The Place

Van Meter, Iowa is a small town near Iowa’s capital city of Des Moines. In 1903, Van Meter’s coal mining industry had recently come to an end, and the town’s main industry was the brick and tile plant. Although the cited article from a St. Paul, Minnesota newspaper states that there were 1,000 people living in Van Meter at the time, the actual population was just over 400.

The Story

In late September and early October of 1903, the residents of Van Meter, Iowa saw something strange. So strange, in fact, that the story was carried by newspapers around the country.

The story began in late September of 1903, when Ulysses G. Griffith, an implements dealer, arrived back in Van Meter around 1:00 a.m. He reported seeing a bright light on one of the buildings in town. He watched as it slowly moved to the top of another building before disappearing.

Van Meter did not have electric street lamps at this time, and it was unusual to see such a bright light at night. Apparently, Griffith wasn’t believed after his experience, until there was another sighting the following night.

Dr. A. C. Olcott, who slept in his office, reported being awakened by a bright light shining through his window. Dr. Olcott grabbed his shotgun and went outside to confront whoever had disturbed his sleep.

Instead of seeing a person, Dr. Olcott reported seeing something that was half man and half beast, with large, bat-like wings. The light that had woken him was supposedly shining from a horn in the middle of the creature’s forehead.

Dr. Olcott said that he fired a shot at the creature, but the shot didn’t seem to affect it. He also reported a foul odor coming from the creature. After firing the shot, he headed back into his office and barred the doors and windows until morning.

Peter Dunn, a cashier at the local bank, was the next person to report seeing the strange creature. Worried about bank robbers, he took his shotgun and stayed the night at the bank.

Around 2:00 a.m., he saw a bright light coming through the window. Mr. Dunn fired at the creature through the window, and it disappeared.

In the morning, Mr. Dunn reported finding three-toed footprints outside the bank and said that he took plaster casts of them.

The next night, Dr. O. W. White saw the creature climbing down from a telephone pole. He reported that it had a beak like a parrot. Once it reached the ground, he said that it hopped like a kangaroo and used its large wings to help it move along.

The final sightings of the creature began with J. L. Platt, who worked as a foreman at the brick plant next to an abandoned coal mine. He reportedly heard strange sounds coming from the mine and assembled a group of men to investigate.

The group witnessed the creature, along with a smaller creature, emerge from the mine shaft. The men fired at the creatures, who again seemed unfazed by the shots.

The group spent the night at the mine shaft, waiting to see if the creatures would return. According to the reports, they did return at dawn and descended back into the mine shaft.

At some point, the people of the town sealed off the entrance to the abandoned mine, and the sightings stopped.

Notes

The Oct. 11, 1903 article in The Saint Paul Globe identifies the bank cashier as Peter Dunn. However, later banking records identify Clarence Dunn as the cashier of the Van Meter Bank. I have not yet found a source that explains the discrepancy.

I was able to verify several of the people named in the original accounts, including Ulysses G. Griffith and the Van Meter bank cashier, although there are some discrepancies in the names. I have not yet been able to independently verify Dr. A. C. Olcott or Dr. O. W. White in Van Meter in 1903. It’s possible that they were only in the area temporarily, or that their names were reported incorrectly, but I haven’t found enough evidence to say for certain.

The Van Meter Visitor Festival

Since 2013, Van Meter celebrates the Van Meter Visitor Festival in September. Events include guided walking tours, speakers on the paranormal, and a variety of vendors.

Sources

St. Paul Globe, October 11, 1903, p. 1 & 4. Newspaper archive accessed via Newspapers.com.

United States Census Bureau, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, Van Meter town, Dallas County, Iowa.

Van Meter Visitor Festival. Facebook page. Accessed September 10, 2026.