Van Meter Visitor


I visited the small town of Van Meter, Iowa in early-September 2022. On the surface, Van Meter is a typical Midwestern small town—exactly what comes to mind when thinking of Iowa. But there is more to the town than meets the eye. Over a century ago, a strange bat-like creature nicknamed the Van Meter Visitor came to town and terrorized residents for several nights.

As the story goes, in the fall of 1903, the Van Meter Visitor emerged from a mine shaft and flew into town at night. The monster stood around nine feet tall and had large, leathery wings, and emitted a foul odor. Frightened residents fired bullets at the creature, but amazingly, gunfire did not harm it. But the weirdest thing of all was that the strange, winged visitor had a horn atop its head that cast a beam of light.

The Van Meter Visitor came into town for several nights, flying around and perching itself atop the buildings. Fed-up townsfolk formed an armed mob and made their way to nearby mine where the monster was holed up. There, they discovered the visitor along with another creature about half its size. Of course, they opened fire—to no avail. The strange creatures descended into the mine shaft and were not seen again.

Well, sort of.

The Aftermath

Over the years, the town has experienced some sporadic reports of a weird, winged creature, but nothing that rivals the 1903 saga.

van meter visitor

What was the visitor? Could it have been a pterosaur—the winged lizards of the Mesozoic Era? Interestingly enough, credible reports of pterosaurs come from all over the country.

Was the visitor a hoax?

Was it something akin to the infamous Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia?

No one knows the identity of the Van Meter Visitor, but folks gather each year in town for a festival in its honor. Unfortunately, in 2022 the festival took place about three weeks after I had left Iowa, so I was unable to attend. But maybe someday…

For more on my travels, make sure you subscribe and get email notifications for my latest posts. You’ll also want to check out my Detours Into the Paranormal series.

For more on the 1903 Van Meter sightings, read Chad Lewis’ book The Van Meter Visitor: A True and Mysterious Encounter with the Unknown.


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