March 7, 2025 • 33 mins
In this captivating episode of Journey to the Fringe, we delve into the enigmatic world of sky serpent sightings. From modern-day accounts of ethereal serpentine shapes soaring through the skies to their ancient depictions in art and mythology, we explore the fascinating overlap between these mysterious phenomena and the legendary Chinese dragons. Are these celestial beings rooted in myth, or could they be glimpses into something stranger? Join us as we unravel their history, cultural significance, and the theories that bind them to one of the world's oldest symbols of power and wisdom. Let your imagination take flight in this thrilling journey!
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Episode Transcript
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From the unexplained to the mundane, come join us on a journey to the fringe.
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Hello and welcome to Journey to the Fringe, where sometimes we take multiculturalism seriously.
Sometimes.
And Chelsea, this may in fact be one of those times, as we are recording this right around
the Chinese New Year, Xinyan Kuala.
Do you just say Xinyan?
Xinyan, yes.
Let's go celebrate, which is from Xinyan.
Oh, good.
That's just what I was thinking.
I think there's so many advertisements for them right now.
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It's ridiculous.
Oh, yeah.
They're coming to Vancouver, I think.
They're pushing cards.
I'm so tempted.
Every time I see an ad, I'm like, I should just go and see what the hype is about.
There was actually a contest on one of our local newspapers for free tickets.
And I was like, eh, I don't really want to go.
Yeah.
I'd go if it was free, if I want to go.
Maybe.
It depends on how I felt that moment before going.
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I know I'm always torn on that question, but I can't give them money.
That is kind of why I withhold that.
Yeah, exactly.
Chelsea, I don't know if you know this, but we are entering the year of the snake in Chinese
zodiac.
And snakes in Chinese mythology and culture hold like a slightly different relationship
than they do in the rest of the world, where it's like snakes bat, snakes dangerous, stay
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away from snake.
There, it's kind of, they are a wise creature.
And more importantly, they are kind of related to dragons and how they view dragons because
they kind of look like them.
They shed the skin.
They are a different creature because of that.
I decided, you know what we're going to do to celebrate the Chinese New Year?
We are going to do an episode on the sky serpents.
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Yay.
Sky serpents are snakes or elongated serpentine dragons that appear to float or fly in the
air.
They typically move in an undulating fashion as if there are sea serpents of the air.
They're not the same as ordinary flying dragons because they manage to fly without wings and
like most Asian dragons that have the ability to fly.
Some sky serpents are seen to have different colors, textures than other sky serpents which
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are sighted all around the world.
I find this really interesting that so many cultures have some type of mythological flying
snake like creature.
As I was just talking about in Chinese myth, there is the Chinese dragon, which is completely
different looking than our dragons in the West, so it's kind of funny that they ended
up with the same name.
Really?
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Where they are symbols of imperial authority, wisdom, and good fortune, and they're believed
to control the weather, particularly rains and storms.
In Mesoamerica, the Incan, the Mayans, and the Aztecs had Quetzalcoatl and Cukokin, whose
role are creator gods and bringer of knowledge.
In Hindu mythology, they have Ritra, which is a serpent like demon who represents drought
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and chaos.
In Greek mythology, we have Typhon, which is a monstrous, serpentine giant with multiple
dragon heads and wings.
In Aboriginal culture, they have a rainbow serpent, which is a powerful creator being
associated with water, rain, and fertility.
In North America, the native peoples had horned serpents, which are dragon-like creatures
found in myths of many different groups.
The Cherokees, the Choctaw, the Sioux, it's both a protector and a dangerous force, sometimes
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seen as a guardian of sacred knowledge.
In Africa, they have the Aido Huedo, I think I'm saying that right, which is a giant,
giant rainbow serpent that supports the world.
In Mesopotamian mythology, they have Tiamat, which is a primordial goddess of the ocean.
In Slavic, they have the Zmei Gorinich.
In Japanese mythology, they have Brugin, which is a dragon king.
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And in Celtic mythology, they have Piest, which is a symbol of chaos and is often defeated
by heroes and myths.
Interesting.
There's a ton everywhere where they're saying there's these flying snakes in the sky.
Can I just ask, you said that Chinese dragons are much different than what we would think
of a dragon.
What is it just the serpentine qualities that it has?
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That's part of it.
Asian dragons are a lot more snake-like.
They're longer.
They also do talk and are very wise.
Asian dragons.
They talk.
Oh yeah.
Whereas opposed to like a European dragon would be like the four-legged one with wings
that breathe fire.
I thought it was interesting when I was in China, they build their buildings with holes
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in the middle for dragons to fly through.
Not all of them.
Not all.
No.
But there are a lot of buildings with holes in the middle for them to fly through.
And it's also a doubles for good luck.
Maybe it has to do with the dragon being able to fly through that it brings.
Well, he's probably a lot nicer if he doesn't have to fly through a building.
Oh yeah.
He's very grateful that they made way for him instead of him having to go around.
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I think I would like that too.
It's nice to be acknowledged.
Oh totally.
And I have another dragon story.
Funny how many dragon stories I have.
I've been in a dragonsten.
Real.
In Poland.
Oh okay.
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the show.
No.
Okay.
That was a flop.
I didn't even make it on the show.
I don't want to talk about it.
In Poland, I went into a castle that had a dragonsten underneath.
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I don't remember dragons, but in Krakow they have a dragon.
Interesting.
I went in there.
To say I went in his house.
But there.
I went in his home.
Yeah.
I don't think he was a Chinese dragon.
I should make it clear too.
There weirdly is an actual flying snake out there that we're not going to be talking about.
I didn't want to know that.
I didn't want to know that.
It glides through the air from trees.
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How would it get into the air?
It just glides.
It gets up.
It climbs the tree.
No, it climbs the tree and then it like throws itself out and it just glides.
That son of a bitch.
Why would nature do this to us?
Because nature is terrifying.
And it's right behind you.
Look out.
I hate it when nature does this.
It's probably in fucking Australia too.
Maybe that's why they want to fucking extinct some species.
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They have all the scary things.
We don't save animals here in Australia.
They should have put that on the list.
Flying snakes and then in brackets perfectly abundant.
There's too many.
They should fly into the fire.
Yeah.
Okay, okay.
Yeah, in Australia they have that kind of bird that's known for spreading forest fires
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to catch prey too.
I think it's a harpy eagle that does that.
Yeah.
You just say a herpy eagle?
Harpy.
Harpy eagle.
Okay.
It's like this is so getting out of hand.
Fuck them Australia.
Australia's like a different place.
It is half made up.
It's totally half made up.
Okay.
Enough of Australia.
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Like I was saying, many different groups have this built into their mythology, this
idea of a snake in the sky.
In Australia it's real, but no, I just said it's Australia.
I have no idea where it's from.
I stick to it as well.
Okay.
Basically as long as people have been writing things down too, there have been people saying
they've seen flying snakes.
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Outside of that one that we do know exists.
There's Egyptian tales of flying snakes which capture the curiosity of the Greek historian
Herodotus in 46CBC.
These winged Dracontes, I don't know how to say it because I don't speak any of the
languages from that time or area of the world.
It's Egyptian, right?
I don't know if he's writing it in Greek or in Egyptian though.
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So Dracontes were said to live under Freikin sense or Boswellia trees in the Arabian desert.
To gather the incense the Arabians burned Styrix resin from the liquid dam bar tree
because the smoke drove the winged snakes away.
Herodotus described the flying reptiles as small with very gated markings shaped like
a water snake but with wing like membranes like bat wings.
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In Somali legends there's tale of a flying snake that hoarded precious stones attended
by a hundred reptilian guards.
Once a horseman carried away a jewel from this bounty and was pursued by the reptile
army.
Although the horseman escaped back to his tribe the snake warriors would not let up until
the jewel was returned.
And in fact there is mention of flying serpents in the Old Testament Chelsea.
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Isaiah 1429, this is a direct quote, do not rejoice all you of Philistia because the rod
that struck you is broken.
For out of the serpent's root will come a viper and its offspring will be a fiery flying
serpent.
And in Isaiah 36 the burden against the beasts of the south threw a land of trouble and
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anguish from which came the lioness and the lion, the viper and the fiery flying serpent.
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys and their treasures on the
humps of camels to a people who shall not profit.
These are going back pretty far references to these things.
Chelsea, I'm now going to go through some actual stories.
Historically from when I first find the stories to more current times.
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Oh yeah, fantastic.
The first story I could find is the Flying Serpent of Henam.
It's an area in Essex.
It was published in 1669 by Peter Lillicrap of Hlarkinwell.
I love his name.
Lillicrap, it is great.
Yeah, I love that.
And it is perhaps the most famous of the Essex dragons.
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The folklore recounts the story of a man who encountered the Flying Serpent while riding
on Lodge Farm at Henam on the Mount the previous year.
The serpent allegedly attacked his horse and prompting him to warn his neighbors about
the beast to ensure the safety of their cattle.
Shortly after, two men claimed to have seen the creature describing it as eight or nine
feet long with large piercing eyes, two rows of very white and sharp teeth and two large
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wings on its back.
A tale of a flying serpent that terrorized the residents of Saffron Walden in 1669 is
one that has been passed down through generations to cite numerous attempts locals were unable
to slay the beast.
The accounts of their sightings are so credible that many believe the creature's existence
was undeniable fact and the British library is believed to house the last remaining copy
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of the original pamphlet detailing these events.
Pamphlet, they were handing out pamphlets.
Yeah, they had pamphlets about this guy.
What a good idea.
Not enough people do pamphlets anymore.
No, it virtually extinct.
And now I don't generally like a pamphlet unless it's about a dragon sighting.
Yeah, or it's a menu.
I love those two.
But I can't say I've ever got one about a dragon sighting.
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They need to make a comeback.
I'm just...
It really...
Controversial opinion.
They need to make a comeback.
I didn't even know they were extinct, but they do need to make a comeback now.
In 1741, British Commodore George Anson anchored off the Panamanian island of Quibo, now called
Cueba, I guess, I don't know how to say it, during his circumnavigation of the globe.
Their Spaniards informed Anson's crew that there was often found in the woods a most
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mischievous serpent called the Flying Snake, which they said darted itself from the boughs
of trees on either man or beast that came within its reach and whose sting they believed
to be inevitable death.
James Churchward, a proponent of the Lost Continued of Mu, claimed that Quetzalcoatl,
the feathered serpent god of the Aztecs, was a real but rare animal residing in the swampy
deep unexplored forest of the Yucatan in Guatemala.
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Churchward describes the creature as the most venomous ever recorded, killing its victims
within two minutes.
Its head was broad, flat, and V-shaped like most venomous serpents.
He described Quetzalcoatl as having a body the size of a duck and a five foot long neck
covered in short hair-like feathers.
The body and the neck were off-white, thickly modeled with gray.
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There was a tuft of short feathers in place of a tail.
Churchward's wings had long upper feathers and drooped like those of a bird of paradise
and had a prismatic sheen.
Churchward wrote that the serpent was clumsy in flight, able to stay aloft for only a few
yards at a time.
That poor beast.
Well, that's so funny.
Remember that mothman sighting that the person said it was clumsy?
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Yeah.
I can't imagine seeing a creature like this with wings and I couldn't figure it out.
And a duck with a five foot long neck.
Oh, hold on.
No, five feet?
That's big.
Yeah.
He's like, he's have pretty big necks, but it's not five feet.
Yeah, it's the body the size of a duck and a five foot long neck.
I would think that's a dragon.
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Probably.
I don't know what I think.
It's hard to say.
Honestly.
If it's five feet and the body's the size of a duck, it's more snake than duck body.
It's more neck than anything else.
I'm picturing it and I feel like I wouldn't like it.
I feel like it would creep me out and I need to get out of there quick.
I wouldn't want it touching me.
I'm sure many kids in like kindergarten drew this thing as a giraffe accidentally, like
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many times.
Oh yeah.
Either that or me.
An ostrich?
Do ostriches have five feet long necks?
No, their legs are really long.
They have long necks.
They do have long necks.
Giraffes?
Giraffes aren't all neck though.
No, they have fairly big bodies.
And it's September 17th, 1833 edition, the Bengal Hercaru newspaper of Calcutta reported
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alarming intelligence from the neighborhood of Fars.
It's unclear if this story was referring to a town in India or the province of Fars
in Persia.
A dragon-like fiery flying serpent had commandeered the main road through town, spraying deadly
venom on anyone who dared pass into devouring their corpses.
A posse of 40 men set out to battle the beast, but only two maintained confidence in their
incantations and ventured forward.
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One man was immediately smoked by a pestilential blast from the serpent, which pounced upon
his remains and began devouring them.
Commencing the fate of his comrade, the other man made a hasty retreat and informed the
remainder of the valiant band of 40 and fell the villagers of the failed expedition as
one paper of the day declared a likely cock and bull story.
July of 1868, this comes from the zoologist in Chile.
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And I'm just trying to, they spelt chili.
Is this the recent one?
Copiapo.
No, this is 1868.
Are you sure it's not another place?
Are you sure it's Chile?
It says chili with two eyes and copiapo.
Oh.
Okay, I guess it's just spelt wrong or they changed the spelling at some point.
Maybe Chile was known as Chile.
Chile.
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Yesterday, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, when the daily labors in this mine were over
and all the workmen were together awaiting their supper, we saw something coming through
the air from the side of the Ternera, a gigantic bird which had first sight, cooked for one
of the clouds, then partially darkening the atmosphere.
Oh no.
Exposing it to have been separated from the rest of the wind.
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Its course was northwest to southeast.
Its flight rapid in a straight line.
As it was passing a short distance above our head, we could make out the strange formation
of its body.
Its immense wings were clothed with a grayish plumage.
Its monstrous head was like that of a locus.
Its eyes were wide open and shown like burning coals.
It seemed to be covered with something resembling the thick and stout bristles of a boar.
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While on its body elongated like that from a serpent, we could only see brilliant scales
which clashed together with metallic sound as the strange animal turned its body in its
flight.
We could make out.
And then in 1873, there is apparently like a wave of sightings of flying serpents that
struck the US.
This came from North Texas Enterprise of Bonham in June 14th, 1873.
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Singular phenomenon.
A few days ago, a Mr. Harden residing some five or six miles east of this place saw something
resembling an enormous serpent floating in a cloud that was passing over his farm.
Several parties of men and boys at work in the fields observed the same thing, then were
seriously frightened.
It seemed to be as large and as long as a telegraph pole.
Was of a yellow striped color and seemed to float along without any effort.
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They could see it coil itself up, turn over and thrust forward its huge head as if striking
at something, displaying the maneuvers of a genuine snake.
The cloud and serpent moved in an easterly direction and were seen by persons a few miles
this side of the honey grove.
The question is, what is it and where did it come from?
And then on June 27th of the same year, the monitor of Fort Scott broke the news about
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a follow-up sighting in local skies.
A strange and remarkable phenomenon was observed at sunrise yesterday morning.
The sky was clear and the sun rose entirely unobscured.
When the disc of the sun was about halfway above the horizon, the form of a huge serpent,
apparently perfect in form, was plainly seen encircling it and it was visible for some
moments.
We have this statement from two reliable parties who witnessed the phenomenon and are willing,
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if necessary, to make affidavits of their assertions.
We have two great respects for the sun to rise before it and therefore are innocent
of the authorship of the sea serpent of the sun, but we have all confidence in the credibility
of our witnesses.
What fearful portent is indicated in this wonderful and ominous phenomenon, we shall
join a Sunday school and await the solution.
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What?
That was weird.
That is a weird way to end that.
The New York Times around, like they have all these articles that are coming out, came
out with something as well.
They close that same story with, it will soon be time for a national prohibitory liquor
law if this sort of thing is to continue as what they added.
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Then in 1897, a flying snake was spotted over Harpsville, South Carolina in the summer of
that year.
A local newspaper reported, the flying snake was seen near Newman Swamp by a Mr. Odom
on Sunday afternoon, say at six o'clock.
This is about 10 miles south of this place.
Later, say at seven o'clock on the same day, it was seen by Mr. Henry Polson.
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In Chesterfield County, 12 miles north of here, Mr. Polson says the monster was low
down just above the treetops, had its head thrown back in position to strike, and it
was just floating through the atmosphere lengthwise.
He says it seemed to be 25 to 40 feet long and about 8 to 10 inches through, at the largest
part.
In the language of Mr. Polson, it was the most like a snake of anything he ever saw and
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he believes it was a snake.
One contemporary suggestion was that the snake had actually been a flock of pelicans.
Can you imagine it confusing as a flock of pelicans?
Yeah, that's kind of snappy.
Easily done.
I guess, you know, I saw one pelican once and I was like, is that half a dragon?
Then I was like, no, that's a pelican.
Maybe he just saw a Quetzalcoatl.
Was it awkward?
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Not again, you fucking pelican.
You won't fool me.
In 1903 in Georgia, there were several witnesses in the Ossila area stating what looked like
a snake over a yard and length flying about 20 feet in the air over the steel branch.
The reptile, they say, made a hissing noise as it flew.
So you knew it was a snake.
It's staaat, though.
Oh yeah, that confirmed it.
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He was like, I'm a snake.
I love the language that is being used in...
Oh, the 1800s is a fun time.
I need people.
I can't believe that people actually spoke like this.
They need funer words like skibbity and sigma, Rizzler.
Yeah, and 23 Skadoo.
Exactly.
All those words that are from the same generation, definitely.
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Has that come back yet?
23 Skadoo.
I don't know.
I don't think so.
I'm going to have to bring it back.
In August of 1885, Farmer James Vincent Sr. and several friends from nearby Fletcher,
Illinois battled apparently a gigantic air serpent that was attempting to devour Vincent's
sheep.
The snake worked in unison with three smaller snakes, each 18 to 20 feet in length.
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The trio snatched a lamb and slithered toward the larger snake, but released their hold
when one of the men tossed a fence rail at them.
The smaller snakes attacked the men and were repelled, but once again grabbed a lamb.
This time they succeeded in depositing it in the hungry king snake's jaws.
I like that it was for king snake.
Yeah, and I like that they put it into his mouth.
And if he was just standing there waiting for his syrup to open.
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With his mouth open.
Yeah.
That would have been pointing into his mouth too.
The men fired several shots at the large snake.
It appeared stunned, but unharmed, and the smaller snakes retreated into its mouth.
The big snake then unfurled its wings and struggled to maneuver around the property's
hedge fences before finally gaining her height to fly away.
That is a great story.
I'm not sure what actually happened there.
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They fed it a sheep and then they got in there too and it kind of flew away but not
really.
Yeah, no I heard that but I'm not sure what that would have been a product of.
I did it turn into one again.
I don't know that I like that story.
It was a nice search.
We're actually getting closer to modern time.
Oh, I'm so excited for modern time.
There was an encounter in Powis, Wales in March of 2001 around 7 30 PM as reported in
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Strange magazine.
A British biologist and a few colleagues were conducting some research in the area after
being notified by a local of something strange that was witnessed a month earlier.
As they stood at the edge of some woods by a quarry, they suddenly looked upon an extraordinary
entity.
Measuring three feet or so in length, it resembled a serpentine dragon with four short limbs.
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But its head was shaped like that of a seahorse and it was airborne, undulating and wriggling
as it flew about 10 feet above the surface of the quarry in a wide circle.
They were unable to recalculate any wings but it had a long tail that ended in a pair
of horns on the whale like flukes.
The entity was green in color and shimmered somewhat but appeared solid, not translucent
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or ethereal.
Oh, that's cool.
They watched it for three to four minutes at a distance of approximately 50 feet before
it finally vanished into one of the numerous caves and large crevices pitting the quarry.
Oh, cool.
That's a good one.
The biologist had the distinct impression while watching the creature that it was deliberately
seeking to keep them at bay, warning them off from approaching further into its territory.
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Oh, that one's good.
Chelsea, I do just have to share this one with you that is a startling attack on a Southern
Pacific Railroad train near Dawes Palms, California, an express attacked by a flying serpent and
the passengers fired at the monster with revolvers.
The train probably deserved it.
Those guys are assholes.
It probably did but I need to share my screen because this is a beautiful artist rendition
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published in the newspaper at the time.
Oh, wow.
That's from 1882.
Does the train also look fake?
Oh, it's a drawing, Chelsea.
It's not supposed to be real.
Oh, OK.
See, this is the thing about Chinese buildings.
He was expecting there to be a hole there for it to just fly through.
To be fair, trains do have holes.
Maybe he was just trying to slip between the cars.
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If I give you a look at it, he seems kind of stuck.
Yeah, no.
He looks like he fucked up.
How embarrassing.
That's embarrassing.
I wouldn't ask.
Of course, we can't have an episode on sky serpents without a force looking China.
Let's face it, if you're talking about sky serpents, that's the culture that's most associated
with them.
Is it?
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Yeah, that's where their dragon comes from.
I thought it was ginger beef.
This is a sky dragon.
I thought it was ginger beef.
No, ginger beef is from the West.
I thought it was really good Szechuan food.
Yeah, it's really good Szechuan food.
Maybe there's some in these stories.
There was a dead dragon found by Lake Tai Bai in Xiaoxing's 32nd year of the Nansong
dynasty, 1162 AD.
It had long whiskers and large skates.
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Oh, wow.
Oh my god.
The back was black and belly white.
Thins grew from the dragon's back and two large horns protruded the head.
It could be smelled from miles away.
The local people covered it with a mat.
The government sent people to hold worship ceremony at the site.
However, after a night of severe thunderstorms, the dragon disappeared.
Only a ditch remained where it laid.
In the summer of the 19th year of Dao Guang, which is 1839, as reported by the Yongping
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regional government, a dragon fell from the sky along the lower reaches of the Luenhe
River in Lao Ting County.
The dragon lay in dirt covered by flies and mageps.
The local people made a shelter for it to protect it from the direct sunlight and also
drizzle cold water on the body.
Three days later, after a night of thunderstorms, the dragon left.
In August of 1944, hundreds of people from the Chenziayuan village, Fuyu County, south
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of Songhuajiang River, surrounded a black dragon by the riverbank, Yan Dianyuan, an eye
witness who is still alive at the time wherever I got this story from, was written.
It said that the dragon was about seven meters long and looked like a lizard.
The face was almost the same as that of the dragons in classical paintings, with seven
or eight thick hard whiskers.
The upper body was over one foot in diameter.
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Its fore paws went deep in the sand.
Crocodile-like scales covered the whole body.
Yan Dianyuan still wonders why that large animal looked so much like a dragon on the
paintings.
In the summer of 1953, an unidentified animal fell from the sky in a place near south of
Henan Province.
Curious people hiked out to see it, and according to the description of some of the witnesses,
the dragon looked like a huge shark.
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The odor of decay attracted countless lies.
If it was a shark, it should live in the deep sea.
Why did it fall from the sky?
This case might be related to the dragon's recording history as dropping from the sky.
Just a few smattering of stories from there.
Most of them are dead dragons, unfortunately.
That's good enough, but what if you get that point because they're serpent-like?
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What if they're dead snakes at that point?
Well, and they were flying at some point.
Like, people saw them flying.
Yeah.
Are there still modern day sightings of dragons?
Chelsea, that is a great question.
And for that, I bring you the Reddit stories.
Oh, thank God.
I was really scared this wasn't going to happen.
This was posted to Arkriffided four years ago by Wrathc.
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I can't actually pronounce this one, but there's no dick in the name.
So hey, that's good for you.
Title, Sky Serpent Silver Snake, Like Mass in the Sky.
Okay, so I have seen this, either phenomenon or krypton twice in my life, both times in
broad daylight.
What's bothering me more than having seen them is that the last time I saw one, I of
course, googled the shit out of it.
The first time was in the early 2000s and I was a teenager, so I did my investigating
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and they tend to be seen more in South America.
So time passes.
I see another about two years ago, point out to a coworker, tell her a little bit about
what we think they are and go on with my life.
Well, a little while back, a friend and I were recanting weird stuff that had happened
because she had a spooky encounter the night before that turned out to be her daughter
wandering about, but I tried to search up some information I couldn't find anything.
(25:33):
I remember them being called Silver Serpents, but no matter how I worded the search, nothing.
And frankly, it's been bugging me.
Anyone have any info they'd like to link or experience this to share?
I can't be alone in seeing these.
A year ago in the subreddit CryptoZoology, posted by WhiskeyDelta13, Skysnake, AtmosphericBeast.
Hey everyone, I have posted this before, but I figured I'd do it again to get new opinions
(25:57):
or witnesses involved.
Plus, now I have attached a photo I made using AI prompts, it's the closest I could get
to the general shape and look.
I'm not gonna post it because it's an AI generated photo.
So here's the creature sighting.
My brother and a couple friend were loading up the truck to drive out to a dark spot and
watch the perceived meteor shower.
When loading the truck box, I noticed something moving and looked up and said, hey look, there's
(26:20):
a meteor.
And then everyone looked up as well and we all quickly realized it was no meteor.
What we were witnessing in this street lamp light, I could only describe as an undulating
snake-like creature.
It was completely translucent and we could see the stars through it.
It flew just over the trees and out of sight in a matter of seconds.
It had no discernible features, no head, eyes, mouth, wings.
(26:42):
I would guess it was 20 to 30 feet long and maybe 3 to 4 feet wide.
I remember thinking it moved in the way people inside a Chinese dragon costume would move,
vertically undulating.
It looked like a biological creature and moved with intention.
Not a big in the wind, not the northern lights.
We were all sober, I have no idea what we saw.
Has anyone else seen anything similar?
My last Reddit story, I just love this one.
(27:05):
This was posted as strange earth just two days ago by littleEiffel282.
The title, my parents saw a dragon in 1992 and I still can't make sense of it.
They were sober.
It was March 20th, 1992 in rural Oregon.
I was 5 years old, my mother was hosting a baby shower.
She was 8 months pregnant with my brother.
After the ceremony, she went to fetch my father who was flying a kite in the field.
(27:25):
She looked up and there it was.
Not a kite, but next to the kite a silver Chinese dragon, scales and all.
She could hear a slight shimmering sound as it moved.
She turned to my dad and said, do you see that?
Weirdly, he did.
You mean that dragon flying in the sky?
Yes.
32 years later, their testimony is unwavering and they know what they saw.
I'm assuming he said it that flatly as well.
(27:46):
You mean that dragon flying in the sky?
Yes.
Yes.
You know, I was scrolling through Reddit the other day as I'm sure we all do.
I just really want to finish this story before I let you go.
Oh, I thought it was finished.
I thought it just ended with- No, there's an edit.
Thanks everyone for weighing in.
If you or someone you know saw a dragon and is willing to be interviewed for my documentary,
(28:06):
let me know.
I'm Aaron Saw-Dragon at Gmail.com.
Oh, hold on.
That was the one I saw.
Oh.
Okay.
This was just posted the other day.
Yeah.
Two days ago.
I was going to share it, but you just already shared it, so I have nothing to say anymore.
That's such a good email.
I'm looking forward to that documentary.
I know.
We do.
That's what I thought when I saw it.
That's going to be a good documentary.
There's an email like that, but that would also explain why that email wasn't available
when I tried to sign it.
I'm not sure.
I don't know.
I don't know.
(28:27):
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I'm having a hang of it.
I don't know.
I'm very surprised it actually hasn't been published.
There's a second link just up there.
I agree with it.
That would definitely speak to that.
There's information about our fake files on your Kurry Kiddies and other joint receipts
(28:57):
and workbooks.
Is there a personal one you already have.
Yes, you do.
Musgrave went on six space missions during his career, which included nearly 27 hours
of extra vehicular activity, which refers to activities performed by space-suited astronauts
outside the spacecraft while in orbit.
In total, the astronaut spent 1281 hours, 59 minutes, 22 seconds in space, and it was
(29:17):
during his time above the Earth's atmosphere that Musgrave recalls some pretty bizarre
sightings.
In fact, in the 90s, he started to give interviews, where he shared stories about seeing snakes
that appeared to be swimming in space.
In an interview with Omni in August of 1994, Musgrave said, quote, all kinds of debris
come off space ships, especially at the back end, after the main engines shut down, and
(29:37):
you open the doors.
Ice chips, oxygen, or hydrogen stuff dump from the engines.
On my two flights, I have seen in photographed what I call the snake, like a seven-foot eel
swimming out there.
It may be an uncritical rubber seal from the main engines, in zero G, it's totally free
to maneuver, and it has its own internal waves like it's swimming.
In 1995, Musgrave appeared in a documentary sightings where he was quoted as saying, quote,
(30:00):
on two of my missions, and I see them, and I still don't have an answer.
I have seen a snake out there six, seven feet long.
It is rubbery because it has internal waves in it, and it follows you for a rather long
period of time, end quote.
It should be noted that this irked NASA to find out that he was sharing these tails because
he had never put this in any reports that he ever made for them.
(30:21):
And it should be noted too that he says that it was probably just a rubber seal, but still
kind of creepy and somewhat related, so I wanted to keep included in here.
Well, his brain went to dragon when he saw it.
Yeah, it was moving like a snake.
Why not just see it?
Yeah, why not just put it out there?
It was probably dragon.
Yeah, what a jerk.
Yeah.
Anyhow, Chelsea, that's what I got.
(30:42):
People see snakes in the sky.
Apparently it's common.
I like that.
I don't really like the description of them.
I feel like it's disgusting.
It reminds me of a fish or a snake or a...
Especially the dead dragons.
They sound like they smell nasty.
All of them.
I wouldn't think they smell nice.
I wouldn't want to be around them alive or dead.
That's pretty cool, especially that I'm sure they still see them in China.
(31:05):
We just don't know because we don't have the necessary means to know about it probably.
Yeah, but Deep Seek is Chinese.
Maybe it knows.
I wonder if Deep Seek has had any encounters.
I'm sure it has, anyhow.
It probably has.
Yeah, that was pretty great.
I've been really wanting to do a dragon episode, so I'm glad that it's finally here.
(31:26):
We can still do a dragon episode.
I do think this is somewhat separate.
Hold on.
What's the difference?
Hold on.
What's the difference?
Well, we could be doing European dragon sightings, but I did just basically interchange Chinese
dragons with sky serpents.
Okay, we did sky serpents.
Okay, that's where I'm off.
That's why I'm creeped out.
Maybe dragons wouldn't freak me out as much.
Yeah, maybe they're more majestic than these awkward little guys.
(31:50):
This is when I think dragon, this is what I think of.
I feel like that if I was to ever have a dragon sighting, would be looking into the clouds
and seeing one just like as was described in this episode.
I would see it and I'd be like, that's a dragon.
Well, they seem more believable in my mind.
They don't breathe fire.
They do fly without wings.
But yeah, I would picture wings.
(32:11):
You're wrong.
Okay.
It should be noted too.
The dragon is the only Chinese zodiac animal that isn't really a real animal, but they
believe it is a real animal.
Yeah, there's nothing wrong there.
I see nothing wrong.
There's so much they believe it that it's a real animal that they included it and actually
cut cats out of these zodiac, those mythical creatures.
(32:35):
So Chinese dragons don't have wings?
No.
Really?
Well, I learned something new today.
This is the kind of innocent newness that I need to be learning these days.
I'm just thinking of everything else I'm learning.
And with that, I have been Taylor.
Here with Chelsea.
We are Journey to the Fringe.
Thank you all for listening and we'll see you next week.
Bye.
Thank you for listening to Journey to the Fringe.
(32:58):
If you have liked what you have listened to, please like, share, subscribe, or follow,
depending on what venue you are listening to us through.
Also please, if possible, leave a five star review as that really helps us in the algorithms.
Should you wish to interact with us, please check us out on your social media of choice.
(33:18):
I bet you we are there.
And if you really want to communicate with us and give us ideas for new episodes or tell
us that we're wrong and terrible, either way, please send us an email at journeytothefringe.com.
For now, I'll see you in the next episode.
From the unexplained to the mundane, come join us on a journey to the fringe.
(00:12):
Hello and welcome to Journey to the Fringe, where sometimes we take multiculturalism seriously.
Sometimes.
And Chelsea, this may in fact be one of those times, as we are recording this right around
the Chinese New Year, Xinyan Kuala.
Do you just say Xinyan?
Xinyan, yes.
Let's go celebrate, which is from Xinyan.
Oh, good.
That's just what I was thinking.
I think there's so many advertisements for them right now.
(00:33):
It's ridiculous.
Oh, yeah.
They're coming to Vancouver, I think.
They're pushing cards.
I'm so tempted.
Every time I see an ad, I'm like, I should just go and see what the hype is about.
There was actually a contest on one of our local newspapers for free tickets.
And I was like, eh, I don't really want to go.
Yeah.
I'd go if it was free, if I want to go.
Maybe.
It depends on how I felt that moment before going.
(00:55):
I know I'm always torn on that question, but I can't give them money.
That is kind of why I withhold that.
Yeah, exactly.
Chelsea, I don't know if you know this, but we are entering the year of the snake in Chinese
zodiac.
And snakes in Chinese mythology and culture hold like a slightly different relationship
than they do in the rest of the world, where it's like snakes bat, snakes dangerous, stay
(01:19):
away from snake.
There, it's kind of, they are a wise creature.
And more importantly, they are kind of related to dragons and how they view dragons because
they kind of look like them.
They shed the skin.
They are a different creature because of that.
I decided, you know what we're going to do to celebrate the Chinese New Year?
We are going to do an episode on the sky serpents.
(01:40):
Yay.
Sky serpents are snakes or elongated serpentine dragons that appear to float or fly in the
air.
They typically move in an undulating fashion as if there are sea serpents of the air.
They're not the same as ordinary flying dragons because they manage to fly without wings and
like most Asian dragons that have the ability to fly.
Some sky serpents are seen to have different colors, textures than other sky serpents which
(02:03):
are sighted all around the world.
I find this really interesting that so many cultures have some type of mythological flying
snake like creature.
As I was just talking about in Chinese myth, there is the Chinese dragon, which is completely
different looking than our dragons in the West, so it's kind of funny that they ended
up with the same name.
Really?
(02:24):
Where they are symbols of imperial authority, wisdom, and good fortune, and they're believed
to control the weather, particularly rains and storms.
In Mesoamerica, the Incan, the Mayans, and the Aztecs had Quetzalcoatl and Cukokin, whose
role are creator gods and bringer of knowledge.
In Hindu mythology, they have Ritra, which is a serpent like demon who represents drought
(02:45):
and chaos.
In Greek mythology, we have Typhon, which is a monstrous, serpentine giant with multiple
dragon heads and wings.
In Aboriginal culture, they have a rainbow serpent, which is a powerful creator being
associated with water, rain, and fertility.
In North America, the native peoples had horned serpents, which are dragon-like creatures
found in myths of many different groups.
The Cherokees, the Choctaw, the Sioux, it's both a protector and a dangerous force, sometimes
(03:09):
seen as a guardian of sacred knowledge.
In Africa, they have the Aido Huedo, I think I'm saying that right, which is a giant,
giant rainbow serpent that supports the world.
In Mesopotamian mythology, they have Tiamat, which is a primordial goddess of the ocean.
In Slavic, they have the Zmei Gorinich.
In Japanese mythology, they have Brugin, which is a dragon king.
(03:31):
And in Celtic mythology, they have Piest, which is a symbol of chaos and is often defeated
by heroes and myths.
Interesting.
There's a ton everywhere where they're saying there's these flying snakes in the sky.
Can I just ask, you said that Chinese dragons are much different than what we would think
of a dragon.
What is it just the serpentine qualities that it has?
(03:52):
That's part of it.
Asian dragons are a lot more snake-like.
They're longer.
They also do talk and are very wise.
Asian dragons.
They talk.
Oh yeah.
Whereas opposed to like a European dragon would be like the four-legged one with wings
that breathe fire.
I thought it was interesting when I was in China, they build their buildings with holes
(04:13):
in the middle for dragons to fly through.
Not all of them.
Not all.
No.
But there are a lot of buildings with holes in the middle for them to fly through.
And it's also a doubles for good luck.
Maybe it has to do with the dragon being able to fly through that it brings.
Well, he's probably a lot nicer if he doesn't have to fly through a building.
Oh yeah.
He's very grateful that they made way for him instead of him having to go around.
(04:36):
I think I would like that too.
It's nice to be acknowledged.
Oh totally.
And I have another dragon story.
Funny how many dragon stories I have.
I've been in a dragonsten.
Real.
In Poland.
Oh okay.
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the show.
No.
Okay.
That was a flop.
I didn't even make it on the show.
I don't want to talk about it.
In Poland, I went into a castle that had a dragonsten underneath.
(05:00):
I don't remember dragons, but in Krakow they have a dragon.
Interesting.
I went in there.
To say I went in his house.
But there.
I went in his home.
Yeah.
I don't think he was a Chinese dragon.
I should make it clear too.
There weirdly is an actual flying snake out there that we're not going to be talking about.
I didn't want to know that.
I didn't want to know that.
It glides through the air from trees.
(05:20):
How would it get into the air?
It just glides.
It gets up.
It climbs the tree.
No, it climbs the tree and then it like throws itself out and it just glides.
That son of a bitch.
Why would nature do this to us?
Because nature is terrifying.
And it's right behind you.
Look out.
I hate it when nature does this.
It's probably in fucking Australia too.
Maybe that's why they want to fucking extinct some species.
(05:43):
They have all the scary things.
We don't save animals here in Australia.
They should have put that on the list.
Flying snakes and then in brackets perfectly abundant.
There's too many.
They should fly into the fire.
Yeah.
Okay, okay.
Yeah, in Australia they have that kind of bird that's known for spreading forest fires
(06:03):
to catch prey too.
I think it's a harpy eagle that does that.
Yeah.
You just say a herpy eagle?
Harpy.
Harpy eagle.
Okay.
It's like this is so getting out of hand.
Fuck them Australia.
Australia's like a different place.
It is half made up.
It's totally half made up.
Okay.
Enough of Australia.
(06:24):
Like I was saying, many different groups have this built into their mythology, this
idea of a snake in the sky.
In Australia it's real, but no, I just said it's Australia.
I have no idea where it's from.
I stick to it as well.
Okay.
Basically as long as people have been writing things down too, there have been people saying
they've seen flying snakes.
(06:46):
Outside of that one that we do know exists.
There's Egyptian tales of flying snakes which capture the curiosity of the Greek historian
Herodotus in 46CBC.
These winged Dracontes, I don't know how to say it because I don't speak any of the
languages from that time or area of the world.
It's Egyptian, right?
I don't know if he's writing it in Greek or in Egyptian though.
(07:10):
So Dracontes were said to live under Freikin sense or Boswellia trees in the Arabian desert.
To gather the incense the Arabians burned Styrix resin from the liquid dam bar tree
because the smoke drove the winged snakes away.
Herodotus described the flying reptiles as small with very gated markings shaped like
a water snake but with wing like membranes like bat wings.
(07:33):
In Somali legends there's tale of a flying snake that hoarded precious stones attended
by a hundred reptilian guards.
Once a horseman carried away a jewel from this bounty and was pursued by the reptile
army.
Although the horseman escaped back to his tribe the snake warriors would not let up until
the jewel was returned.
And in fact there is mention of flying serpents in the Old Testament Chelsea.
(07:54):
Isaiah 1429, this is a direct quote, do not rejoice all you of Philistia because the rod
that struck you is broken.
For out of the serpent's root will come a viper and its offspring will be a fiery flying
serpent.
And in Isaiah 36 the burden against the beasts of the south threw a land of trouble and
(08:15):
anguish from which came the lioness and the lion, the viper and the fiery flying serpent.
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys and their treasures on the
humps of camels to a people who shall not profit.
These are going back pretty far references to these things.
Chelsea, I'm now going to go through some actual stories.
Historically from when I first find the stories to more current times.
(08:37):
Oh yeah, fantastic.
The first story I could find is the Flying Serpent of Henam.
It's an area in Essex.
It was published in 1669 by Peter Lillicrap of Hlarkinwell.
I love his name.
Lillicrap, it is great.
Yeah, I love that.
And it is perhaps the most famous of the Essex dragons.
(08:58):
The folklore recounts the story of a man who encountered the Flying Serpent while riding
on Lodge Farm at Henam on the Mount the previous year.
The serpent allegedly attacked his horse and prompting him to warn his neighbors about
the beast to ensure the safety of their cattle.
Shortly after, two men claimed to have seen the creature describing it as eight or nine
feet long with large piercing eyes, two rows of very white and sharp teeth and two large
(09:21):
wings on its back.
A tale of a flying serpent that terrorized the residents of Saffron Walden in 1669 is
one that has been passed down through generations to cite numerous attempts locals were unable
to slay the beast.
The accounts of their sightings are so credible that many believe the creature's existence
was undeniable fact and the British library is believed to house the last remaining copy
(09:42):
of the original pamphlet detailing these events.
Pamphlet, they were handing out pamphlets.
Yeah, they had pamphlets about this guy.
What a good idea.
Not enough people do pamphlets anymore.
No, it virtually extinct.
And now I don't generally like a pamphlet unless it's about a dragon sighting.
Yeah, or it's a menu.
I love those two.
But I can't say I've ever got one about a dragon sighting.
(10:05):
They need to make a comeback.
I'm just...
It really...
Controversial opinion.
They need to make a comeback.
I didn't even know they were extinct, but they do need to make a comeback now.
In 1741, British Commodore George Anson anchored off the Panamanian island of Quibo, now called
Cueba, I guess, I don't know how to say it, during his circumnavigation of the globe.
Their Spaniards informed Anson's crew that there was often found in the woods a most
(10:29):
mischievous serpent called the Flying Snake, which they said darted itself from the boughs
of trees on either man or beast that came within its reach and whose sting they believed
to be inevitable death.
James Churchward, a proponent of the Lost Continued of Mu, claimed that Quetzalcoatl,
the feathered serpent god of the Aztecs, was a real but rare animal residing in the swampy
deep unexplored forest of the Yucatan in Guatemala.
(10:52):
Churchward describes the creature as the most venomous ever recorded, killing its victims
within two minutes.
Its head was broad, flat, and V-shaped like most venomous serpents.
He described Quetzalcoatl as having a body the size of a duck and a five foot long neck
covered in short hair-like feathers.
The body and the neck were off-white, thickly modeled with gray.
(11:13):
There was a tuft of short feathers in place of a tail.
Churchward's wings had long upper feathers and drooped like those of a bird of paradise
and had a prismatic sheen.
Churchward wrote that the serpent was clumsy in flight, able to stay aloft for only a few
yards at a time.
That poor beast.
Well, that's so funny.
Remember that mothman sighting that the person said it was clumsy?
(11:37):
Yeah.
I can't imagine seeing a creature like this with wings and I couldn't figure it out.
And a duck with a five foot long neck.
Oh, hold on.
No, five feet?
That's big.
Yeah.
He's like, he's have pretty big necks, but it's not five feet.
Yeah, it's the body the size of a duck and a five foot long neck.
I would think that's a dragon.
(11:57):
Probably.
I don't know what I think.
It's hard to say.
Honestly.
If it's five feet and the body's the size of a duck, it's more snake than duck body.
It's more neck than anything else.
I'm picturing it and I feel like I wouldn't like it.
I feel like it would creep me out and I need to get out of there quick.
I wouldn't want it touching me.
I'm sure many kids in like kindergarten drew this thing as a giraffe accidentally, like
(12:18):
many times.
Oh yeah.
Either that or me.
An ostrich?
Do ostriches have five feet long necks?
No, their legs are really long.
They have long necks.
They do have long necks.
Giraffes?
Giraffes aren't all neck though.
No, they have fairly big bodies.
And it's September 17th, 1833 edition, the Bengal Hercaru newspaper of Calcutta reported
(12:39):
alarming intelligence from the neighborhood of Fars.
It's unclear if this story was referring to a town in India or the province of Fars
in Persia.
A dragon-like fiery flying serpent had commandeered the main road through town, spraying deadly
venom on anyone who dared pass into devouring their corpses.
A posse of 40 men set out to battle the beast, but only two maintained confidence in their
incantations and ventured forward.
(13:01):
One man was immediately smoked by a pestilential blast from the serpent, which pounced upon
his remains and began devouring them.
Commencing the fate of his comrade, the other man made a hasty retreat and informed the
remainder of the valiant band of 40 and fell the villagers of the failed expedition as
one paper of the day declared a likely cock and bull story.
July of 1868, this comes from the zoologist in Chile.
(13:24):
And I'm just trying to, they spelt chili.
Is this the recent one?
Copiapo.
No, this is 1868.
Are you sure it's not another place?
Are you sure it's Chile?
It says chili with two eyes and copiapo.
Oh.
Okay, I guess it's just spelt wrong or they changed the spelling at some point.
Maybe Chile was known as Chile.
Chile.
(13:44):
Yesterday, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, when the daily labors in this mine were over
and all the workmen were together awaiting their supper, we saw something coming through
the air from the side of the Ternera, a gigantic bird which had first sight, cooked for one
of the clouds, then partially darkening the atmosphere.
Oh no.
Exposing it to have been separated from the rest of the wind.
(14:05):
Its course was northwest to southeast.
Its flight rapid in a straight line.
As it was passing a short distance above our head, we could make out the strange formation
of its body.
Its immense wings were clothed with a grayish plumage.
Its monstrous head was like that of a locus.
Its eyes were wide open and shown like burning coals.
It seemed to be covered with something resembling the thick and stout bristles of a boar.
(14:26):
While on its body elongated like that from a serpent, we could only see brilliant scales
which clashed together with metallic sound as the strange animal turned its body in its
flight.
We could make out.
And then in 1873, there is apparently like a wave of sightings of flying serpents that
struck the US.
This came from North Texas Enterprise of Bonham in June 14th, 1873.
(14:48):
Singular phenomenon.
A few days ago, a Mr. Harden residing some five or six miles east of this place saw something
resembling an enormous serpent floating in a cloud that was passing over his farm.
Several parties of men and boys at work in the fields observed the same thing, then were
seriously frightened.
It seemed to be as large and as long as a telegraph pole.
Was of a yellow striped color and seemed to float along without any effort.
(15:12):
They could see it coil itself up, turn over and thrust forward its huge head as if striking
at something, displaying the maneuvers of a genuine snake.
The cloud and serpent moved in an easterly direction and were seen by persons a few miles
this side of the honey grove.
The question is, what is it and where did it come from?
And then on June 27th of the same year, the monitor of Fort Scott broke the news about
(15:35):
a follow-up sighting in local skies.
A strange and remarkable phenomenon was observed at sunrise yesterday morning.
The sky was clear and the sun rose entirely unobscured.
When the disc of the sun was about halfway above the horizon, the form of a huge serpent,
apparently perfect in form, was plainly seen encircling it and it was visible for some
moments.
We have this statement from two reliable parties who witnessed the phenomenon and are willing,
(15:59):
if necessary, to make affidavits of their assertions.
We have two great respects for the sun to rise before it and therefore are innocent
of the authorship of the sea serpent of the sun, but we have all confidence in the credibility
of our witnesses.
What fearful portent is indicated in this wonderful and ominous phenomenon, we shall
join a Sunday school and await the solution.
(16:19):
What?
That was weird.
That is a weird way to end that.
The New York Times around, like they have all these articles that are coming out, came
out with something as well.
They close that same story with, it will soon be time for a national prohibitory liquor
law if this sort of thing is to continue as what they added.
(16:41):
Then in 1897, a flying snake was spotted over Harpsville, South Carolina in the summer of
that year.
A local newspaper reported, the flying snake was seen near Newman Swamp by a Mr. Odom
on Sunday afternoon, say at six o'clock.
This is about 10 miles south of this place.
Later, say at seven o'clock on the same day, it was seen by Mr. Henry Polson.
(17:02):
In Chesterfield County, 12 miles north of here, Mr. Polson says the monster was low
down just above the treetops, had its head thrown back in position to strike, and it
was just floating through the atmosphere lengthwise.
He says it seemed to be 25 to 40 feet long and about 8 to 10 inches through, at the largest
part.
In the language of Mr. Polson, it was the most like a snake of anything he ever saw and
(17:23):
he believes it was a snake.
One contemporary suggestion was that the snake had actually been a flock of pelicans.
Can you imagine it confusing as a flock of pelicans?
Yeah, that's kind of snappy.
Easily done.
I guess, you know, I saw one pelican once and I was like, is that half a dragon?
Then I was like, no, that's a pelican.
Maybe he just saw a Quetzalcoatl.
Was it awkward?
(17:45):
Not again, you fucking pelican.
You won't fool me.
In 1903 in Georgia, there were several witnesses in the Ossila area stating what looked like
a snake over a yard and length flying about 20 feet in the air over the steel branch.
The reptile, they say, made a hissing noise as it flew.
So you knew it was a snake.
It's staaat, though.
Oh yeah, that confirmed it.
(18:06):
He was like, I'm a snake.
I love the language that is being used in...
Oh, the 1800s is a fun time.
I need people.
I can't believe that people actually spoke like this.
They need funer words like skibbity and sigma, Rizzler.
Yeah, and 23 Skadoo.
Exactly.
All those words that are from the same generation, definitely.
(18:30):
Has that come back yet?
23 Skadoo.
I don't know.
I don't think so.
I'm going to have to bring it back.
In August of 1885, Farmer James Vincent Sr. and several friends from nearby Fletcher,
Illinois battled apparently a gigantic air serpent that was attempting to devour Vincent's
sheep.
The snake worked in unison with three smaller snakes, each 18 to 20 feet in length.
(18:51):
The trio snatched a lamb and slithered toward the larger snake, but released their hold
when one of the men tossed a fence rail at them.
The smaller snakes attacked the men and were repelled, but once again grabbed a lamb.
This time they succeeded in depositing it in the hungry king snake's jaws.
I like that it was for king snake.
Yeah, and I like that they put it into his mouth.
And if he was just standing there waiting for his syrup to open.
(19:14):
With his mouth open.
Yeah.
That would have been pointing into his mouth too.
The men fired several shots at the large snake.
It appeared stunned, but unharmed, and the smaller snakes retreated into its mouth.
The big snake then unfurled its wings and struggled to maneuver around the property's
hedge fences before finally gaining her height to fly away.
That is a great story.
I'm not sure what actually happened there.
(19:36):
They fed it a sheep and then they got in there too and it kind of flew away but not
really.
Yeah, no I heard that but I'm not sure what that would have been a product of.
I did it turn into one again.
I don't know that I like that story.
It was a nice search.
We're actually getting closer to modern time.
Oh, I'm so excited for modern time.
There was an encounter in Powis, Wales in March of 2001 around 7 30 PM as reported in
(20:02):
Strange magazine.
A British biologist and a few colleagues were conducting some research in the area after
being notified by a local of something strange that was witnessed a month earlier.
As they stood at the edge of some woods by a quarry, they suddenly looked upon an extraordinary
entity.
Measuring three feet or so in length, it resembled a serpentine dragon with four short limbs.
(20:23):
But its head was shaped like that of a seahorse and it was airborne, undulating and wriggling
as it flew about 10 feet above the surface of the quarry in a wide circle.
They were unable to recalculate any wings but it had a long tail that ended in a pair
of horns on the whale like flukes.
The entity was green in color and shimmered somewhat but appeared solid, not translucent
(20:44):
or ethereal.
Oh, that's cool.
They watched it for three to four minutes at a distance of approximately 50 feet before
it finally vanished into one of the numerous caves and large crevices pitting the quarry.
Oh, cool.
That's a good one.
The biologist had the distinct impression while watching the creature that it was deliberately
seeking to keep them at bay, warning them off from approaching further into its territory.
(21:04):
Oh, that one's good.
Chelsea, I do just have to share this one with you that is a startling attack on a Southern
Pacific Railroad train near Dawes Palms, California, an express attacked by a flying serpent and
the passengers fired at the monster with revolvers.
The train probably deserved it.
Those guys are assholes.
It probably did but I need to share my screen because this is a beautiful artist rendition
(21:28):
published in the newspaper at the time.
Oh, wow.
That's from 1882.
Does the train also look fake?
Oh, it's a drawing, Chelsea.
It's not supposed to be real.
Oh, OK.
See, this is the thing about Chinese buildings.
He was expecting there to be a hole there for it to just fly through.
To be fair, trains do have holes.
Maybe he was just trying to slip between the cars.
(21:50):
If I give you a look at it, he seems kind of stuck.
Yeah, no.
He looks like he fucked up.
How embarrassing.
That's embarrassing.
I wouldn't ask.
Of course, we can't have an episode on sky serpents without a force looking China.
Let's face it, if you're talking about sky serpents, that's the culture that's most associated
with them.
Is it?
(22:10):
Yeah, that's where their dragon comes from.
I thought it was ginger beef.
This is a sky dragon.
I thought it was ginger beef.
No, ginger beef is from the West.
I thought it was really good Szechuan food.
Yeah, it's really good Szechuan food.
Maybe there's some in these stories.
There was a dead dragon found by Lake Tai Bai in Xiaoxing's 32nd year of the Nansong
dynasty, 1162 AD.
It had long whiskers and large skates.
(22:32):
Oh, wow.
Oh my god.
The back was black and belly white.
Thins grew from the dragon's back and two large horns protruded the head.
It could be smelled from miles away.
The local people covered it with a mat.
The government sent people to hold worship ceremony at the site.
However, after a night of severe thunderstorms, the dragon disappeared.
Only a ditch remained where it laid.
In the summer of the 19th year of Dao Guang, which is 1839, as reported by the Yongping
(22:58):
regional government, a dragon fell from the sky along the lower reaches of the Luenhe
River in Lao Ting County.
The dragon lay in dirt covered by flies and mageps.
The local people made a shelter for it to protect it from the direct sunlight and also
drizzle cold water on the body.
Three days later, after a night of thunderstorms, the dragon left.
In August of 1944, hundreds of people from the Chenziayuan village, Fuyu County, south
(23:23):
of Songhuajiang River, surrounded a black dragon by the riverbank, Yan Dianyuan, an eye
witness who is still alive at the time wherever I got this story from, was written.
It said that the dragon was about seven meters long and looked like a lizard.
The face was almost the same as that of the dragons in classical paintings, with seven
or eight thick hard whiskers.
The upper body was over one foot in diameter.
(23:45):
Its fore paws went deep in the sand.
Crocodile-like scales covered the whole body.
Yan Dianyuan still wonders why that large animal looked so much like a dragon on the
paintings.
In the summer of 1953, an unidentified animal fell from the sky in a place near south of
Henan Province.
Curious people hiked out to see it, and according to the description of some of the witnesses,
the dragon looked like a huge shark.
(24:06):
The odor of decay attracted countless lies.
If it was a shark, it should live in the deep sea.
Why did it fall from the sky?
This case might be related to the dragon's recording history as dropping from the sky.
Just a few smattering of stories from there.
Most of them are dead dragons, unfortunately.
That's good enough, but what if you get that point because they're serpent-like?
(24:27):
What if they're dead snakes at that point?
Well, and they were flying at some point.
Like, people saw them flying.
Yeah.
Are there still modern day sightings of dragons?
Chelsea, that is a great question.
And for that, I bring you the Reddit stories.
Oh, thank God.
I was really scared this wasn't going to happen.
This was posted to Arkriffided four years ago by Wrathc.
(24:48):
I can't actually pronounce this one, but there's no dick in the name.
So hey, that's good for you.
Title, Sky Serpent Silver Snake, Like Mass in the Sky.
Okay, so I have seen this, either phenomenon or krypton twice in my life, both times in
broad daylight.
What's bothering me more than having seen them is that the last time I saw one, I of
course, googled the shit out of it.
The first time was in the early 2000s and I was a teenager, so I did my investigating
(25:11):
and they tend to be seen more in South America.
So time passes.
I see another about two years ago, point out to a coworker, tell her a little bit about
what we think they are and go on with my life.
Well, a little while back, a friend and I were recanting weird stuff that had happened
because she had a spooky encounter the night before that turned out to be her daughter
wandering about, but I tried to search up some information I couldn't find anything.
(25:33):
I remember them being called Silver Serpents, but no matter how I worded the search, nothing.
And frankly, it's been bugging me.
Anyone have any info they'd like to link or experience this to share?
I can't be alone in seeing these.
A year ago in the subreddit CryptoZoology, posted by WhiskeyDelta13, Skysnake, AtmosphericBeast.
Hey everyone, I have posted this before, but I figured I'd do it again to get new opinions
(25:57):
or witnesses involved.
Plus, now I have attached a photo I made using AI prompts, it's the closest I could get
to the general shape and look.
I'm not gonna post it because it's an AI generated photo.
So here's the creature sighting.
My brother and a couple friend were loading up the truck to drive out to a dark spot and
watch the perceived meteor shower.
When loading the truck box, I noticed something moving and looked up and said, hey look, there's
(26:20):
a meteor.
And then everyone looked up as well and we all quickly realized it was no meteor.
What we were witnessing in this street lamp light, I could only describe as an undulating
snake-like creature.
It was completely translucent and we could see the stars through it.
It flew just over the trees and out of sight in a matter of seconds.
It had no discernible features, no head, eyes, mouth, wings.
(26:42):
I would guess it was 20 to 30 feet long and maybe 3 to 4 feet wide.
I remember thinking it moved in the way people inside a Chinese dragon costume would move,
vertically undulating.
It looked like a biological creature and moved with intention.
Not a big in the wind, not the northern lights.
We were all sober, I have no idea what we saw.
Has anyone else seen anything similar?
My last Reddit story, I just love this one.
(27:05):
This was posted as strange earth just two days ago by littleEiffel282.
The title, my parents saw a dragon in 1992 and I still can't make sense of it.
They were sober.
It was March 20th, 1992 in rural Oregon.
I was 5 years old, my mother was hosting a baby shower.
She was 8 months pregnant with my brother.
After the ceremony, she went to fetch my father who was flying a kite in the field.
(27:25):
She looked up and there it was.
Not a kite, but next to the kite a silver Chinese dragon, scales and all.
She could hear a slight shimmering sound as it moved.
She turned to my dad and said, do you see that?
Weirdly, he did.
You mean that dragon flying in the sky?
Yes.
32 years later, their testimony is unwavering and they know what they saw.
I'm assuming he said it that flatly as well.
(27:46):
You mean that dragon flying in the sky?
Yes.
Yes.
You know, I was scrolling through Reddit the other day as I'm sure we all do.
I just really want to finish this story before I let you go.
Oh, I thought it was finished.
I thought it just ended with- No, there's an edit.
Thanks everyone for weighing in.
If you or someone you know saw a dragon and is willing to be interviewed for my documentary,
(28:06):
let me know.
I'm Aaron Saw-Dragon at Gmail.com.
Oh, hold on.
That was the one I saw.
Oh.
Okay.
This was just posted the other day.
Yeah.
Two days ago.
I was going to share it, but you just already shared it, so I have nothing to say anymore.
That's such a good email.
I'm looking forward to that documentary.
I know.
We do.
That's what I thought when I saw it.
That's going to be a good documentary.
There's an email like that, but that would also explain why that email wasn't available
when I tried to sign it.
I'm not sure.
I don't know.
I don't know.
(28:27):
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I'm having a hang of it.
I don't know.
I'm very surprised it actually hasn't been published.
There's a second link just up there.
I agree with it.
That would definitely speak to that.
There's information about our fake files on your Kurry Kiddies and other joint receipts
(28:57):
and workbooks.
Is there a personal one you already have.
Yes, you do.
Musgrave went on six space missions during his career, which included nearly 27 hours
of extra vehicular activity, which refers to activities performed by space-suited astronauts
outside the spacecraft while in orbit.
In total, the astronaut spent 1281 hours, 59 minutes, 22 seconds in space, and it was
(29:17):
during his time above the Earth's atmosphere that Musgrave recalls some pretty bizarre
sightings.
In fact, in the 90s, he started to give interviews, where he shared stories about seeing snakes
that appeared to be swimming in space.
In an interview with Omni in August of 1994, Musgrave said, quote, all kinds of debris
come off space ships, especially at the back end, after the main engines shut down, and
(29:37):
you open the doors.
Ice chips, oxygen, or hydrogen stuff dump from the engines.
On my two flights, I have seen in photographed what I call the snake, like a seven-foot eel
swimming out there.
It may be an uncritical rubber seal from the main engines, in zero G, it's totally free
to maneuver, and it has its own internal waves like it's swimming.
In 1995, Musgrave appeared in a documentary sightings where he was quoted as saying, quote,
(30:00):
on two of my missions, and I see them, and I still don't have an answer.
I have seen a snake out there six, seven feet long.
It is rubbery because it has internal waves in it, and it follows you for a rather long
period of time, end quote.
It should be noted that this irked NASA to find out that he was sharing these tails because
he had never put this in any reports that he ever made for them.
(30:21):
And it should be noted too that he says that it was probably just a rubber seal, but still
kind of creepy and somewhat related, so I wanted to keep included in here.
Well, his brain went to dragon when he saw it.
Yeah, it was moving like a snake.
Why not just see it?
Yeah, why not just put it out there?
It was probably dragon.
Yeah, what a jerk.
Yeah.
Anyhow, Chelsea, that's what I got.
(30:42):
People see snakes in the sky.
Apparently it's common.
I like that.
I don't really like the description of them.
I feel like it's disgusting.
It reminds me of a fish or a snake or a...
Especially the dead dragons.
They sound like they smell nasty.
All of them.
I wouldn't think they smell nice.
I wouldn't want to be around them alive or dead.
That's pretty cool, especially that I'm sure they still see them in China.
(31:05):
We just don't know because we don't have the necessary means to know about it probably.
Yeah, but Deep Seek is Chinese.
Maybe it knows.
I wonder if Deep Seek has had any encounters.
I'm sure it has, anyhow.
It probably has.
Yeah, that was pretty great.
I've been really wanting to do a dragon episode, so I'm glad that it's finally here.
(31:26):
We can still do a dragon episode.
I do think this is somewhat separate.
Hold on.
What's the difference?
Hold on.
What's the difference?
Well, we could be doing European dragon sightings, but I did just basically interchange Chinese
dragons with sky serpents.
Okay, we did sky serpents.
Okay, that's where I'm off.
That's why I'm creeped out.
Maybe dragons wouldn't freak me out as much.
Yeah, maybe they're more majestic than these awkward little guys.
(31:50):
This is when I think dragon, this is what I think of.
I feel like that if I was to ever have a dragon sighting, would be looking into the clouds
and seeing one just like as was described in this episode.
I would see it and I'd be like, that's a dragon.
Well, they seem more believable in my mind.
They don't breathe fire.
They do fly without wings.
But yeah, I would picture wings.
(32:11):
You're wrong.
Okay.
It should be noted too.
The dragon is the only Chinese zodiac animal that isn't really a real animal, but they
believe it is a real animal.
Yeah, there's nothing wrong there.
I see nothing wrong.
There's so much they believe it that it's a real animal that they included it and actually
cut cats out of these zodiac, those mythical creatures.
(32:35):
So Chinese dragons don't have wings?
No.
Really?
Well, I learned something new today.
This is the kind of innocent newness that I need to be learning these days.
I'm just thinking of everything else I'm learning.
And with that, I have been Taylor.
Here with Chelsea.
We are Journey to the Fringe.
Thank you all for listening and we'll see you next week.
Bye.
Thank you for listening to Journey to the Fringe.
(32:58):
If you have liked what you have listened to, please like, share, subscribe, or follow,
depending on what venue you are listening to us through.
Also please, if possible, leave a five star review as that really helps us in the algorithms.
Should you wish to interact with us, please check us out on your social media of choice.
(33:18):
I bet you we are there.
And if you really want to communicate with us and give us ideas for new episodes or tell
us that we're wrong and terrible, either way, please send us an email at journeytothefringe.com.
For now, I'll see you in the next episode.
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