Van Meter is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States, situated along the Raccoon River.

[5] The city was named for Jacob Rhodes Van Meter and his family, Dutch settlers from Meteren, the Netherlands.

[7] In September and October 1903, there were multiple instances of people claiming to have seen a winged, bat-like creature in and around Van Meter.

The roughly nine-foot-tall being, which has since been dubbed the Van Meter Visitor, was reported to be able to shoot light from the horn situated on its forehead and be unaffected by bullets.

Clarence Dunn, one of the witnesses, had even made a plaster cast of three-toed footprints it left behind.

After a community-led confrontation, the being disappeared after about four days, supposedly into the nearby coal mine.

[8][9] Claims of witnessing bat-like creatures or phenomena have continued, including into the 2010s.

[10] To commemorate the sightings, a Van Meter Visitor Festival transpires annually around the anniversary of the events.

[11][10] Van Meter's longitude and latitude coordinates in decimal form are 41.531505, -93.955338).

[13] Van Meter is situated west of Des Moines, just south of Interstate 80.

22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

20.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.