An interesting press release in which fortean investigator Robert A. Goerman shares a letter he received from a person who witnessed a strange little man in her backyard. According to “Minnie”, she was outside in her backyard one early morning in New Mexico when her and her dog spotted what they first thought was a schnauzer. Upon closer inspection she realized that it was a 12 inch tall “man”, who ran into a Chinaberry tree and disappeared.

Also, another weird (most likely fake) tale of a gnome that was caught stealing socks from a box of clothes is shared. This one though, has photographic evidence of the “sock stealing gnome”. Although the photo looks as fake as a $3 bill, it still has been floating around the internet, actually making it to print on the infamous FATE magazine.

Real or not, these stories are fun.

Full source: PR Log

Robert A. Goerman is an investigative scholar of the unknown and unexplained who has been fortunate enough to have his research and writings featured in national magazines and serve as source material for many books and television shows.

He explains, “People have encountered unexplained lights, objects, creatures and entities since ever. One need not believe in such things in order to meet them. Anomalous phenomena are most often experienced by lone individuals in isolated locations and occur abruptly and can evoke shock and terror. Some of us have seen the windmill blink. We will never be the same.”

In keeping with the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday, Goerman shares this interesting July 23, 2009 correspondence…

Dear Mr. Goerman:

I don’t know if you will consider this a monster activity or not, but here it goes. This happened in Roswell, N. Mex. In the summer of 1997, at about 5:30 A.M., I took my cup of coffee outside to a picnic table in the back yard. My Chihuahua Bella followed me. At first, I thought my neighbor had bought a dog, a little Schnauzer. Taking a better look, I noticed it was not a dog but a “little man.” Bella thought it was a dog also as she ran to the fence to get a better look. We both noticed a little man about 12 inches tall, stocky built with bushy eyebrows (gray) and a beard. He was wearing a gray woolen type shirt (no buttons) and gray pants with a rope for a belt. He had brown boots that looked like socks.

Bella ran back into the house and under my bed, shaking, and remained there most of the day. The little man had a funny walk from side to side and quickly ran into a big Chinaberry tree and disappeared. I could not see a door or entrance but the little man disappeared into the tree.

I will never forget this as long as I live. Thank you for taking the time. You may use my story.

Sincerely yours,
Minnie (Last name withheld)

Minnie’s testimony is a sobering reminder that, even in our techno-wondrous society of wireless laptop computers and cellular telephones, people can still report being startled by the sudden appearance of diminutive creatures, generally in humanoid form.

Tales of “wee people” have been recorded by most, if not all, cultures throughout human history. Some of our ancestors called them fairies. Medieval fairy-faith populated our world with a puzzling array of visitors (elves, gnomes, goblins, leprechauns, pixies, and others) from the fairy realm or fairyland.

It was the actual sightings of these beings that created the fairy-faith.

Not the other way around.

Little people were believed in because they were seen!

Sightings continue today even without an accompanying “superstitious” belief in fairies.

Two dozen “tantalizing and mysterious” stories of encounters were gathered from people living and vacationing within the region of the Catskill Mountains in New York for author and colleague Ron Quinn’s Little People (Galde Press, 2006). In two separate cases, 1949 and 1955, these little bandits were caught red-handed “borrowing” eggs and fruit. There were meetings where the wee folk left behind not only tiny footprints in haste, but also a teeny hat and, in still another episode, a miniature fishing pole. Usually only one little man was seen, but occasionally two or more have been reported. Sightings of little women were rarer still. In one nocturnal encounter, the little man’s eyes displayed eyeshine and reflected light from a flashlight beam. Their spoken language was most often described as foreign or weird.

Ron Quinn submits a snapshot that he received from a Kingston, New York woman that purports to show a “little man” making off with a sock stolen from a box of old clothes sitting outside. She overcame her surprise in time to snap one 35mm photograph with Kodak ASA 400 film using a Nikon point-and-shoot “One Touch Zoom” camera. The photographer wishes to remain anonymous to avoid unwanted publicity.

What are we to make of these mystifying incidents where these beings appear out of nowhere and magically disappear at will? Small footprints begin and end abruptly without rhyme or reason. Where do they come from? Where do they go?

What does fairy DNA look like?

Who cares?

Who investigates?

Not the ghost hunters.

Not the UFOlogists.

Not the cryptozoologists.

Believers in fairies naturally assume all stories to be true and do not investigate.

Folklorists collect these accounts without further inquiry.

Where should we go from here?

What can be investigated? How should this be investigated?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all…

Leprechaun? Sprite? Elf? Gnome? OtherWorld entity? Although exceedingly rare, folks still report seeing these paranormal things.

This photo appeared in the July 2007 issue of FATE magazine. My colleague Ron Quinn, author of “Little People,” submitted a snapshot that he received from a Kingston, New York woman that purports to show a “little man” making off with a sock stolen from a box of old clothes sitting outside. She overcame her surprise in time to snap one 35mm photograph with Kodak ASA 400 film using a Nikon point-and-shoot “One Touch Zoom” camera.

At Ron’s request, I have examined the original Kodak negative.

I had the negative transferred to this digital file for Flickr scrutiny.

There is no wiggle room regarding this photo. Either it depicts a genuine anomaly or it is a hoax.

The photographer wishes to remain anonymous to avoid unwanted publicity. I just wish that she had shot digital video instead!

Don’t you?