Grinning Man

One mysterious figure that’s been associated with paranormal activity is the Grinning Man. Some call him an extra-terrestrial, a hominid cryptid, or a Man in Black. He was investigated by John A. Keel a notable paranormal author and ufologist James Moseley. One of the best known Grinning Men was Indrid Cold who appeared during the Mothman sightings of the 1960s.

Sightings

One famous sighting of a Grinning Man took place on October 11^th, 1966 in New Jersey. Two boys sighted the entity. The two were walking home in an area that had some bright streetlights. They reached a corner parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike. This area is elevated and there is a steep incline going down from the street above which leads to Fourth Street. A very large, high wire fence runs along the edge of the other street below where the boys were walking, making it very difficult to near impossible for anyone to want to climb up the incline to the turnpike above. Here they saw the “strangest person they had ever seen.” They claimed he was the largest man they had ever seen. He was standing behind the fence. He looked right at them and he had a massive grin on his face.

Paranormal investigator John A. Keel visited the two boys shortly after the incident. The boys were both interviewed. During the interview they said the man was over six feet tall and had a shiny green costume on as well as a wide belt. The man had a dark complexion with beady round eyes. It was said he had no nose, ears or any hair on his head at all.

This figure reported by witnesses became associated with UFOs and extra-terrestrials because it was reported shortly after a UFO was seen in the same area.

West Virginia

In 1966 several Grinning Men were seen in West Virginia during the time of the Mothman sightings. On November 2, 1966, the first report occurred a man was driving home in his panel truck after work and as he drove up a hill he heard a sudden crash.  A vehicle sped behind him and it cut in front of him and slowed down. What he saw was described as vehicle that looked like a “an old fashioned kerosene lamp chimney, flaring at both ends, narrowing down to a small neck and then enlarging in a great bulge in the center.” The object blocked the road and a door on the object opened up. A man got out of the vehicle and he was around six feet tall with dark hair combed straight. He had tanned skin and his outfit was made out of some type of shiny green material. It was the same material described by the boys in New Jersey. The man had a large grin on his face. It was said he talked to the main telepathically and called himself “cold.” He man said he would visit again and got into his vehicle and then left.

Another case occurred in the home of the Lilly’s. They saw strange lights in the sky above their home and poltergeist manifestations inside the home on several occasions. They saw various colored lights such as red, green, and blue and vehicles around the home would stall without explanations. They saw diamond shaped windows in the craft above their home. Cupboard doors in the home would bang at night and the locked front door was flung open one morning.

John A. Keel who visited and talked to the family asked them if they ever saw anyone in the home or felt any presence. The daughter of the couple said that she woke up one night and saw a large man at the foot of her bed. While she could make out the figure clearly she dis claim he was grinning at her with a big wide grin on his face.