The Fresno nightcrawler is a
cryptid
Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...
first documented in
Fresno, California
Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
.
It is semi-humanoid, white in color, long-legged, and typically spotted in pairs. They have been compared to "walking pairs of pants".
History
The Fresno nightcrawler was first documented in
CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
footage shot in 2007 by a man in south Fresno, who then shared the footage with television network
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
.
The video shows a white figure like a pair of legs without a torso walking from the top left to the bottom right of the screen, followed by a second figure walking in the same direction. The Fresno nightcrawler was featured on the
History Channel
History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
program
The Proof Is Out There.
Subsequent footage of similar creatures was shot in
Yosemite Lakes Park in 2011,
and there have reportedly been sightings as far away as Poland.
The
SyFy program
Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files coined the name "nightcrawlers", and its attempts to investigate if the footage was a
hoax
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.
S ...
proved inconclusive.
Claims to relate the Fresno nightcrawler to Native American legends have been debunked.
Popularity
The Fresno nightcrawler has become an
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...
of Fresno, and has spawned merchandise and fans around the world.
Unlike many cryptids, which can be frightening, the nightcrawler is "super simple, uncomplicated, just a pair of pants out for a walk",
which may account for the popularity of the creature.
See also
*
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...
*
List of cryptids
Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...
*
List of urban legends
This is a list of urban legends. An urban legend or urban myth is a modern genre of folklore. It often consists of fictional stories associated with the macabre, superstitions, ghosts, demons, cryptids, extraterrestrials, creepypasta, and other f ...
*
Paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
*
Preternatural
The preternatural (or praeternatural) is that which appears outside, beside or beyond (Latin: '' præter'') the natural. It is "suspended between the mundane and the miraculous".
In theology, the term is often used to distinguish marvels or de ...
*
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...
*
Urban legends
Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not.
These legends can be e ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Paranormal conference video on the original video
American folklore
California folklore
American legendary creatures
Cryptids
Urban legends
Fresno, California