# American Monsters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286 "2003-01-02T22:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/1 "2003-01-02T22:16:26Z")
Recently I’ve come across tales of several “unusual” humanoid creatures, ranging from seven foot horned humanoids in Sayre Pennsylvania to 10 foot tall Iowan Giants (found in a Pyramid) [http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/N.Am/Kossuth.Giants.html](http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/N.Am/Kossuth.Giants.html) Unfortunately it seems that all I’ve been able to find is second hand stories. Supposedly the horned Pennsylvanian humanoids disappeared while they were in possession of the American Investigative Museum (AIM) in Philly, and there don’t seem to be any photos of the 10 foot giants in Iowa. Does anyone out there know of any good sites which detail these finds? What about the AIM? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/2 "2003-01-02T23:19:39Z")
Um wow, nice website. Apparently this guy is a UFO enthusiast. OK. I would do a Google search for yetis, big foot, and sasquatch. That should keep you busy for a while. Then, when you’re ready, check out Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/3 "2003-01-03T00:00:57Z")
Yes, I agree that this guy seems to be a bit “out there”, but he didn’t originate the horned giants legend. He gives his source as: “Pursuit, in its July, 1973, issue, reported that in the 1880s, while digging in a mound at Sayre in Bradford County, Pennsylvania,…A story about the horned skulls appeared in a Reader’s Digest book, Mysteries of the Unexplained.” I’m not sure what Pursuit is, but I have read Reader’s Digest. RD may not be the most scientific source, but I trust it more than some guy’s website. I’ve seen the RD article referenced a few times as the principle source. One site even listed the names of the professors who made the discovery. Gimmie a second and I’ll dig it up… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/4 "2003-01-03T00:02:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SwimmingwithChickens \* > Recently I’ve come across tales of several “unusual” humanoid creatures, … Try [this link](http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/5 "2003-01-03T00:04:53Z")
Here is the other source that names names… [http://www.subversiveelement.com/History\_Unusual\_Remains.html](http://www.subversiveelement.com/History_Unusual_Remains.html) ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/6 "2003-01-03T02:09:09Z")
Reader’s Digest’s **Mysteries of the Unexplained** is a darn fun read, but not exactly scrupulous in the pursuit of science and truth. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/7 "2003-01-03T03:34:27Z")
Found an [Interesting pdf](http://www.strangeark.com/nabr/NABR4.pdf): > [@](#): > > From Robert R. Lyman, Sr.’s (1971) Forbidden Land: Strange Events in the Black Forest, > Vol. I. (Coudersport, PA: Potter Ent.): > “At Tioga Point, on the Murray farm, a short distance from Sayre, in Bradford County, an amazing discovery was made. Dr. G. P. Donehoo, State Historian…, together with Prof. A. B. Skinner of the American Investigating Museum, and Prof. W. K. Morehead, of Phillips Andover > Academy, uncovered an Indian mound. They found the bones of 68 men which were believed to have been buried about the year 1200. “The average height of these men was 7 feet, while many were much taller. On some of the skulls, 2 inches above the perfectly formed forehead, were protuberances of bone, evidently horns that had been there since birth.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/8 "2003-01-03T04:24:38Z")
Oh horseshit. Come _on_, kids. Click on the pdf link if you need a good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/9 "2003-01-03T04:26:49Z")
Oh sorry, my “horseshit” comment was directed at the link in **SwimmingWithChickens** ’s post, not **Squink** ’s, although it is also pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/10 "2003-01-03T05:08:16Z")
Hmmm, Squink’s link doesn’t work for me, perhaps there is another way to view the file? With regard to EJs horseshit comment, yeah that skull looks fake, but the site itself makes no claims about the skull. In fact it indicates that the skeleton’s disappeared which de facto means that skull picture is a fake. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/11 "2003-01-03T05:09:32Z")
Also I linked html’s not pdfs…JFTR… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/12 "2003-01-03T05:51:59Z")
[This google](http://www.google.com/search?as_q=horn&num=10&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=A.+B.+Skinner&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=off) search will get you there as well. The article is the second cite on the page. If you can’t read pdf, then click on the 'view as html" link. Lyman’s book, Forbidden Land: Strange Events in the Black Forest, doesn’t show up at amazon, so you might have some trouble finding a copy. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/13 "2003-01-03T07:01:58Z")
An appearing, disappearing horned skull? Sound a lot like one of my favourite Ray Bradbury short stories, “Colonel Stonesteel’s Genuine Home-made Truly Egyptian Mummy”. Great read. I like a good gag as much as the next guy, but REALLY! ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/14 "2003-01-06T14:21:31Z")
So wait, is the only reference to the horned skulls: From Robert R. Lyman, Sr.’s (1971) Forbidden Land: Strange Events in the Black Forest, How could I track down the validity of any of this? Is there a way that I can research whether or not the American Investigative Museum really exists or existed? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/15 "2003-01-06T15:31:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there a way that I can research whether or not the American Investigative Museum really exists or existed? You could try asking the [Smithsonian librarians](http://www.si.edu/contacts/) via email. They’ll probably be able to find out if the Smithsonian had a relationship with this “American Investigative Museum.” Also, try the [Fortean Times forums](http://www.forteantimes.co.uk/forum/index.php). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/16 "2003-01-06T15:56:12Z")
If you want an interesting book (unlike the textbook stylings of the “Haunted America” series) full of _reported_ sightings in the North East of everything from Ghosts to aliens & MiB to Bigfoot, I’d recommend [Passing Strange : True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1576300595/qid=1041868452/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-2546499-6356709) by Joseph Citro. I love this book because, unlike horror novels, it scared the crap out of me the night I first read it. However, this book is full of places I’ve actually been, and I’m far less skeptical of the paranormal than many dopers purport to be, so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingwithChickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SwimmingwithChickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingwithChickens)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/17 "2003-01-06T17:04:27Z")
Interesting… Looks good, but is it just ghost stories? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/18 "2003-01-06T21:00:06Z")
Sorry, but I’m still going with “horseshit” and “come on kids.” Lemme see- this was the only specimen ever found, and it “mysteriously” disappeared (foul play, I’m sure) so that it can never be proved or debunked? James Randi has a big check waiting… forever, probably. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/19 "2003-01-06T23:30:31Z")
I did a little checking on the Iowa giants story. The story shows up on a few different paranormal sites, always the same text and no attribution or date. I think I may have tracked down the source and gee, it sure looks like a parody to me. It lists, among other things, the B. Lavatsky Museum in Hopkins Grove Ia, the alleged site of the discovery (Madame Blavatsky, of course), and the University of Emmetsburg (no university, pop. approx. 3900). Here’s a link for anybody interested. Bottom line: Be skeptical. If there was anything to any of these stories it’d make the news in all the large outlets, not just a couple of credulous websites ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286/20 "2003-01-06T23:53:52Z")
I almost forgot. If you want to see real pyramids in Iowa, you want to visit a small cemetery a few miles outside my hometown. Here’s what they look like. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-monsters/146286.md?page=2)