Consider the satyr

Consider the satyr

In cryptozoologist Loren Coleman's book Mothman and Other Curious Encounters, he reports, "A few years ago, near York, Nebraska, a local resident saw a satyr, a living, breathing Pan-like, goat-footed beastie." The book came out in 2002, and I've yet to find what he's talking about, even on Cryptomundo.

There is a post about goatmen/satyrs from 2009, with a retelling of stories of Louisiana sightings. But that post only says "and thirty years ago, from near Lincoln, Nebraska."

York is, of course, not that far from Lincoln, and has a water tower decorated like a bright hot air balloon. (Personally, I think Ogallala has the better water tower.)

The report is likely from the Fortean Research Journal's April 1987 issue, which includes this story:

1982, December 11- A man and his fiance were returning to Utica from a friend's wedding, at about 1:00am. While driving along the highway, they observed a creature described as being about six feet tall with the appearance of a human from the waist up, but appearing to be "goat-like" from the waist down. Both described it as looking like depictions of Pan. It was described as having long hair, and self-luminous glowing yellow eyes. After passing the creature, they stopped the car, turned around, and observed t again through the back window of the automobile. Neither individual drinks, and their credibility is above reproach."

Utica is, indeed, near York. It's about 2/3rds of the way between York and Lincoln. This is probably the encounter in question, but doesn't answer why, in 2002, Coleman wrote of it as "a few years ago." It makes me wonder ... did the goatman hang around, or is a story nearly old enough to drink "a few years ago," off-hand?

Stories of satyrs/goatmen aren't unprecedented. Jerome Clark's Strange & Unexplained Phenomena from 1997 reports that in 1969, visitors to Lake Worth (right on the outskirts of Fort Worth) reported repeated sightings of a goatman. Like an urban legend, the beast put deep gashes into the car of John Reichart and his family. There's alleged photographic evidence of the beast, but it just looks like a big blob. The Pope Lick Monster of Louisville, Kentucky has an alleged body count. "Supposedly the monster has the body of a man and the lower torso of a goat or sheep. It is also said to have short horns protruding from its forehead," Eric Grundhauser writes at that Atlas Obscura link. He also writes that most of the body count is people not realizing the train trestle is an active track, which I'm not trying to minimize so much as say ... be careful out there.

There's also a Maryland goatman alleged to be an escaped lab experiment that kills dogs. There are at least two goatmen reportedly roaming Wisconsin. This issue of Animals and Men gives a pretty good rundown.

It's a decent amount of goatmen.

But there are a couple other thoughts here. York is no stranger to the strange. In September 1974, people all over the region reported a creature over eight feet tall roaming the region. This is perhaps the most famous bigfoot case in Nebraska, though not the only rash in the state in that year. A shorter creature was spotted in York by a police officer then. Airships allegedly landed in the town during the epidemic of sightings around 1896-1897. The Old Metz Mortuary is the local haunted spot. (Mortuaries have always been popular places — people are dying to get into them.)

But there's also the weirdness of the description. There are goatman sightings, but often they're more fearsome, like Black Phillip in The VVitch (I'm aware that was just a normal goat in the movie). The goat often has an association with demons or other evil spirits. Think of the Baphomet, a figure often employed in occult circles and to some, synonymous with devil worship. But that's a goat-faced creature with some other accoutrement.

But the fawn or the satyr is different. The satyr is a little sexier. Perhaps the most famous is Pan, but another famed satyr is Osiris. "Among the ancient Greeks, as with the Celts, the horned god was associated with homosexuality. One ancient bowl shows Pan, with cock erect, chasing a young male shepherd," Arthur Evans wrote in his 1978 book Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture. Pan wasn't something fearsome in most mythology — he was more of a forest spirit, associated with fertility and spring, eventually adopted by pagans. An encounter with the real Pan is more likely to be horny than horrifying.

There are other modern Pan sightings, some relayed in The Rebirth of Pan by Jim Brandon. (Real name, William Grimstad, a Nazi piece of shit. Hear all about it in season two of the phenomenal Penny Royal.) Perhaps a good source is the Nymphology Blog post on nymphs and satyrs.

But that doesn't really end up answering the question: was there a second satyr or not?

And maybe the answer is I should just stop being lazy and email Loren Coleman rather than writing a half-assed blog post. But hey, Loren, if you see this, email ryde at wyrm dot site and tell me if there was second satyr.