On the night of September 29, 1903, an unknown entity arrived in Van Meter, Iowa. It first appeared as a bright light, shining like a beacon atop the Mather and Gregg building, casting eerie shadows across Main Street. Just after one in the morning, U.G. Griffith, a farm equipment salesman returning home late from work, became the first to encounter the mysterious visitor. As he cautiously approached, the light suddenly leapt across to the roof of another building. Compelled by curiosity, Griffith followed—but just as quickly as it had appeared, the light vanished.
The following night, the visitor returned. Dr. Alcott, the town doctor, was startled awake by an intense beam scanning his room from outside his apartment, which sat behind his Main Street office. Grabbing his pistol, he rushed to the window and came face-to-face with a towering figure—an eight-foot-tall humanoid with bat-like wings. A blinding light radiated from a short, blunt horn protruding from its forehead. Fearing for his life, Alcott fired his gun, emptying the chamber into the monstrous figure. But the creature didn’t fall. It fled into the night, seemingly unharmed.
The terror escalated on October 1. As word of the strange intruder spread, anxiety gripped the town. Peter Dunn, the local bank manager, dismissed the reports as a prank. Determined to catch the culprit, he armed himself and spent the night in the bank. Around one o’clock, a strange, guttural gurgling echoed from outside. Peering through the window, Dunn was instantly blinded by the same searing light Alcott had described. He fired his weapon, but the creature vanished into the darkness.
Whatever had drawn the visitor to Van Meter, it was not yet finished. The next night, O.V. White, proprietor of the town hardware store, was jolted awake by a rasping, unnatural gurgle outside his upstairs window. Grabbing his gun, he spotted the creature perched atop a telephone pole across the street. He fired several rounds, but before he could react further, a brilliant flash and an overpowering stench forced him to retreat.
Another merchant, Sidney Gregg, heard the gunshots and rushed outside. He arrived just in time to see the monster crouched atop the telephone pole. Gregg described it as having a bird-like beak, four legs, and enormous bat-like wings. As he watched, the creature cocked its head, seemingly listening. Then, as a mail train thundered past, it suddenly leapt—not flying at first, but bounding forward in great kangaroo-like hops before finally taking to the sky.
By October 3, the town’s fear had turned to action. J.L. Pratt Jr., a supervisor at the local mine, was called in after workers reported disturbing noises reverberating from the mine shaft. According to Pratt, the sounds were “as if Satan and a regiment of imps were coming forth for battle.” Moments later, a hulking, bat-like humanoid emerged from the darkness, blasting him with its blinding light and filling the air with its nauseating stench. But Pratt wasn’t the only witness—another creature, identical in form but slightly smaller, followed close behind. The two beings rushed past Pratt and soared into the sky.
Determined to end the nightmare, Pratt and his miners armed themselves and staked out the mine, their weapons at the ready. As dawn broke, the creatures reappeared—and the men opened fire. A hail of bullets tore through the air, but to their horror, the shots had no effect. The winged beings retreated, vanishing into the depths of the mine. Wasting no time, Pratt and his men sealed the entrance, entombing whatever lay within. The Van Meter Visitor and its companion were never seen again.
What are we to make of the Van Meter Visitor? The witnesses were among the town’s most prominent citizens—their testimonies detailed, consistent, and corroborated. The descriptions were so vivid that misidentification seems unlikely. Likewise, staging such an elaborate hoax would have been nearly impossible—unless, of course, someone had access to an eight-foot, bulletproof bat suit equipped with a high-powered spotlight.
That leaves two possibilities. The first, and most mundane, is that the entire story was fabricated. But if so, why? Van Meter was a mining town, though its coal reserves had recently dwindled. Could the tale have been concocted to attract attention and breathe life into the struggling community? The story certainly made headlines. Or was it nothing more than a prank that spiraled out of control?
The other, far more unsettling possibility is that the story was true. If so, what exactly visited Van Meter in the fall of 1903? Winged humanoids appear throughout cryptid lore—but what of its blinding light? Its imperviousness to bullets? Its grotesque, unearthly stench? Was it a relic of a forgotten age? A being not of this world? Or something stranger still—something beyond our understanding, slipping through the cracks of reality before vanishing into the abyss once more?
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed western horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy as well as other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
