Cryptid Encounters: The Fresno Nightcrawler Mystery

Have you ever caught a glimpse of something in the night that you couldn't explain? This might be the episode that sheds some light on those dark corners of curiosity. Slink into the shadows with me as we track the enigmatic Fresno Nightcrawler, a cryptid shrouded in mystery since it first walked into the public eye on a grainy surveillance tape back in 2007. We sift through the chilling accounts and scrutinize various theories that attempt to unmask this headless, armless enigma. Could it be an alien, a new earthly species, or the product of a clever hoax? The debate rages on, with neither skeptics nor believers ready to back down from their entrenched positions. 

As the dark curtain descends on our journey into the bizarre, I extend a wholehearted thanks to you, the listeners, for sharing your own chilling tales and keeping the conversation alive, from supernatural scares to the downright peculiar. Remember to keep those emails coming with stories that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and suggestions that might just become the focus of future episodes. Celebrate the uniqueness within you, protect your individuality, and don't trust anyone. Until next time, keep your eyes open and your mind questioning.

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Chapters

• 1:43 The Mystery of Fresno Nightcrawler
• 16:29 Dark Crossroads Podcast's Farewell Message

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:43

Armadillos. Welcome to Dark Crossroads podcast hosted by Roxanne Fletcher. This is your stop for all things, true, crime and paranormal, from the infamous story of the New Bedford Highway Killer to the chilling tale of the Black-Eyed Children, dark Crossroads podcast is a truly deep dive into the stories that frighten and fascinate you. All links to the show will be provided in this episode's description, and don't forget to let us know what you think of today's episode. Wherever you listen to podcasts In the dark of the night, our minds will play tricks on us.

Speaker 1: 2:48

The mind will make you think that you see things that are not actually there. Your mind may have begun to mess with you as it tries to make sense of the darkness surrounding you. Maybe if you weren't alone and you told somebody, they might actually tell you. It's just your imagination, but is it actually? What if it was on video? Or perhaps there's some actual evidence proving that you did see something? Would you believe it more once you saw the evidence?

Speaker 1: 3:13

On one night in Fresno, california, in 2007, a man, who only addressed himself as Jose, had checked his surveillance cameras after a long night. When he did so, the cameras captured a video, a video of a white creature which looked as if it was a pair of pants a pair of haunted ghost pants as it had no arms and no head. The video displayed a large creature that ran across the front yard of his house. When he finished watching the surveillance video, he was horrified by what he had just seen. He decided to post a video in hopes of receiving some kind of explanation for the bizarre creature he had just seen. Unfortunately, no one could come up with a proper explanation for this sighting. Again in 2011, another video was captured of these quote unquote ghost pants. The same figure caught in the previous video from 2007 was found walking around Yosemite Lakes Park. But this one was not alone. It seemed to have been followed by a nightcrawler much smaller than it, possibly its baby. The video was much longer this time, as a creature didn't seem to be in a rush like it had been in the first sighting.

Speaker 1: 4:29

In my personal opinion, this creature is one of the most intriguing and baffling cryptids that have ever been reported. Most people that have seen this cryptid on the videos state that it walks as if it is a daddy, long-legged spider with its legs creeping around. Once this video had come out, the Fresno Nightcrawler's popularity had skyrocketed. More and more sightings of the creature had been reported as it became more known to the world. Ever since this creature was discovered, it is now a very loved cryptid. This all around the world has started to create merchandise and artwork of these unknown creatures.

Speaker 1: 5:09

But is the Fresno Nightcrawler actually real? Many do seem to believe so, and those who don't claim it is simply a person with a sheet over its head along with slits that give it the height. But those who believe in this cryptid think otherwise. They say that its legs are simply way too long and slit way too high down the middle of its body for it to be a person. They also claim that the so-called sheet is way too secure to actually be, that, if it were, the sheet would have flown off the second it ran in the first video.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Whether or not the Fresno Nightcrawler is real, we may never know. Skeptics will continue to deny the claims, while believers will continue to attempt to prove its existence. It seems that everyone who stands with the idea of this creature being real stays strong with their opinion. But whatever you may think, it appears we may not know the truth of the Fresno Nightcrawler until it wants us to know, while there has been claims that they are a part of the Native American folklore in the region. This has been debunked. Some explanations that people have come up with, explaining that what this creature is besides a cryptid, is that it may be an alien or extraterrestrial being, maybe a new species, possibly a primate with short arms, a misidentified deer standing upright on its back legs, a pair of pants or a puppet on a wire, a bird walking like a crane, a person wearing big pants and walking on stilts, or a balloon tied to some sort of cloth with too remote control cars as the feet. Paranormal investigator Victor Chamaco believes the Fresno Nightcrawler could be an alien insectoid living in the shadows of our planet and coming out only at night time to avoid being seen. Another theory that goes along with this one is that the cryptid appears to be somewhat humanoid, with two legs and is often seen traveling in pairs. This has led some to speculate that the cryptid is extraterrestrial, while others have drawn connections between the Fresno Nightcrawler and Native American legends.

Speaker 1: 7:17

The full description of the Nightcrawler is that it appears to be relatively short, with most of their height being made up of their legs. As they possess an extremely small upper body. It is hard to find details in the upper body of the cryptid due to the poor quality of the video footage. It is an extremely thin, white humanoid with no discernible arms. A larger specimen appears to have webbing connected from each knee to the torso. The cryptids appear to have very short, thin and stilt-like feet with presumably no arms and long muscular legs. It is bipedal and walks in an odd manner with its backward bending knees.

Speaker 1: 7:59

Some have stated that the Fresno Nightcrawler is unique in the world of cryptid folklore, as you can trace the origins to a certain time and place, as opposed to myths that are older and been around longer, which are hundreds or thousands of years old and harder to trace. The strange sightings look something like Dr Seuss' pale green pants from his 1961 book what Was I Scared Of. But many insist that this Fresno Nightcrawler is far from fictional. To date, many have tried to debunk the Fresno Nightcrawler myth. The sci-fi show Fact or Faked also investigated the Fresno Nightcrawler myth in 2012, but were unable to determine if it was a hoax or not. Rinker reported that they concluded that faking this cryptid would be extremely difficult. But whether or not the Fresno Nightcrawler is a hoax, people, and especially locals, absolutely love this cryptid, laura Splotch, who is a Fresno artist, stated. She goes on to state it's unexplainable. A lot of people are drawn to the unexplainable, but I'd rather Fresno be known for the Nightcrawlers than some of the other stuff that we are known for.

Speaker 1: 9:16

Several attempts have been made to debunk the Fresno Nightcrawler sightings. One notable example of this is a video by YouTuber Captain Delusion. In his video, captain Delusion demonstrates how digital manipulation can create an effect that is similar to the Nightcrawler sightings, suggesting that the creature could be a product of just clever video editing. Despite these debunking attempts, the Fresno Nightcrawler continues to captivate and puzzle people around the world. Its mystery remains unsolved, keeping the debate alive in the interest in this unique cryptid as strong as ever. As we continue to seek answers about this cryptid, its presence in our cultural landscape serves as a reminder to us of the mysteries that still await discovery in the world around us.

Speaker 1: 10:05

The Fresno Nightcrawler continues to be a captivating enigma in the world of cryptids. Its unique appearance, mysterious origins and the debates surrounding its existence have made it a subject of ongoing fascination. Despite various theories and debunking attempts, the mystery of the Nightcrawler remains completely unsolved, keeping the intrigue alive. Whether it is an alien, a new species, a misidentified animal or just a clever hoax? The Fresno Nightcrawler has undoubtedly left a mark on pop culture in the field of cryptid research. As we continue to explore this mystery, one thing shall be certain the Fresno Nightcrawler will continue to captivate imaginations and fuel curiosity about the unknown. Paranormal. Researcher and radio host, victor Camacho, was the first person to look into the Nightcrawler story. He is a part of MUFON, which is the mutual UFO network. In the following clip that I am going to play is from Victor's MUFON presentation on the original sighting and interview that he had with Jose, who was the first eyewitness of the Fresno Nightcrawler.

Speaker 2: 11:37

Watch this video. And I just talked to the reporter and she wanted me to say that they were beautiful I mean extraterrestrials and I said, well, I can't say anything because I need to talk to the person who took the video. I can make my mind, you know, I need to have more facts about what's happening. So they called this person that took the video. He was so scared that said, yes, I go to the TV station and talk to you. So we were waiting for about two hours to this guy to appear in the TV station and finally I have the chance to talk to him. He was really nervous, he was scared, he didn't want to his face were recording the video. So he just told me that Sunday night, sunday night, he was sleeping and then he started listening to the dogs barking in a pretty strange way. You know, everybody knows their dogs and you know when something is going on pretty different. So he just woke up because the dogs start barking and said well, somebody tried to steal something from the front yard because it happened before. That's why they put the cameras. So he just woke up. And when he woke up, this is not the video. When he just woke up, he looked to the monitor and he said those things. So he just woke up because the dogs were barking pretty bad. He starts seeing this creature over here. You see, the movement of this being is kind of natural.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Well, this guy was really scared. He didn't give me the address and his telephone number, nothing. He just showed me the video, the Univision. They didn't give me a copy of the video. So I just talked to him see the video and that's it. And I said well, hopefully he's going to call me and say something. You know.

Speaker 2: 13:45

Well, that happened in February. He called me and asked me did you find out something about my video? I said no, I don't have any copy of your video. So can you give me a copy of that? Yeah, so I met him in his house. Now it's more relaxed, no more scared about what happened. So what I want is to see the front yard where the video was recorded. Anyway, we are still investigating this case. Hopefully we're going to have a good results from the video. But this is really amazing. I don't know where they are. I mean it's, I don't know. Could be extraterrestrial, could be elves, I don't know. Whatever you want to think, we're going to keep you with information that maybe we can have later. Hopefully we can give you more information about what's really going on in Mexico with a MIFO organization. Thank you, thank you very much.

Speaker 1: 14:48

Before I say goodbye to you guys, I just wanted to plug in my sources for this episode. These would include Cryptid Wiki, the Business Journal All that's Interesting your Central Valley, california True Crime, the Fresno Nightcrawler and NorthAmericanCryptidscom. Alright, weirdos, so I'll see you next week for another episode of Dark Crossroads. Alright, guys. So thank you so much for hanging out again today. For more details on the podcast or the cases that we covered, then head on over to the website, wwwdarkcrossroadspodcastcom, where we have all of the episodes, information about the podcast, merch and also a blog covering every single case and it going into more description, including links to all the places that you need to make phone calls to or resources regarding the case. You can also find us on most social media platforms. Don't forget to like, share, rate, review, subscribe wherever you're listening to us. You can subscribe to the podcast. There is a link in all episodes in the notes that will send you to our subscription page and with that you will get bonus content, discount on future merch and a lot of other extra goodies and kind of behind the scenes information. So every single donation through the subscription and any other place, goes straight to the podcast. It helps fund research and it really helps us out to keep this podcast going.

Speaker 1: 16:29

So before I go, I just want to thank all of my listeners for your continued support and for sending in cases that you wanted covered and stories that you wanted read on the podcast. We truly accept all stories scary, paranormal, funny. Anything that you want read or you want me to know, send it in. And any cases that you want covered, please send in. You can email those to darkcrossroadspodcastcom. And, with all of this said, please don't forget to be weird, stay different and don't trust anyone. Dark Crossroads podcast is brought to you by Problem Wildlife. Problem Wildlife serves all of western Massachusetts and has been humanely protecting your house and your family from unwanted pests for over 20 years. Take back your space with an animal control service that you can trust. They are family owned, fully licensed and are knowledgeable and dependable. To find out more about their services, simply visit their website at wwwproblemwildliferemovalcom. Again, that is wwwproblemwildliferemovalcom, and their information will be included in our show notes.