In the quiet town of Van Meter, Iowa, something strange happened over the course of five nights in 1903. It was said to have wings like a bat, a horn that glowed like a lantern, and a stench strong enough to make a person gag. The creature terrified townspeople, eluded bullets, and then vanished into the earth as suddenly as it appeared. Over a century later, the legend of the Van Meter Visitor remains one of the Midwest’s eeriest and least-known cryptid encounters — a story where folklore, fear, and small-town history collide.
A Town Under Siege
Van Meter was a small but prosperous community in 1903 — a place where news traveled fast and nightly disturbances were impossible to ignore. It all began late one September evening when local businessman U.G. Griffith saw a strange light moving across rooftops downtown. He assumed it was a burglar using a lantern, but when he approached, he realized the light was not being held — it was emanating from a horn on a massive flying creature.
The following night, Dr. Alcott Turner was awakened by the same blinding light. Thinking someone was trying to break into his office, he grabbed a shotgun and fired at the source. The creature flew away unharmed, leaving behind an odor described as “the smell of brimstone.”
Each night brought new witnesses — a banker, a high school teacher, a local hardware store owner — all claiming to see the same being: part bird, part man, part demon.
The Coal Mine Encounter
By the fifth night, the townspeople were in an uproar. A group of armed men, including some of the town’s most respected citizens, tracked the creature’s light to an abandoned coal mine on the edge of town. As dawn broke, they heard a noise like rushing wings, and two creatures emerged — a smaller one following behind the larger. Both flew into the shaft and disappeared underground. The men fired volley after volley into the darkness, but when they entered the mine later, there was no trace of either being.
After that, the sightings ceased.
What Was It?
Over the years, theories have ranged from the scientific to the supernatural. Some believe it was an undiscovered species of large bird or a misidentified great horned owl — though no known animal emits light. Others point to mass hysteria or a shared delusion fueled by fear and rumor. A few insist it was something far stranger: a creature from another realm, a visitor from below rather than above.
Skeptics argue that the story’s consistency may be a product of embellishment over time. Early 20th-century newspapers often blurred the line between reporting and storytelling, especially in rural areas where a good yarn could sell more papers than any ordinary headline. Yet, the sheer number of credible witnesses — all professionals, all describing the same impossible details — gives pause to easy dismissal.
From Forgotten Tale to Folklore Revival
For decades, the Van Meter Visitor was largely forgotten outside of local legend. Then, in the early 2000s, cryptid researchers Chad Lewis, Noah Voss, and Kevin Nelson revived the story with their book The Van Meter Visitor: A True and Mysterious Encounter with the Unknown. Their research inspired an annual Van Meter Visitor Festival, celebrating the legend with tours, talks, and local crafts — a far cry from the panic of 1903.
The festival has turned what was once a tale of terror into a badge of small-town pride. Locals embrace the mystery, and visitors come to hear the story retold in the streets where it first unfolded. What once symbolized fear now represents curiosity, wonder, and connection to Iowa’s deeper folklore.
The Mystery That Endures
Whether the Van Meter Visitor was a real creature, a shared vision, or something in between, the story endures because it speaks to something primal: our need to explain the unexplainable. It’s a ghost story without a ghost, a monster tale without a body, and a mystery that refuses to fade.
Every town has its secrets. Van Meter’s just happens to have wings and a light that still shines, faintly, in the corners of imagination.