While the world has always loved a good old fashioned monster story, creature sightings saw a particularly dramatic spike from the 1940’s through the 1960’s, with everything from Kenneth Arnold’s UFO sighting, to the simply bizarre Loveland Frog in 1955. There were so many sightings that were strange yet interesting because it wasn’t the grays or Sasquatches we’ve come to know in the modern era. The cryptids ranged from the giant giant amphibians to robot aliens that attempted to abduct people. The encounters were usually brief, but some were prolonged and terrifying like the Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter, an all night siege against two families perpetrated by goblins from outer space. I’m inclined to believe that they were inter-dimensional travelers or aliens that might have been observing us for some time. I seriously think that if we could have interacted, or possibly captured some of these creatures we could have gathered some interesting information on the possibilities of time or inter-dimensional travel.
The question is, why, exactly, were stories of monsters, be they creatures from space, from the sea, or even the local forest, so prevalent during that 20 year period?
From the 40’s through the 60’s, the world was in a bit of a tough spot. World War II and then the Cold War were on the forefront of every citizen’s mind. During WWII we were told to keep an eye out for spies and traitors to the American Way, and indeed, everyone spent their days cautiously peering over their shoulders at their neighbors. We had the audacity to imprison Japanese immigrants, rightful American citizens, simply because Japan was at war with us, and we were scared. Our men were at war, and our women, long relegated to “motherly” duties around the nuclear home, had to stand up and take care of the things that for too long had been exclusively the roles of men in our factories and businesses. We progressed technologically, scientificly, and sociologically. We were able to make people stand up and do things they never thought about doing before. But even before Kenneth Arnolds’ sighting above Mount Rainier, we had many cryptid sightings and stranger things like dogfights with the “foo fighters”.
But during these times, the American population was constantly looking and watching for the hidden dangers, and some of these sightings could be explained as misidentifications, hallucinations, and fears of Communists. The McCarthy Era made Americans terrified that people they had known for years, even decades could be Communist sympathizers or spies for the Kremlin. This would make people be on edge if you were told that anyone could be the enemy, similar to how we are now.
Now, as the fears of the Cold War waned, in the mid to late 60’s we began to see a small spike in sightings like the Mothman in Point Pleasant, and countless UFO visitations and extraterrestrial encounters that were just as bizarre. Near the late 60’s the sightings were at an all time high, but they waned as the 70’s approached. Why could that be?
Well, for one, the public had been through the McCarthy era, and since that particular fiasco was over our fears lessened as we realized that we weren’t going to be bombed in our sleep by the Russians. That ease of our worries of the hidden enemy next door seemed to calm the reports of “alien invasions” that at one point were coming in so consistently.
As a small note, the cryptid encounters and alien contact reports seemed to switch from strange abductions or attacks to peaceful and insightful meetings. The age of scary encounters seemed to be over after the nearly overwhelming encounters with monsters and freaks.
We Americans detonated numerous atomic bombs in the desert, on islands, and in the ocean… enough to make the Toxic Crusader blush. But as we tested the bombs potential for destruction, we were setting off radiation into the atmosphere, and into space. Could those powerful detonations have been detected by alien races? One would have to guess that such a powerful display of deadly force might be enough to garner some attention from beyond. Perhaps if the explosions travelled through dimensions, we could have gained the interest of these cryptids.
But it wasn’t just the use of nuclear bombs that might have turned some non-human heads- our technology spiked rapidly and was widespread. We discovered how to start creating computers that were able to start thinking for us, and we eventually found our way to the moon. We advanced ourselves quickly. Even though that growth was fueled by battle and the fear of a worldwide nuclear war, we advanced. This is important because not since the Industrial Revolution had we grown so quickly and so far. This alone could have perked the interest in life either from alternate dimensions or planets.
In the period of thirty years we went the equivalent of horse and carriage to jet engines and stealth aircraft in what would be described as seconds in the grand scheme of time. That kind of leap only occurs occasionally and there is an instigator to such changes. For a modern example, look towards the coming singularity where man and machine will eventually meld together and come something other than human. Some say it will be fifty years. I personally see it happening in ten to twenty.
If these beings, these “monsters”, came here to research us, chances are they would try to coerce use into going with them so they could fully examine us. Hell, they might even just abduct us against our will.
During WWII, there were many reports of witches and warlocks doing spells to help not just the Allies, but the Axis also. There was a gathering of witches in England to protect the land from invasion and attack. This is also when Aliester Crowley claims to have made contact with LAM, and there is some evidence that he did have contact with something. Some current occult researchers are saying that he might have contacted the gray race of alien. My own opinion is that he encountered an entity that he couldn’t fully explain or comprehend.
Now, if Crowley or other magic practitioners had used high magics to protect and defend England, the sudden and forceful vibrations in the magical realm could have easily been enough to entice some entities into finding out what was going on. If Crowley or others had opened doorways or portals, they could have remained open until others shut them down. If these cryptids came through these openings, they would have been interested in knowing who had ripped open or invited them to our dimension, spilling through en masse. For example, have a look at Crowley’s infamous experiment at the Boleskine House.. a ritual that he readily admitted was a failure that resulted in a rift that many believe is responsible for the appearance of the Loch Ness Monster.
While sightings waned after the 60’s, we can see the “contactee” movement picking up speed, and with it, a message of love and peace. People who had experienced the height of the Cold War ended up realizing that they survived and needed a message of hope.
Now, in modern times, we mostly get serious reports of crypids in the vein of Kentucky Cave Goblins , the ever-elusive Sasquatch, and giant insects or reptiles. Mothman still stills up from time to time, and our sightings of the classic ghost have climbed to an all time high, which is interesting in and of itself. Consider this: we have gone from being worried about the enemy next door in the Cold War, an enemy we knew and understood, to an outside enemy that we can’t seem to catch, an enemy that disappears into the night only to return when we least expect it – the terrorists. Phantoms.
The cryptids that are reported seem to be of invaders, unwanted enemies of the body and, if the growing popularity of demons is any indicator, sometimes the invaders of our soul. The Sasquatch sightings do seem to be mostly benign, but there is always an undercurrent of nature prevailing in the encounters with them, the prophetic idea that we need to preserve nature and our natural habitats without destroying ourselves. The Greys could simply represent our fears of the unknown invader taken onto a physical tulpa or representation of our fears.
The next time you read about, or even experience, some kind of close encounter with a creature not of this world, ask yourself what that experience says about our time. Was it a horrifying encounter with a creature hellbent on causing terror? Or was it a warm, welcoming invitation to a peaceful meeting? Was it a reflection of our collective fears, or was it physical reaction to those fears by a genuine non-human entity?
The message just might be in the monster.
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