Van Meter Visitor — Winged Metallic Monster Terrorizes Iowa Town for Five Nights

In October 1903, the small town of Van Meter, Iowa was thrown into panic by a series of encounters with a large, winged, bipedal creature that emitted a blinding beam of light from a horn on its head and left behind a powerful, nauseating odor. The encounters occurred over five consecutive nights and involved multiple credible witnesses including a bank cashier, a doctor, a hardware store owner, and police.

The first witness reported a half-human figure descending the side of a building and emitting a blinding light from its head before it leapt into the air and flew away on enormous bat-like wings. On subsequent nights, additional witnesses independently reported similar encounters. One man who fired at the creature reported that his bullet had no effect.

The creature was eventually tracked to an abandoned coal mine shaft on the edge of town where two similar beings emerged and retreated. The townspeople reportedly sealed the mine entrance. By the sixth night, the creatures were gone and no further reports were made.

The Van Meter Visitor case is notable for its number of independent, credible witnesses in a small community where any fabrication would quickly be exposed. The case was largely forgotten for a century before being rediscovered by paranormal researchers Chad Lewis and Noah Voss, who published a book on the subject in 2013. The town now celebrates the legend annually.