[1] On September 5, 1891, the Crawfordsville Journal reported that two ice delivery men sighted "a strange phenomenon" that hovered in the air above their location, describing it as a "horrible apparition" that "filled them with dread."
There was no tail or head visible but there was one great flaming eye, and a sort of a wheezing plaintive sound was emitted from a mouth which was invisible.
"[2] According to interviews conducted years later by Crawfordsville reporter and Fortean Society member Vincent Gaddis, hundreds of residents observed the phenomenon on the following evening, with some claiming they could feel the monster's "hot breath" as it swooped over them.
[1] The Indianapolis Journal repeated the September 5th sightings, as did other newspapers across the country,[3] including the Brooklyn Eagle,[4] whose article later attracted the attention of early paranormal investigator Charles Fort.
Two local men, John Hornbeck and Abe Hernley, "followed the wraith about town and finally discovered it to be a flock of many hundred killdeer."