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Stories of Flying Humanoids have been around for an extremely long time, but we have to start somewhere, so I’ve chosen just a few of the more well-known cases, starting from the middle of the 19th Century. But, of course, if you use Google you'll find a great many more.
1843
This account comes from Quebec, Canada, and is dated as having been the 3rd October. A farmer was said to have seen 3 men flying over Warwick. They were described as being completely white in colour and were flying beneath an unidentified craft. It was raining when the farmer, working in the fields, heard a rumbling sound which he ignored at first. After a while the skies cleared and he looked up to see these men, who appeared to be quite stationary, at about tree-top level. After which they simply drifted out of sight.
1877
On 15th May, 1877, what was described as a flying humanoid was seen in Aldershot, Hampshire, UK. It was wearing tight-fitting clothes and a shiny helmet. Flying over the heads of 2 soldiers on sentry duty they fired on it, but to no effect. Allegedly the humanoid stunned both of them with what they described as blue fire!
Also in 1877, this time on 12th July, a small human-like figure was seen in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. A middle-aged man saw it walking down the road with a small shiny object in its right hand. It, too, was wearing a helmet which shone extremely brightly. Suddenly it put its hands on the front of its belt and a rucksack-like object on its back began to make a sound similar to an electric drill. With that it rose into the air and flew off towards some trees.
One of the most famous sightings of 1877 was on 18th September in Brooklyn, New York. In a letter to the New York Sun a Mr W.H. Smith said that he had seen an entity that was “a winged humanoid form.” It was flying over Brooklyn, towards the New Jersey coast at around 1,000 feet, and resembled a male with bat-like wings. Then, around 3 years later, there came many reports of a very similar creature flying over Coney Island. This was also reported as being like a man with bat-like wings, and this time the witnesses also described it as having a very stern, or evil, look on its face. The New York Times described the face as having a “cruel and determined expression.” In my library I have John Keel’s book The Mothman Prophecies, and in it he tells the tale of a Man In Black often being seen in Brooklyn back in 1877. He was seen by sunbathers, in plain sight, at an approximate height of 1,000 feet, and he had enormous bat wings.
1880
According to the Louisville Courier-journal (dated 6th August, 1880) a flying humanoid was seen on 29th July, 1880. It has some kind of mechanical device attached to its body. Could this have been some type of early flier? I rather doubt that.
1897
The 14th April, 1897, saw what was defined as something that “resembled the body of a huge man swimming through the air with an electric light on his back.” It was seen during the evening, over Mount Vernon, Illinois, by at least 100 people including the Mayor of Mount Vernon, a Mr B.C. Wells.
1905
During several days in June, 1905, around 240 people reported seeing the same apparition in Voltana, Spain. They consistently stated that they had seen a woman flying through the air. She was dressed in white and had no wings of any type. Occasionally she flew against the wind, and one person said she had been singing as she flew through the sky. This is very reminiscent of an angel, so perhaps it was some sort of religious experience.
1908
A book published in 1947, by the Russian writer V.K. Arsenyev, contained a report of what he had witnessed back on 11th July, 1908 in the Sikhote Mountains near Vladivostok. While out walking with his dog, on a foggy day, he saw what seemed to be a man’s footprint, and heard something large crashing about in nearby bushes. His dog bristled and snarled, but the creature stopped and stood immobile. After a few minutes Arsenyev threw a stone at whatever was hiding in the bushes, and was taken aback by what happened next. He heard the sound of beating wings, and something large and black came out of the fog and flew over the river. In less than a flash it disappeared in the dense fog, which again terrified his dog. Later, he asked the local people about what he’d seen, and they replied with a tale about a man who could fly. They said that hunters often saw such footprints, and these appeared to suddenly vanish in such a way that could only be made sense of if the “creature” landed on the ground and then took off again into the air.
1915
With young girls being what they are I’m not convinced by this next account. But I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say that, in Portugal, in 1915, numerous young girls said that they’d seen a headless angel-like entity that hovered in the air.
1922
From the US Air Force files comes a report from Nebraska in 1922. A Mr William S. Lamb claimed to have seen an 8 foot tall winged entity flying like a plane. It then landed in a field, and walked off into a forest. Mr Lamb tried to follow its giant footprints but lost it in heavy snow and thick forest. The very fact that it comes from the US Air Force files does tend to show that at one time they took such reports seriously.
1936
During the winter of 1936, in the Pavlodar area of Kazakhstan, a girl aged 15 reported seeing a flying man as she walked to school one morning. She described him as being of medium height, covered in overall-like black clothes, with an oval object, like a rucksack, on his back. He was also wearing a helmet that had a black surface where the face should have been, and she heard a rumbling sound. Becoming frightened she saw that he had changed direction as was now approaching her, until he reached about 130 feet away from her. As this point she turned around to search for somewhere to hide, but was surrounded by snow with nowhere to go. When she looked back at the figure it was only to find that he had completely disappeared.
1938
This report comes from 1938 when 2 siblings, a girl aged about 9, and a boy about 6½, had a sighting in Silver City, New Mexico. They were playing in the yard with 2 other friends at twilight, just before any lights normally go on, when they chanced to look skyward. What they saw was a flying figure dressed in grey, or at least he seemed to be all grey, who was gliding at treetop level. The girl’s most outstanding memory was that he appeared to be wearing a wide belt that had points sticking out of it, and a Flash Gordon type of cap.
Many years later the sister told her husband about this strange affair and wondered if, in fact, it had been a dream. So she telephoned her brother to ask for his memories of the event, and after saying that she thought she’d seen a flying man all those years ago, he proceeded to relate the whole story in great detail without any further prompting from her.
1948
Some of the most written about flying humanoid sightings seem to be the ones from 1948 that occurred in Chehalis and Longview, Washington State, USA.
On 6th January, 1948, in Chehalis, a Mrs Zaikowski reported having seen a man, with long silver wings attached to his back via a strap fastened over his shoulders. He was flying over her barn about 200 feet above the ground and disappeared in a southerly direction. She added that he made a “sizzling and whizzing” sound as he gained height, his wings seemed to retract as his rapidly soared upwards, then extend as he changed direction. He flew in an upright position and seemed to control the wings with the strap across his chest. Apart from that, the wings did not flap or rotate, and she could see no other mechanical aids on him. She added that she had good view of him, as did some school children who had been with her. There is a theory that what she saw was one of the original test flights for what, today, we call hang-gliders. However, it would seem that these had not been invented at that time as it wasn’t until the early 1960s that the first was developed and tested. Mrs Zaikowski also said that 5 other people who lived in Chehalis had told her of similar sightings.
Then, on 9th April, 1948, a Mrs Johnson said she had seen 3 flying men above the town of Longview. Mrs Johnson described them as wearing dark dull clothing, and circling the town at an altitude of approximately 250 feet. They were travelling at a medium speed and seemed to have something on their suits that resembled a gun. The noise they made was like aeroplane engines although much less loud. She added that they were looking around and seemed to be wearing helmets, their feet were hanging down, but she was unable to see their arms. At the time Mrs Johnson was working at a laundry and said that the janitor, a Mr Pittman, had also seen the flying men. However, he denied it saying that what he saw were 3 planes. Whether he really did see planes, or was afraid of more ridicule, which his friends were apparently giving him when he related the story, is open to question. But, interestingly, a young boy also came forward to say that he, too, had seen the flying men.
1950s
Taking an evening walk along the beach by their home at Pelotas, Brazil, in the early 1950s, a couple were startled to see what they at first thought were 2 fast-moving, enormous birds, flying around 30 feet above the ground. The “birds” landed, and then, on closer inspection it became clear that these were, in fact, 2 flying humanoids that were approximately 6 feet tall. Appearing to realise that they were being watched the humanoids crouched down in an effort to hide themselves; after which they flew away. The couple watching them were, for some reason, convinced that the 2 humanoids may have been mates of some kind. And, while the husband of this couple wanted to stay and investigate further, the wife persuaded him to rapidly leave.
1952
In 1952, at Camp Okubo, near Kyoto, Japan, a US Air Force Private reported hearing a loud flapping noise, and then seeing an enormous winged man descending towards him while he was on guard duty one night. It then proceeded to hover above him and stare attentively in his direction. It was described as being around 7 feet tall, with a wingspan of also 7 feet, and a man’s body. In a state of panic the soldier started to fire his gun at the creature, but when he actually looked at where it had been the thing has simply disappeared. The soldier reported the event to his sergeant, not really expecting to be believed. But, the sergeant replied that another guard had undergone a very similar occurrence the year before.
1953
From Houston, Texas, comes a tale from one hot summer night in 1953. On 18th June, it appears that 3 people were out on their front porch when they saw a winged entity land in a nearby tree. What they saw was the figure of a man with bat-like wings. It was dressed in what looked like a black paratrooper costume with knee length boots and, possibly, a cape. One of the witnesses said that it was also surrounded by a halo of light. In some reports this halo is described as being yellow, whilst in other reports it’s a dim grey light. The light apparently faded away at about the same time that the entity vanished. However, immediately after its disappearance they heard a loud swooshing noise and a rocket-shaped object shot skywards and vanished along the north-eastern horizon. Again the reports differ; some say that it was seen for only about half a minute, while others state that it was on the tree for as long as 15 minutes. In the years since then he has become known as the Houston Batman.
1954
The Wichita Evening Eagle, on 8th September 1954, printed a small report from Coldwater, Kansas. It said that a 12 year old farm boy had seen a dark complexioned little man, with a pointed nose and ears, glide towards a nearby, hovering, UFO. It sounds more like a young lad seeing one of the faerie people to me!
1956
One autumn afternoon in 1956, in Falls City, Nebraska, a man saw a winged man flying around 15 feet above the ground. He described the wings as being of shiny aluminium with multi-coloured lights running along their underside. They had a wingspan of 15 feet and seemed to be controlled by dials on a panel fixed to his chest. He also had some type of harness attached to his shoulders that looked like gleaming metal. This flying man was also said to have leathery wrinkled skin, large watery blue eyes, and a face that was “very frightening, almost demonic.” The witness maintained that he was paralyzed as the creature flew over him. But it isn’t stated if, perhaps, the witness had been paralyzed by his own fear of what he was seeing.
This, of course, isn’t the first time that witnesses to flying humanoids have described their faces as being demonic, or evil, looking.
1969
During the Vietnam War, one summer evening in 1969, in Da Nang, which is a port city on the south central coast of Vietnam, 3 members of the Marine Corps were sitting on top of a bunker when they suddenly looked skyward and were shocked by what they saw. Approaching them was the figure of a naked woman, with bat-like wings. She was completely black in colour and yet she glowed with a greenish light. This glow radiated out from her to encompass everything around her. Her arms had hands with fingers, but they also had skin covering them that made them into wings, although they didn’t appear to contain any bones because they were so bat-like. At first they heard no sound, even when she was only about 7 feet above them. Then, when she was around 10 feet away from them, and leaving, they began to hear the sound of her wings flapping. They estimated that the total time of their sighting would have been between 3 and 4 minutes.
I think, perhaps, that particular case should be approached with care. It might well have been completely true, but it’s worth remembering that the troops who took part in the dreadful Vietnam War were, for a great of the time, high on drugs. So, this could have been a drug induced hallucination. But, naturally, I don’t want to malign the reputation of any of the witnesses, so I just put this idea forward for consideration.
1992
In 1992, on 21st March, a flying humanoid was seen floating at a low altitude next to the Sun Pyramid during the celebration of the equinox at Tehotihuacán. This caused quite a stir to the extent that it interrupted the ceremony. It was described as being around 6 feet tall with wings. Being Mexico, many people suggested that it was Quetzalcoatl reappearing, and thus confirming the ancient prophecies.
1996
The summer of 1996 brought a report from a Mr William Silverstone that he had seen the shadow of a human figure above the swimming pool he was using. He only saw it briefly but said that it was a man in a tight fitting yellow suit, wearing a helmet. Its arms were stretched out and it was flying at an altitude of around 150 feet. Another family also reported seeing it, making a total of 7 witnesses in total. They also reported that they hadn’t seen any kind of mechanical device helping it to fly.
2000
Salvador Guerrero, a long time UFO watcher, who had taken many videos, began to see very odd-looking enormous, and rather disfigured, people flying around in a most disturbing motion. In March 2000, while sky-watching on the roof of his home in Colonia Agricola Oriental, Mexico, he saw what at first he took to be a UFO. However, he then realised that what he was seeing was a humanoid, with arms and legs. It remained unmoving for quite a few minutes while slowly spinning with arms and legs stretched out. Then, in December 2000, together with another man, he videotaped another flying man in the same place.
This event began a spate of yet more sightings along with videos. One report went back to February of 2000, and there was another from July 2000. In these cases the people who made the sightings, and took the videos, were all acquainted with each other. However, in October 2000, a newspaper carried a report that a commercial airline pilot, and his co-pilot, had seen a small flying man that was wearing a backpack of some type.
Meanwhile, in the city of Koniewo, in northern Poland, Europe, 2 witnesses reported seeing a flying entity during the late autumn of 2000. The 2 were cycling home late one moonlit night when they saw a figure flying above the tops of the trees by the roadside. One of the witnesses was so frightened that he ran away into the forest, while the other witness stopped to look. He said the figure was flying on its side, with its face towards them. It was about 6 feet tall, grey in colour, and had long hair, but there was no sign of any mechanical device to aid its flight. The sighting lasted for more than a minute, and was accompanied by loud rumbling sounds which began to fade only to start again. The witness who had stopped to watch said the whole experience had been terrifying, and it still terrified him years later.
2004
In the very early morning of 17th January, 2004, a police officer in Guadalupe, Mexico, reported that he had been attacked by a flying humanoid. Whilst in his patrol car an entity that he first saw as being like a black form, plummeting and flying swiftly, had dropped out of some trees and persistently flew into his windscreen. On seeing the thing more clearly he described the humanoid as resembling a witch that was wearing a hood because it seemed to be a woman, with black hair, in a black dress. He also noticed that the woman had no eyelids, and every part of her eyes were black. In a state of some panic he reversed the car as the being attempted to catch hold of him through the glass of the broken windscreen. He radioed for backup, but lost control of the car at which point he crashed into a wall and lost consciousness. Later, after undergoing medical tests he was pronounced to be healthy, although in deep shock, but with no sign of alcohol or drugs in his system. After the police officer had made known his sighting at least one, and some say 3, other police officers came forward. They reported that they had seen the same figure 3 days earlier.
2005
Witnesses in the town of Ljubovija, Serbia, in 2005, reported seeing a cloaked figure flying as though it had an invisible engine on its back. And it was frequently changing direction.
Also in 2005, on 17th June, a man in Unidad Habitacional Lomas de Platero, Mexico City, said that he had seen, and taken a video of, a tall, dark, humanoid flying above a building and looking at him with a threatening expression. Apparently, it had a belt-like device that gave off a light red glow.
2006
There seem to have been a lot of reports of flying humanoids from Mexico in recent years. And, I do wonder if the sightings, rather than being real humanoids, are due to something within their culture as to how they perceive these strange sightings. So, back to Mexico for the next report.
On 17th May, 2006, a flying humanoid was caught on video as it hovered over the mountains near Nuevo Leon city. It was filmed by members of a UFO club, and was said to be wearing a cape. This, perhaps naturally, led to claims that it was a witch or a wizard.
Then, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, another figure was seen in late September, 2006. A man and his son reported having seen a 6 foot tall flying man. Apparently, it had wings, and its face was described by them as being hideous, and full of sharp teeth. They added that it screamed very loudly when it almost hit the truck that the father was driving.
2007
In 2007, in the village of Gemeni, Romania, at least 20 witnesses said that they had seen a blue-suited entity. The local police spoke to people of all ages, who were reliable witnesses, in the village, and they all said that they had seen this figure. It flew over their houses and, according to one witness it looked like Superman. It was said to be flying slowing around 100 yards above the ground in an upright position.
On the other side of the world, in San Antonio, in November 2007, a man was shown on a local news station stating that he had met a gigantic winged humanoid on the city’s Southside one evening.
2008
Once again from Mexico, there is a video that was reportedly taken on 28th February, 2008. It was filmed by a law school graduate, and taken in the Moctezuma area of Mexico City, quite near to the Mexico City International Airport, just before 07:00 am in the morning. It purports to show an unidentified object resembling a flying humanoid. The first person to notice this figure was the nephew of the videographer, who was on his way to middle school. After waking his uncle they both watched the entity through a pair of binoculars. They related that the being resembled an astronaut, and added that it was facing them and appeared to be scrutinizing its environment.
2009
In April 2009, near the local airport in San Antonio, Texas, a lady standing outside her home looked up to see what she thought was a large dark winged man flying through the air. Managing to get her husband and son to also take a look at it they all fully agreed that what they were seeing was, in fact, a man-bat. Eventually the figure disappeared from view.
The last report I’ll make mention of comes from another fantastic article by Nick Redfern, which you can read in full here:
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2011/09/fantastic-flying-folk/
Nick tells us of a sighting, in the middle of one Sunday morning, on 8th February, 2009, at one of his favourite places; Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, UK. Apparently, 5 people had seen a flying man flying over and around the woods there without any mechanical aid. However, one witness said that he’d seen the figure, from his home, and it was wearing a jet pack.
Flying Humanoids versus Real Human Fliers
It is possible that some of the modern reports can be explained by real human beings that are experimenting with ways to fly without very much in the way of mechanical aid. And, of course, I doubt that we will ever be able to fly totally unaided! So here is some information about a few of the flying aids that have been invented:
Back in the 1960s Bell Aerosystems developed the Rocket Belt, and the Jet Belt, for use by the US military. However, being fuelled with liquid hydrogen peroxide, they could only fly for less than half a minute, and cover a distance of around 820 feet. You can read about the Rocket Belt here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Rocket_Belt#Operating_principle
In late October 2000, NASA successfully flew a prototype personal flight unit propelled by 2 covered rotors. It was called the SoloTrek Exo-skeletor Flying Vehicle (XFV), and allowed a pilot to stand upright while having fans, 3 feet in diameter, above his head. The aim was to fly it for over an hour, fuelled by petrol, and attain a speed of 80 mph. But, on the test flights it was tethered to the ground, and in a later test one tether tangled up with the fans which caused it to crash. You can read about this one here:
http://unrealaircraft.com/qbranch/solotrek_xfv.php
Despite all of that, there have recently been a few successful flights in which humans have flown using experimental flying aids. Some of these are:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566434/Pictured-Rocketman-flies-Alps-jet-pack-strapped-back.html
15 May 2008
Rocketman flies over Alps with jet-pack strapped to his back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TzQ0MgKHpc
September 24, 2008
Swiss Jet Man Fusion Man - Yves Rossy Jetman Flying - Jet-man: Human Powered Flight
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-jet-pack-soaring-california.html
23 Jun 2011
Jet-pack man soaring above California waters
http://cncworld.tv/news/v_show/18495_How_to_fly_through_a_mountain.shtml
26 Sep 2011
How to fly through a mountain
One of the most interesting things that comes across to me, in many of these reports, is that the creature seen is so often described as being of the same height that their wings are in the width of the span. Of course I know nothing about aeronautics and what size of wingspan would be needed to keep any given height/weight airborne. But, I have a sneaking suspicion that what we see about this, in some of the flying humanoid reports, might be relevant.
Are the reports hoaxes, misidentifications, time travellers, aliens, or something completely different? I’ll let you decide when, and if, you’ve examined the evidence.