Monster of Sister Lakes Michigan
In June 1964, reports of a 9-foot-tall Monster made the news. The creature made several appearances in the area, resulting in a "carnival atmosphere".
At the center of this circus was the farm of John and Evelyn Ultrup. Although the media only started to cover the monster in 1964, reports had been made off and on for two years previous. Witnesses included John and Evelyn, Gordon Brown, Joyce Smith, Patsy and Gail Clayton along with others.
Gordon Brown and his brother tracked this creature over the Ultrup farm and bordering properties and experienced several encounters with the creature. John Ultrup reported seeing the monster standing in his yard with its "big, bright shining eyes" reflected in his headlights.
Finally, when Mrs. Ultrup reported that a thing nine feet tall and weighing 500 lbs had chased her into her house at night, the Cass Country Sheriff's department dispatched officers to look for the creature. They were given the additional information that it was covered with black hair up to its neck and that it had eyes that glowed like an animal's eyes when a light would hit them.
Despite the description, the deputies were unable to complete their search. They soon became occupied full-time directing traffic and controlling the people who showed up to have a look around. So many cars and people came, and extra men from the next county had to be called in to assist with traffic and crowd control.
Mrs. Ultrup gave further information saying that the creature chased her back into her house with "great thundering feet" which caused the ground to tremble. She also reported that one of their dogs had chased the creature one night and returned later with one eye now a pale blue color. After a few weeks, the eye returned to its former color.
Further news reports made the claim that the police did find barefoot, human-like prints six inches wide across the ball of the foot on the muddy ground in the Ultrup farmyard.
There were apparently other serious reports, all including the creature's typical "baby crying" sound, but within a couple of days, the whole thing had turned into a worse carnival atmosphere than before. Every place of business had a "Monster Sale" on; the theater had a horror show double feature; restaurants featured 'Monster burgers'; and the variety store was selling a special "monster hunting kit" - a baseball bat, a net, a flashlight, a mallet, and a spear - for $7.95. Teenagers would drape a fur coat over themselves to do monster imitations along busy highways.
Another great chance to do some really great fieldwork was again sabotaged. Either to make money from the events or to make the whole thing entertainment, we will probably never know. Whichever it was, it worked.
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Nancy
This Post By TCC Team Member Nancy Marietta. Nancy has had a lifelong interest in the paranormal and cryptids. Nancy is also a published author and her book, The Price of war, has been met with great reviews.
[Please Note: Sadly Nancy passed away at the first of January, 2022. We will continue to honor her and her research by sharing her work. RIP Nancy. -Thomas]
