The US state of Oklahoma is found in the South-Central United States and is bordered with the US states of Kansas, Arkansas and Texas and small parts of Missouri, Colorado and New Mexico. I have always found Oklahoma to be one of the more interestingly shaped states, with the random strip of land protruding out to the west, called the Oklahoma Panhandle. Its capital and largest city are easy to remember as it is simply named Oklahoma City, another significant city in economic terms for the state is Tulsa.
Oklahoma consists of the Great Plains which includes prairies and grasslands; the Cross Timbers which includes prairie, savanna and woodlands and then the mountainous US Interior Highlands. Canyons and mesas can also be found in the state. Oklahoma has a humid subtropical climate and also lies within Tornado Valley, an area where extreme weather such as violent thunderstorms, winds, large hail and tornadoes can develop.
Oklahoma is a significant producer of agricultural products, natural gas and oil and its economy also relies on aviation, energy, telecommunications and biotechnology.
Now let’s us move on to the stranger side of Oklahoma and see what cryptids, unexplained and paranormal things they have to offer.
Perhaps one of Oklahoma’s biggest legends is that of the Oklahoma Octopus, some kind of creature or even demon said to inhabit not just one lake in Oklahoma, but numerous bodies of water across the state, with its most popular lairs being lakes such as Lake Thunderbird, Lake Oolagah and Lake Tenkiller. The basic description is that it simply looks like a giant cephalopod, one that is able to live within the freshwater of the lakes which is not thought to currently be possible as all known species of cephalopod’s are unable to survive in freshwater.
The octopus has various size comparisons from being as a big as a horse to as big as a full-blown jeep, could it perhaps be the Kraken’s long-lost son? Perhaps it is some kind of cephalopod yet undiscovered, albeit almost extinct, as certainly if it did exist in a usual quantity, we would have found them by now, which is why some believe it is instead something more supernatural and sinister that is merely disguising itself as an octopus. Believers in this creature or thing point towards the number of people who have drowned in Oklahoma’s lakes, saying it could be evidence of its existence, as it is said that the Oklahoma Octopus will attack swimmers, pulling them under the water and drowning them.
Skeptics say that most deaths and drownings in the lakes can be attributed to humans themselves, such as drunk swimmers and that the Oklahoma Octopus is simply a typical case of mistaken identity of some other underwater creature. The octopus supposed most popular lakes are also all man-made lakes, made in fairly recent history and so the octopus itself would to have had to gotten into these lakes in fairly recent history, which would be quite difficult. There is also not currently any good physical evidence of the octopus either, no possible photos or videos, simply just some insignificant eyewitness reports.
It is brought up by some that the Native American’s had believed something evil had been in the waters of Oklahoma long before western colonists arrived and long before the Oklahoma Octopus was even a thing, so it could have been something that originated from that. Whatever it is, just make sure to take extra care if you ever decide to hang around or take a dip in the waters of Oklahoma… just in case.
Next up we have a fairly recent alleged sighting of some kind of cryptid or supernatural being, a possible blooming legend in action that is just beginning to form. It is that of something that has been dubbed the Deerman, and it was witnessed by Kyle Heying and some companions in the early Spring of 2012 while in the Wichita Mountains. It is quite obscure and hard to find much of any information on it, with the main source being from a blog I read often, called Mysterious Universe.
It all started with them taking pictures of the stars when all of a sudden there was a commotion from animals in the area seemingly running away from something, after this the area became tense and very silent, making the men pack up and get out of there. When they got to the truck, its headlights lit up a terrifying figure, that of a humanoid, but it wasn’t human, with it having the head of an elk or buffalo and scary dark red eyes. Naturally the men drove out of there as fast as possible.
So, what could it have been? Was it simply a strange person in a mask scaring these men on that night up in the hills, seems like a rather random place to do it, and rather creepy as well, specifically doing it to people you, perhaps, don’t even know. Maybe it was some kind of deformed animal that was mis-identified. Others claim it could be the Native American Wendigo or one of those Skinwalker’s, perhaps in partial transition. It could also have merely been a hoax.
It certainly all sounds horror-esque.
Next up we shall talk about an unusual phenomenon that can actually be witnessed. It is a place known as magnetic hill on Pitt Road North-West of Springer in the state. When travelling down the hill here and stopping at the bottom and putting your car in neutral, something that would seem to be impossible will happen, the car will start rolling backwards, as if going down a hill, but instead it will be rolling… up a hill (or at least, that’s what it would seem). That’s right and it also does it at a fair bit of speed as well and it is definitely a real phenomenon that you can even try out for yourself in the area, although just make sure not to cause an accident while doing so.
The strange phenomenon also affects cyclists as well, with many being caught off guard when travelling the hill, as they expect to slow down a bit but instead end up speeding up as if travelling downhill.
It would seem impossible to happen as it seems to defy gravity. There are numerous legends as to why this happens, including the ghosts of people who have died in car accidents pushing the car away from where said accidents have happened, some kind of strange magnetic phenomena, the legend that a witch who once lived nearby to the road cursed the area to keep people away and of course, aliens.
Those who choose to go for more practical explanations though say it is merely an optical illusion and that it is actually a downhill slope that merely appears to be uphill, and that there are many other places where this can happen as well, colloquially known as Gravity Hill’s. So, although it appears to be explainable, it is still an interesting and strange experience nonetheless.
Next up we are going to go over some other strange phenomena in the Oklahoma Panhandle in a place called Beaver Dunes Park, this one far more unexplained. It is here that an interesting account was written by a Spanish Explorer called Coronado, after three of his men had vanished into thin air, a strange green lightning having appeared each time, Coronado had called it the work of the Devil in his diary. The Native American’s who had guided Coronado and his people had warned him not to go into that particular area, but that they had not listened, likely believing it to merely be pagan taboo belief.
The Natives apparently called the area the Shaman’s Portal, which is still what it is known as today and others have called it Oklahoma’s Bermuda Triangle due to the strange vanishings in the area. The area gets stranger though as apparently there have been sightings of undercover military operations there and also even the infamous Men in Black warding people off who were poking around.
There are rumours that scientists had been doing experiments on the land that led to some strange discoveries, such as ionized soil and unusual electromagnetic phenomena, which some locals and conspiracy theorists say is what originally attracted the attention of the government to the area, with some wild speculation that there potentially could be a large crashed alien ship underground in the area, which may be the reason for the strange phenomena.
Some say that it could be some kind of portal to another place or even alternate dimension and is where these vanished people ended up.
The area has since been blamed for vanishings of people, many of which have not been verified and likely just scary stories made up through local legend. But it seems to be quite a cool spot nonetheless.
And now we shall round off with a haunting and for that we will be checking out Fort Reno. Fort Reno is located near El Reno and was set up from a camp in 1874 and was used Cheyenne and Arapaho Native American peoples from rivals. It was abandoned in 1908, although still remaining a quartermaster remount depot. During WW2 it was used to imprison German and Italian prisoners of war. Finally, after 1949 the army once again abandoned the fort and transferred it to the U.S. Department of Agriculture who use it as a research laboratory. The fort is also now a tourist attraction that offers historical and paranormal tours.
Yes… it is said to be haunted, which makes sense due to its history through wars and also from murders, suicides and general deaths that have happened on site, many believe it to be haunted by many restless spirits. Much paranormal activity has been witnessed by visitors, staff and also paranormal investigators, including phantom faces appearing in windows, the slamming of doors, disembodied footsteps and unexplained cold spots as well as ghostly apparitions and strange anomalies showing up in photos.
So, if you are one of those interested in the paranormal and also history, then it is certainly a place to consider visiting one day.
So yeah, that is some of the oddities of Oklahoma that I have highlighted here. Next up we will be looking at the oddities of Texas.
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