrataski some kind of feminist icon, since she is the effective leader and trainer of the incompetent Cage. Draft our daughters, or what?
The funniest part of the film was actually the very beginning, where the brutal war in Europe between the space invaders and human forces is treated as just another infotainment thing by US news media. I can believe that!
Overall, I can´t say I was *that* thrilled by "Edge of Tomorrow", but it´s certainly a film I won´t forget any time soon, LOL.
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| Rosas. Not popular in Kentucky! |
