Humans as a species are always most terrified of creatures that may appear when they are most vulnerable. It is therefore no surprise that the monster lurking around a popular spot for amorous teens soon after found itself the target of an armed posse that stomped through the swamp surrounding Ohio’s Mill Lake. One of the things members of the posse warned one another of as they selected their weaponry was, “be careful, the thing’s eleven feet tall and probably weighs close to a ton.”
The monster, now known colloquially as “Orange Eyes” had been spotted lurking near the favorite hangout of teens in the area peering out from the darkness at them with a pair of glowing orange eyes. The creature was said to have a reach far surpassing that of any normal person and had a prodigious height of well over eleven feet. Those who spotted the monster said it was the single most terrifying thing they had ever seen in 1959.
Though Orange Eyes has been compared to Bigfoot over the years, the incredible size of the creature and the strange glowing eyes it has put it in its own category of terror. As the group dedicated to hunting the mysterious creature down assembled that day on “Lovers’ Lane,” they branched off in smaller terrified groups and set out the grim task of hunting the monster down. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily they never ran across it. Later, groups looking back on the sheer size of the creature compared to what the posse was armed with have commented that they were lucky to have not startled the creature as it was unlikely to be brought down by the weapons they possessed – even if it had been a creature lacking any paranormal abilities.
But that’s one of the strangest elements to the story. Just as the lumbering hulk had emerged from the darkness it simply disappeared back into the woods shortly thereafter, unable or unwilling to face its pursuers head on. And yet those who failed to bring the creature back wondered aloud amongst themselves, “How does an eleven foot tall monster just disappear without a trace?”
It’s not an uncommon theme in Bigfoot stories or other tales of elusive creatures. Just as they materialize so too do they simply disappear. And though Orange Eyes was a mysterious creature to say the least, it was only one of thousands that have been reported over the years. Some have speculated that the creature may have been a visitor from another world while others say it was just a hoax intended to scare people away from the area utilizing orange glowing reflectors attached to a large stick to give the illusion of a glowing monster. Of course this explanation does fall short in explaining why the legend has persisted for half a century in the area with new witnesses – even some visiting from out of town – later reporting that the creature appeared out of the blue leaving no trace behind. And it’s not just the eyes that people have seen. Witnesses describe seeing the creature plainly complete with its ape-like face and giant arms reaching down to the Earth suddenly appearing as if it suddenly sprung from the ground to terrorize them.