Gain The Van Meter Visitor: A True And Mysterious Encounter With The Unknown Authored By Chad Lewis Represented In E-Text

terrific find on a creature I had never heard of before,

I loved that the book is deeply researched and explores indepth many of the possibilities for the weird creature without forcing any belief on the reader.


Basically the beast was some sort of giant batlike thing that showed up in rural Iowa during the earlys, The whole time I was reading this I was thinking that it would make the perfect Hollywood movie, some sort of real Cowboys vs Aliens.


What truly got me looking over my shoulder at night were the witness descriptions of the creature and how ineffective their attempts at killing it were.


I especially enjoyed the onsite research and expeditions that the authors took along with reading the original newspaper articles that were included at the back of the book.


Overall this was a nice addition to go along with the more wellknown cryptid stories out there,
Chad and company have done an excellent job of bringing this little known cryptid to life, This book was an absolute inspiration to developing our Kord v Cryptid TTRPG episodes as well! A must read for all cryptid enthusiasts.
Fun, weird research. Didn't like that it got to weird af string theory bs for their theories for this event, Only read about ard of this before the theories got too outlandish, An almost exhaustingly detailed examination of an unusual, littleknown cryptid that haunted a small town in Iowa for three days in, Lewis, Voss and Nelson have really jumped into the story of the Visitor waistdeep,

The book begins with a short history of the town of Van Meter, along with an exact chronology of the events surrounding the Visitor sightings as detailed by newspapers of the time, anyway and brief, but detailed biographies of all the principle witnesses.


The second part of the book explores theories as to what the mysterious creature might have been, Ideas range from a deliberate hoax, to mass hysteria fed by a few odd, but naturallyexplained events, to misidentification of large birds though the writer of that particular essay dismisses all possible culprits to the possibility that the Visitor was an alien or perhaps something even more bizarre.


My personal favorite from a speculative fiction standpoint, anyway is Nelson's theory that the creature may have been an ultraterrestrial a term originally coined by paranormal investigator John Keel which refers to a being from a dimension adjacent to ours that temporarily slipped into our reality through a "window" in space and time.
It's a really interesting idea and even if I don't entirely believe it, the concept of ultraterrestrial beings makes for great story material.


If there is anything negative to say about the book, it is only that the writers seem to have concluded from the beginning that the Visitor was indeed a real, probably supernatural creature and not something with a more mundane explanation such as a hoax stories of bizarre flying monsters in the American West were actually fairly common in newspapers of theth and earlyth century, and were widely known to be fabrications made to drum up interest in the paper, much like the weird stories from the old Weekly World News tabloids.


Regardless, the authors obviously have a deep love for what they do, and an admirable respect for the people of Van Meter.
Which translates to an enjoyable read about an intriguing, obscure bit of cryptid lore, Bottom line, I was entertained and I learned some history, Books on cryptozoology/cryptids are not my standard fare, so I can not judge if this one is good by the standards of such or not.
To be fair, I would not have picked it up if not for the link to my hometown,

Since this is a small press book and may in future be hard to lay hands on, I present a chapter by chapter summary.
Warning: spoilers and probably overlyharsh ribbing ahoy!

ChapterUnearthing a Legend by Chad Lewis: So we were trying to figure out something to do in Iowa.
. .

ChapterWhere is Van Meter: Literally a map of Iowa with Van Meter marked,

ChapterEarly History of Van Meter by Chad Lewis: Exactly what it says on the tin, AKA the really interesting part for me personally,

ChapterHistory of the Brick Factory and Mine by Chad Lewis: More of exactly what it says,

ChapterParanormal Beliefs ofVan Meter by Chad Lewis: We have no idea, but the Spiritualism movement was dying down and Lake Okoboji had a sea monster sighting.
So then the Raccoon River near Van Meter got one too, With mentions of Fort Dodge's “Terror Bridge” and “wildman, ”

ChapterWitnesses by Chad Lewis: Dramatis Personae,

ChapterThe Van Meter Visitor: A Chronology of Events by Noah Voss: Ladies and Gentlemen! Here is the bit you're all here for.
Twentyone pages of retelling of the events of Sept,th to Oct.rd,and the visitation of the Visitor,

ChapterCryptozoological Derivations: Exploring the Possible Connection to Countless Other Creature Sightings by Noah Voss: Recounting other contemporaneous cryptids with and without wings the Jersey Devil, the Snallygaster, flying crocodiles, Chilean Dragons, and, for some reason, Spring Heeled Jack.


ChapterBlatant Hoax or Practical Joker by Chad Lewis: It could have been a hoax! But the researchers' gut feeling is that it wasn't.


ChapterPossible UFO/Alien Connection by Chad Lewis: I'm not saying it was aliens, . . but it was aliens. OK, probably not. But around that time there was a rash of mysterious airship sightings,

ChapterMisidentifications: An Examination by Noah Voss: Here are all the big birds, owls, and bats that it wasn't,

ChapterThe Haunting of the Platt Brick Factory by Chad Lewis: Oh, by the way, the old brick factory may also be haunted.
The researchers decide to spend the night, Nothing happens.

ChapterMass Hysteria: A Closer Look at the Terror by Chad Lewis: Have you heard about the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, IL We don't think that was really mass hysteria either.


ChapterThe Ultraterrestrial Theory: Tricksters, Daimons, and Quantum Consciousness by Kevin Lee Nelson: Remember when we didn't think it was aliens Well, what about being from another dimension/parallel universe.
That could totally happen. Forty pages of barelyrelated material I mostly skimmed this one,

ChapterWhat Happened to the Mysterious Footprint by Chad Lewis: Four pages in which the researchers, perhaps unsurprisingly, fail to find the plaster cast of the Visitor's footprint afteryears.


ChapterEarly Encounters:

Thunderbirds or Thoughtforms by Kevin Lee Nelson: For fun, lets look at the legends of the Native Americans and one legend fabricated in.


Chapters,,,by all three authors: Van Meter should really have one of those smalltowny festivals devoted to the Visitor call it Visitor Days! They could block off Main Street, have a beer garden, the Lions Club could sell food.
We could sell books! Get some tourist in here, . . You know, not much happens in Van Meter, Not even now Hey guys, did we figure anything out in this book Nah, really we just asked a bunch of questions and speculated wildly, It's really hard to write a whole book on one newspaper article!

Appendix: In which is reprinted all the original newspaper articleshint: only the first one counts.
Most of the rest are reprints/rewordings of the first article, Much like chapter, the real reason interested parties would pick up the book,
DNF
This book is a good example on why I cannot take "real" paranormal books seriously, The majority of this book is just wild theories and twisted scientific facts to try and prove that monsters can and do exist.
This time it is a lesser known monster that appeared briefly in a small town in, The only evidence for this creature's appearence is a newspaper article, It's pretty obvious that in a time of fantastical newspaper stories and hoaxes this is just one of those, The authors do discuss that possibility but make it well known that they believe in monsters but also believe this monster is just as real as bigfoot or nessie.
Thanks in large part to horror films and cable “reality” paranormal shows, the immense amount of time and effort legitimate paranormal investigators spend in libraries and historical societies chasing down leads is largely ignored.
Most people are only interested in the “sexy” aspects of the haunting or cryptid visitationwho got chased, frightened, possessed, or injured What dark menace is lurking in the corner Are there “jump scares” as the investigators walk insane asylum hallways in the green glow of nightvision technology Viewers dont realize that paranormal investigators are in large part journalists and historians, tracking down the history that provides the context for the paranormal phenomena at play.

One of the worlds best known paranormal investigators was John Keel, of Mothman fame, He was also a journalist, So was his counterpart in the film The Mothman Prophecies, It is the journalists instincts for finding the hidden facts buried beneath or adjacent to the known ones that drive the good paranormal investigator.
Christopher OBriens Stalking the Herd, about cattle mutilations, is a thick, exhaustive testament to the value of mining newspaper clippings, police reports, and other firsthand accounts.

My forthcoming book, Watch Out for the Hallway: Our TwoYear Investigation of the Most Haunted Library in North Carolina, coauthored with my wife Tonya, a talented medium, owes as much to dozens of hours of research as it does to theplus hours we spent investigating the library itself.
There were plenty of dead ends, but also corroborations and finds in the form of documents and photographs that made all the hours worth it, illuminating the messages we heard and physical phenomena we experienced.

So I can appreciate the work that the three authors of The Van Meter Visitor put into this volume, I am taking my time with this aspect of the book because there are a surprising number of negative reviews of the book that sadly confuse indispensible research with “filler” of some kind.
I hope this review serves in part to undo some of this mistaken criticism,
Lewis, Voss, and Nelson all of whom have impressive resumés in the field, as evidenced by the About the Authors section situate a limited sighting of winged, horned cryptids over several nights in the small town of Van Meter, Iowa inin a series of expanding circles of interest.
As one would expect, they begin by laying out the history of Van Meter, as well as all of the major playersthe towns business owners and other prominent citizenswho encountered the creatures.
In this first section, appropriately titled “History,” they relate the story, which is fascinating reading, recalling similar winged cryptids like the Mothman, but with its own unique twists.
This section is authored almost entirely by Lewis,
The second section, “Theories,” is as strong as it is because the authors took the time to provide plenty of historical, geographical, economic, and human context.
We already feel,pages in, that we know and trust both the people of Van Meter and the authors themselves, In the “Theories” section the three authors look at a variety of possible explanations, including a primer on cryptids featuring several similar cases such as the Jersey Devil, another on large birds of prey, the UFO/Alien connection that is prevalent in many cryptid sightings such as of Mothman, Bigfoot, and Skinwalkers, thunderbirds and thoughtforms the latter of which is currently of great interest because of the Slenderman phenomena, and ultraterrestrial theories a standout survey chapter that runsplus pages the section on quantum physics and the holographic universe demonstrates that the authors are using all of our modern tools in their work.

The three authors all contribute chapters to the closing section, “Final Thoughts, ” Their summations responsibly explore a number of possible explanations and there are no firm statements made about what the citizens of Van Meter encounteredyears ago.
Their theories all connect back to the information from the previous two sections,
Overall, The Van Meter Visitor serves a dual purpose: as a primer about the Van Meter mystery that allows the reader to pick up where the authors left off in their investigation, armed with abundant historical, sociological, and cryptological context the two appendices offer a list of businesses operating in Van Meter inand an array of local and national newspaper accounts of the incident and also as a handbook on the componentsand countless hoursthat go into a thorough paranormal investigation.

As if these two aspects were not enough, an extra bonus is the Foreword by the recently deceased author of overbooks on the paranormal and spirituality, Brad Steiger.
The book also features abundant historical photographs of the people and places in Van Meter, many provided with help from the local library, which help to close the centuryplus time gap for the reader.

The Van Meter Visitor is a textbook example of how to do a thorough investigation written by seasoned, passionate professionals who bring to light a fascinating cryptid that has not yet gotten its fair share of attention and consideration.
It should be a part of any investigators or enthusiasts library, alongside Keel, Guiley, Redfern, Steiger, and the rest of the pillars of the field of paranormal investigation.
Kudos to the authors on a job well done,
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