It was September 12th, 1952. In the town of Flatwoods, West Virginia, three young boys were wrapping up an evening of football when they noticed something unusual in the night sky. As they watched above, a rather bright object seemed to be making a rapid descent towards a nearby farm. Scared and excited, the boys immediately rushed to the first home they could find. This was the home of one Kathleen May. May, fearing an aircraft crash of some sort, called the local police. But they didn't want to wait, fearing that someone may be hurt and need immediate attention. Soon, May, the children, and her dog, all headed out to the proposed site where the object had either landed or crashed.

As the group made their way towards the top of a nearby hill, the dog excitedly ran ahead, sensing something of interest. Moments later, the dog returned, looking completely scared and whimpering. It wouldn't be long before the group saw just exactly what the dog had encountered. About one hundred yards or so in the distance, a glowing object burned bright, a hissing sound emanating in all directions. A thick mist covered the area. As the group timidly moved forward, they noticed that the light was actually two circles, giving off the effect of headlights of some sort. As one of the boys cast his flashlight forward, it soon became clear that the object wasn't an object at all. It was alive.

As they all stood in terror, they looked on at a creature that was about ten feet tall and four feet wide. It appeared to be wearing some sort of metallic suit, green in color, pipes, and valves wrapping around it. A cowl, shaped like an ace of spades, covered its blood-red head. The eyes of the creature seemed to be portholes of some sort, a mixture of green and orange light piercing through them. Varying accounts also describe the creature as having small, stick-like arms, while others claim it had no appendages. Either way, as the group began to become more vocal, the creature seemed to take notice. It hissed furiously and began to ominously float towards them.

It was August 21st, 1955 when the Sutton family were settling down for a night with friends in their farmhouse, located on Old Madisonville Road, about eight miles north of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Indoor plumbing was a luxury they just couldn't afford, and as the summer night progressed, it was usually warm. One of the friends, Billy Ray Taylor, went outside to fetch some water for the group. But as he made his way to the well, he noticed something unusual above him.

There, in the night sky, a multi-colored object hovered and seemed to be spitting flames in every direction. Suddenly, the object began to make a rapid descent into a gully about three-hundred yards away. Struck by the event, Taylor rushed inside to tell everyone what he'd seen. As he excitedly described the object, the Suttons, and even Taylor's wife, believed him to be making the entire story up. They brushed it off and went on with their night.

It was around 8 pm when the Sutton family dog began to bark at something at the window. Curious, the oldest son of the family, Elmer, noticed something glowing outside. As he peered out the window, he reeled back in surprise. There, behind the glass, was what appeared to be a small figure. It was about three feet tall with a large head and bat-like ears. It had large eyes, no nose, and a mouth that stretched from one side of its face to another. It was very thin, with long arms that included talon-like claws. A silver-colored suit covered its body. As the Suttons and friends began to react inside, the creature noticed that it had been spotted. It then began to float towards the house, a few feet off the ground. At this point, Elmer and Taylor grabbed a pair of rifles and headed outside.

Upon seeing the creature floating in mid-air, they panicked and both began to open fire. But the creature was unfazed. It turned and disappeared into the darkness. They returned inside to calm the rest of the group, explaining they'd at least scared the creature away. To assure them of this, they went outside again. But just as Taylor walked out, a claw grabbed him by the hair from the roof above. Elmer once again opened fire on the creature, hitting it directly. It fell from the roof and onto the ground below. Suddenly, a bright light illuminated from the nearby woods. Another creature soon appeared. And another. It was clear that the Sutton farm was being invaded my these goblin-like creatures.

It was in April of 1977 when the small town of Dover, Massachusetts suffered a string of strange sightings involving a small creature roaming the streets. First reported by a group of teenage boys, Bill Bartlett, 17, noticed a small figure huddled next to a stone wall as they passed by it in their vehicle. The figure soon came into sight from the car’s headlights, turning and staring straight at Bartlett. Its eyes were, according to Bartlett, “glowing brightly like orange marbles. It was about four feet tall and stood upright. It had a pale, gray tone to its hairless body. It had no nose or mouth. Its head was very large like a watermelon,” he would go on to describe. While the other friends in the car didn’t see anything, they all admitted that Bartlett was extremely distraught after telling them what he had seen. Bartlett would return home that night, visibly shaken, according to his father, and sketched the creature.

It is quite apparent that the stories above don't fit the typical close encounter narratives we are used to when dealing with UFO cases. In fact, these stories may have absolutely nothing to do with aliens. But the appearance of objects in the sky preceding some of the events does beg the question; if not alien, then what? And while these cases may go down in cryptid lore for decades to come, one thing is for certain. The Flatwoods Monster, The Hopkinsville Goblins, and the Dover Demon will continue to haunt the pages of many books, many films, and many tourist traps. But more importantly, they will continue to haunt our minds as we peer into the darkness time and time again, hoping we will never come face-to-face with any or all of these creatures from parts unknown.

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Ryan Sprague is the author of 'Somewhere in the Skies: A Human Approach to an Alien Phenomenon' (Available on Amazon). Speaking on the UFO topic, he has been featured on ABC News, Fox News, and The Science Channel. He is also a regular on the Travel Channel's 'Mysteries at the Museum'. Ryan is the co-host for both the Into the Fray & UFOmodPOD podcasts. Learn more at: www.somewhereintheskies.com