• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

South Florida Gargoyle Account

QueenOrkus

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Feb 3, 2017
Messages
11
Let me just start by saying I find this story highly dubious with the exception of the fact that the guy who relayed the story to me (my ex-girlfriend's father) was obviously very serious when telling the story (after much coaxing from her). When he was a in his late teens, he was hanging out with his 4 brothers at the outskirts of Tampa, Florida near a backwoods road (this must have been sometime in the '70s - maybe very early '80s at latest). They'd had a bit to drink which doesn't really help the credibility of the story. But they say they witnessed a winged creature land in the road that they have since referred to as "the gargoyle." He described it to me as being bipedal, maybe about 4-feet tall with a strong, stocky body, long thin neck, beak-like face, glowing eyes, and pointed protrusions like ears. The skin was described as leathery, as were the wings. He and his brothers were always out in the woods and swamp; the type of guys that would catch rattlesnakes for cash (to make anti-venom) so they weren't frightened by the creature as much as they were curious. After hesitating momentarily to provoke one another, one of the brothers actually attempted to grab the "gargoyle" and it flew off. It took a lot of pushing for him to tell us the story; I don't think he was afraid of the creature but just sort of confused and didn't want to be called out on it. I believe that he believes he saw something. I'm just curious if this fits the description of any other reported cryptids, especially in the South Florida region.
 
Yeah it does. Very closely too as far as I can recall. Maybe not Florida itself, but definitely from the southern U.S. It was either in the 60' or 70's. I can't recall if this page http://cryptomundo.com/eyewitness-accounts/mass-flying-creature-sightings-texas/ deals with the source I'm thinking of, it was a long time ago that I read it. I think it was Janet and Colin Board's 'Alien Animals'.

As I recall the stories got lumped in with either pterosaur or thunderbird sightings.
 
Bear in mind though, that at the time you describe the famous Brownsville big bird wave of sightings would have bee either current, or recent, news stories. So it's likely they'd have been aware of the phenomena.
 
Thanks for the link! I'd never actually heard of anything similar except for maybe some accounts of the Mothman. I thought it could have been a stork or an escaped African bird from Busch Gardens but I kept that to myself since I didn't want him to feel self-conscious after sharing the story.
 
The skunk ape is from around Florida way, isn't it? So it's not that unknown for a cryptid to make an appearance there, maybe this was a relative?
 
The skunk ape is from around Florida way, isn't it? So it's not that unknown for a cryptid to make an appearance there, maybe this was a relative?

Yes - the skunk ape is a Florida phenomenon. There are variations in skunk ape descriptions, but I couldn't find any that mentioned wings or wing-like appendages.
 
There's a first time for everything! Seriously, if it's a region where people routinely see odd creatures, in whatever variation, then seeing a chap with wings was only a matter of time.
 
I know Tampa well, but never heard this story. I still miss 98rock in the morning
 
Yeah, I feel like if it was going to get lumped in with a more well-known cryptid that's been sighted in Florida, it would probably be a chupacabra.
 
Yeah, I feel like if it was going to get lumped in with a more well-known cryptid that's been sighted in Florida, it would probably be a chupacabra.

But which version? The traditional Nightjar, the H.R Gieger inspired sighting which first publicised the idea in a modern sense, or the mangy coyotes? There are three to choose from.
 
I was pretty much just shooting for a composite of some of the accounts that were coming out of the Miami outskirts.
 
There have been quite a few sightings of what could be pterodactyls along the Rio Grande. That is the US-Mexican border in Texas. From the description in the OP, it could be that.
 
Yeah, I actually read a few pterodactyl accounts shortly after making this post. What a strange concept!
 
There have been quite a few sightings of what could be pterodactyls along the Rio Grande. That is the US-Mexican border in Texas. From the description in the OP, it could be that.

It's actually more accurate to say that the articles describe what people thought pterasaurs looked at the time. Not what we've since learned they looked like.
 
Back
Top