The Owlman
In our continual exploration of little-known cryptids (and a preview of what's coming up for OST), let us introduce you to the Cornish Owlman.
According to BBC Countryfile, “It’s hard to imagine anyone tickling the Owlman of Mawnan. At the end of a mile-long sheltered narrow lane, the small churchyard of Mawnan was a sacred spot long before the 13th-century church was built here with views over the mouth of the Helford River.
Here, and in an adjacent wood, sightings of a flying creature about five feet tall, half man, half owl with glowing red eyes, silver feathers and crab-like claws have terrified tourists since the 1970s. Oddly, all but one of the dozen or so eyewitnesses of the Owlman have been girls or young women, most under 16?”
We’ve been reading the VERY INTERESTING book, The Owlman and Others. It’s by Jonathan Downes, who covers a wide breadth of Owlman-related lore—and he should know; he’s a fortean researcher. He begins with what is arguably the first Owlman sighting: the experience of two little girls in Easter of 1976, where they came upon a
creature just outside Mawnan in Cornwall. They described it as “"nasty bird-man" flying over the church tower that looked like “a big owl with pointed ears, as big as man.” They swore it had “eyes were red and glowing" and that it sported wings with "grey feathers" and had "black claws on its feet.”
Was it . . . just a regular old owl? Maybe. But many more sightings have followed since. And we do have this EXCELLENT witness sketch.
