Fresno Nightcrawlers

For this week's episode, we're going over to California, USA for a funny-looking creature, the Fresno Nightcrawlers! Why are these monsters only spotted on CCTV? How are they related to Native American beliefs? Find out this week!

Transcript

INTRO:
Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

And I’m back! I’m sorry for the slight delay in my return, but the US aircon just ruins my lungs and makes me unwell - although I promise you it was needed in the intense Florida heat and humidity. I had a wonderful time and caught the opening of Epic Universe which was awesome. I highly recommend getting out there in the autumn months for it though if you can!

DESCRIPTION:

But this week we’re going back over to the US to the West Coast for something a little spookier than Mickey Mouse, we’re going to the county of Fresno, California for a namesake monster, the Fresno Nightcrawlers.

The Fresno Nightcrawlers are described as a humanoid being, but made up of only extremely long, thin white legs, which make up most of its body. They have no discernible head or upper torso, as well as a lack of arms or face but they do have two small black eyes at the top of their legs. There are some reports that it has a wider mass at the top of the legs, assumed to be a brain or head, however, this is debated within the community. They are completely sheet white or light grey and seem to have soft, fabric-like skin, which makes them look slightly like ghost sheets you’d see people wearing at Halloween. 

I say long legs because their body is mostly legs, however, they’re relatively small - only coming up to about 3-5 feet in height. Obviously if it had a torso and head, it would be an immensely tall being, but alas - there is no upper torso to be seen. They walk with style, but with a creepy gait and sometimes are seen almost gliding or swaying as they step which gives them almost an ethereal feel to them. 

Now their name gives you a clue as to where they live, and that’s in Fresno, a county in the middle of California in the USA. They’ve only ever been seen in wooded areas, but ones around human habitation - although no one has ever seen one in person, they have only been captured using video footage, just like our good girl and favourite UK cryptid, Nessie. They have been spotted in other counties in Cali, even Yosemite National Park, but also in Montana, Ohio and Indiana, as well as abroad in Poland.

Fresno Nightcrawlers only go around in pairs and one is usually bigger than the other, with some believing that they travel in pods of parent and child or a dual-gender pair. They also appear to wear clothes, with seemingly bell-bottom trousers whipping around their legs in the video footage of them - but we’re again, not sure if this is a trick of the camera, but they are fabulous. So much so that they’re often mistaken for walking pants or ghostly beings, but according to reports are very much real life walking boys.

We don’t believe that the Fresno Nightcrawlers have any powers other than surviving as it seems, just a pair of legs, and they don’t seem interested in humans or creating any issues. The thought across the board is that they are peaceful, and are observing the world rather than attempting any attempt at hostility. 

Of course, we also don’t know what they eat, how they reproduce or how they die because of this - we actually know very little about them. 

ORIGIN:

In terms of etymology, I don’t know what to tell ya - it’s pretty self explanatory at this point. They’re from Fresno, California and they go out at night - that’s about it. 

For their history, it’s not surprisingly a very recent monster, younger than me and younger than I imagine most of you listeners. The first report of the Fresno Nightcrawlers was in 2007, over in Fresno of course by a man called Jose. 

He was woken up one night after his dogs were barking and went to check out his surveillance footage of his front garden, where he saw the Nightcrawlers. He woke his brother up to rewatch the footage and they went to investigate, where they found small footprints. They called investigators, but by the time they made it to the house, all the evidence had washed away. Unfortunately after this, the CCTV footage was lost and now the only remaining footage is a grainy video recorded from a monitor.

This started the craze around the Fresno Nightcrawlers, and from then on there were a bunch of other sightings, including one in Yosemite in California, in the famous Yosemite National Park. In 2011, workers in the park installed cameras to catch vandals who had recently been up to their tricks, however, they caught two creatures strolling through on their merry way. They were around half a metre tall, and had clearly defined feet and knees - there is footage of both of these incidents so far on YouTube by the way. It is a bit spooky, so just a warning to younger listeners or ones who get frightened by CCTV spooky things like me. 

Lastly, in 2004, in Indiana, this monster was spotted by a 17 year old who was driving past at the time. However, big difference here is that the monster was over 6ft tall and as he saw it, another couple drove past the other way, also seeing it. They both pulled over down the road and discussed what they’d just seen, they agreed to escort each other out of the area and realised it wasn’t human.

The latest sighting was in Montana in 2020, which was captured on home CCTV and is also on YouTube, but they’re just kind of walking past in a wooded area. 

Now what is the explanation behind them? Well there are a couple of thoughts, firstly - the easiest one is that this is a hoax. The fact that no one has seen them in person without being in a moving vehicle is pretty suspicious, but also, they could just be people pretending to be a monster to create a monster. There is a rumour that the original video from 2007 was admittedly a hoax, however, there’s little evidence bar some guy on Reddit saying he heard it from Jose himself. There have also been people caught dressing up as these, creating pant-ghosts or artificially inserting them with photoshop into videos, so it is a tricky one. It was investigated by two sci-fi/paranormal TV programs in the US recently, however, they found they weren’t able to replicate the videos and so left it unsolved for now.

The other explanations are that they’re aliens who have been sent down to scout or to seek peace, they could be a mutant human or a completely new species. However, they could also potentially be a deer on its hind legs, just to kill that moment before it takes off here. 

The last thought is that it could be related to Native American folklore, there is apparently a possibility that they could be a monster from way back when. According to local tribe members, Nightcrawlers have always been here and they have long legs to help them move through swampy landscapes as they come from a swamp-world. They are apparently in Fresno to rebuild the connection from human beings to the natural world, but I must say they’re not doing a very good job if that is so.

There are a few statues of long-legged creatures that popped up all over Fresno carved out of wood, and no one knows who carved them or what they depict. However, we’re also not sure if they have any connection to the Nightcrawlers either, but they do have an eerie similarity in the legs. 

We do have two similar monsters, one being immensely similar, so much so that I’m not going to cover them in their own episode. The Carmel Area Creature, which is from Carmel in Ohio, USA, is reportedly a grey-skinned, long-legged monster, but who has a more defined head and upper torso, but with no arms and backwards facing knees. As well as having three toe claws like a raptor, they also have a clearly defined ribcage and glowing white eyes. These are much taller at at least 7 feet, and only has one official sighting from an elderly couple who saw one in their garden creating a crop circle and then running across the road and into the woods. I will note that this one is thought to be a type of stork or crane, just to debunk this as well for funsies.

The only other monster I can think of with this one is the one and the only Slenderman. Used to living in woods, capturing children and killing everything else with its dark tentacles - it’s a tall, no face, white-skinned monster who stalks in the forest, so it does match a few criteria. However, Slenderman is most definitely a creature of fiction and incredibly violent, and you can check out my episode on him for more information if you want to get spooked.

I will say that the Fresno Nightcrawler is embraced in the local community, you can buy merchandise of him, including t-shirts and plushies and is often just called ‘a pair of pants out for a walk’, which makes him super popular and super unproblematic - you sissy that walk, queen.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, there is absolutely nothing on these monsters, mainly because they’re so modern. But I’ll tell you what has been around for a while, sentient clothes, and so here’s a bunch of stuff you can have fun with.

For art, again, because of the age of this monster, there’s nothing portrait art wise. However, have a look at independent stuff this week, and I found a great cryptid artist in Sam Shearon this week, have a look at his work on Instagram under mistersamshearon for some amazing modern monster art!

In movies, we have; Legend, My Favourite Martian, Star Kid, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Doctor Strange, Who Framed Roger Rabbit & Slaxx.

For TV, we have; Fact or Faked: Paranormal Sightings, iCarly, Readalong, LazyTown, Lidsville, Arthur, Johnny Test, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Goof Troop, Phineas and Ferb, Spongebob Squarepants, Dexter’s Laboratory, Betty Boop, The Owl House, Steven Universe, Summer Camp Island, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Max Steel, The Simpsons, Uncle Grandpa, Jackie Chan Adventures, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Camp Lakebottom, Darkwing Duck & Classic Disney Shorts.

In video games, we have ones such as; Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Shipwrecked, Monster Party, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Super Mario Odyssey, Fallen London, Infinity Nikki, MegaMan ZX, Spectrobes, Wonderboy 3: Monster Lair & Flash of the Blade.

My book recommendation this week is The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J.W Ocker for a wide US cryptid summary, or A Guide to California's Cryptids: Mythical Legends of American Creatures by Asher Martin for some more specific Californian monsters.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed?

No, I’m sorry but this one is very clearly not real. I love them, don’t get me wrong and for some reason I think they’re actually quite cute - however, definitely not real. 

Whilst I’m not an expert by any means on photoshop or video editing software, I imagine that it was quite hard to create these - but I’m honestly, impressed at how convincing the videos are. I also don’t like the videos, let me make that clear, I think they look scary when in other images I think they look pretty harmless. 

Hear me out though, I think the cryptid community likes stuff like this, where it’s a plausible enough explanation to keep the myth going - and I think that’s valid. It’s why there are cryptids in the first place, and why the debate around any of their existence is a thing, which brings more attention to the topic, which I really like as a folklorist. So keep ‘em coming is all I have to say.

My final words are that they’re cute and no one can tell me different, except the video footage people.

But what do you think? Did the Fresno Nightcrawlers roam the Californian wilds? Let me know on social media!

OUTRO: 

I loved covering this one, as I do with all of our cryptids, but this one is just really fun. I like the idea that people see these harmless, runway walkers in the wilderness, but I also would not want to see one myself - unless it was a statue or a walking pair of trousers. Either way, these are becoming a solid favourite in my book. 

Next week, we’re heading over to a beast known in three different countries - Japan, China and Korea for a mystical unicorn-like monster. Come visit the wonderful Kirin or Qilin next week with me!

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got loads of social media for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, YouTube and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, and twitter is mythmonsterspod and I’m now also on BlueSky under mythmonsters. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk, and you can also find us on Goodpods, Buymeacoffee and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.