Of the handful of flying humanoid narratives that have trickled in over the past decade, one of the creepiest has to do with a winged creature that was seen by a credible eyewitness as recently as 2007, according to an online article that was posted by researcher Brent Raynes. A native of Tennessee who has been investigating UFO reports since 1967, Raynes heads up a magazine and website called Alternate Perceptions. He frequently pens articles having to do with a multitude of cosmic mysteries ranging from lost civilizations to visitors from other realms. Raynes also possesses a keen interest in the Mothman mystery and is an ardent follower of John Keel's musings. According to Raynes, a gentleman who works for the El Paso, Texas, judicial system related to him how his brother had spotted a humanoid entity as it glided over the desert town of Chaparral, New Mexico. The brother's name is Nicanor Hernandez, and I was able to interview both him and his wife on the phone one evening.

The encounter evidently occurred in the early morning hours of September 14, while Nicanor was lying on the rear trunk of his car, looking up at the stars and chatting with his wife, who was standing nearby. Suddenly he noticed the shadow of an impressive winged beast flying overhead at a height of about forty to fifty feet. The subject was somewhat illuminated by the moon, as well as a nearby streetlight. Because the incident occurred quickly, all Nicanor could make out was that whatever the thing was, it appeared to be completely featherless. Nicanor estimated the creature had a wingspan that rivaled that of a hang glider, about fifteen feet across. He called out to his wife to take a look, but she did not want to have anything to do with the thing and instead rushed into the house. Apparently, in the decades prior, there had been rumblings around Chaparral of a black, manlike entity that had been seen flying over the community on various occasions. In fact, Nicanor confided in me that he and his brother had seen something large shoot over their car some years earlier while driving on a local highway.

Another sighting that was related to me is markedly more dramatic. The incident came to light during a harmless game, whereby neighborhood children attempted to spook each other with scary stories. As a result, Nicanor and his wife learned that his next-door neighbor had also claimed to have seen the Birdman back during the 1980s. The neighbor, who works as a truck driver, had stepped outside for a smoke late one night while battling a bout of insomnia when he noticed an intense disturbance in the adjacent treetops. One tree in particular was swaying back and forth violently as if it were being manipulated by some unseen force. As his dog retreated behind him in fear and began to bark, the neighbor claimed that he observed a man-sized, winged creature standing a mere five to six feet in front of him. He desperately flicked his lighter on in an attempt to get a better look at the thing. This apparently startled the creature, causing it to take off and then land on the roof of Nicanor's garage, leering ominously down at the man and vocalizing for a brief moment before taking off again and flying posthaste into the murk. The aberration continually emitted a bone-chilling shriek that also possessed overtones of a hissing sound, though the entire encounter was over in mere seconds. The witnesses' description of the Birdman was that it was completely featherless and stood at least seven to eight feet tall. It landed like a raptor (feet first) and stood on two legs. It tilted its head like an owl. It possessed wings and also arms with clawed hands. It had a puny head with menacing fangs, but no visible eyes.

My conversation with both Nicanor and his wife confirmed the notion that there had been reports of the Chaparral Birdman dating back decades, including one teenage boy they knew who had observed the being for several minutes. The most recent encounter involved Nicanor's son, who claimed he saw the creature feasting on a road-killed dog carcass while returning from the movies one night.

It is significant that Chaparral is nestled in the part of the United States that is most associated with UFO activity. The site of the famous UFO crash incident near Roswell lies a mere two hundred miles to the northeast (as the manbird flies), with White Sands Missile Range (sight of the first atomic bomb detonation) nearby. The proximity of the locale to the Mexican border is not surprising in light of what we have learned so far.

In addition, I have collected other reports from the general region, including one from a hiker named David Zander, who told an Albuquerque television station that he spotted two ugly man-sized birds as they perched on a peak in the Dona Ana Mountains. Additionally, a young woman contacted me recently and told me that her family had spotted something that resembled a prehistoric pterosaur gliding near the town of Alto. New Mexico seems to have a proclivity for these types of events, much like its namesake to the south.

On a strictly personal note, my ex-wife and her friend had a disturbing experience not far from Chaparral one summer night in 2004. The three of us were driving from El Paso, Texas, to California at about three in the morning when I was abruptly disturbed from my slumber. Both women seemed visibly hysterical as they explained to me how they had just passed a car-sized object hovering above the road just moments before. Both insisted that the "craft" was completely spherical and smooth in appearance, that it illuminated bright light, and that it seemed to be enveloped in a sort of haze. Despite their apprehension, I attempted to persuade them to turn the car around so I could get a look at the thing myself, which they clearly had no interest in doing. It seems fairly obvious that there is an undeniable link between our flying humanoids and areas of intense UFO activity.

Excerpted from Encounters with Flying Humanoids, by Ken Gerhard.